Saveur

Photo: Andre Baranowski

66, 67, 68, 69, 70 More Pots and Pans
The hefty 12-inch LODGE LOGIC CAST IRON SKILLET is one of the most versatile tools a cook can own: we fry in it, we sauté in it, and we use it to sear meats on the stove top before roasting them in the oven. Cast iron gets extremely hot and maintains high, even temperatures, which gives foods the tastiest char. Traditionally, cast-iron pans require seasoning to develop a satiny, nonstick surface; this one comes preseasoned with vegetable oil and is ready to use.

Hardly a day goes by when we don't use a rimmed sheet pan, so we seek out the most durable, sturdiest ones we can find. Our favorite, the half-size LINCOLN FOODSERVICE HEAVY DUTY SHEET PAN, is made from a thick aluminum alloy that won't warp or buckle, even in the hottest oven. It turns out perfectly bronzed cookies and biscuits every time.

The tough, simple, and capacious 12-quart CARLISLE DURA-WARE STOCKPOT has a towering profile, which minimizes evaporation, conserving liquid when you're boiling pasta or preparing soups. Made of professional-grade aluminum, which heats up quickly, this kitchen stalwart has an extra-thick base that conducts heat well and reduces the risk of scorching.

Because glass retains heat more effectively than metal does, it responds better to lower oven temperatures, so it's the best choice for casseroles, brownies, and baked pasta dishes. And because glass is nonporous and nonreactive, it doesn't rust, stain, or impart undesirable flavors to food. The 9-by-13-inch ANCHOR HOCKING GLASS BAKING DISH is the toughest and longest-lasting everyday glass baking vessel we know.

We prize woks for their ability to cook food quickly and evenly over intense heat and also because their broad, semicircular profile allows us to toss and stir ingredients with ease. We rely on the American-made PRECISION WOK; its carbon-steel composition makes it heat up faster than other models we've tried, distributes heat smoothly and evenly, and seasons with age. Its flat bottom is compatible with gas, electric, and glass-topped stoves. (For other great pots and pans, see 30-34.)

71 Keepers of the Flame
When given a choice between grilling with gas and grilling with charcoal or wood, we'll take the latter every time. Sure, you have to wait longer for the heat, but it's always worth it. As we keep telling our gas-grilling friends, it's about more than touching food to flame: those glowing coals of oak or mesquite or even plain black charcoal impart smoky flavors of their own that a gas flame can never deliver. There are plenty of charcoal grills out there—low-riding hibachis, ten-dollar pan grills, tall Brinkman grill-smokers—and we've used them all, even loved a few of them, but, really, we'd always rather build our fires in a WEBER KETTLE GRILL.

Uncovered, this sturdy, bowl-shaped grill, introduced in the 1950s and more or less unchanged since, lets us cook foods like steaks, burgers, fish filets, and vegetables at exactly the right distance from the coals, and the Weber's broad, grated bottom makes it easy to mass the coals off to one side so that we can put our food on the other and cook it gently over indirect heat. When we throw on the domed cover, the Weber transforms into both an oven and a smoker, preventing flare-ups and allowing food to cook slowly and evenly as the coals fade. We get such good results with our Weber that we'll haul it out and build our fire in the dead of winter just to, say, grill a chicken. After nothing more than a rubbing of olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt, we lay the chicken on the steel grate away from the coals, secure the cover, open the vents enough to keep the fire alive, crack open a beer, and let the Weber do its work, cooking the bird in its enameled-steel cocoon until the meat is tender, juicy, and infused with mouthwatering hints of smoke.

The prototype for this midcentury marvel was created in Chicago in 1952, when George Stephen, an engineer at Weber Brothers Metal Works, an outfit that supplied the Chicago Park Service with metal buoys for the city's harbors, concluded that he'd burned one too many roasts in the brick fireplace he'd constructed behind his house. Looking for an outdoor cooking vessel that would allow him to control the flow and intensity of heat more easily, Stephen cut a steel buoy in half, added a few adjustable vents, fitted one half with a rounded lid, welded a handle to it, and set the contraption on a tripod. Intent on convincing the public of his invention's merits, Stephen loaded the grill into his station wagon and went on the road to spread the Weber gospel.

"It's the story of the American entrepreneurial mind's thinking, 'I can do better,'" said Stephen's son, Jim Stephen, CEO of Weber-Stephen Products, the Palatine, Illinois–based company that his late father went on to found. The company has since expanded its line, adding fancier—and, in some cases, fanciful—models of both the charcoal and gas varieties, but we've never seen much need to change such a near-perfect invention.

73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82 American Bounty
We live in a golden age of food shopping. In addition to the countless small specialty food shops that satisfy our yearning for choice and quality, supermarkets—those American icons of abundance—are better than ever. The best, we think, are independently owned or belong to small chains that are deeply rooted in their communities. Here are ten of our favorites.

BERKELEY BOWL Berkeley, California If the produce department at Berkeley Bowl isn't the nation's largest, then it's certainly the best. The selection of heirloom tomato varieties alone—50 to 80 on a typical day—makes this Bay Area market worth traveling for. Owner Glenn Yasuda, the son of the farmers who opened Berkeley Bowl in 1977, moved the store to a larger location in 1999 and made its other departments—wine, bulk goods, breads—as impressive as the produce.

BRIGHTON BAZAAR Brooklyn, New York With an in-house bakery, a frozen-food section packed with pierogi and pel'meni (dumplings), and a deli stocked with dozens of types of sausage and smoked fish, the six-year-old Brighton Bazaar could be called the nation's high temple of Eastern European home cooking. Located in Brighton Beach, home to the country's largest population of Russian-born residents, this supermarket also boasts a kaleidoscopic array of prepared foods.

JUNGLE JIM'S INTERNATIONAL MARKET Fairfield, Ohio Jim Bonaminio, who started Jungle Jim's in 1971 from the back of a truck he drove from neighborhood to neighborhood around Cincinnati, has built his business into a 300,000-square-foot culinary theme park complete with a fish farm and a full-service butcher counter that offers just about every meat imaginable, including lambs' and cows' heads and kangaroo. Vast sections of the store are dedicated to Latin American, Indian, Philippine, and kosher goods.

MI PUEBLO San Jose, California The first Mi Pueblo supermarket opened in the shell of an old meat market in San Jose in 1991; owner Juvenal Chavez now runs 11 California branches that sell everything a Latin American food lover might crave. At his newest and largest San Jose store, for example, you can choose from several cremas (similar to French crème fraîche), each reflecting a different regional style; buy fresh chickpeas; and dine in the café on outstanding carnitas (roasted pork) tacos and half a dozen kinds of aguas frescas (fresh-fruit drinks).

MT SUPERMARKET Austin, Texas In 2006, with the opening of Austin's Chinatown Center mall, the Ly family transformed its 22-year-old My Thanh Oriental Market into the 55,000-square-foot MT Supermarket. With dozens of varieties of Asian greens and ultrafresh (as in alive) seafood, MT's expanded offerings reflect the diverse cuisines of the city's growing Vietnamese, Indonesian, Chinese, and other Asian communities.

PHOENICIA SPECIALTY FOODS Houston, Texas The Lebanese émigré Zohrab Tcholakian opened Phoenicia Deli in 1983 and a small grocery store offering products imported from the Middle East in 1992. Three years ago Tcholakian expanded the store to make it a football field–size supermarket (the deli, justly famous for its shawarma sandwiches, remains open across the street). Persian cucumbers? Check. Twenty-foot olive bar? Check. Fresh dates and green almonds? Greek, French, Bulgarian, Romanian, and domestic feta? Fresh-baked pita, lavash, and barbari? It's all here.

POMEGRANATE Brooklyn, New York They've got house-made mozzarella, hand-stuffed olives, prime rib dry-aged on-site, and a whole freezer devoted to gefilte fish. Pomegranate is, after all, one of the largest kosher supermarkets in the United States. Newly opened in the heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Midwood, Brooklyn, it's destination shopping for the observant as well as for those who simply insist on high-quality ingredients, whether matzo meal or organic yellow carrots.

SEDANO'S Miami, Florida A trusted source for Cuban products since 1962, Sedano's, now the country's largest independently owned Latino supermarket chain, is reaching out to second-generation Latinos and to a broader range of cultures with bigger, brighter new or remodeled locations selling everything from Andean purple corn flour to Colombian papas criollas (potatoes in brine). The stores inspire fierce loyalty with their impressive meat selection, including custom cuts and whole pigs, cooked and uncooked.

UWAJIMAYA Seattle, Washington What began in 1928 as a small business selling fish cakes out of a truck now sells more than 20,000 Asian products, from fresh and dried noodles to fish and chile sauces, in its sprawling flagship store. Offerings like made-to-order sashimi platters, brown rice California rolls, produce grown on nearby farms, and Wagyu beef reflect a very particular convergence of global and local foodways.

THE WEDGE Minneapolis, Minnesota In the age of Whole Foods, how does a 1970s-era, member-owned food co-op survive? It so happens that The Wedge boasts higher sales per square foot than most mainstream supermarkets, and it's no wonder: the selection and quality of the products is extraordinary, and with its busy schedule of classes it functions as a culinary community center. The Wedge also offers online shopping for some products, fosters deep relationships with local growers through its distribution arm, and even sells produce grown on its own organic farm.

83 Pride of the Pantry
From ratatouille to chicken tikka masala, beef bourguignon to steak pizzaiola, tomatoes play an integral part in many dishes we love. But prime tomato season is short, way too short. That's why we rely on—and, often, actually prefer—WHOLE CANNED TOMATOES. These pantry staples, a bulwark against winter blandness, are the epitome of year-round dependability and deliciousness.
We're not talking about the machine-diced ones, which lack succulence and substance, or canned tomato purée, which too often tastes insipid. We crave whole, peeled canned beauties, plump and firm and picked at the peak of ripeness. We love that they're ready to use—no blanching or peeling required. Need a quick pasta sauce? Pull a few tomatoes out of the can and crush them in your hand, letting the pulp slide through your fingers into the pan. Fancy a quick, tasty curry? Caramelize a few crushed whole tomatoes in clarified butter or oil along with whole spices, garlic, ginger, and meat. On nights when we're in need of comfort, fast, it's calming to know that with one whirl in the blender or the Cuisinart, we can have the start of a thick, fresh tomato soup. We add black pepper, lemon juice, and Tabasco to the juice of canned tomatoes for a bracing morning drink, or splash in some smoky oloroso sherry for an afternoon alternative.

Our supermarket shelves are lined with 28-ounce and 32-ounce cans of whole tomatoes packed by producers using different varieties of the fruit and various canning methods. Some of the tomatoes are round globe tomatoes; some are oval plum varieties. Some are as big as a fist; others are petite and cherrylike. We've met many cooks who swear by the Italian san marzano, a supersweet variety of plum tomato grown mainly in the volcanic soils around Mount Vesuvius, and others who prefer the vibrant, intensely flavorful organic tomatoes grown in California's Central Valley and canned by Muir Glen (we're particularly fond of its smoky-tasting fire-roasted variety). We've always had a special affection for Red Pack tomatoes, whose oversize, firm fruit can be sliced neatly and mingles delightfully with mayonnaise and iceberg lettuce for a one-of-a-kind BLT sandwich. Personal predilections and cravings aside, one thing remains beyond debate: no matter the brand, at their best canned tomatoes have a sunny essence that sparkles on its own.

84 SOULFUL SUPPER
One-pot rice dishes can be remarkably adaptable and easy to cook. Our favorite is PERLOO, from the Lowcountry of South Carolina, a cousin of jambalaya that traces its origins to the family of Middle Eastern dishes known as pilafs. Like other rice-based specialties, such as arroz con pollo and biriyani, perloo can be made with a wide range of ingredients, in this case country ham and shrimp.

85 DEEP SPICE
Intensely seasoned curry pastes are the fulcrum of countless Thai dishes, from chicken curries enriched with coconut milk to fried rice and soups. One of the most flavorful and versatile versions is gaeng pet, or THAI RED CURRY PASTE, a vivid-tasting blend of toasted spices, such as coriander and cumin, that are traditionally mashed in a mortar with garlic, shallots, cilantro, lemongrass, and chiles. Although store-bought brands have their merits, nothing beats the fresh, homemade version. With a stash of Thai red curry paste in the refrigerator, we're reminded that its uses are multiple and in no way limited to Southeast Asian applications. We slather it over chicken wings or fish filets before grilling or broiling them, mix it with oil and rice wine vinegar to make a marinade for steak, and spike mayo with it to add verve to sandwiches. We've even been known to stir it into Western-style meat stews and ragùs, to add a complex note of fire and spice.

86 Performance Artist
To watch SAMUEL LLOYD KINSEY cook is to marvel at the fact that he has never worked in a professional kitchen. "I learned from my friends and family," said the New York City–based opera singer. And yet, Kinsey's home cooking is anything but amateur; his style is energetic, creative, and informed by tricks of the trade. His batterie de cuisine includes pieces of blue slate borrowed from a friend's backyard ("It's better than a baking stone for pizzas") and a restaurant-quality vacuum-packaging system, which he uses to seal meats in plastic for sous-vide cooking, the much ballyhooed restaurant technique. Kinsey is fanatical about ingredients, too. "A friend brought back this mullet bottarga from Sicily," he said of a hunk of preserved fish roe, which he shaved atop plates of spaghetti tossed with a sauce of caramelized fennel, tomatoes, and hot chiles—just one of the six courses (among the others was a lasagne with a ragù of chicken hearts, gizzards, and livers) he prepared recently for a pasta-themed dinner. It all made for a soaring kitchen aria.

87 Best Bottles
We've always appreciated the way the right drink complements a meal, but we're fascinated with how COOKING WITH WINE, BEER, AND SPIRITS transforms foods by introducing new flavors and enhancing the ones already there. Here are the bottles we cook with the most.

Domaine de la Pépière 2005 Muscadet White wine boosts the sweetness and acidity of dishes. We love this crisp, unoaked muscadet from the Loire Valley, which adds hints of lime, flint, and herbs to poached salmon, risotto, or steamed mussels .

Charles Shaw 2005 Merlot An all-purpose red cooking wine, whether used for a pan sauce or marinade, should be well balanced, lightly oaked, and affordable. This one, bottled for the Trader Joe's chain and dubbed "Two Buck Chuck", hits all those notes.

Anchor Porter Beer supplies a rich and zesty backbone to many dishes, from boiled bratwurst to beef stew. We love this dark porter from San Francisco for the chocolate, molasses, clove, and coffee notes it adds to marinades, chilis, and braised short ribs.

Bodegas Dios Baco Amontillado Sherry Fortified wines, from port to madeira, round out intensely flavored dishes and add depth to mild ones. This barrel-aged sherry lends flavors of vanilla, oak, and butterscotch to baked beans, pan sauces, and sautéed mushrooms.

Pernod Infused with licorice, star anise, and other aromatics, this sweet liqueur behaves a bit like an extract—a pure expression of flavor. A dash of it in marinades, dressings, and seafood dishes, like bouillabaisse, the classic French stew, imparts a lovely fragrance.

88 In Her Element
When MEI TECK WONG, a 64-year-old housewife living in Singapore, prepared dinner for us recently, we witnessed a natural, intuitive kind of home cooking that was far from the showy antics we've become accustomed to watching on television food shows and seeing in restaurants the world over. As Wong pulled from her refrigerator a bulb of garlic, a bunch of crisp Asian greens called choy sum, and a nub of ginger, the conversation flowed so easily in the kitchen that we were surprised at how quickly our meal appeared before us. The food (sliced pork tenderloin stir-fried with ginger and served with the choy sum) was of a purity and simplicity that made the ingredients shine. It reminded us of why we love Singaporean cooking so much—and why we love to cook in the first place.

89 Cook's Library
A vegetable reference guide is important in today's kitchen for explicating the ever growing, ever more worldly array of produce that is available at groceries and farmers' markets. Elizabeth Schneider's illustrated encyclopedia VEGETABLES FROM AMARANTH TO ZUCCHINI (William Morrow, 2001) is that and much more. Schneider covers vegetables from dozens of families, from broccoli and squash to avocado and eggplant, providing not only historical and culinary reference information but also vivid color photographs showing vegetables presented side by side and, in many cases, sliced open to reveal the grain and color of their flesh. The photos are accompanied by wonderful descriptions of the ingredients' taste and texture, and the book's 500-plus recipes, for dishes like radicchio risotto, silky cardoon soup, and plantain and pork fried rice, are not only reliable but expertly chosen to demonstrate the characteristics of all these vegetables in their raw and cooked states.— Nach Waxman
owner of the Kitchen Arts & Letters bookstore in New York City

90 Winter Warmer
The hearty, meat-studded dish from southwestern France known as CASSOULET may be the ultimate one-pot meal. A slow-simmered mix of beans, pork sausages, pork shoulder, pancetta, and duck, the specialty takes its name from the earthenware cassole in which it was traditionally made. The crisped bread crumb crust atop this version contrasts appealingly with the hearty stew beneath.

91 Raising the Bar
As far as we're concerned, the ability to make an elegant, well-balanced cocktail is an essential component of the home cook's repertoire. Here are four time-honored bartender's techniques that will serve the home mixologist well.

The flame: Applying fire to citrus oils enhances their flavor and adds toasty caramel notes to whiskey- and gin-based cocktails like the rob roy and the tuxedo. Cut a thick, 1" circle of rind from a fresh orange. Light a match and hold it above the glass; grip the piece of rind by the edges, hold it skin side down above and to the side of the match, and sharply pinch the peel. This will send a spray of oil through the flame and onto the surface of the drink.

The stir : Clear drinks like martinis and manhattans should be stirred, not shaken (which causes bubbles and froth to form). The key is to stir long enough for the ice to chill the ingredients thoroughly (the glass should feel very cold) without watering it down—a full 30 seconds isn't too long. Grip a bar spoon lightly near the top of its shaft and, moving only your wrist, gently but firmly swirl the spoon around.

The crush: Cracking ice cubes into jagged pieces increases their surface area, allowing them to melt faster and mellow the alcohol's bite while also making the drink easier to stir. The most efficient—and dramatic—way to crack ice is to place the cubes in a sturdy canvas bag and whack them a few times with a mallet.

The shake: As a general rule, cocktails that contain heavy ingredients like eggs, dairy products, fruit juices, or cream liquors should be shaken so that you get a lovely froth with a minimum of effort. Most bartenders do so using a Boston shaker: a pint glass topped with a metal tin. Fit the tin over the glass and give it a tap to seat it firmly. Holding the shaker and glass, shake them vigorously end to end for ten seconds. Give the glass a thump with the heel of your hand to break the seal before removing it.

94,95,96,97,98 99 Vinegar
Acidity—the cardinal quality of vinegar—is as vital as saltiness and sweetness are to the flavor balance of foods. A good vinegar imparts other important qualities, too, such as fruitiness, depth, and fragrance. We make sure we have at least half a dozen to choose from; below are our six favorites.

Rich, assertive malt vinegar is a classic ingredient in pickles as well as in Indian vindaloos. The English, who wouldn't eat fish-and- chips without it, swear by SARSON'S MALT VINEGAR, and so do we.

TRADITIONAL ACETO BALSAMICO OF MONTICELLO is a rich, woody balsamic vinegar from New Mexico that is aged in oak for eight years. It's extremely pricey but worth the splurge.

Unfiltered, unpasteurized, and fermented in French oak for more than two years, VERGER PIERRE GINGRAS NATURAL HANDCRAFTED CIDER VINEGAR, from Quebec, brings true apple flavor to dressings, glazes, and chutneys. It's the finest cider vinegar we've tried.

With its bright tanginess, coconut vinegar adds zest to ceviches and other marinated seafood dishes. Our favorite, DATU PUTI COCONUT VINEGAR, from the Philippines, also works well in vinaigrettes.

Austrian-made GEGENBAUER TOMATO VINEGAR begins as pure tomato juice and is fermented and aged like a fine wine; it has the concentrated flavor of a luscious ripe tomato. We use it to bolster tomato salsas and drizzle it over salads.

Zhejiang, on the eastern coast of China, is famous for its black rice vinegars, including GOLD PLUM CHINKIANG VINEGAR. Traditionally used as a dipping sauce, Gold Plum has a meaty, sweet-savory character that makes it a natural for braises and a terrific substitute for balsamic.

100 Feeding the Firemen
"You'll never starve at a firehouse," says JOHN MCFARLAND, 62, chief of the Arcata Fire Protection District in Humboldt County, California. McFarland has become an expert at adapting home-style recipes to satisfy the dozen or so firefighters who sit down to the department's communal dinners on any given night. We admire the love and care McFarland puts into his cooking, which brings his ad hoc family flocking to the table again and again. An all-time favorite is his chicken enchilada casserole, topped with a bubbling jack-and-cheddar crust and green chiles and usually served with a big tossed salad and strawberry lemonade. Another is his pineapple upside-down cake, a dish he learned to make from the previous chief, who was active in the department until the age of 93. McFarland's rendition of the dessert has garnered praise even from the department's old-timers. McFarland insists that there's no big secret to firehouse cooking: you just make good food, and plenty of it.