About six years ago, I’d heard that a couple of farmers, two brothers, from the Catskills region had started making sorghum syrup, a tangy, deep-flavored sweetener better known south of the Mason-Dixon Line. I filed the information away, then forgot about it; I always seem to have a jar of the stuff, lugged back from […]

Harissa—a blend of hot chiles, garlic, olive oil, and spices—is an essential condiment and flavor base in Tunisia and elsewhere in North Africa. It is is eaten in or alongside couscous, stews, egg dishes, and briks, or “stuffed parcels” made from the crisp, thinner-than-thin pastry called warka. It’s no surprise that there are as many […]

You never know what you will find in a food stylist’s refrigerator. Take that of Rick Ellis, above. I had to ponder the contents for a minute before I figured it out. “You’re weighting a summer pudding!” I exclaimed. “Shh!” Rick replied. “It’s for Simon’s birthday.” Simon Blake, a film and mixed-media director, and his […]

A recent encounter with a restaurant salad drenched in a thin, too-sharp vinaigrette left me pining for richer dressings, those with swagger and substance. Green Goddess is one such treasure: Anchovies give it a deep resonance and tarragon, a bright, joyous peal of flavor. It’s most famously served over avocado, but it is also superb […]

Giving a house party is an art form. It’s not just forethought and organizational skills that can make a visit memorable, but something rarer, the ability to take people as you find them. Our friends Linda and Patricia, who spend weekends on the North Fork of Long Island, possess this quality in spades. “The bed in the […]

I am extremely fond of beets. What first drew me to them were their handsome, saturated pigments—their drama quotient is off the charts—but then their earthy, equally saturated sweetness took hold, and I was a goner. Luckily, my husband, Sam, is of the same mind, and so we walk around with magenta-stained fingers all summer […]

The venerable American dish called scalloped (baked) tomatoes is closely identified with the South. But why? Surely it’s a no-brainer idea in any part of the country that experiences a barrage of juicy, ripe tomatoes in high summer. I reached out to culinary historian and former Gourmet contributing editor Anne Mendelson. The origin of “scalloped” […]

Plenty of folks think yellow summer squash is boring, but I love it. I tell people this, and more often than not, they nod knowledgeably. “Well, you’re southern,” they say. “Squash casserole! Do you make yours with cornflakes or potato chips on top?” I stopped trying to figure out whether I’d just been insulted long […]

We’re marking the Fourth of July with Santa Rosa plums from Al Courchesne’s Frog Hollow Farm, in northern California. Frog Hollow has been supplying the Bay Area with organic fruit for more than 20 years, and if you miss their crop of Santa Rosas, don’t despair—there are plenty more summer offerings to come. Santa Rosa is what […]

June 10 was National Black Cow Day, and even though we celebrated in style, I realized I don’t really need a reason to pop the cap off a frosty bottle of root beer. The most sentimental of soft drinks, it reminds me of backyard picnics on a chenille bedspread, Sunday afternoons at a minor league […]