From SAVEUR Issue #156
One of the most amazing things I've ever eaten was at a potluck lunch. I was all of 19, an American traveler on my first visit to Indonesia, and the dish proved life changing. It was beef rendang, a specialty of West Sumatra, an Indonesian province with a celebrated cuisine, and it helped seal my fate as a person whose life's work would revolve around cooking and eating. Keep reading »
Credit: James Oseland
Commonly used in Asian cooking, fragrant lemongrass brings its bright citrus and herbal notes to everything from soups and marinades to salads and desserts. Here are our 16 favorite recipes with lemongrass, from classic hot and sour Thai soup to a sweet lemongrass syrup. See the collection »
From SAVEUR Issue #156
Growing up in Germany, I looked forward to the spring spargel harvest. That's when delicate stalks of the white asparagus that grows throughout western Europe (and gets its ghostly pallor from a covering of dirt that prevents photosynthesis) would turn up everywhere from roadside stands to restaurants. Keep reading »
Credit: Todd Coleman
From SAVEUR Issue #156
Generally, you don't see much Farsi in Pittsburgh. So the façade that marks the takeout restaurant Conflict Kitchen—candy-colored, kaleidoscopic, emblazoned in foreign script—seems like a portal to another land. And, in a way, it is. Every six months the three-year-old restaurant, located in the city's Oakland neighborhood, regenerates itself to highlight a delicious sandwich or dish from a country with which the United States happens to be in conflict. The current outpost, Kubideh Kitchen, serves a tender Iranian spiced beef sandwich, while previous iterations explored Afghanistan (bolani, turnovers with pumpkin filling) and Cuba (mojo-marinated roast pork), and Keep reading »
From country ham biscuits to deviled eggs and crispy fried chicken livers, this party menu of Southern finger foods will take you through this year's Kentucky Derby, start to finish. See the menu »
Credit: André Baranowski/Christopher Hirsheimer/Todd Coleman
Curry powder and cilantro add zest to classic white wine-steamed mussels in this recipe adapted from The River Cottage Fish Book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Nick Fisher (Ten Speed Press, 2011). See the recipe »
Credit: Todd Coleman
Scratch a poet, find a gourmand. Every aspect of gastronomy, from planting to harvest to cooking to eating, has inspired poets for centuries; poets are sensualists, and these are among life's most sensual experiences.
Like much gastronomical writing, poetry about food is often about something else: memory, sex, joy, love, shame, longing, loss. The simple detail of food can concentrate the emotion in a poem, like the couple cooking for themselves alone in William Matthews' Misgivings. A food reference can quicken our most primitive emotions: Keats's stanza-long description of wine, "Tasting of Flora and the country-green, / Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth!/" makes longing palpable.
I first discovered the food-poetry alliance as a girl poring over my mother's 1948 Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook with rhymes as mnemonics for the inexperienced housewife. "See what results if the oven's too hot / decreased volume and over-brown top" accompanies a picture of failed homemade bread. I've been collecting food poems ever since. Keep reading »
I stood in the doorway of my hotel room, transfixed by the view. The lights in the room were dimmed, and through a wall of windows I could see all of Beijing spread out below me, glittering with lights.
To be honest, I've never really understood the allure of the "tallest" and "highest." Many hotels around the world boast rooms in the tallest building in any given place, advertising their bars and restaurants as the "highest in the city." But at most hotels, all that means is that patrons will be able to look down at the roofs of the second tallest buildings just a few stories below them. The China World Summit Wing in Beijing, however, it not just located at the top of the tallest building in Beijing; it's in a building tall enough to dwarf everything around it. Sitting in one of the deep blue velvet chairs in my room, I felt like I was in a luxurious nest at the top of the world.Read the full review and area guide »
Credit: Courtesy Shangri-La Group
April's recipes truly spanned the globe—from New Orleans barbecued shrimp to stewed chicken from Kenya and a tangy Greek salad, here are our 12 most tweeted, shared, liked, and pinned recipes from the month. See the gallery »
Credit: Todd Coleman
With all the cooking that goes on every day in the SAVEUR test kitchen, our tools can take some serious beatings. While we have many cherished treasures, our recent obsession is the ultimate spatula by Get It Right (GIR). A smooth single piece of molded silicone with a strong yet flexible blade, this spatula makes it easy to maneuver all types of food. We use to whip up batters, stir risottos, mix dry ingredients and more. Made of eco-friendly, non-toxic material, the spatula is heat resistant up to 464ºF. It's super easy to clean and dishwasher safe. The hardest decision to make is choosing from eleven dazzling colors.
GIR Spatula, $22.50 at productofgir.com
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