Home-“Smoked” Salmon, Sous Vide
I’ve used this recipe several times now, and I think it’s close to foolproof–an easy and delicious way to impress your friends with your culinary skill. The quality of the salmon makes a big difference with this recipe. I prefer it with wild-caught Alaskan Sockeye salmon, which has a bright red flesh that practically glows once cooked. I also prefer to use skin-on filets, which hold together better after cooking. And I would always recommend avoiding farmed Atlantic salmon, which has little flavor and destroys marine ecosystems. Thanks to Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats for...
Read MoreOn food and love
In the 1920s, an advertising campaign of the struggling U.S. avocado industry proclaimed indignantly, “There is absolutely NO conclusive evidence that avocados are an aphrodisiac!” Sales skyrocketed. Obviously we don’t need evidence to feed the human love affair with aphrodisiacs. Admittedly, the U.S. avocado industry didn’t invent that tale entirely: the Aztecs had said the same thing five centuries before. The Nahuatl term for the avocado tree, on which the fruits dangle in suggestive pairs, is the “ahuacahuatl,” or testicle tree. Aztec custom went so...
Read MoreKnow thine enemy (and eat it)
Food and Water Watch has included the following invasive species in their “Smart Seafood Guide” this year. The theory goes, since we’re really good at overfishing food fish to the brink of extinction, why not make food out of the fish we want to get rid of? Asian carp Asian shore crab Asian swamp eel Chinese mitten crab European green crab Lionfish Mozambique and blue tilapia Rusty crawfish Walking catfish A few chefs were already feeding their diners some of these nefarious invaders before FWW caught on to the trend. Miya’s Sushi in New Haven has an entire menu...
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