The focaccia Genovese is the one the world knows, the dimpled, golden, olive-oil-soaked flatbread from Liguria that fills bakery windows from Genoa to Brooklyn. It deserves its fame. But it is not the only focaccia worth learning, and eight hundred kilometers to the south, the city of Bari makes a version that stands entirely on …
There is a certain kind of dish that makes you look like a far better cook than you are, and the French tomato tart is the finest example I know. Set it on the table, golden and glistening, with its concentric rings of ripe tomatoes on a puff of flaky pastry, and everyone assumes you …
Imagine opening a cool cellar, lifting the lid on a crock, and catching the sharp, bright perfume of cabbages and carrots that transformed themselves while you slept, no pills required. In much of Europe, winter vegetables are not a sad backup plan. They are alive. Cabbage turns silky and sour. Carrots fizz slightly on the …
Ciabatta looks like it has been made in Italian villages for a thousand years. The rough, floury, slipper-shaped loaf with its open, holey crumb has the air of something ancient and rustic, a peasant bread handed down through generations. It is one of the most convincing pieces of edible theater in the world, because ciabatta …
At first glance, French cuisine can seem all about foie gras and fancy sauces, but everyday French families often cook simple, wallet-friendly meals. From hearty soups to veggie-packed one-pans, here are 7 classic recipes that prove you don’t need to be a Michelin-star chef or spend a fortune to eat like a local in France. …
There is a cake in the Basque Country so beloved it has its own museum, its own brotherhood of bakers, and its own annual festival, and yet the people who adore it cannot agree on how it should be filled. It is called pastel vasco in Spanish and gateau basque in French, the Basque cake, …
Everyone knows Spanish paella, the wide golden pan of dry, separate grains eaten in the summer sun. Far fewer people outside Spain know its cozy, rainy-day opposite, and it may be the more lovable of the two. It is called arroz caldoso, which simply means brothy rice, and it is exactly that: a soupy, spoonable …
There is a moment, somewhere in October across all of Europe, when the pot comes out of the cupboard. Not the frying pan, not the roasting tin, but the deep pot, the one for soup, the vessel every culture reaches for when the light shortens and the first real cold arrives. And what goes into …
Some of the best food in the world is also the simplest, and there is no better proof than a plate of pasta al limone. This is the bright, silky lemon pasta of the Amalfi Coast, where the lemons grow the size of your fist and the cooking is built on letting a few perfect …
The strange part is not that American supermarkets sell “sourdough.” The strange part is how often that word gets attached to a soft, sliced sandwich loaf full of insurance policies. The European version is usually much less dramatic: flour, water, salt, and enough time for fermentation to do the real work. A lot of Americans …
(Spaghetti Aglio e Olio — The Simplicity That Feeds the Soul) You don’t need sauce. You don’t need cheese. You don’t even need a trip to the store. This is the pantry recipe every Italian grandmother knows by heart. It is made in minutes, uses ingredients you already have, and tastes like comfort in its …
Watch a Spanish grandmother make pollo al ajillo and you will not see her reach for a recipe card, a scale, or a measuring spoon. She browns the chicken in olive oil until the kitchen smells of it, throws in more garlic than seems reasonable, splashes in wine from the bottle already open, and lets …