food

by Ari Levaux When I first made the acquaintance of tofu, it did not go smoothly. A first grader with a soft spot for animals, I had only recently learned where meat comes from. After internalizing this barbaric truth, I announced to my…

by Ari LeVaux “If you are what you eat, I only want to eat the good stuff” – Remy the rat If you squint, ratatouille is practically indistinguishable from summer itself. It’s a dish you make when the tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini…

Saucy secrets to making the best tacos ever. by Ari LeVaux We shook hands to make it official. If my tacos were the best ever, as claimed, I would win the wager. Otherwise, victory went to my adversary. It was admittedly the most…

A four-ingredient formula for smoky summer perfection. by Ari LeVaux It’s the season of outdoor grilling, brought to you by the licking flames that make food taste better. Without a fire, of course, there is no smoke.…

by Ari LeVaux Eating my first potsticker belongs on the list of life experiences that I’ll never forget. It happened at the Oriental Garden Chinese restaurant in my hometown. They were labeled Peking Ravioli, and I had a good…

by Ari LeVaux Cheong (chi-yong) is a Korean way of preserving fruits and vegetables by making a sweet, flavorful syrup that you suddenly find indispensable. In ancient times various types of cheong were used medicinally, and also as a…

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 If a famous chef hands you a caviar’d cracker, it doesn’t prove anything. Like, of course it tastes good. It’s freakin’ caviar. True culinary brilliance is revealed by the creation of extraordinary food from the…