Food

Mussels could be considered the pasta of the bivalve mollusk world. They are cheap, versatile, and easy to cook. Last night I had them in coconut broth with lemongrass and lime wedges served alongside. Tonight a friend is going to prepare them in a Thai green curry sauce. They are abundant in many parts of world and particularly revered in Belgium and France, where they are served with French fries as moules et frites.

I eat a lot more vegetables and whole grains than meat. If I were to sit down and analyze my diet, it would almost seem vegetarian. Nutrition is important to me, but I don’t obsess about foods, fats, cholesterol, mercury, carbohydrates, acai (Oprah’s miracle fruit!), corn syrup, tapeworms, sugar, blue and orange fruits, lead in my ancient crockery, or anything else that 90 percent of the people I know worry about.

I read recently that Spam is making a comeback. Is this because times are hard and buying a canned pork product that requires no refrigeration is some people’s idea of a way to save money and feed their families a balanced diet? Or is it a retro return to the foods of our youth that gave us some comfort? Perhaps a little of both. 

What could be better than a summer meal of lobster, corn, and tomatoes? The lobster and corn merely need to be steamed and perhaps buttered generously, the tomatoes sliced and dressed. Couldn’t be simpler.

One of the things I love best about spring vegetables is how beautifully they go together. Peas and spearmint are a match made in heaven. Asparagus and morels combine a sprightly green flavor with a mild earthy one. In Provence, spring is celebrated with a fricassee of artichokes, fava beans, peas, and asparagus.

This recipe is great with roasted or grilled spring lamb. I kind of made this one up. It is best if the peas are small.

Sweet Spearmint Peas

Will Jordin Sparks have a wardrobe malfunction while singing the national anthem? Will Tom Brady be able to play? Will his gazelle of a girlfriend, Gisele Bundchen, be an albatross as Jessica Simpson has been for Tony Romo? Will I have enough spicy chicken wings to last through the halftime show? Is my TV screen big enough? 

These are the burning questions gnawing away at me in anticipation of Super Bowl XLII. 

Shared recipes. Old, old family recipes. What a treasure trove of history! I couldn’t wait to dig into them. Some had helpful notes scribbled on them. One even had “very bad recipe” scrawled on it, and yet it had been saved with the others to live on.

The name “soul food” gained popularity in the 1960s when the word "soul" became associated with all things African-American. But its origins go way back to the Antebellum period, when slaves in the South would create meals out of discarded meat parts (pig’s feet, ham hocks, tripe) and the tossed-away leafy tops of vegetables such as beets and turnips, and otherwise would rely on whatever they could catch, fish, or farm for their meals.

I got a great recipe for granola from a famous bakery in Los Angeles last year. I have fiddled with it so much, this is now my recipe. Besides, I've conveniently forgotten the name of the bakery. I even put this granola on top of salads!

Football for a person who likes to cook is an excuse to pull out an arsenal of retro junky recipes. Chile con queso made with Velveeta cheese! Deviled shrimp! Guacamole, chips ’n’ dips galore! Buffalo wings, spicy killer chili with corn bread. I think the only requirements for being appropriate football food is it must be fattening and easy to pick up.

Ireland is the only other country I know of that has any special food for Halloween. There’s a famous dish made with potatoes. Dawdling along through my treasured Irish cookbook by the doyenne of Irish cookery, Theodora Fitzgibbon, I came upon some recipes and lore about my favorite Irish dish: colcannon.

Wine labels are highly regulated by the federal government, more methodically even than food labels. It is mandatory to identify in some detail at least seven items, some so boring that it led to the invention of a second label on the back of the bottle to split the tedium and give us a bit of relief and respite while reading the primary label.