March, 2010 Archive

Greek Easter Bread

The donkey stopped on the path in front of us and refused to go another step. A tiny woman wearing black clothes and a grey shawl smacked his rump. ‘Ela, eLA,’ she cried as the donkey turned to look at her with doleful eyes. She eyed us with resignation and began with gnarled fingers to […]

Dyeing Red Eggs

While Chinese parents give out red eggs to wish a newborn good luck, Greek families use red eggs at Easter in a special bread, which is how I encountered them some 20 years ago.

Back then, I successfully boiled fresh white eggs with water, food coloring and vinegar to turn out eggs with a deep […]

French Flambé Pizza: Onion, Prosciutto and Comte with Cream Sauce

‘I don’t want to go bowling!’ My son stamped his foot.

‘When you’re in France,’ I said in my best, all-knowing fatherly voice, ‘you do what French people do.’ I ruffled his hair and he pulled away.

‘But bowling?’ he howled. ‘Who goes to France to go bowling?’

Well, I guess he had a point. […]

British Brown Baps

I was playing with some different bread dough last week that led me down an English lane – metaphorically speaking, that is. The almond flour I added to my dough had produced a loaf that was dark on the outside, light on the inside, and with a nuttiness that put me in mind of the […]

Shitake Mushroom and Cambozola Pizza with Caramelized Onions

A friend who once owned a cheese shop told me the Cambozola story. That blue cheese with brie was a winning combination had been well known in cheese circles for years, but the French refused to adulterate their Camembert with blue cheese and the Italians didn’t want to tone down their gorgonzola. In 1970, a […]

Cozze Ripieni (Ligurian Stuffed Mussels)

Our green door with its dodgy lock opened onto a path with cobbles worn smooth by bathers going down to the sea. Mornings, we made the hike down to claim our Ligurian beachfront with colored towels and plastic buckets. Later, when the air had cooled, we made our way up the path to join the […]

Tanzanian Safari Bread

The smoke of a thousand distant fires greets us at Kilimanjaro Airport. A tangled sleep punctuated by weird animal calls in the night is broken by the scampering of monkeys on the roof above our heads. The families gather for breakfast: eggs done several ways, bacon, cereal, fresh fruit, coffee. Any fears my kids had […]

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