FOOD FUN: Re-Flavor & Re-Shape Your Food

[1] The poke square, a creative version of the poke bowl (photo by Allison Tong for Rooh | Flavor And The Menu). [2] A more traditional poke bowl. Here’s how to customize your own from Kirbie Cravings.   Over the past few years, poke bowls have swept west from Hawaii to the East Coast. Poke…
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FOOD 101: Empanadas, History & National Empanada Day

[1] Latin American empanadas are made in individual portions (photo © Fairway | NYC). [2] Chicken empanadas (photo © Good Eggs). [3] Galician and Portuguese empanadas are made as a whole pie and served in slices (photo © Maria Lunarillos)   April 8th is National Empanada Day. Most Americans know empanadas as fried Latin American…
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Have a Taco Party For Cinco De Mayo Or National Taco Day

At this time of year, we receive nonstop recipes for tequila cocktails in anticipation of Cinco de Mayo, May 5th. Personally, we love Margaritas—plain and flavored with fruit purée. We prefer to focus on other celebratory ideas—like a Taco Party. The renowned master of Mexican cuisine, Chef Rick Bayless tells us that the name for…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Celtuce, Stem Lettuce

It’s a happy day when we discover a new food. We discovered celtuce [photo #1] in our local Chinatown. There are a number of fruits and vegetables in Chinese cuisine that are unfamiliar to non-Chinese Americans. They move slowly into the hands of mainstream American chefs, and then trickle down to home cooks. One of…
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RESTAURANT: Fogo de Chao, Brazilian Churrascaria

Have you been to a churrascaria? Churrascaria (chew-rah-SCAR-ee-ya) is a Portuguese word for barbecue. It’s not the kind of ‘cue cooked in a pit with sauce, but a technique where meat is cooked on a spit over fire. Churrascaria means “fire in the ground” (i.e., campfire), and describes the traditional cooking method used by gauchos…
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