For all its unpretentious, knobbly familiarity, the potato is pretty fabulous. A rich source of vitamins (including a hefty amount of vitamin C), minerals (calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium), protein (essential amino acids), and complex carbohydrates, it has nourished humans ever since it was first domesticated in Peru, about 8,000 years ago.* Granted, it took a […]

When William Woys Weaver learned that his Culinary Ephemera: An Illustrated History had taken top honors for culinary history at the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) cookbook awards, presented last week in Austin, Texas, he responded in characteristic, generous fashion. He fired off an e-mail thank-you to everyone in his orbit. “Dear Friends,” he wrote. “I […]

The first local asparagus stops people in their tracks. They bend over to get a closer look and marvel in the voice they usually reserve for newborns. At the Union Square Greenmarket, where I do a good bit of my shopping, asparagus usually arrives with lilacs and lilies-of-the-valley, a flower to which it is closely […]

  Ever curious about the world at large, Gourmet published its first big piece about Japanese food, “Song of Sashimi,” in 1958. Beginning in the 1970s, the person most responsible for the depth, passion, and accuracy of the magazine’s Japan coverage was contributing editor Elizabeth Andoh, the leading English-language authority on the subject. Elizabeth is […]

Temperatures are creeping up, but March in the Northeast is still heavy going. And even though there is beautiful asparagus available at my local supermarket, it’s surrounded by bluff, hearty winter squash, rutabagas, and chard, and, consequently, it looks a little embarrassed to be at the same party. I walk past the showy spears without […]

I’ve been on the road lately, to a few unfamiliar cities. And I’ve been struck by  the fact that whenever I ask the people who live in these places about the most interesting food story going, nine out of ten of them will tell about a restaurant or chef. But 18 rich, full years at […]

I’ve been a huge fan of Ed Mitchell’s whole-hog barbecue ever since John T. Edge first championed the pitmaster’s crazy, pure vision—to source and serve the juicy, full-flavored, pastured pork of his childhood—in the pages of Gourmet almost exactly five years ago. The only things that surpass Ed’s pork are his beaming countenance and enveloping […]