Junsai, Bonito, Soy, Mirin – Alinea cookbook recipe, pages 270-271. It’s a texture thang. This Alinea cookbook recipe is a cold shot of dashi with a floater of slimy junsai — water lily buds, that is. These rare ‘veggies’ come …  Read More

Alinea Recipe, pages 234-237. I love the title of this recipe, especially “… too many garnishes to list.” It’s an earthy, foresty, roots-based recipe, using tree nuts like chestnuts, nutmeg, root vegetables such as parsnips, celery root, onions, truffles and …  Read More

Recipe, pages 224-225. It’s very simple. The reason I wanted to try this recipe was for it’s presentation. You’re handed a round-bottomed bowl of squash soup you can’t set down. A fork full of duck and aromatics is embedded into …  Read More

Recipe, pages 222-223. When I was growing up in Oregon, my brother and I couldn’t wait for autumn each year. We had an old oak tree in the backyard, which — to an eight-year-old — looked like about a billion …  Read More

Recipe, page 246. Idiazábal There’s something I find so appealing about Spanish cheeses. Maybe the salty, nutty quality that the sheep’s milk provides. I dunno. But whatever it is, when you deep fry it and add the sweetness of aged …  Read More

Recipe, page 250. It’s all about the trees. Years ago there were Post Grape-Nuts TV ads featuring an old guy walking through the forest. “Every eat a pine tree? Some parts are edible,” he’d say. At the time most people …  Read More

Recipe, page 186. It seemed simple enough at the beginning. Two components — Mango Purée and Soy Pudding. Then I realized I didn’t have an antigriddle or dry ice. Nor the cool eyepiece serviceware from Crucial Detail. Let’s try it …  Read More