Events

Close your eyes and imagine the perfume of a perfectly ripe melon: sweet, heady and slightly floral, it fills a market stall with the scent of summer. Slice through the […]

Apples are so ingrained in our culture that they have inspired proverbs, fairy tales and national symbols. National Apple Week celebrates the fruit during the second full week of August, […]

There’s something inherently comforting about rice pudding. Perhaps it’s because its ingredients are so modest — rice, milk, sugar, sometimes eggs or cream and spices — yet when simmered slowly […]

A crackling campfire, the smell of pine and smoke, and a circle of friends and family passing a bag of marshmallows and a bar of chocolate — these are the […]

Afternoon tea is a ritual of pause and pleasure. National Afternoon Tea Week, held during the second full week of August, celebrates the tradition of sitting down mid‑afternoon to sip […]

Close your eyes and imagine the perfume of a perfectly ripe melon: sweet, heady and slightly floral, it fills a market stall with the scent of summer. Slice through the green-striped rind and the flesh glows apricot‑orange, dripping with juice. In Turkmenistan, melons are not just a fruit but a national treasure. The Central Asian […]

A bombe glacée is a showstopper dessert: layers of ice cream, sherbet or custard frozen in a domed mold and unmolded to reveal concentric bands of color and flavor. The dessert originated in France in the late nineteenth century, when molded frozen desserts were the height of culinary fashion and elaborate molds filled with ice […]

A tart is the essence of simplicity and precision: a crisp pastry shell baked until golden and filled with something delicious. In the case of a raspberry tart, the filling showcases the berry’s pure flavor. Tarts have deep roots in European pastry tradition. Medieval cooks made open‑faced pies filled with savory meat and later sweet […]

Panini is the Italian plural for panino, a small bread roll or sandwich. In Italy, a panino can be as simple as prosciutto and cheese between slices of ciabatta. The concept of grilling or pressing a sandwich, however, has long roots. In cafés in Milan and Florence in the mid‑twentieth century, bars served pressed sandwiches […]

The julienne cut — slender matchstick strips — is a hallmark of French technique. To julienne potatoes for fries, you slice them into planks, then into sticks about an eighth‑inch square. When fried, these thin strips yield fries that are crisp on the outside and tender inside, with plenty of surface area to catch salt […]

In French, filet mignon means dainty fillet. The cut comes from the tenderloin of the cow — a muscle that does little work, resulting in an exceptionally tender piece of meat with fine grain and delicate flavor. In Europe the tenderloin has been prized for centuries; chefs often used it to make filet de boeuf […]