Building a Better Pie Crust
For most of us, a pie is just a pie. But for baking aficionados, creating the ultimate flaky yet fruity concoction is a sacred mission and pastry expert Shuna Fish Lydon is the Dalai Lama. At a pie crust seminar, PJM's food writer Nancy Rommelman gobbled up her pearls (crumbs?) of wisdom.
Garlic: The Good, the Bad, and the Pesto
Nearly everyone loves garlic, even if we don't love kissing someone who just has just enjoyed it. After studying up in the Farmer's Market, PJM food writer Nancy Rommelmann knows all there is to know about the "stinking rose."
Home Cooking
PJM's food writer Nancy Rommelmann ponders the phenomenon of "Mom food" - the dish that mothers enthusiastically prepare for grown offspring when they come back home for a visit, insisting it's their favorite dish. No matter how many times you tell her that your palate has evolved since age six, she still refuses to believe.
Tales from the Coffee Crypt
In which the immutable rules of "coffee cupping" are learned in an ancient and overcaffeinated ritual.
By Nancy Rommelmann
Red, White, Or Sprite?
Good nose ... exquisite raspberry bouquet ... a taste of licorice with kumquat finishing notes ... Is it wine? No, it's soda. PJM's culinary correspondent Nancy Rommelman has the inside dope - or is it pop - on this latest foodie fad.
by Nancy Rommelmann
Addicted to Sushi
This presentation thing with Sushi is getting out of hand.
by Nancy Rommelmann
"When was your first time?" asks Lizzy, looking not at me, or at the menu at the sushi bar in downtown Portland, but at what was in the display case behind the counter. Before I can answer, she is speaking to the sushi chef, in Japanese.
Stalking Wild Truffles in Oregon
Jack Czarnecki, Professional Truffle Hunter
Very scarce, really expensive, hidden under the muddy floor of the forest.... and delicious. What's not to like about truffles?
by Nancy Rommelmann
Wake Up and Smell the Medium Roast
In which "Arabica" trumps "Robusta." You might think that dark-roasted espresso is the sine qua non of coffee. In reality, everything subtle about the coffee in it has been burned to the ground. Here's why.
By Nancy Rommelmann
Salts of the Earth
Whereas I used to have two salts - table and kosher - in my pantry, I now have six, and counting.
by Nancy Rommelmann
Mario! Mario!
If you should "never trust a thin chef," Mario Batali's new line of industrial strength cookware will give you trust by the trainload. How can you resist? Your eyelids are getting heavy.... heavy....
by Nancy Rommelmann
With special bonus video features.
Bites Between Bytes
Cooking lemongrass beef tossed with pan-fried noodles; falafel stuffed into house-made naan; eighteen fresh toppings for rolled-to-order burritos and more for 5,700 people a day. "Here or to-go?"
by Nancy Rommelmann
Critiquing the Critics: The Bad $200 Beef Platter vs. the $40,000 NYT Ad
"Whenever there's a suit of armor at the head of my table,... or a waiter who blindfolds me in order that I can 'better experience the brûlée,' the meal is pretty much guaranteed to stink."
by Nancy Rommelmann
Tofurky and Quorn and Sauerkraut Oh My
-- or-- "A Teen-Age Vegan In the House"
The dreaded tofu pig's head
by Nancy Rommelmann




Not all Gins are created equal. Until after the fourth martini....
By Nancy Rommelmann