Finally, it’s spring and I’m abandoning winter stews, chilis and soups for lighter fare and fish is my preferred choice. The advent of spring always reminds me of fish and Lent. My family took Lent seriously when I was growing up. My maternal grandfather Didunio, a Ukrainian Orthodox priest, fasted as required by Orthodox theology, …
Fish Veracruzan style — Pescado a la veracruzana Read More »
Tiny multi-lingual Switzerland is a country of culinary contrasts. In her Cooking in Switzerland, Marianne Kaltenbach writes, “Switzerland’s cuisine is as varied as its landscape.” Ingredients vary from canton to canton depending on whether in a mountainous area, the shores of a lake, or a fertile valley. In cantons where cows and sheep graze on alpine …
The holidays and the joyous part of winter have ended. The decorations were taken down and carefully put away. The dried tree and wreath discarded. The cookie cutters and assorted baking pans which were in constant use through November and December have been stored for another ten months. The dreary part of winter has started, …
I usually vary the topic of my posts from month to month, but this month I need to focus again on a dessert. It is December after all and “visions of sugarplums” are dancing in my head. So despite the number of cookies still around the house, my daughter Sophia and I made a special …
A Chocolate Indulgence: Steamed Chocolate Pudding Read More »
When I first visited my mother-in-law Solveig Johnson’s house at 4821 N. 14th street in Tacoma WA, I knew I was at the home of serious cook. Her large sunny yellow eat-in kitchen that overlooked a vegetable garden was fully equipped with plenty of counters, ample storage space and a big pantry. The kitchen also …
Over the years, I spent more time in Istanbul than any other foreign city. Some visits were for business, some for fun. Istanbul, located 657 or so miles south of Kyiv, provided an easy escape from the Soviet dreariness that I encountered when I began working in Ukraine in 1993. Usually, at the end of …
There is wide discretion in recipe nomenclature. You can pretty much name a recipe anything you want. The usual practice, however, is that the name should indicate something about the ingredients and style of preparation. I named this dish a clafoutis despite knowing that the French are persnickety about naming classic recipes. Académie Française, the renowned …
I’m often surprised by what triggers autobiographical memories that spontaneously link today with yesterday: A wall painted burgundy in Lviv, Ukraine, reminds me of an old-fashioned recital dress my grandmother made for me when I was 11; the gait of a stooped-shouldered, white-haired Chinese woman in Beijing dressed in grey pants and a green sweater …
I admit I am an addict, a tomato addict. I love the sweet and tart taste of fully ripened tomatoes. Just bought my first batch of local tomatoes this summer! What a treat! I choose tomatoes by the intoxicating aroma at the stem, the fresher the tomato, the more intense the smell. I am intrigued by …
When our daughter Sophia was in elementary school, she spent a month or so each summer with her grandmother Raisa and extended Zelinsky-Oliver-Bulawka clan in Maryland. At the end of her stay, my husband Weldon and I drove out to bring her home to Chicago. But before we headed west, we always drove a 100 miles …