The Humble Gourmand

Features

1. Chocophiles Unite

   Chocolate devotees are hunting down the top-rated bars from around the globe and are curious about chocolate infused with chiles, wasabi, and that now-ubiquitous bacon bar. Increasingly, they are knowledgeable about chocolate and demand to know how their treats came to be, enticingly packaged on the shelf, beckoning in brightly colored boxes.

   

2. Taste vs. No Taste

   The taste of our food is the first victim of the health scares plaguing North America, British transplant Gina Mallet argues in Last Chance to Eat: The Fate of Taste in a Fast Food World.”

   

3. Champagne Country: ‘Like Whoa’ in a Glass

   If you become accustomed to the quality and character of good Champagne, there really is no other sparkling wine that will satisfy you.
   —Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia

   

4. Cocktailing 101

   Leave that store-bought sour mix on the shelf — you don’t have to be a professional drink-slinger to make delicious, fresh cocktails at home.

   

5. Jacques Pépin's Gastronomic Senses -- A Classic Story

   The audio version of Jacques Pépin’s book, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, is a true pleasure, great fun, and an engaging listen for the car or while walking/hiking/commuting.

   

6. Bringing Morocco to Manhattan

   Ever since he came to the U.S. in his early 20s, to work for Disney’s Epcot Center, Karim Bouskou has considered himself a cultural representative for Morocco. Twenty years later, he’s serving up authentic cuisine to residents in Inwood, Manhattan’s northern-most neighborhood.

   

7. Fromagination

   It’s easy to become stubbornly secure in the idea that the best cheeses can only come from some place that’s accessible through a transatlantic flight … or your local artisanal cheese shop. But there are nooks of American cheese crafting that are showing signs of the grace that has long since been left to the Europeans.

   

8. Entertaining 101

   If you’ve never thrown a dinner party before — or if you’ve given it the old college try, and could use a refresher course — here are six ways to pull it off with ease and avoid winding up stressed in the company of friends (or neighbors, or coworkers, or strangers-to-be-impressed).

   

9. Setting the Dinner Party Table

   It’s not about pretension — the most expensive serving platter, a high-priced wine, or even whether you serve filet mignon or skirt steaks. It’s more about the way you offer the meal that can ease guests, giving them everything they need in an aesthetically pleasing way.

   

10. Soup, Glorious Soup

    Making your own soup might be natural for some, but for others, it is uncharted territory; a task better left to restaurants and Campbell’s; an involved process easily shunted to the side in favor of simply getting a meal on the table.

    

11. Buying Local in a Recession

    Unless you’ve been sleepwalking through trips to the grocery store for the past year, you’re probably familiar with at least one of these avant-garde culinary terms: organic, heritage, artisanal, free-range, local. You’d also need to be pretty oblivious to be entirely unaware of worsening economic conditions in the US. If prices continue to spiral upward, how will they affect overarching consumption patterns, specifically in groceries?

    

12. Risotto 101

    We’re here to let you in on a little secret: you don’t have to stir until your arm falls off. You don’t need to track down a little Northern Italian grandma who can take you on as her personal risotto apprentice for six months. It’s actually quite simple, and a spectacular dish that should be in your repertoire, whether for weeknight suppers or a dinner party with that “wow” factor.

    

13. A Day in the Life: Clinton St. Baking Co.

    On a recent Sunday, I stood at the kitchen counter mixing the ingredients for my pancakes, as I do most Sundays. Only now, I was measuring out 20 times the usual amount of flour, sugar, and eggs. Instead of pajamas and slippers, I wore a white baker’s tunic and baggy black pants that quickly showed the flour I had managed to pour all over myself.

    

14. The Secret to Eating Light: There is No Secret

    Most of us experience the proverbial post-holiday button-loosening: we’ve eaten way too much, drank a ton, slept more that we’re used to, and generally have not burned enough calories to counterbalance it all. Whatever your reason for feeling gross after the holidays, we’re here to offer a no-nonsense and still delicious approach to January, the detox month.

    

15. The Occasional Vegetarian

    Too many carnivores dismiss vegetarian dishes as wimpy, unsatisfying, and full of mysteriously suspect textures. They’re missing out! In 2008, give meatless meals a try — even if it’s once a week or once a month.

    

16. Julia Child Made Me Do It

    Welcome to the inaugural issue of The Humble Gourmand, a monthly online magazine for the ambitious cook with limited means. In our first feature, join Humble Gourmand editor Alison L. McConnell on her journey from cookbook reader to true foodie, and how that experience sparked this publication — all thanks to frozen bananoids and Julia Child.

    

17. Getting Started in the Kitchen

    So, here you are, a food lover but a kitchen novice. Or perhaps you’ve been at it for a while, doing your best to learn to cook from cookbooks, the Food Network, and good old trial and error. You shouldn’t be intimidated if you lack a space-age (or spacious) kitchen. Same goes for thousands of dollars to buy top-notch equipment and ingredients.