eating utensils a historical timeline
Articles

The History of Western Eating Utensils : A Timeline

Photo by Lohb As he wrote in The Evoluton of Useful Things, Henry Petroski argues that it is the dissatisfaction with the shortcomings of  a way of doing things that creates invention rather than the old adage “necessity is the mother of invention”. Hundreds of years of experimentation have resulted in contemporary eating utensils and […]

tea bushes
Articles

Tea, Anyone?

Photo by Windslash Tea is so varied in name, color and flavor that it is usually a surprise for anyone to discover that all the different types are made from basically the same tea plant. Of course, some are flavored with essential oils (Earl Grey, for example, has oil of bergamot, which is made from […]

chinese spice mix
Ingredients

Chinese Five Spice Powder

Photo by Paul Originally from China, 5 spice is a blend of Szechwan pepper, Star anise, Fennel, Cloves and Cinnamon in equal amounts. Most frequently used as a barbeque seasoning or a marinade for meat, Chinese five spice creates a well-known and authentic flavor all of its own. It can also be used as a […]

restaurant front of house staff
Articles

Front of House Restaurant Staff

Photo by www.audio-luci-store.it The Chain of Command : Restaurant Service Staff Maître d’Hôtel This is the person responsible for the overall management of service at a fairly elaborate establishment, often a hotel. Over time, the title — commonly shortened to maître d’ — has taken on a life of its own. The ideal maître d’ […]

miso pastes different types
Ingredients

Miso

Photo by tokyofoodcast Miso is a thick paste made by combining soybeans and barley or wheat or rice (or a mixture of these grains) with a yeast mold (koji) that has been cultivated from a soybean, barley or rice base. The mixture is then aged from three months to three years. Consider the potential number […]

Chef Eric Ripert In The Kitchen
Chefs

Eric Ripert

Image courtesy of Eric Ripert on Twitter. When Gilbert Le Coze, Le Bernardin’s 48 year-old chef, died suddenly from a heart attack Eric Ripert, the restaurant’s 29 year-old Executive Chef was asked to step up. In the world of four-star restaurants, Ripert insists that the show must go on, and food service stops for nothing, […]

Southeast Asian Meal Photo by insatiablemunch
World

Southeast Asian Cuisine

Photo by insatiablemunch  An Introduction To Southeast Asian Cooking Southeast Asia is a cook’s paradise, and an eater’s as well. The food is truly art: tastes mingle with subtle complexity, and presentation is spectacular. The region stretches east from India and Bangladesh to the southern border of China, encompassing the mainland countries of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, […]

Palm Sugar
Ingredients

Palm Sugar

Palm Sugar Photo by stu_spivack  Palm sugar is often used in Indian cooking as well as Thai cooking. The dark-brown colored and crumbly sugar is also called gur or jaggery, is made from the sap of the sugar palm, or it can also be made from the palmyra palm. The tree trunk tree is tapped to drain the […]