When the Menu Turns Raw, Your Gut Microbes Know What to Do
Before scientists tested the effects of some dietary changes on the microbiome, they ordered a special menu from a chef-turned-chemist.
By Veronique Greenwood

‘Seared’ Review: For a Pompous Chef, Comeuppance on the Menu
Raúl Esparza faces the realities of the restaurant business in Theresa Rebeck’s energetic but formulaic art-versus-commerce comedy.

>
Raul Esparza as a Brooklyn chef who doesn’t take well to compromise in Theresa Rebeck’s play “Seared.”
By Elisabeth Vincentelli

Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Returns, but Will the Hype?
The company poked fun at a competitor in its announcement about the sandwich, which previously proved so popular that it sold out.

Popeyes announced the return of the sandwich in a video that took a jab at rival Chick-fil-A.
By Niraj Chokshi

The Secret Ingredient That Improves Meat Every Time
You may love it. You may hate it. But a smear of mayonnaise before cooking makes beef, pork, chicken and fish better as if by magic. J. Kenji López-Alt explains.

By J. Kenji López-Alt

ONE GOOD MEAL
The Arepas That Transport One Venezuelan Performance Artist Back Home
Migguel Anggelo shares the recipe for a dish he ate growing up on his family’s farm.

Migguel Anggelo at home in Brooklyn Heights. His current show at Joe’s Pub is “LatinXoxo.”
By Nick Marino

Savoring the Taste of Memories in Northern India
An Indian-born chef explores the foods and culture of Himachal Pradesh, where Punjabi and Tibetan flavors meet.

A woman making stuffed roti at the Kalasan Nursery Farm, near the tiny town of Karsog, in Himachal Pradesh, India.
By Romy Gill

The Chocolate Cake That Saved My Vacation

By Dorie Greenspan

A GOOD APPETITE
A Pancake That’s Ready for All the Vegetables in Your Fridge
Pajeon, Korean scallion pancakes packed with vegetables, make for an easy, vegetarian weeknight meal with a kimchi kick.

The chef Sohui Kim’s vegetable pajeon.
By Melissa Clark

THE POUR
Freshness in a Changed Climate: High Altitudes, Old Grapes
In its wineries, Familia Torres, a global producer, fights climate change by lowering emissions; in its vineyards, the company tries to adapt.

Miguel A. Torres, left, and Miguel Torres Maczassek, in their historic cellar. They have made climate change a priority for Familia Torres.
By Eric Asimov

How Do the New Plant-Based Burgers Stack Up? We Taste-Tested Them
The new generation of veggie burgers aims to replace the beefy original with fake meat or fresher vegetables. To find out how well they do, we ran a blind tasting of six top contenders.
By JULIA MOSKIN

CULINARY ARTS
How Did the Diner Menu Get So Long?
You can get just about anything at an American diner. This illustrated history has some insights into why.
By RACHEL WHARTON and KOREN SHADMI

On Capitol Hill, the Caucus Grows for Diwali
Five members of Congress now celebrate the Indian festival of lights with feasts and family gatherings. But some of them think the version on the Hill needs work.
By Priya Krishna

The Way to a Better Meatball
Alison Roman’s latest, for lamb meatballs with chickpeas and eggplant, is a layered, restaurant-style dish that’s fancy without being too complicated.

Alison Roman’s crispy lamb meatballs with chickpeas and eggplant.
By Sam Sifton

MY DETOX
The Floral Tonics One Designer Relies on to Stay Balanced
Behnaz Sarafpour shares her recipes for restorative elixirs inspired by Persian folk medicine.
By Kari Molvar

FRONT BURNER
The Art of the Chinese Banquet
An exhibit at the Princeton University Art Museum explores feast culture in China.
By Florence Fabricant

FRONT BURNER
Chocolate Spiders, Oh My!
No trick. These confections from Kreuther Handcrafted Chocolate are definitely Halloween treats.

By Florence Fabricant

The Greatest Fish Recipe
Julia Moskin’s pan-roasted fish with herb butter may just teach you a technique that you’ll use for the rest of your life.
By Sam Sifton

THE POUR
In Oregon Wine Country, One Farmer’s Battle to Save the Soil
Agriculture can play a leading role in combating climate change and reversing ecological damage. Mimi Casteel is showing one way to get it done.

At Hope Well in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, Mimi Casteel raises ducks and other animals. She also grows grapes, vegetables and apples.
By Eric Asimov

A Lafite From China? This $300 Wine Is the Real Thing
A Rothschild estate in Shandong Province has released its first vintage. It was 10 years in the making.

Domaine de Long Dai, the Chinese wine estate that the owners of Château Lafite Rothschild in France decided to establish a decade ago.
By Amy Qin

Whilst shopping for my New Year’s Day Open House, I found salmon on sale at the Uptown Lunds. They had sides of both Coho and, I think, King. Both were richly colored and dark, but the Coho was much, much, much cheaper. Back in the meat department, I asked if they had a good sized side, and I ended up with about a two-pound piece. I also purchased some coriander, just to ensure I already had some, and another hunk of dill.

2 teaspoon whole white peppercorns
2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon allspice berries
4 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 2-pound salmon fillet, skin on
1 cup chopped fresh dill
absinthe

Gravlax is essentially salt and sugar cured salmon. Dill is the standard herb, and pepper, that other essential Scandinavian spice, is the second. The outline of the recipe I used, DILLED GRAVLAX WITH MUSTARD SAUCE also added coriander, which is why I bought some. I’m going to guess that any of the bitter herbs and spices would work: fennel, caraway, tarragon, licorice, anise, etc. As usual, I opened up several online recipes and kinda winged it. I did not make the mustard sauce. Why ruin good salmon?

The main recipe said to toast the spice. I toasted two teaspoons black and white peppercorns, coriander, and some allspice berries. I put them in the mortar and had at them with the pestle. When they started getting toward crushed, I threw some of the salt on it and pounded away a bit longer.

I ended up using a wire nippers to pull the bones out of the salmon, and I gave up about a third of the way to the tail. (You want to leave the skin on the fish for cutting.)

I washed and coarsely chopped a mess o’ dill. The dill is traditional, and it’s good, but it can be used in almost any amount.

I mixed the salt and spice mixture with brown sugar (about equal to the salt). I’m sure there’s a level of salt and sugar that you don’t want to go below, but as long as you’re above that, the salt and the sugar amounts, kind, and type are up to you.

The recipe says to prick the skin of the salmon, which I did since the fish is firmly dead anyway, although I don’t think I have before. You simply rub the spice, sugar, and salt cure all over the salmon, and the dill on top. Most recipes will ask you to weigh down the salmon in a non-reactionary pan, but I find a good old plastic zip-lock bag is a lot simpler. After I got the fish in the bag, I tossed in a good glug of absinthe. If the salmon is too long for the bag, just fold the tail over. When the fish goes into the fridge, it’s dry, but the salt and sugar rapidly draw fluid from the fish, and turn to liquid. You’ll want to keep the salmon submerged in the liquid. You can submerge it in water to get the air out, or just fold it. The goal is to cure the salmon by keeping it in the liquid, and you can perform any ritual you want to ensure this.

After a couple of days, the color of the fish will have turned darker, and you’ll want to slice it against the skin. You can clean the salmon before slicing if you want, but we did not. The absinthe, which was quite strong if you sniffed the bag, was merged with the peppers, coriander, and allspice. It was a lot more peppery than the gravlax I’ve made before, but I really liked the flavor of the fish, and it was gone by the end of the night.

A Spice Company Spent $92,000 on Pro-Impeachment Facebook Ads in a Week

A Wisconsin-based purveyor of pepper, paprika and poppy seeds spent more on impeachment-related Facebook ads than any entity besides President Trump.

An employee at a Penzeys Spices store in St. Paul, Minn. “I think the luxury of not being on a side is something of the past,” the company’s owner said.
By Jacey Fortin

At the New Orleans Airport, a Taste of Leah Chase’s Food and Art

The family of the famed Creole chef is collaborating on a restaurant in her memory, to open soon in the new terminal.
By Kim Severson

TRENDING

Reinventing Afternoon Tea, With Deliciousness and Delight

Upscale hotels around the world have started to “blow the dust off their afternoon tea tradition.”
By Sarah Firshein

TRILOBITES

This Fungus Mutates. That’s Good News if You Like Cheese.

American scientists set out to simulate a fungus’s evolution into the edible mold that makes French cheeses like Camembert.
By Emma Goldberg

TRILOBITES

What Was Kept in This Stone Age Meat Locker? Bone Marrow

In an Israeli cave, paleoarchaeologists unearthed what may be the earliest example of humans storing food for later consumption.
By Nicholas St. Fleur

Hey, Look! Nonna and Her Pasta Are on YouTube

A filmmaker is trying to preserve the art of handmade pasta by turning Italy’s Pasta Grannies into video stars.

The Pasta Grannies creator, Vicky Bennison, and the videographer, Andrea Savorani Neri, recording a pasta lesson in Rosa Turri’s kitchen in Faenza, Italy.
By Kim Severson

The New Makers of Plant-Based Meat? Big Meat Companies

Tyson, Smithfield, Perdue and Hormel have all rolled out meat alternatives, filling supermarket shelves with an array of plant-based burgers, meatballs and chicken nuggets.
By David Yaffe-Bellany

For Sondheim, Raúl Esparza Protects His Voice. For ‘Seared,’ His Fingers.

The actor, best known for “Company” and “Law & Order,” cooks, chops and sautés onstage as a finicky chef in Theresa Rebeck’s play.
By Amelia Nierenberg

Your New Monday Dinner

Yewande Komolafe has an amazing new recipe for baked tofu with peanut sauce and coconut-lime rice that may just earn a place on your weekly rotation.
By Sam Sifton

The Creamiest Chickpea Pasta

Hearty and so satisfying, Alexa Weibel’s creamy chickpea pasta with spinach and rosemary is the perfect cool-weather pasta.
By Emily Weinstein

What Are We Supposed to Think About Shrimp?

Americans eat more shrimp than ever before. But a cloud hangs over much of the global industry that produces it, with questions about labor practices and sustainability.

Very messy, very spicy peel-and-eat shrimp get dunked in melted lemon butter and chile-seasoned shrimp broth.
“But with new technology, this may be changing. Businesses like the
Tru Shrimp Company in Balaton, Minn, are working on improving land-based water recirculating systems to raise shrimp more sustainably in tanks, without using antibiotics, and without the carbon footprint of shipping frozen, perishable shrimp from Asia and South America.”
By MELISSA CLARK

Shrimp and Chemicals: What You Need to Know

What exactly is added to shrimp, and how can you avoid it at the store?
By Melissa Clark

How to Make the Cardamom Bun That Took New York

Fabrique’s version of the Swedish bun is tender, buttery and brimming with woodsy spice.

Fabrique’s kardemummabulle, or — a little less fun to say in English — cardamom bun.
By Charlotte Druckman

Fondue Flavor, but Make It Pie

Yotam Ottolenghi’s love of wine and cheese leads to a pie inspired by fondue parties from long ago.

Yotam Ottolenghi’s butternut squash and fondue pie with pickled red chiles.
By YOTAM OTTOLENGHI

EAT

This Knockout Spicy Sauce From Yemen Will Improve Almost Any Dish

Looking to punch up your eggs? Or add some zing to your salad? Just give it a little zhug.

By Gabrielle Hamilton

FRONT BURNER

Cook Dinner Like a Warrior

These new oven mitts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art look like the armor of a 16th-century duke.
By Florence Fabricant

THE POUR

How Will Climate Change Alter Agriculture? Winemakers Are Finding Out

The accelerating effects of climate change have forced the wine industry to take decisive steps to counter or adapt to the shifts.
By ERIC ASIMOV

Bruce LeFavour, ‘a Good Cook,’ Dies at 84

As a restaurateur, he was in the vanguard of moving from rich French fare to more fish and seasonal, locally sourced fresh produce.

Bruce LeFavour at his restaurant Rose et LeFavour in California’s Napa Valley in 1986. Despite rave reviews, he kept his restaurants only as long as they held his interest.
By Katharine Q. Seelye

CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK
Taking On the Tortilla Industry

Kernel of Truth Organics, in Los Angeles, is one of several producers trying to get a better, traditionally made tortilla into supermarkets, restaurants and home kitchens.
By Tejal Rao

A GOOD APPETITE
Fry Some Eggplant Before the Season Is Done
Crisp-edged, golden, soft-centered and thoroughly appealing, this fried eggplant is also easy enough to make on a weeknight.

Creamy ricotta, red-pepper flakes and honey complement the eggplant here.
By Melissa Clark

Angela Dimayuga’s 10 Essential Filipino Recipes
The creative director for food and culture at the Standard hotels and former Mission Chinese Food chef chooses the dishes that define the cuisine for her.
By Angela DimayugaWith Ligaya Mishan

FOOD MATTERS
The Chefs Reinventing the Midwestern Supper Club
Once a mainstay of midcentury dining, the convivial establishments have reappeared, even as the meaning of “all-American” has become more complicated.
By Ligaya Mishan

The Chicken That May Sweep the Internet

See what all the excitement is about, and make Alison Roman’s vinegar chicken with crushed olive dressing.
By Emily Weinstein

Alison Roman’s Tangy Sheet-Pan Chicken Is #1
Make her recipe for vinegar chicken with crushed olive dressing.

Jumbo Shrimp and Lobster Tails: D.C.’s Fund-Raising Hot Spots
Political campaigns spend a small fortune on food, drink, staff and other fees when they raise money in the nation’s capital. These are the top 11 spots.
By Jennifer Steinhauer and Mark Walker

THINGS EDITORS LIKE
T Suggests: A Pioneering French Designer, a New All-Day Cafe and More
A roundup of things our editors — and a few contributors — are excited about in a given week.

The Art of Sourdough

Claire Saffitz has a smart and exhaustive guide to the process of baking beautiful, flavorful bread with natural leavening.
By Sam Sifton

Expect Higher Prices on Lighter Wines
Some European wines with less than 14 percent alcohol will be subject to new U.S. tariffs on Oct. 18.
By Eric Asimov

WINES OF THE TIMES
Priorat Reds Raise the Question: Style or Identity?
By Eric Asimov