ANOTHER COOK

 While making mashed kohlrabi simmering for now in silky almond milk in a sauce pot (later when tender and out of cooking heat will add German butter, salt and pepper, chives), and while picking out more foliage and tendrils for braising (see photo) I was thinking of another cook. She is a master...

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TIME TO EAT

 In most cultures, this call to table is an obligatory gathering of the family unit, and the home brigade responds to eat together with gusto. Lolo (grandfather) was the head announcer of the communal feast — and it was always a time when appetites were at their peak to charge the dining hall for...

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TRAVEL (FOOD) RETROSPECTIVE

"It's Christmastime in Hanoi again and the Metropole Hotel is lit up like an amusement park. In the courtyard, a monstrous white tree with bright red ornamental balls towers over the swimming pool. The decorative palms shine blindingly bright with a million tiny bulbs. I'm on my second gin and tonic...

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GREEN PAPAYA, SEACOAST TOMATO MUNG BEAN SOUP

     My recipes since my time on the island have all been consistently about the ingredients with a simple technique on the scale of braising at its heights soup. I only have vegetables and fruits to work it, you see, and at their rawness are edible, so doing much more of cooking could...

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