by Ari LeVaux Parsnip Power One of my son’s first tastes of solid food was dirt licked from a freshly dug parsnip. He didn’t yet have the teeth to chew into the ivory taproot itself, but his attempts to do so sure got it clean. It…

by Ari LeVaux Plov is a hearty and meaty rice-based meal from Central Asia. The dish is widely considered the progenitor of rice pilaf and a cousin to paella. Native to present-day Uzbekistan, plov has spread throughout the former…

by Ari LeVaux The dark days of winter solstice have a way of making human beings hunger for light. That is probably why, whatever your creed or culture, you have a tradition that involves casting some kind of glow during the period we…

by Ari LeVaux Who among us doesn’t have a trick or two up their sleeve for when they make instant ramen? A vegetable or egg in the pot, your special sauce or powder, and if you’ve got some game perhaps a garnish on top. All…

by Ari LeVaux Sometime in the mid-1990s, after a lifetime of servitude to the shriveled heads of garlic that I would bring home from the supermarket, I finally declared myself independent. As a cook and a garlic lover, I would no longer…

Wandering the Sonoran Desert in search of the chiltepin—the ancestor to domesticated chile peppers—with MacArthur genius Gary Paul Nabhan by Ari LeVaux Since he started hunting for chile peppers, more than 40 years ago, Gary Paul…

I missed out on years of enhanced flavor because of foodie prejudice against the dehydrated ingredient. by Ari LeVaux Many foodies look down on garlic powder as a stale, cheap substitute for the real thing. It’s a shortcut for lazy…

by Ari LeVaux When I go to the coffee shop, it’s usually not for the coffee. Only one or two spots in town can brew a better cup than I. They have expensive, well-maintained espresso machines, carefully roasted beans and baristas who…

by Ari LeVaux A properly put together BLT is the Bruce Lee of sandwiches. It’s lean and light and full of fight. Just a few strips of bacon give you all the meat necessary for this black-belt combination of tomato, onion, mayo,…

by Ari LeVaux The Spanish state of emergency was to go into effect at midnight. At the only restaurant in the Toba valley, Comidas Caseras Carmen, some folks had gathered for a birthday party. The television was blasting scenes of…