Primavera is the Italian word for spring – or, literally, first green. Pasta primavera is made with sautéed spring vegetables in a rich sauce of butter, cream and cheese. But pasta primavera isn’t Italian. It was conceived in Nova Scotia in the early 1970s by vacationing New Yorkers. Italian cuisine has its own dishes that […]
Peter Glatz
After the passing of his wife, Julianne (former Illinois Times food columnist), Peter Glatz decided to retire from a 40-year career as a dentist to reinvent himself as a chef at the age of 66. In his short culinary career, he has worked at Chicago’s Michelin-starred Elizabeth Restaurant, Oklahoma City’s Nonesuch (Bon Appetit’s “America’s Best New Restaurant- 2018), Savannah’s The Grey, and Spoon and Stable in Minneapolis.
Gumbo z’herbes
Fat Tuesday marks the last night of eating rich, fatty foods before beginning the Lenten ritual of self-sacrifice and fasting. In South Louisiana, Catholics go to Mass on Ash Wednesday, give up meat on Fridays and make small sacrifices until Easter to signify their piety and atone for the excesses of Mardi Gras revelry. The […]
The art of stir-frying
I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of this cookbook like a grandparent anticipating the arrival of a grandchild. Two years ago we loaded up our belongings into our bus and headed out of Oklahoma City. We were supposed to be relocating to Michigan to start new jobs at Milkweed Inn, but the pandemic had shut […]
When “the sky is a hazy shade of winter”
I love browsing through seed catalogs. They arrive just in time to nudge me out of my winter doldrums. By now I’ve grown bored with my off-season romaine salads and I’m longing for farmers market salads made with local spinach or leaf lettuce, spring onions, green garlic and tiny radishes. But springtime starts, and then […]
Maple syrup time
It was one of those times in February when the night was frigid but the afternoon was warm, when the sky changed from grey to blue and the sun had melted the morning frost. I was walking my dog through the woods behind my old house when I felt what I thought were tiny droplets […]
The story of Japanese curry rice
In Japan, kare raisu, or curry rice, is the equivalent of our beloved mac and cheese in the blue box. Kare raisu is a rich, velvety roux-based stew and is considered to be Japan’s national home-cooking dish. It’s consumed two to three times a month on average in Japanese households. Kare raisu is the number […]
Get to know farro
I doubt that I’ll ever become a true-blue vegetarian. I just love bacon, a simple roasted chicken and a nicely seared steak way too much to totally eliminate animal protein from my diet. But I am convinced that a predominantly plant-based diet is what I should be working towards. To that end, I’m always looking […]
Is seaweed the new kale?
Seaweed is regarded by many as the future of food. It’s one of the world’s most sustainable and nutritious foods. Seaweed is zero-input, meaning that it does not require fresh water, fertilizer, feed or arable land to thrive. Seaweed has the ability to absorb excess nitrogen and phosphorus deposited in the water by agricultural runoff […]
Hog-killin’ time
When the days have grown short and the weather stays cold, people used to say, “It’s hog-killin’ time.” Before we had packing plants and supermarkets, farm families depended on their fields and flocks for sustenance, and the tedious process of whole hog butchering usually took place in cold weather. Breaking down a 200 to 300-pound […]
Talking Turkey about flatbreads
It’s 5 o’clock on a cold Saturday morning and I’m at Balkan Treat Box in the St. Louis suburb of Webster Groves learning how to make Turkish flatbreads. A chef friend had told me that Balkan Treat Box was one of his favorite restaurants, and suggested I hang out with them. So I contacted the […]
Recipe for a broken heart
When my wife dropped me off for my first day of work at The Grey in Savannah, Georgia, and asked “How are ya feeling?” I replied, “Kinda like the first day of kindergarten.” The Grey is one of the South’s top restaurants, and its executive chef, Mashama Bailey, won the coveted James Beard Foundation’s Best […]
Discovering the Gullah Geechee
It was a cold, windy morning as we took our 40-minute ferry ride from Hilton Head to Daufuskie Island off the South Carolina coast. Daufuskie is a remote and isolated island, inhabited by only 400 people, and accessible only by boat. I was on a mission to learn and write about the culinary traditions of […]
