LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION
I Recommend Eating Chips
When our horizons are narrow, junk food — shelf-stable, reliably flavored and yet endlessly unique — offers us a taste of infinity.
By SAM ANDERSON
How High-End Restaurants Have Failed Black Female Chefs
Training and advancement as a chef can be hard to find in American fine-dining restaurants, according to Black women who have tried.
By Korsha Wilson
EAT
The Case for Stewed Tripe
There’s abundant offal to be had at the supermarket, and this spicy, slurpable dish is exactly how you should cook it.
By GABRIELLE HAMILTON
SHOPPING GUIDE
Shopping for Kettles
It’s not just for boiling water — so choose something with a little style.
When you’re buying a kettle, “look at it as art, as well as a functional element,” said Sarah Blank, a kitchen designer in Greenwich, Conn. (The Corvo EKG Electric Kettle is $149 at Fellow.)
By TIM MCKEOUGH
A GOOD APPETITE
This Spicy White Bean Soup Is a Poem in a Pot
Filled with winter greens, savory beans and just a little bit of turkey, this piquant soup is both hearty and light.
Lemony white bean soup with turkey and greens.
By Melissa Clark
FRONT BURNER
An Online Lesson in Olive Oil
The Museum of Food and Drink in Brooklyn hosts a discussion, with experts from Tuscany and Calabria, Italy.
Food for Thought: First Pressed, an Olive Oil Exploration presented by MOFAD and the Greene Space, Jan. 25, 8 to 9:30 p.m., $15 or $65 including a tin of olive oil (limited supplies), mofad.org.
By FLORENCE FABRICANT
FRONT BURNER
Dream of France, Through Recipes
“Plat du Jour,” a new cookbook by Susan Herrmann Loomis, includes seasonally focused recipes like beef bourguignon.
“Plat du Jour: French Dinners Made Easy” by Susan Herrmann Loomis (Countryman Press, $30).
By FLORENCE FABRICANT
FRONT BURNER
The Easiest Paella Comes From a Kit
Meg Grace Larcom, the chef of the Boqueria restaurants, teaches a virtual paella class next month, and it includes a ready-to-make meal kit.
Boqueria Paella Kit and class, $150, includes shipping; $100 without the class, order by Feb. 18 for national delivery; fully cooked paella for local pickup or delivery, with seafood, vegetables or chicken and chorizo, $24 to $48, depending on the variety and size, boqueriarestaurant.com.
By FLORENCE FABRICANT
FRONT BURNER
The Tea’s the Thing
A new tea blend from Harney & Sons raises money for Shakespeare’s Globe in London.
A Midsummer Night’s Tea, 20 sachets, $12, 800-832-8463, harney.com.
By FLORENCE FABRICANT
A Foolproof Path to Dinner, by Way of Korea
J. Kenji López-Alt puts his fridge odds and ends to work in crunchy, savory, wildly adaptable jeon.
This sauerkraut jeon is perfect for busy weeknights.
By J. Kenji López-Alt
FRONT BURNER
A New Cassis to Sip or Mix
Current Cassis, from a producer in Greene County, N.Y., is less syrupy than French crème de cassis.
Current Cassis, $28 for 375 milliliters, upstreamwine.com, currentcassis.com.
By FLORENCE FABRICANT
THOSE WE’VE LOST
Thomas Verdillo, 77, Dies; Restaurateur Went from Red Sauce to Blue Ribbon
He put a refined twist on traditional Italian-American cooking at his South Brooklyn restaurant, Tommaso. He died of complications of Covid-19.
Thomas Verdillo was the owner, head chief, sommelier and chief tenor at his restaurant, Tommaso, in Brooklyn.
By GLENN RIFKIN