As many of you know, I love Chinese food and am always looking for good expressions of it. Originally, when I came to Sarasota the graciousness and outpouring of good will of the residents convinced me that I should move here; however, when I asked about a good Chinese restaurant...

As I wander through the grocery store, immersing myself in the complex challenges of one ply or two, I am sometimes struck by food non-sequitors. Here are four questions that I couldn't get out of my mind, and the answers to my random food thoughts. Enjoy!

THE QUESTIONS
I'm...

Extra virgin olive oils have been mentioned a lot in the news lately, and Giuliano and I are often asked, "How do you choose an olive oil"? Which ones do you like best? What does "extra" mean? Unless you are Madonna,...

Acres of perfectly ripe produce line the aisles of almost every American grocery store. My children and I often concentrate on finding the most delectable looking bright red tomatoes, or the most beautifully colored and sweetest smelling oranges. Although we may be looking at the organic section, and we are...

The weather has been unseasonably "yucky" for those of us...

I just finished Colman Andrew's eminently readable new book Ferran about Ferran Adria and his restaurant El Bulli. While reading it I was reminded of the Lilly Tomlin skit in her play The Search for Signs of Intelligent...

One of the benefits of being the daughter-in-law of Victor and Marcella Hazan is that while at their table I have been exposed to an amazing variety of fabulous wines and exotic foods. Although Marcella continues to cook every day and...

It's NOT fruitcake. Or at least that was what I was told when I was first offered a slice of Panettone. I must admit to not being overly fond of fruitcake. My earliest memories are of a rocklike substance covered in foil that a friend of the family...

I've always been curious about the differences in flavor between factory farm, cage-free, pasteurized and free-range eggs.

An egg is a perfect conveyor of flavor. According to the United Egg Producers association (UEP), it is more what chickens are fed, rather than how they live,...