David Hammond – Page 9

Nam prik, a sort of salsa, is served with raw vegetables, sausage or fish. While it can be made with a food processor, the texture will be better if it is pounded by hand with a mortar and pestle.

Nam prik, a Thai salsa that boosts flavor of vegetables, fish

June 12, 2018 at 2:34 a.m.

Vegetables sometimes seem to need a little kick to make them more, um, interesting. Long ago, the cooks of Thailand must have realized that when they developed nam prik, a...

Dirty rice, a staple of Creole/Cajun cooking, depends on livers and gizzards for its characteristic flavor. It can go meatless for Lent and vegetarians, though, by caramelizing the vegetables for deeper flavor, using brown rice and adding mushrooms.

Dirty rice goes meatless and deep-fried for Lent

June 30, 2019 at 1:59 a.m.

Jambalaya and dirty rice are both products of Louisiana's Cajun/Creole heritage, reflecting the culinary traditions of France and Spain (both took turns ruling this region) as well as African and...

Xtabentun, sometimes called liqueur of the Maya, is a mead-based spirit flavored with anise and found all along the Yucatan.

Travel to Mayan coast with Mexican liqueur xtabentun

June 11, 2018 at 5:09 a.m.

In the weather-beaten Mayan ruins of Tulum on the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, there's a centuries-old structure referred to as The Temple of the Descending God. On the...

My grill’s name is Tracy. We talk and text.

June 16, 2018 at 4:48 p.m.

"Place rib-eye steak, 1.5-inch, on burners one and two." My grill — her name is Tracy — is talking to me in an electronic voice. I'm being texted the same...

Crosshatching, as the smoked bologna that Barn & Company pitmaster Gary Wiviott prepared here, helps get the flavor deep into the whole bologna as it cooks slowly over hickory smoke.

Wood smoke lifts humble bologna sandwich to greatness

May 31, 2019 at 1:41 p.m.

If you find yourself behind bars, expect to eat a lot of bologna. Because I teach in a local penal institution, I've seen many lunch carts filled to brimming with...

In Paul Fehribach's "The Big Jones Cookbook," voodoo greens are cooked with lard, onions, garlic, apple cider vinegar, ham hock and red pepper for a tart, savory and just-spicy-enough welcome to spring. (Lisa Schumacher/food styling.)

Big Jones chef cooks up colorful, regional Southern dishes in new cookbook

June 15, 2018 at 6:39 p.m.

Reezy-peezy is a funny name for a restaurant dish. Visiting Paul Fehribach's Big Jones restaurant a few years ago, we ordered the reezy-peezy because we liked the sing-songy sound of...

Pomace, the seeds, stems and skins leftover from pressing wine grapes, doesn't get wasted. In some regions, it is used to make marc, a French brandy.

When it comes to marc, older is better

August 23, 2019 at 8:06 a.m.

"Do you like grappa?" came the question while we visited Gabriel Boudier, a spirits maker in Dijon, France. "Sure," we shrugged. "This is better," continued managing director Jean Battault, holding...

The smoky flavor of mescals from Del Maguey makes them great for sipping alone, while other types of the agave-based spirit work well in cocktails.

Drinking and choosing a mescal, tequila’s smoky cousin

June 16, 2018 at 8:23 p.m.

Second of two parts. Getting to know mescal is like meeting distant cousins. Mescal is actually a type of tequila, but the liquors have distinct flavor profiles even though both...

An agave field in Santiago Matatlan, Oaxaca, the center of mescal production in Mexico. Mezcal is experiencing a boom, with production increasing 143 percent in 2013.

Getting to know mescal, tequila’s smoky brother

June 18, 2018 at 2:23 a.m.

First of two parts. Driving toward Oaxaca de Juarez, the capital of Mexico's southwestern state of Oaxaca, we pulled over in Santiago Matatlan, the self-proclaimed World Capital of Mescal. Matatlan's...

It’s the water: From Tennessee to Iceland, distillers covet their H2O

June 17, 2018 at 7:05 a.m.

Olympia beer, once a good choice for those seeking cheap suds out West, was brewed in Tumwater, Wash., using supposedly superior "artesian spring water." The slogan "It's the Water" was...

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