Food + Booze
The August Cornucopia
Last month at the Free Harvest Supper where the rich, the poor and everybody in between eat for free, there were a couple of surprises: for one, grass-fed lamb as a "passed app" for those waiting in line with hats, forks and plates in hand. As usual, the...
The Gourmet Diner
Unless you travel the Mohawk Trail through Shelburne Falls frequently, you may find yourself whizzing by this amazing little restaurant without knowing enough to stop in for an unexpected and truly memorable experience: the Mohawk Diner, located in a clean, bright but...
The Quiet Greening
The phrase “organic wine” freaks out most Americans, summoning up images of pot-smoking hippies living in communal sin. But organic vegetable farming, aka “green farming,” is quickly moving towards mainstream. How many times in the past two...
Dishes With Pedigrees
In Western Massachusetts, a browse around farmers’ markets or stores like Atkins Farms leads customers to heirloom varieties of vegetables and fruits, especially tomatoes and apples, one of the best known of the latter being the Northern Spy. The heirloom...
Food: An Italian Brew
I thought I knew what coffee was: a blazing hot convergence of burnt styrofoam slurry, battery acid and steam, its top glistening with an oil slick of “creamer.” Why folks stood around in the basement of the church politely tittering over cups of the stuff...
Food: Mastering the Art of Australian Cooking
My parents immigrated to the United States from Australia, arriving in New York Harbor in the 1960s, and settling in a town on the Hudson River. Unlike people of other nationalities who choose to make a new life in America, my parents did not bring with them a burning...
Food: The Ultimate Comfort Food
Like most matzo ball worshipers, I declared my allegiance young. My first distinct memory of Passover involves attempting to eat a matzo ball for each of the 10 plagues rather than dripping a dab of wine onto my plate, a ritual that struck me (even then) as kind of...
Served On Ice
We hadn't even broken a sweat, hadn't done enough to really work off the big breakfast we'd had before hitting the trail that morning.Sure, we'd walked a few miles, through woods deep with snow. But we were at our campsite by mid-morning, had the tent...
Food & Drink: Boys' Night Out
There was no denying it: the last time the boys had gotten together for a night out, it had been a disaster. It hadn’t always been the case. We’d been out before and things had ended civilly. Nothing to discuss later. No stories to live down or scratch...
Food: Sip and Savor
Broth and noodles. There’s little that can be prepared so quickly that satisfies so deeply as a bowl of Asian noodles served up piping hot. Ramen, though, is sometimes given a bad rap. Many non-Asian Americans first become acquainted with this miraculous union...
Food: Hold the Marshmallows!
For many of us, holiday feasts and company dinners are unthinkable without that star of the comfort food menu, the candied sweet potato casserole. Tender sweet potatoes dripping with melted brown sugar under a superstructure of marshmallows ever so slightly browned;...
Dining: Rock Solid
To all appearances, Primavera Cafe Restaurant on East Street in the center of Ludlow could be tucked away in a quiet square in just about any southern European city or town. But it’s owner and chef Jack “Rocha” Nuno who makes the picture perfect....
Dining: Non-sticking Power
Perhaps you are one of those gifted culinary artistes who communes with the stove—one who can orchestrate the chopping, the ringing of the pan with oil, all that poaching and braising, and do it with elegance. The rest of us have to pursue that goal with a more...
Food: Hail, Hail, Rock and Roll
I've had other things on the menu, of course, but not recently and only a morsel or two purloined from my dining companion's selection—invariably some teriyaki-inflected item that comes as part of what is know in Japanese restaurants as a "lunch...
Super Bowl Sundae
Our big Super Bowl weekend began on Friday night, a full 48 hours before kickoff, when Betsy started making her "Game Day" chili.On Saturday morning, the preparation continued in earnest as our daughter cranked out a batch of cookies and Betsy got cracking...
Dining: New Joint on the Block
It’s not easy to find food for delivery in Easthampton that goes much beyond pizza, subs or Chinese takeout. But for the past year and a half, a beacon of hope has shown its light of fabulous variety through the murky perpetual night of soy sauce and mozzarella...
Dining: Before the Bloom
All of last year’s harvest was gone from the freezer. Then, as we got ready to till the garden to plant the early spring crops of spinach and peas, we noticed tender green shoots coming up all over. Dandelions! We went to work and harvested two bushel baskets of...
The Pickles All Around Me
I have a thing for pickles. As a kid, even after the last pickle was gone from the jar, I’d tip the bottle back and drink down the brine, loving the powerful, pungent pucker it provided. When I got married, the caterer heard that I’d recently discovered...
An Ode to Opa Opa's IPA
Liquors 44 offers a plethora of fine beverage options, but when the young punk with the shaggy beard and ratty sweater took the last growler of India Pale Ale (IPA) from the cooler in the back, I had to leave the store empty-handed. I promptly headed over to State...
Art in the Jar
Unless you’ve sampled Greenfield’s Real Pickles, chances are the pickles you’re familiar with have been made with vegetables that have first been cooked and then marinated in vinegar. While this process has been around for a long...
Pressed Into Service
I had no idea what I didn’t know. I went on a wine trip to Italy and stumbled into the fascinating, ancient world of olive oil, an industry so similar to wine that it’s freaky. In Italy, the two dance together like lovers. Quality wine, meet quality olive...
Food: A Bitter Winter's Sweet Goodbye
More than once every winter, all Massachusetts residents ask themselves, Why do I live in New England? The answer, although unclear in the depths of January, is that following every bitter winter comes a rejuvenating spring, and the first signs of that natural wonder...Real Pickles Reviewed
Dill Pickles From the milky white swirl of sediment, these halved cucumbers emerge a damp, dark green, and seasoned with dill and other spices, they have a pungent, inviting aroma. Though they don’t have the crisp snap of some pickles preserved in vinegar, they...Certifying “Blood Chocolate”
Conscientious consumers’ search for ethically sourced and manufactured products has expanded beyond diamonds, coffee and clothing to sweeter terrain: chocolate. After years of pressure, multinational candy companies are finally beginning to embrace the...
Burgers From Local
You wouldn’t think there was much room for variation in creating a hamburger—a ground beef patty on a bun with some ketchup, cheese, veggies and maybe some bacon. The ones my family makes at home on the grill are pretty good: thick, with the blue cheese...
Beer: Up to the Challenge
Returning to the office a few weeks back, I found a battered brown paper bag sitting under my desk. Inside there were three beers from Peak Organic Brewing in Maine, and a note from their local sales representative. Earlier this summer, I reviewed the contents of a...
Coffee at the Frankensteins'
Perhaps it’s the aura of mad scientist cool, or perhaps it’s the fascination of watching an unusual process unfold, but vacuum brewing coffee is really fun for those who like to tinker. There’s another reason, though, that this manner of making...
Food: Nick's Nest Nourishes
A block from where Dwight Street crosses Route 5 in Holyoke, in a sea of huge, back-lit plastic signs promising cheap, fast food, an undistinguished house with colorful awnings has a small neon sign on its roof that blinks alternately, “Hot Dogs” and...
Food: Touting Trout
The ice is off the lakes and streams, and a friendly fisherman gave us a nice trout the other day. With so many rivers and lakes in these parts, we live in a fisherman’s paradise. It is important to store your catch on ice and bring it home quickly. When buying...
Bubblin' Wicked Hot
Avoid contact with eyes. Possible side effects include burning and irritation of the skin. Consumption may cause elevated heart rate, excessive perspiration, watering of the eyes and social humiliation. Taste buds be warned: chili peppers can be as dangerous as they...
Food: A Dirtier Truth
A few weeks back, my wife and I had a hankering to eat dinner out somewhere. Unable to decide between the few kid-friendly establishments we liked in the area, we put the question to our five-year-old son. His eyes lit up instantly and there was no equivocation in his...
Get Fresh
If you are what you eat, does that mean you also eat according to who you are? My neighborless upbringing in the town of Worthington makes many think that I’m a country girl. Yes, I may have lived a childhood deprived of sugared cereals and white bread, but the...Food Fundamentalists
Dana Hanlon has renounced havarti, Gorgonzola, Port Salut, goat Gouda and brie. She prays that a company will someday develop an opulent fromage that isn’t made of animal by-products. “I’d be the happiest person that ever lived,” says Hanlon, a...Know Thy Noodle
From spaghetti and meatballs to tuna casserole to pasta salad, we really love our pasta. In part, it’s the easy preparation. Boil water, open box, voil?! Also there’s the comfort that comes from eating a plate of pasta, a comfort we can hardly resist. On...
Food: Udderly Delicious
On a wet, misty day last week, I visited Upinngil Farm just north of downtown Gill. I was on a mission. After years of being preached to about the stuff, I wanted to try raw milk for myself and sample some of the cheeses made from the surprisingly rare commodity. As...
To Love Again
I tried to rekindle an old love affair recently. It had been more than 20 years since our last encounter. We met just across the bridge at a restaurant in Hadley. Her name was “dry saut?ed beef Szechuan style,” and she is a wonder of spice, aromatic flavor...
Food: Back to Basics
Though there are still many products and processes that wouldn’t be possible without it, in many ways, the world’s romance with plastic is well past the honeymoon period. Polycarbonates used to make many of the items from which we eat and drink have been...
Food: Bake It and They Will Come
Rarely can I resist a hearty breakfast. The sizzle of pancake batter crisping on the griddle seduces me. The smoky scent of bread slices nestled in the toaster comforts me. Though some consider it unrefined, I find the fusion of tangy ketchup and scrambled eggs a...
Food: More Than a Garnish
While most of us are familiar with the radishes as garnish, their crispy crunch and sharp zing can add flavor to salads as well as cooked dishes. My favorite way to eat them is on a piece of rye bread or a bagel with cream cheese and sliced radishes on top, sprinkled...
Food: Filling the Void
When it comes to breakfast, Brattleboro can be deceptive. Given its rambunctious nightlife, you’d think it would be a hungry town in the morning. You’d imagine it having at least half a dozen grilles in town, frying up pancakes and eggs, competing for...
Drink: Saint of Circumstance
Anyone surveying the beer case at most package stores across the Valley can attest to Berkshire Brewing’s courage in trying new varieties. The distinctive rainbow spectrum of regular and seasonal varieties with charming illustrations and often funny names...
Food: A Day in the Cheese Room
The sun has just peeked over the horizon, and I am struggling to keep my eyes open as I make my way through fog and down winding roads into the sprawling farmland of Ashfield. It’s not yet 6 a.m. As I turn into Sangha Farm, owners Maribeth and Derek Ritchie are...Food: Mything the Point
As much as writers try to cut through the endless BS perpetuated by wine snobs, there’s still a lot of misleading info out there. Take the old story about sniffing corks. This age-old ritual only yields a snootful of cork and no revelation, yet lots of people...Dining: Kosher Redefined
Kosher is about to get an American makeover. Sometime between Passover and Chanukah 2011, a new social responsibility certification—the Magen Tzedek (Star of Justice)—is expected to begin appearing on the labels of selected kosher food products throughout...
Exotic Cuisine to Comfort Food
Indian cooking, with its allusions to ancient customs and its regional variations, for decades alternately lured and spooked me. There was so much to know. There were so many terms, so many spices, so many nuances. I was intimidated. Then I became the Advocate’s...
My Favorite “Greasy Spoon” is Silver
On a Sunday morning not so long ago, it was my wife’s turn to sleep in, and my five-year-old son suggested he and I go out to breakfast. We pulled some clothes on and headed directly to the one establishment in the Valley where it seems okay to show up...Food: Batter Up!
There’s a funny thing about my infatuation with pancakes: I almost never order them in restaurants, even breakfast joints that specialize in them. That’s mainly because the standard-issue American pancake topped with butter and maple syrup is too heavy and...
Food: A Solid Burger, Shake and Fries
Even as our world faces a resource-challenged future and a battered economy, it may be seen as reassuring that any danger of Valley residents being denied access to a quality hamburger has been thoroughly averted. Just a few years ago, the burger options—beyond...Not Julia or Julie
Unlike Julia Child, I was not motivated by the frustrating tedium of empty days in France. And unlike Julie Powell, I was not inspired by Julia Child. I was not moved to lift my whisk out of some insatiable desire to whip an egg into a yolky frenzy. Nor was I...
Food: Enough With the Yogurt
The pressure to eat yogurt in America is out of control. In recent years makers of the tasty snack, once the province of menopausal women and grade-school kids with sack lunches, have been aggressively targeting the minds of the nation’s young and middle-aged...
Canned Beer
The other day I broke from my normal beer buying habits and sprang for a more potent, more hops-laden India Pale Ale (IPA) that was also a bit pricier. The clerk at the cash register recognized the change in my routine and congratulated me on my “taking a step...
Food: For Sweeteners, A Bitter Battle
God, what a treat it is. It’s like a dessert that goes on and on. If you’re tired of watching the country wallow deeper and deeper into a diabetes epidemic, the suit now in progress between sugar and corn syrup will be more of a hoot to watch than the...
Food: Green Party
Though prized in countries such as Belgium, France and Poland, where bunches of sorrel greens are sold at produce stands and planted in gardens, this hardy perennial green is not well known outside Europe. Sometimes called sour grass, the tart, arrow-shaped leaves,...
Farm Art
“Hey, you got your art in my food.” “You got your food in my art!” These two great tastes have been colliding in unexpected places across the Valley this fall. Through its Table for Ten campaign, Museums10—a consortium of local...Food & Drink: Besides Coffee
Say “a hot drink with a rich, roasted flavor,” and most folks think coffee, not roasted grains or roots. But grain beverages have been used for thousands of years; they’re traditional in Korea and Japan. Western cultures have used roots and grains as...
The Great Jerk Chicken Quest
“Stop! We’re going the wrong way!” I yelled as cars and buses came to a screeching halt. That’s how our latest trip to Jamaica started as we left the airport in Montego Bay and drove into a rotary going the wrong direction. Who knew that when...Healthier Choice: Chicken or Beef?
Last weekend, I was relaxing with the Sunday paper and came across a story on how to take your favorite comfort foods and make them lighter. For the article, a famous TV chef had adapted some recipes to make them healthier. Her first recipe makeover was for sloppy...
Food Starts Here
Brow furrowed, back straining, body perspiring, I scour the earth searching for that perfect berry. Brushing back the draping leaves, I reveal the treasured rubies hiding underneath. I mechanically inspect each bundle of strawberries, checking their size and ripeness....
Food: Morning in Maple Country
On a weekend morning when the sun is shining and you aren’t forced to grab stale coffee as you jet out the door to work, enjoy a leisurely drive out of town past scenic landscapes to Strawbale Cafe in Westhampton, a weathered cabin on the edge of a family-owned...E-Edition
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