What became “The Year of the Cake” started innocently enough. In October 2023, Sandi Pierantozzi and her husband, Neil Patterson, ordered a slice of pistachio torte from a bakery in Sicily. It was love at first bite. The couple returned to the shop each of the five days they spent in Taormina, always savoring the
MoreIn Pennsylvania and other states around the country, goat cheese is undergoing a renaissance. In her recent book, Goat Cheese (Gibbs Smith, 2008), Maggie Foard points out that, nationally, the number of licensed goat dairies has jumped from “a handful” 20 years ago to “over 200” in 2007.
MoreSupper’s Mitch Prensky brings pickling into the modern era by Lee Stabert
Carrots with passion fruit, saffron and garlic with cauliflower, barigoule and artichokes, turnips with Herbes de Provence, spicy pickled vegetables for báhn mi, kosher dill pickles, okra with sage, preserved lemons and oranges, mushrooms, apples, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, green beans and okra.
Some people geek out over wine. Others, old vinyl. For me, it’s cheese. The stinky stuff. Stilton. Fontina. Époisses. When I meet a strong cheese, it stops me cold, the way hearing a new song on the radio can make you pull over the car, motivated by a desire to really listen. You don’t forget
MoreAlex passed his Publisher’s Notes duties along to me this month because I am, simply put, obsessed with food. I’ve been looking forward to this issue for months. Last June, I moved back to Philadelphia—my hometown—after a few years in the wilderness (read: Nashville, TN).
MoreA 300-year-old mill helps revive a beloved brandby Lee Stabert
With the mill running, the whole building moves,” says Dave Poorbaugh, standing on the well-worn wooden floorboards of the 300-year-old Annville Mill in Lebanon County. “An old flour mill has a soul, because it moves. And when you walk in here, you’re part of it. You’re
When it comes to flour, here are the basics: Soft wheat thrives in temperate, moist climates (like ours), while hard wheat flourishes in the Midwest. Soft wheat is milled into pastry flour, while hard wheat becomes bread flour. “All-purpose” flour—something Dave Poorbaugh of Daisy Organics stridently opposes on principle, arguing, “I don’t think many women
More5 1/2 cups Daisy White Pastry Flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dried yeast
12 oz. water
Garlic is one of nature’s most wondrous miracles. I have never had a dish that I deemed “too garlicky”—I like it spicy (raw), sweet (roasted; I go through whole heads at a time) and anywhere in between. When most Americans picture garlic, they see the mature bulbs—taut little bundles of awesome, each individual clove gift-wrapped
MoreAsparagus signals the arrival of springby Marisa McClellan, foodinjars.com
Each spring, I celebrate the arrival of local asparagus. Those fat, green-verging-on-purple stalks mean that the season of verdant abundance has arrived. I binge on the stuff—much like my beloved grandmother Bunny did before me—buying armloads of asparagus, slightly fearful that it will disappear before I’ve had
Come spring, we local eaters are deeply hungry for regionally-grown produce beyond cold-loving Brussels sprouts and storage apples, potatoes and onions. Sadly, with a stinging chill remaining in the air, summer berries, stone fruit and corn (oh corn!) are still a long way away. Happily, there’s one plant that starts appearing earlier than all the
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