Michael Ruhlman's Blog, page 84

Salumi in America

On our trip to Italy, Brian Polcyn and I saw a lot of new cuts we weren't familiar with, so as soon as we returned, we made plans to break down a couple of pigs Italian style, bringing in chef Jay Denham, who was recently back from five months staging in Italy.  We wanted to [...:]

Misleading Food Labels

It's our own fault. We alone are responsible for our own stupidity. We can't expect big business to have our best interests in mind, nor expect the media to stop ringing the all-in-one Salt-Is-Bad! Fat-Is-Bad! alarm bells. Big companies want to sell us their goods any way they can. If they can take advantage of [...:]

Father's Day

As Christopher Buckley writes in his extraordinary memoir, Losing Mum and Pup, this indeed is the happiest story there is, that I know at least:
The grandfather dies.  The father dies.  The son dies.
I'm midway through this story and pray it continues as told.  I miss my dad more than words can say.  I am lucky [...:]

To Fathers Without Fathers

As Christopher Buckley writes in his extraordinary memoir, Losing Mum and Pup, this indeed is the happiest story there is, that I know at least:
The grandfather dies.  The father dies.  The son dies.
I'm midway through this story and pray it continues as told.  I miss my dad more than words can say.  I am lucky [...:]

How To Make Sausage

Earlier this spring, my high school pal, JD, called and asked if I wanted to make sausage on Saturday. It's much easier with a few folks to spread out the work, but I wasn't prepared for something like 50 pounds of sausage. Nor did I expect JD to film the event.  But, ever the overachiever, [...:]

Classic Hollandaise Sauce

Elise emailed a couple weeks ago to ask if I'd posted on Hollandaise.  She'd posted the blender version, first popularized by Craig Claiborne in the 1970s in The New York Times, and wanted to link for contrast to an old-school version.  The blender version is unquestionably a no-brainer and results in a delicious Hollandaise-style sauce, [...:]

Literary Interlude: Unfinished Business

More than a year ago, the editor of Parade magazine was abruptly fired from his job, a job he cared deeply about and a job he worked very hard at, sometimes at the expense of his wife and three kids. Lee Kravitz and I went to the same high school, not ten years apart; when [...:]

CSA, Week 1: Braised Kale with Pancetta

We joined a CSA this year to see how it compares with simply shopping at the North Union Farmer's Market.  A friend suggested I write about how I use what find in our bag.  When Donna dropped our daughter off at a friend's, the friend's dad appeared and asked, "How are you going to cook [...:]

Salume Tour, Part 2

I rubbed the brass pig snout in Florence hoping to rid myself of bad Florence karama (first time there, my girlfriend left me for another guy, second time there, Donna and I parted for what was planned to be a year's separation; this time, only a crummy dish of carbonarra happened to me, which wasn't [...:]

Salume in Northern Italy

Ten days in Italy with Brian Polcyn and Nic Heckett for a salume tour of northern and central Italy—primarily Piedmont, Tuscany, Umbria and Emilia-Romagna. Damn, Italy is beautiful.  There's a reason Tuscany in particular is so romanticized.  Its rolling, forested hills and little towns perched on hillsides are breathtaking, particularly, I assure you, if you [...:]