Term of the Week: Scrapple
I just got back from my annual beach vacation in Delaware–the state where I grew up. There are certain foods I always have to eat while I’m there, and scrapple is at the top of the list. It’s not pretty and you don’t want to think too much about the ingredients, but if you develop [...]
Garlic Scapes
I first saw these at my friend Margie’s house where we’d been invited for dinner and she’d harvested them from her garden. The tops looked edible so she broke off a piece, tasted and decided she’d work them into dinner somehow because they seemed a shame to waste. She was making tempura asparagus and ended [...]
Term of the Week: Montaditos
I saw this term on the menu at the newly relaunched Sofia restaurant recently. Luckily, a Spanish speaker at the table translated it for us as “little assemblies.” Similar to bruschetta, they consisted of little toasts with a variety of toppings chosen by the chef differently each day. Depending on the season and the ingredients [...]
Term of the Week: Crostata
I was served this heavenly strawberry crostata recently at Grange. Some of the other diners there asked about the name and whether it wasn’t really a galette? So I came home and looked up the terms. My indispensable book for food terms is the Food Lover’s Companion, The (Barron’s Cooking Guide) 3rd Edition. I use [...]
Sugar Plums, Dried Please
“Would you like to taste a prune,” my friend Suzanne said to a woman. The woman’s face turned sour and she scrunched her nose in disgust. “Well then how about a sugar plum?” The woman happily took Suzanne up on this offer and commented on liking the plum. People frequently turn down prunes but not [...]
Term of the Week: Dok
Recently I discovered a different kind of rice cake that I think I could love. It’s called dok in Korean. Instead of puffy nothingness, these are chewy sticks made of glutinous rice that’s been beaten and formed. You can get them in coins, stars, hearts, and all kinds of sizes. A haul over to Vinh [...]
Term of the Week: Coddle
Oscar Wilde thought an egg was always an adventure. I agree. So many applications and preparations including coddling, which generally means to pamper or treat with indulgence, excessive care or kindness. I’ve always heard it referred to as a process for eggs. Although aware of it, I’d never coddled an egg, much less anything else, [...]
Bordeaux Spinach
One of the newer varieties of spinach, Bordeaux has arrow-shaped, medium to dark green leaves with deep, wine-red veins and stems. When I first saw it and heard it’s name, it reminded me of red Bordeaux wine and made me chuckle. Bred specifically for the baby leaf market for inclusion in various mixtures, it has [...]
Bard
The word bard came up in a discussion recently around the grill. A great term, and method to try this time of year when many are pulling out a barbeque as the weather teases us with brilliant evenings. To bard is to tie a piece of fatty meat, like bacon, fatback or pancetta around leaner [...]
Biodynamics
Biodynamics is an agricultural method similar in many ways to organic farming. Both systems shun the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and focus on developing healthy farms through close observation of growing cycles. Many people recognize Biodynamics as the precursor to our modern organic farming methods. In fact, many wineries practice Biodynamic practices but [...]
