One of my biggest inspirations in the culinary field is chef Alex Guarnaschelli. As a little girl growing up, I did not really see a lot of female chefs on tv, besides Rachael Ray. Watching Alex on Iron Chef really inspired me to go into the culinary field. Then a […]
The Basics of Hot Water Canning
Our world sometimes feels much larger than it once did, and at a time when we can buy produce from half a world away whenever we want it, some traditional methods of food preservation, like canning, may seem like old news. But for many of us, there is a sort […]
Flavoring Homemade Ice Cream
As the summer settles in, there is no greater joy than a scoop of ice cream on a hot day. No matter your favorite flavor, from simple vanilla to the rockiest rocky road, an ice cream cone is the ultimate way to treat yourself. Near our San Antonio campus, where […]
Tasting (and Enjoying!) Wine
Even if you’re exploring wine for the first time, we encourage you to develop the “mental habit” of tasting wine. Not that every sip of wine that enters your mouth has to be analyzed and commented on, but you will collect lots of data if you take a few minutes […]
Introduction to South African Wines
South Africa is a land of contrasts, especially within the hundred miles from the east, south, and west coastlines that define this wine land. It is situated at a crossroads of climatic and cultural influences that have helped to define South African history and its wines. Climatically, both the Atlantic […]
Melina Hammer: Nature, Nurture, Nourishment
Like many of us, Melina Hammer came to New York City, blinded by the city of dreams’ lights, energy, and glamour. The former metal smith went to the city and carved out a place for herself in the publishing industry with grit and determination. When digital media was accelerating the […]
Velvety Roasted Eggplant
For some veggies, we use the phrase roasting as a general term for cooking a vegetable whole to get after the tender flesh, like peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant. For eggplant, we scoop the velvety cooked flesh from the skin of the eggplant. This can be done in the oven (actual […]
Try Hibiscus Soda for a Sparkling Summer
It feels like La Croix has somehow become more popular than beer. And while it seems to be available everywhere you go, those of us participating in the great seltzer resurgence of 2019 are from time to time faced with beverages without bubbles. But you don’t have to be part of […]
When Chefs Write
Grading student journals and project assignments isn’t a favorite pastime, but if you are the adjunct instructor of College Writing at The Culinary Institute of America, ya gotta. More correctly stated, I gotta. The semester usually starts with the same complaints: You want me to read HOW MANY PAGES? I […]
All About Caviar
Caviar is the salted roe of fish, traditionally sturgeon, which is prized for its briny delicate flavor. Due to overfishing, politics, and pollution, the supplies have dwindled and the price has increased, leading to a flood of alternative varieties from many sources. The delicate berries of true caviar come from […]
A Taste of Slovenia, a True Foodie Destination
Any country that is shaped like a running chicken must be a great destination for food enthusiasts. Slovenia, with a rich and complicated past—often in the shadow of powerful empires—along with its dramatically varied geography and climatic patterns, makes it a great study for food historians. My area of research […]
All About Ice Cream
Churned frozen desserts like ice cream, sherbet, and sorbet get their soft, spoonable texture from being stirred with a paddle (known as a dasher) while they are cooled to below the freezing point in an ice-cream maker. The stirring action ensures that the ice crystals remain tiny and introduces enough […]