Sunday Lunch in the Country
I’ve experienced and written a lot about Sunday Lunch, because I think it’s such a warm and admirable French tradition. Families and friends get together to while away the day simply enjoying – a meal, a beautiful table, each other. It’s always a moment hors temps, outside of time, where the clock ticks more slowly, […]
Writing a Recipe
Writing a recipe is like taking a cook’s hand and leading them, simply and directly, through the construction of a puzzle to an impressive (and delicious) result. It involves clear and simple explanations that create visuals in the minds’ eye; the cook must understand and “feel” the right way to proceed. Here are the basic […]
Fontainbleau
Today, Seattle friends came for lunch. They’d already been in Provence for a week, eating truffles every time they turned around. This, and the fact that all of these people are part of the Seattle food world, meant that the bar was high. Lunch itself posed no problem. I had magret de canard produced near […]
Making Pita in the hills above Sarajevo
A personal dream came true today as I watched Zijada, a Bosniak cook at the mountain chalet Ruralna Kuca, make and roll out the paper-thin dough that makes a Bosnian pita, or pie, so very special. The dough isn’t like any sort of French pastry. There is no fat in it, except the sunflower oil […]
Gathering Recipes outside Sarajevo
By 9:30 a.m. the heat is already roiling up from the blacktop in Sarajevo, making our planned day in the hills above the city sound like a perfect idea. We headed first for the village of Gornje Biosko to visit the wheat, corn, vegetable and fruit farm of Spomenko Codo. He and his brother, […]
