On the island of Crete, March and April are the best months to pick wild edible greens for making pies. Also in spring, in the markets of Heraklion, you’ll find neatly tied-up bunches of aromatic greens called yahnera: a few shoots of wild fennel bunched with salsify tops, leaves of young corn poppy, Roman pimpernel, shepherd’s purse, wild carrot, edible chrysanthemum, and a thick furry thistle called eryngo - all sweet fragrant greens nearly impossible to put together outside Crete.
As plain as these cookies look, that's how surprising they are. At first glance, they have the look of little meringue buttons: their tops are pale, smooth, buff colored, and as crackly thin as parchment. Tucked beneath the crust is the cookie proper, a tidbit that is all crunch. These are cookies you might be tempted to gobble like gumdrops if it weren't for their flavor: anise, a flavor so assertive it can never be taken lightly.
Ingredients
Ingredients
For Vietnamese living abroad, a trip to Saigon would be incomplete without a visit to Ben Thanh Market, a huge maze of fresh food and sundries. Near the center is a food court where vendors hawk popular Viet treats. As you sample their wares, you are apt to strike up conversations with other gluttonous Viet kieu (Vietnamese expats). On one occasion, a man from Texas visiting his family for Tet told me part of his daily routine while in Vietnam included eating mien gá, which was so deliciously light that it allowed him to order more dishes from other vendors.
This extravagantly rich, dry-braised beef curry is a signature dish of the Minangkabau highlands of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It's a triumph of flavor, with lime leaves, nutmeg, and cloves. The dish is cooked by a process that inverts normal braising. The beef is slowly simmered in a spiced coconut-milk broth until the broth evaporates and the meat is left to sauté in the intensely flavored rendered coconut and beef oils left in the pot.
This salad epitomizes the Vietnamese love of contrasting flavors and textures.
Cocido is a big multi-ingredient feast that will feed an army—soup, meat, vegetables—and still leave leftovers. The ingredients list and instructions might look involved, but there's not much more to it than throwing a bunch of stuff in a pot.
Tender chunks of pork ribs are a wintery specialty from Ferrara. Tomato, olives, and basil add especially rich flavors to the meaty ribs. A thick beef chuck blade roast can be substituted with great success. With either meat, this dish evokes snug evenings in Ferrara farmhouses, when everyone gathers around the big kitchen table for hours of good talk and good food. Serve this on the first really cold night of winter, if possible in front of an open fire.
This is the basic, classic Chinese preparation for any live seafood, and it always is a hit, underscoring the prawns' natural sweetness. Most seafood sellers will package spot prawns to stay alive for several hours. If you get a few with roe attached, consider yourself lucky; it is a delicacy.