For a long time, when I thought of Spain, Extremadura came to mind. Not the fertile fields of Al-Andalus or the craggy green mountains of Catalonia. Extremadura’s vast barrenness revealed a deep truth to me when I first saw it. I’d studied it, as well the lives of the conquistadores from Extremadura, the ones who’d … More The Rice in Spain, Not So Easy to Explain
Like most of you (I hope), I have been cooking from Julie Sahni’s cookbooks for years. I learned to feel utterly confident that Ms. Sahni’s recipes really work and come close to what people from India know about good food. One weekend my husband’s office held a pot-luck at a colleague’s house. Feeling assured that … More Julie Sahni -Talk About Great Indian Food!
[A photograph, and nothing more, for silent contemplation. See also “India Asks, Should Food be a Right for the Poor?”]
Once used as money instead of gold in Don Quixote’s Spain, saffron costs upwards of $1000 US per pound. Indeed, the world’s costliest spice. Most likely you will not have ever seen saffron for sale in your local grocery’s spice department. Knowledgeable customers ask the store managers for it; they keep it behind the counter, … More Saffron: The Gold We Eat
Learn to Make Risotto with Biba Caggiano:
When I got home from the grocery store the other day and turned on the computer to read my Google Reader news feeds, several “food-is-getting-expensive” articles popped up: Web wire with “Rising Food Prices—Gather Your Family Back Around The Dinner Table,” about Martha’s Vineyard restaurateur Carol McManus’s new cookbook, Table Talk: Food. Family. Love. A … More Home Cooking, More Necessary Than Ever
CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN 
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