Is it 'irony'? If not, what else would you call it? How else would you explain this disparity, the perception of the Mediterranean basin as the cradle of simple, fresh, quickly-prepared foods, when, for the last 12,000 years or so it's to the long-simmered brown foods that nearly all of us owe
Read MoreI can't think of any other wine that represents such a polemic. Can you? You can almost predict what folks will think and say about it, just by reading their bank statements or passport stamps, assuming that they'd let you read those sorts of things. But I think there are really only
Read MoreNext time you hear one of his solos, sit and really listen. I mean really listen. I'm not the first to say this, but the solos of Louis Armstrong are famously appreciated for being reduced to their absolute essence. There is no flab, nothing that can be trimmed away without leaving
Read MoreEveryone has that one dessert, the thing you pull out of the air when there is nothing in the house. I shouldn't tell you this (please, let's keep this between us), but la granita di caffè is that dessert for me. I bang one out a least a few times
Read MoreNorway lobsters is what the books call them. The English call them Dublin Bay Prawns. The French call them Langoustines. The Spanish who go nuts for the things, buying up up to half of England's catch, call them cigalas. Visit friends in Spain and you'll be offered these, often
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