Articles

An Interview with Maury Rubin Maury Rubin, the chef/owner of Manhattan’s The City Bakery and author of Book of Tarts, first put hot chocolate on his menu in the winter of 1992. At the time, the only other upscale venue that offered the beverage served it frozen (this was pre-Starbuck’s). Now, City Bakery, with its […]

by Melissa Clark While growing up, I never much liked chocolate. My birthday cakes were always made from strawberry-pink ice cream, and my candy preferences tended toward caramels, candy corns, and sugared nuts. Aside from the occasional bite sized bar of Hershey’s special dark, or a marshmallow-topped cup of Nestle’s Quik, chocolate was just not […]

Photo by Burak K When sitting down to a formal dinner, there is one thing people fear more than anything else. Is it spilling soup down the front of their pants? Loudly burping during dinner? Well, yes, people fear those things, too. However, most people would agree that choosing the right eating utensil for the right […]

A Chocolate Timeline It’s almost impossible to believe it now, but for most of its very long history, chocolate was not something people ate. It was a beverage, and not only was that beverage rarely hot, it was usually not sweet. Once the Spanish arrived in the New World and began to survey the riches […]

Photo by jules:stonesoup Sauces are, of course, a crucial element of French cuisine, and the French cook can recreate the canon of sauces from a limited set of techniques and ingredients. Here’s a quick run down of some very basic sauce-stuff: Basic French Sauce Descriptions Béarnaise: A relative of hollandaise, béarnaise is a reduction of […]

Photo by The British Library French cooking can be split and grouped along geographical lines. Each region of France has it’s own distinct style of cooking along with regional ingredient and recipes. Even the way a french meal is eaten and at what time can vary from place to place. Here is our fast guide […]

by Marjorie Ingall Shut up, it is not disgusting. It is appalling and addictive and seductive, the rock cocaine of the confectionery world. Teenagers and adults may turn up their noses in favor of the Hershey’s Fun Size chocolates (which, you’ll excuse me, would be infinitely funner if they had more mass), but the little children […]

Julie Besonen Julie Besonen has written about food and entertainment for Paper Magazine, Playboy and The New York Times, among other publications. She lives in New York City. Keith Besonen Keith Besonen is a home brewer and a home barbequer. He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Irena Chalmers Irena Chalmers’ witty and well-informed commentary on American food trends has established […]

Today, many of the products that line the breakfast cereal aisle contain artificial colors and flavors, processed flours, and sugar, all pressed into novel shapes and promoted by cartoon characters. But this wasn’t the way it started out. The breakfast cereal industry came into being as a result of late 19th century America’s fascination with, […]