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Olive Oil Yogurt Cake with Cardamom
Portrait of a Baker, Terentius Nero, and His Wife, from the walls of Pompeii. I wonder if he used measuring spoons. Recipe below: Olive Oil Yogurt Cake with Cardamom For two reasons I don’t do...
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Women with Fish
Le-Leah, Leah, Le-Leah, Leah Here I go From the hut to the boat to the sea For Leah Ah-hah I gotta go diving in the bay Gotta get a lot of oysters find some pearls today To make a pretty necklace for...
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Lasagnette with Chicken Livers and Woody Herbs, plus a Recipe for Chicken...
Chicken, by Ernest Goh. Recipes below: Lasagnette with Chicken Livers and Woody Herbs; Chicken Giblet Salad I am the queen of no waste. Or I try to be. Actually, I’m not always a success with it. I...
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My Brush with Leaves, plus a Recipe for Swiss Chard Gratin with Montasio and...
Ten Thousand Leaves, by Kae Sasaki. Recipe below: Swiss Chard Gratin with Montasio and Pine Nuts When I was eleven or twelve, I began worrying about hurting leaves. I feared that pulling a leaf off a...
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Women with Fish
ALTHOUGH you hide in the ebb and flow Of the pale tide when the moon has set, The people of coming days will know About the casting out of my net, And how you have leaped times out of mind Over the...
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In Praise of Longer Meals, plus Recipes for Eggplant Purée with Saffron and...
Pomeriggio a Fiesole, by Baccio Maria Bacci, 1926. Recipes below: Eggplant Purée with Saffron and Pistachios; Pan-Roasted Chicken with Parsnips and Shallots As a kid, I found meals at my grandmother’s...
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About Flavor Pairings, plus a Recipe for Fettuccine with a Spring Soffritto,...
Recipe below: Fettuccine with a Spring Soffritto, Peas, and Speck When I create a recipe, as thrilled as I sometimes get with the outcome I never come up with something completely new. (Is there...
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Women with Fish
Frida with Japanese Fighting Fish and Bubble Crown by Sarah Ashley Longmore.
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Penne with Peas, Watercress, and Spring Garlic
Recipe below: Penne with Peas, Watercress, and Spring Garlic Spring peas sautéed with delicate lettuce was a highbrow dish in seventeenth-century France, where garden peas were all the rage. It was...
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Lamb with Peas, Saffron, and Ginger
Spring fresco, ca. 1600 B.C., Akrotiri, Greece. Recipe below: Lamb with Spring Peas, Saffron, and Ginger When I first tasted a Moroccan lamb couscous I couldn’t completely sort out the foreign, deep...
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Early Herbs
Mary Magdalene mistakes Jesus for the gardener, painted by Agnolo Bronzino in 1561. Recipes below: String Beans and Potatoes with Wild Arugula and Almond Pesto; Cucumber Salad with Burnet and Breakfast...
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Thai Basil Fettuccine with Pine Nut Condimento
A pasta poster by Gino Boccasile, 1901-1952. Recipe below: Thai Basil Fettuccine with Pine Nut Condimento Flavoring fresh pasta with herbs seems to me a poetic task. Years ago, when I cooked at Le...
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Women with Fish
I’m dressed for my club. It’s the monthly meeting, which is always black tie. This is my version of black tie. I wear the tie on my head, which is perfectly acceptable. Is my fish on straight? I take...
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The Wild Mint Patch
The Ancient Romans experimented with a number of wild herbs for birth control, with varying degrees of success. Recipes below: Limoncello Collins with Lemon Bitters and Mint; Roasted Zucchini with...
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Ricotta with Strawberry: An Interplay of Colors
Recipes below: Ricotta and Strawberry Torta with Anisette; Strawberries with Ricotta and Rosemary Syrup Early morning anxiety is so predictable for me that I know exactly when I should reach out and...
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Conchigliette with Shell Peas, Fennel, Prosciutto, and Basil
An Arrangement of Peas, by Mark Brooks. Recipe below: Conchigliette with Shell Peas, Fennel, Prosciutto, and Basil “Improvisation is the expression of the accumulated yearnings, dreams, and wisdom of...
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Carrots Roasted with Ras el Hanout and Summer Savory, Served with Crème Fraîche
A Bunch of Carrots, by Kay Smith. Recipes below: My Ras el Hanout; Carrots Roasted with Ras el Hanout and Summer Savory, Served with Crème Fraîche. Growing up I didn’t have much contact with carrots....
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Fig Tart with Limoncello and Thyme
Fig Basket, Villa Poppaea, Oplontis Figs D.H. Lawrence The proper way to eat a fig, in society, Is to split it in four, holding it by the stump, And open it, so that it is a glittering, rosy,...
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Beet and Goat Cheese Torta with Olives and Summer Savory
Still Life with Goat Skull and Beets, by Viktoria Kiss. Recipe below: Beet and Goat Cheese Torta with Olives and Summer Savory “Great cooking favors the prepared hands” —Jacques Pépin That is a fairly...
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A Hard Rain, plus a Recipe for Rice Salad with Filetto di Pomodoro, Corn,...
Recipe below: Rice Salad with Filetto di Pomodoro, Corn, Miso, and Basil We had a dramatic rain in Manhattan last week. I got caught in it. I was walking down 14th Street, heading toward Seventh...
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