Is it just me or has every major food magazine in the country had a cheeseburger on the cover as we gear up for summer? One of the magazines asked the question, “Did you have a happy meal?” and goes on to report how McDonald’s had experienced a state of…
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Full Moon Saloon Fish Sandwich
FULL MOON FISH SANDWICH, ‘FULL MOON SALOON’ Norman Van Aken © All rights reserved. No sandwich in the history of Key West was consumed by more drunks on premise than this one. No sandwich saved more people from a certain, potentially lethal, hangover. Essentially it is a fresh as can…
Won Tons
Who does not love won tons? These ethereal purse like morsels of food first appeared in the Pearl River Delta port of Guangzhou during the Tang Dynasty around 618-907 A.D. Then they followed the Cantonese diaspora, drifting east to Hong Kong. If you are not yet familiar, but do know…
The Pain & Genius of Roy Buchanan
“Sweet Dreams, released in 1972, remains the finest moment in the career of the man who was damned with the accolade ‘the guitarist’s guitarist’. Lauded by the likes of Jeff Beck, Gary Moore (who covered the blues-rock thriller ‘The Messiah Will Come Again’) and, more recently, Joe Bonamassa, Buchanan never…
Pastel Del Choclo
PASTEL DE CHOCLO The “Choclo” refers to sweet corn and the pastel indicates that there is a pie-like or pastry-like construction to the dish. Think quiche in a Latin way. And like a quiche the filling inside this pastel could be varied almost infinitely. This one is made with a…
Daddy’s Coffee
When I was a young child our home was a solid, two story, wooden structure perched on a sloping, gentle hill near a lake in Northern Illinois. We had all four seasons and we had them in full measure in that geography. Equal to them was my father. His nature…
Why I Wrote ‘My Florida Kitchen’
WHY I WROTE, ‘MY FLORIDA KITCHEN’ I wrote my sixth cookbook, “My Florida Kitchen” because I felt it was time for an update on our rapidly changing state. The last cookbook written on the whole of Florida was an excellent book written by Caroline Stuart and Jeanne Voltz titled “The…
My Kitchen Conversation with Jeremiah Tower
Here is my interview with the legendary Jeremiah Tower. I don’t say this very often at all … But this man was a true hero of cuisine for me. Ever since learning of his contributions to the evolution of “Chez Panisse” restaurant founded by Alice Waters, and especially the menus he…
Morels
Spring is the prime time of year when the wild mushrooms known as morels are shooting up in one more example of Mother Nature’s urging, beckoning, tantalizing and delivering magic. And though we are now past that month there are dried versions that can still be very nice. When the…
“To Kill A Mockingbird”, Harper Lee
I read this book when I was a freshman in high school. It flowed with truth and beauty. It described a small town in the South… a place I’d never been. It also had the precious dynamics of an older brother and his sassy, but also sensitive little sister. A…
“Remember When”, Alan Jackson
There are certain songs that make you fall in love with your life partner all over again… If you are very lucky. And this song is certainly one of ‘those songs’ that will release that emotion. It is his patience and strength that I find in his voice that makes…
Interview, D’Artagnan, “Center Of The Plate”
Courtesy: Center of the Plate
At D’Artagnan we proudly work with chefs across the country, providing them with quality ingredients to express their creativity in the kitchen. Some we have decades-long relationships with, and others are new to the family. The chef we interviewed for this blog post falls in the former camp. Chef Norman Van…
Meeting Julia Child, (The First Time)
I didn’t grow up watching Julia Child on television the way many people of my generation did. My television hours were not inclined toward any aspects of cooking, though we did cook in our home. My mother was a both a restaurant worker and also (for a time) a Girl…
“Culture and Cuisine” and The Origins of ‘Fusion’
“Culture and Cuisine”, Jean-François Revel I purchased this book at a shop on Fleming Street in Key West in mid February of 1988. I was part owner of my first restaurant. It was called “MIRA”. I was also in the middle of a huge amount of culinary self analysis as…
Chopped Steak
When I was about six years of age our paternal grandmother we grandkids all called, “Gra” took me to a fancy restaurant in the city of Chicago. I was excited by the menu. I ordered the Sirloin Steak Haché. I was absolutely crestfallen when what arrived looked like a damn…
Edward Lee’s “Buttermilk Graffiti” in the L.A. Times; A Review by Amy Scattergood
Courtesy: LA Times
To be candid I love Edward Lee. I came to know him after he came to know me. That happens when there is a generational divide sometimes. But something drew us together and in places like Atlanta, Napa Valley, Orlando, New York City and Miami we have had the chance…