Here’s one great recipe from the de Vienne family of Épices de Cru fame.  Easy and excellent!  Our friend Sylviane is a fantastic cook who, like the rest of us, is known to forget things in the oven. One day, she served the most delicious, dark-roasted vegetables, crisped to perfection. The natural sugars of the […]

In his terrific, if also terrifically obscure, little book, Tastes of Paradise, the German historian Wolfgang Schivelbusch says, “The taste for pepper [in medieval Europe] showed symptoms of having become an addiction. Once habituated to the spices of India, Europe was ready to do anything to gratify its craving.” In 1492 that addiction led Christopher […]

I can’t remember when I first started dining at Delfina on 18th Street in San Francisco’s Mission District. Could likely be that I was there for the Fancy Food Show sometime in the late ’90s and went down to visit Bi-Rite (one of the country’s best specialty food stores, for sure). I could easily have […]

Paella (py•ay•a) is arguably Spain’s most well known dish. It’s a satisfying one pot meal of densely flavored rice, but what else gets added in beyond that is up for debate. Like many foods worthy of being passed down through generations, the history can get skewed over time. The original Paella Valencia was believed to […]

A superior summer sweet that’s sure to brighten your day Speaking of citrus, how about that light, lilting Lemon Sorbet from the Creamery? It’s fantastic! A happy, spritely way to summer-ize any evening! Like all the gelati and sorbetti at the Creamery, this one is handmade using fresh lemon juice. It’s lovely just like it is. If […]

Cheezeducation charges ahead at the Creamery As I work more and more with the idea of organizations as ecosystems (stay tuned for a new pamphlet on the subject next year) and with the idea of working in harmony with the greater ecosystem in which one’s business is located, it’s clear in hindsight that Zingerman’s is […]