Hungry Travelers - Page 15 of 82 - Bringing the tastes of travel back home

Cooking for colder weather with America’s Test Kitchen

Posted on November 28, 2021November 27, 2021 by Pat and David

One byproduct of running a print magazine, web site, and television show is that the folks at America's Test Kitchen develop a tremendous number of recipes. One of their latest compendiums is The Complete Autumn & Winter Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen (2021, $34.99). We're happy to have it handy as the mercury plunges. We're also glad that the proprietors are not in the least chauvinistic about their name. The recipes in this volume span the globe, and many of them remind of us of meals we've eaten overseas. That might be the Greek beef stew, stifado, the intensely flavored Moroccan soup of lentils and tomatoes known as harira, or a lovely plate of porchetta made as it's done in Rome. Cooking from one of...Read More

Why we miss Paris—and what to do about it

Posted on November 21, 2021November 20, 2021 by Pat and David

Two new cookbooks from Flammarion just might be the next best thing to being in Paris. We were last there in early February 2020. We cherish those last few days in the City of Light as the waning hours of our pre-pandemic innocence. Those poor Chinese people, we thought as we watched BBC's reporting from Wuhan. Poor world, we think now. There was no way we could fill our luggage with croissants, gateaux, baguettes, éclairs, and all the other delectables of French bread and pastry making. If only. Our photos remind us how ubiquitous great breads and pastries are in Paris. Getting chilled stalking the winter streets during the end of the Paris sales? The obvious solution is to pop into a cafe for a...Read More

Sophisticated plates pair with Goslings Rum cocktails

Posted on November 18, 2021November 17, 2021 by Pat and David

Located in the tiny downtown of Milford, New Hampshire, Greenleaf (bar above) is proof positive that farm-to-table fine dining can coexist in a region where pasta and cheese-intensive Greek and Italian restaurants otherwise rule. Chef Chris Viaud grew up in nearby Londonderry, studied at Johnson and Wales, and cut his teeth as part of the crew in Boston's modern French dining room, Deuxave (deuxave.com). Drawing on a slew of excellent local producers, Viaud normally serves an inventive and artfully articulated menu based on seasonal produce, meat, and fish. But the Goslings Rum Dinner was even a step above, as three of Viaud's fellow alumni from Top Chef Season 18 joined him in crafting a menu that would also showcase the many faces of Goslings Rum....Read More

From Bermuda with love, Goslings Rum

Posted on November 9, 2021November 9, 2021 by Pat and David

‶I'm from Bermuda,″ Malcolm Gosling explained to the dinner audience at Greenleaf, a seasonally inspired farm-to-table restaurant in Milford, N.H. ‶So that explains why I'm wearing shorts in November in New Hampshire.″ The Sunday night crowd tittered. Owned by executive chef Chris Viaud, Greenleaf (54 Nashua St., Milford, N.H.; 603-213-5447; greenleafmilford.com) usually opens for dinner Wednesday through Saturday. But this Sunday night special was a reunion of Viaud and three of his former fellow Top Chef Season 18 contestants. Sponsored by Goslings Rum, the dinner benefited the food pantry and soup kitchen in nearby Nashua, N.H. Shown above holding the microphone, Viaud was joined by (from left) Jamie Tran of Black Sheep in Las Vegas, Nelson German of alaMar Kitchen & Bar in Oakland, and...Read More

Istria’s full-immersion lager beer experience

Posted on October 22, 2021October 20, 2021 by Pat and David

Halfway through Saturday afternoons when David was growing up, his classical musician father often betrayed his Appalachian country boy roots by launching into a spirited rendition of ‶Rye Whiskey.″ He was particularly fond of the verse (as sung in Louisa, Kentucky at the source of the Big Sandy river) that referenced some of the local wildlife. ‶If the river was whiskey and I was a duck,″ the tune went, ‶I'd dive to the bottom and drink myself up.″ That memory came flooding back when we booked a stay at the San Servolo Resort & Beer Spa in Buje, Croatia, just south of the Slovenian border. We went directly from the truffle fair, with a stopover in the picturesque fortified mountain village of Grožnjan, known since...Read More

Reviving Istria’s ancient winemaking tradition

Posted on October 15, 2021October 13, 2021 by Pat and David

Greek traders brought wine grapes to Istria roughly 2,900 years ago, yet quality modern winemaking in the area didn't really start until after the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991. Politics always seemed to get in the way of making premium wines in this crossroads region on the northeast coast of the Adriatic. ‶My grandfather was born in Austria,″ pioneer winemaker Ivica Matošević (pronounced ee VEET sa - ma TOE she vitch) told us. ‶My father was born in Italy and I was born in Yugoslavia. My children were born in Croatia.″ He pauses for effect. ‶And the family has never moved.″ Matošević is one of a handful of visionaries who put Istria on the viticultural map in the 1990s, releasing his first imitation of a...Read More

Pandemic or not, the truffle fair must go on

Posted on October 11, 2021October 11, 2021 by Pat and David

New England agricultural fairs are all about livestock, crafts, and local crops. The highlight is often the weigh-in for the giant pumpkin contest. The prized squash generally tops the scales around a thousand pounds. The chief gastronomic fair of Istria is a little different—and the prize edible rarely weighs even a thousand grams. Taking place over nine weekends from mid-September through mid-November, Zigante Truffle Days (trufflefair.com) in Livade celebrates the overlap of seasons of black and white truffles. Despite the absence of three-legged races and tractor pulls, there's plenty of excitement to go around. With the relaxation of border restrictions as Croatia moves toward becoming a member of Europe's passport-free zone, travelers from across Europe flood into little Livade to sniff and buy truffles—and eat...Read More

Miro Tartufi spreads a luscious Istrian truffle feast

Posted on October 5, 2021October 5, 2021 by Pat and David

Miro Kortiga might do the truffle foraging, but his wife Mirjana Kortiga takes charge of the tables at Miro Tartufi (miro-tarufi.com). She began by plying us with drinks before dinner. One choice was a very sweet honey liqueur. The other was a glass of white wine made from Istria's native grape, Malvazija Istriana, known since the ancient Greeks ruled the region. Mirjana and her staff had already prepared truffle hors d'oeuvres boards at each table. They had spread thin slices of bread with a mushroom spread that included some truffles and a soft creamy cheese with flecks of grated white truffle. They did the trick: All of us on the truffle experience found our mouths watering. The two cheeses with flecks of black truffle in...Read More

Truffle season brings gastronomic joy to Istria

Posted on September 28, 2021September 28, 2021 by Pat and David

From a foodie perspective, Istria is a marvelously complicated place. Every conquering nation that's passed through has left culinary traces behind. Long part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, then a corner of Yugoslavia, these days the region largely belongs to Croatia. It's the thumb-like peninsula that juts down into the Adriatic just south of the currently Italian city of Trieste and a tiny strip of Slovenia. Parts of Istria bleed into Slovenia and over the border into the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Out of tradition and perhaps necessity, people speak a whole basket of languages. But American food lovers need to know just one thing about Istria. Lidia Bastianich hails from Istria, which speaks volumes about the food. Just before the pandemic, we spent...Read More

Putting ‘comfort’ to the test with the last of the harvest

Posted on September 22, 2021September 22, 2021 by Pat and David

The authors of One-Hour Comfort (2021, $29.99), one of a slew of new cookbooks from the Boston culinary juggernaut that is America's Test Kitchen (www.americastestkitchen.com), admit that “comfort food” can be highly personal and idiosyncratic. Some people think of pasta, others of fried chicken, and others of a grilled cheese sandwich. Maybe it's what your parents made when you were sick at home from school. But, as the authors point out, almost everyone can agree that comfort food is “uncomplicated, homey, and totally satisfying.” That can mean anything from ham grits and redeye gravy at breakfast to a big bowl of congee topped with stir-fried pork bits. The “meaty” section has Italian sausage with peppers, onions, tomatoes, and polenta—as well as chicken satay with spicy...Read More