Lingering Scents

It is good to wake up to the lingering mingled scents of last night’s stir fry. Since I have two kitchens, and currently the upstairs kitchen has the more powerful stove, I do all of my stir-frying upstairs. There is inadequate ventilation, so if what I cook is strongly-scented, it hangs around at least until […]

Seasonal Sunday Morning

Late summer used to be one of the saddest times of year for me. In the middle of the orgiastic harvest, when the fields are knee-deep in ripe tomatoes, when melons are heavy on the vine, and are so sweet that you can smell them from two rows away, when corn and beans and squash […]

In Praise of Pressure

Not many people enjoy pressure, though I would say that plenty of folks work better under pressure than others. In fact, I would say that I am one of those people; I tend to do my best writing when under deadline pressure, and some of my best cooking is done when there is a time […]

Don’t Fear the Fish Sauce

I am continually amazed at how fearful salty fermented fish squeezings can make people. Every time I have taught a class in Thai cooking (which has been many times over the past five years or so), I have had one or two people hang towards the back of the room, and when I launch into […]

The Whole Enchilada Part III: The Tortillas

The soul of the enchiladas isn’t the sauce, nor is it the filling. It is the simple, humble tortilla. Which is why I don’t make enchiladas with store-bought tortillas anymore. To put it bluntly, they suck. They taste like soggy cardboard and have a mealy texture. There is nothing about them that evokes the flavor […]

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