There Are Wasps in the Yard. You’d Better Get to Know Them.
They buzz. They hover. Sometimes they sting. But how much do you really know about these insects that can menace our summers?
Wasps, the essential summer resident, convening on a bounty of sugar.
By Cara Giaimo
IN THE GARDEN
As Summer Takes Hold, So Do the Jumping Worms
These invasive pests, which ravage the soil and damage plant life, are easiest to spot now, in their adult form. But what to do if you see them?
An adult Amynthas jumping worm in summer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum. Adult worms observed in early spring are unlikely to be jumping worms, as jumping worms don’t reach adult size until midsummer.
By Margaret Roach
When the Bake Sale Goes Global, Millions Are Raised to Fight Injustice
Online sales have become blockbuster events as long-sidelined pastry chefs lead a charge toward activism.
By Julia Moskin
What We Eat During a Plague
Over the past months, Americans have embraced comfort food with a renewed fervor. But this isn’t the first time culinary habits have shifted during a pandemic.
By Michael Snyder
Zooming In on Bill Buford’s Latest Obsession
The author spent more than a decade seeking the heart of French cuisine for his new book, “Dirt.” But in quarantine, he just wants to make the perfect chicken.
Bill Buford, the author of a new book about French food, spent the spring poaching chicken in his apartment off Union Square.
By Pete Wells
CULINARY ARTS
Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce Trilogy
Subtle changes in method yield completely different results in these three simple and delicious tomato sauces from the cookbook author, who would have been 96 this year.
Text by Rachel WhartonIllustrations by Koren Shadmi
This Chicken Salad Comes With a Kick
A tahini-wasabi dressing finishes this any occasion recipe inspired, in part, by a Taiwanese-Chinese dish.
Wasabi and tahini flavor the dressing for this chicken salad.
By Sue Li
A GOOD APPETITE
What’s Better Than Caramelized Onions? Caramelized Peppers
Sweet peppers are cooked down with whole garlic cloves in this vegetable-rich pasta.
Any short pasta, like radiatori, can be used in this dish. Most of the sauce’s character comes from burnished peppers and garlic cloves.
By Melissa Clark
A Timeless Tomato Tart
Light, custardy and flavored with a layer of pesto, this simple, flavorful dish lets juicy heirloom varieties shine.
The warm custard filling in this tomato tart is seasoned with fresh basil and oregano.
By Vallery Lomas
FROM THE PANTRY
These Creamy Tomatoes Are the Ideal Lunch for One
You won’t want to share this deeply savory dish, and you don’t have to.
By Melissa Clark
ONE GOOD MEAL
A Portuguese Artist’s Chilled Tomato Soup
For a simple lunch or dinner, Vanessa Barragão often makes arjamolho, which is healthy, flavorful and perfect for summer.
You can portion your arjamolho into small bowls if you’re using it as a side dish. Though you might be tempted to eat straight from the serving bowl.
By Nick Marino
FRONT BURNER
Vegan Ice Creams With Cheffy Flavors
Eclipse Foods has collaborated with chefs around the country on plant-based ice cream flavors, with some proceeds going to charitable causes.
Eclipse, regular flavors, $11.99 a pint (six pint minimum); Chef Series flavors, $17.99 a pint:
By Florence Fabricant
FIVE WEEKNIGHT DISHES
Sheet-Pan Summer
By Emily Weinstein
THE POUR
From Good Wine, a Direct Path to the Wonders of Nature
For this city dweller, wine provided the opening to a greater understanding of food and agriculture, and their precarious balance.
By Eric Asimov
FRONT BURNER
You’ve Heard of Boxed Wine. Enter the Boxed Negroni.
St. Agrestis, a Brooklyn spirits company, now sells a 1.75-liter version of its bottled cocktail, enough for about 20 quarantine drinks.
By Florence Fabricant
WINE SCHOOL
Verdicchio di Matelica, to Discover or Revisit
By Eric Asimov
Overlooked No More: Nancy Green, the ‘Real Aunt Jemima’
A nanny and cook, she played the part as the pancake flour company that employed her perpetuated a racial stereotype. She died 97 years ago in Chicago.
A detail of an Aunt Jemima advertisement from about the 1910s. Nancy Green was recruited in 1890 to be the character’s original incarnation.
By Sam Roberts
THOSE WE’VE LOST
Hillary Gregg, Line Cook at Top-Shelf Restaurants, Dies at 73
He was the Quilted Giraffe’s longtime “walking cookbook” and later cooked at another Manhattan restaurant, March. He died of Covid-19.
Hillary Gregg was a longtime line cook at the Quilted Giraffe. He was later in the kitchen of another high-end Manhattan restaurant, March.
By Rod Nordland