Dry-cured sausages are uncooked and hung to age in all their smelly, molding glory. Very few people still make them due to health regulations, which are in place to address food safety concerns but can adversely affect the flavor that would result from a traditional curing process, which has been developed over thousands of years. Instead, vendors are buying them from commercial producers, some of whom offer only a cooked variant. The Times has a list of the places to get the real thing in New York.
Cured culatello, said to be a prince among pork products, and Armandino Batali (father of chef Mario Batali) learned how to make it in Italy and produces the $35/pound treat in his Seattle Store. He faces some of the same regulatory challenges as the salami makers (above).
Sometimes the desire for precision that a pastry chef has can be useful to savory chefs, especially when recreating recipes. Iacopo Falai, both chef and pastry chef, lets himself wing it - just a little bit - when preparing dessert, especially when dessert is disguised as a salad. Salad then takes a turn as dessert in celery pudding cakes with strawberry rhubarb compote.
The minimalist, Mark Bittman, talks about fat vs thin asparagus and then cooks some.
Frank Bruni dines at Crema and gives it 1 star.
The next Le Cirque is scheduled to open on May 30.
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