Food Features

Untitled Document As usual, things were pretty low-key at the first regular downtown farmers’ market last week. There was an easy camaraderie as vendors greeted each other and familiar customers. There were lots of plants: flowers, herbs, and a wide selection of tomatoes. Spring produce was displayed in all its glory: young onions, bundles of […]

Untitled Document Before 1983, ethnic food in Springfield was pretty much limited to Italian (American) restaurants, Chinese restaurants (owned by émigrés who geared the food to American palates), and gringo Mexican taco joints (tasty but hardly authentic). Who could have guessed that a tiny coffee shop in a semi-seedy motel at North Grand and Veterans […]

Untitled Document I have been to the mountaintop. The sanctuary of smoke. The high temple of porkdom. From the outside, it doesn’t look like a place of pilgrimage. The modest cinderblock structure, located about 40 minutes south of Knoxville, Tenn., is a bit dingy. There’s a sign painted on the outside: “BENTON’S COUNTRY HAMS. WE […]

Untitled Document He’s back! Since mid-April the guy who’s been selling fruits and vegetables at our corner for several years has been at his post. I almost never buy there, because most of it’s not homegrown, let alone locally grown, though in late summer I might get a melon from him if I’m desperate. (He […]

Untitled Document The name may be a little off-putting. The orange exterior, streaked or mottled with vermilion and/or brownish purple, may bring to mind a nasty bruise rather than something good to eat. However, the first sight and taste of blood oranges’ flesh reveal why they are so sought after. Blood oranges aren’t new, though […]

Untitled Document Whatever you may think of Jim Oberweis’ politics, one thing is for sure: In any taste contest against ordinary store-bought milk, Oberweis Dairy milk wins in a landslide. In 1915 Peter Oberweis began selling extra milk from his farm’s cows in Aurora. By 1927 he was in the dairy business full-time. Back then, […]

Untitled Document What’s a nice guy from Venezuela doing in Springfield? Well, among other things, he’s making arepas. Félix Cabrera moved to Springfield from Venezuela five years ago with his wife, Ana, and two sons, Santiago and Bernardo. Cabrera came here in conjunction with his family’s business, a commodity-brokerage firm. They also have offices in […]

Untitled Document I’ve just been to a Rampfest — an evening in one of Chicago’s trendiest venues, the large space filled to overflowing with people sniffing, eating, and talking about ramps. The decorations consisted of vases filled with ramps, their beautiful lily-of-the-valley-like leaves spilling from the tops and the purple stems, white bulbs, and roots […]

Untitled Document Easter was a big deal when I was growing up. There were the church services, which for a number of years included a sunrise play at Lincoln Memorial Garden, directed and produced by my mom (she also made the costumes and set, a.k.a. the tomb). It was pretty impressive to see that figure […]

Untitled Document It seems as if sushi is everywhere these days — in eclectic restaurants that offer a bewildering (and, unfortunately, sometimes badly executed) mix of cuisines, in Chinese megabuffets, and even in plastic tubs in grocery stores. Even so, many people still have mistaken ideas about sushi, and some think there’s a gross-out factor: […]

Untitled Document My husband, Peter, and I frequently bop down to St. Louis for the day to shop; listen to music; see a film, play, or exhibit; go to the Missouri Botanical Garden; or just generally mess around. No matter what else is on our St. Louis agenda, however, we always take advantage of its […]

Untitled Document I’ve had them in Paris and elsewhere in Europe. I’ve had them in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. But I’ve never, ever had better croissants than those I’ve eaten at Incredibly Delicious, right here in Springfield. As I tell my cooking students: “If you want a truly religious eating experience, go to Incredibly […]