What the Heck is Labneh?

Confusing, for one thing. When Shape provided a recipe for Double-Lemon Labneh Cheesecake with Pistachio Crust in April 2020, the game was on. Cheesecake? Yes. Double-Lemon? How about Double-Yes? Pistachios? Nothing else compares. But what to make of this “Labneh” thing? Just what is that supposed to be? The internet provided answers, though unsurprisingly, many…

Another Chocolate, Herr Mozart?

Just in time for Mozart’s birthday, coming up Wednesday (it was the 26th of January, if you’re reading this in archive), here’s an Austrian confection, Mozartkugeln (“Mozart Truffles”).  While the composer was famously fond of sweets, Salzburg chocolatier Paul Fürst didn’t invent Mozartkugeln until a century or so after Wolfgang passed to the eternal in…

Busy Little Honeybee

Not only do honeybees pollenate our crops, bringing the next round of fruits and vegetables, but they also produce a smooth golden nectar (honey) that enhances much of our cooking.  Pretty amazing accomplishment for a small insect buzzing along happily.  Here’s one of the culinary superstars now, taking nourishment not too far from the kitchen:…

Bake It Twice

Actually, that’s what biscotto (plural, biscotti) means, it’s the Italian word for “twice-baked.”  The first run through the oven firms up the dough to a cookie-like consistency, then the cookie is cut into strips and is put back in the oven for another ten minutes, thus transforming it to the firm, fairly crunchy biscuit so…

Use ‘Em Up

It’s summer – at last – and fresh fruit returns triumphantly to grocery stores, farmers’ markets and roadside stands.  It all looks so good, and we’ve waited so very patiently over the off season.  The temptation is overwhelming, and soon we fill baskets, shopping bags and pockets with the returning bounty.  Upon getting home –…

Treasure Beyond Gold and Jewels

Indeed, Persian cookery engages not just the eyes and nose, but it captivates the taste buds as well, unfolding flavors that subtly hint at the delights that await.  The visuals, though, beguile, and make the first pass at seduction. Persians call the pilaf Javaher Polow, or Jeweled Rice, and fittingly so.  Saffron sets the rice…

Rock the Casbah!

What if  a successful afternoon of shopping the markets in a casbah, the Near Eastern equivalent of a town square, yielded a fragrant haul of cardamom, rose petals, almonds and pine nuts, and what if you were to take these flavorful aromatics and infuse a cupcake with them?  Perhaps nobody has asked this question before…

Stick to It

Yes, stickiness is this week’s concept.  In the immediate sense, baklava is exuberantly messy, leaving even the most careful eater feeling like Winnie the Pooh after getting his head stuck in the honey jar.  Not only does the syrup infuse the entire pastry, holding fast every morsel and keeping in place about a billion layers…

The Quest for Tah Dig

It’s what marks a successful Persian rice pilaf, the tah dig, or crust that forms beneath the rice as it cooks.  This requires careful attention to ensure the rice doesn’t overcook and the tah dig doesn’t burn to a blackened crisp.   Charcoal definitely isn’t good eats, to adapt one of Alton Brown’s favorite locutions. Timed…