My favorite winter citrus in Japan is yuzu. The deep yellowy-orange sour fruit almost defies description. Shaped like a mandarin orange, it has the piquancy of a lemon and a staggering number of pits. There were over 20 pits in each of my 8 yuzu, each larger than any of 8 pits in the lemon …
Read moreHappy Year of the Horse from Tokyo, Japan. My husband, Dick and I are on our annual (well almost, we skipped last year) January visit this time only for less than 2 weeks instead of our usual 1 month stay making it is really difficult to see all of our friends this time. January is usually …
Read moreBy Debra Samuels | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT DECEMBER 24, 2013 Makes about 70 2-inch rounds The raised pancakes blini are traditionally dipped into butter but can also be eaten with a variety of toppings, from a humble spoonful of jam to glistening orbs of black or red caviar with all the trimmings. “Blini are one of the …
Read moreCOOKBOOK REVIEW By Debra Samuels GLOBE CORRESPONDENT DECEMBER 31, 2013 Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat take on home cooking in “Japanese Soul Cooking: Ramen, Tonkatsu, Tempura, and More From the Streets and Kitchens of Tokyo and Beyond” Ten Speed Press Number of pages:256 pp. Book price:$27.50 Harris Salat, owner of Ganso, a Japanese comfort food …
Read moreTASTE KITCHEN By Debra Samuels | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT Applesauce is the Swiss Army knife of comfort foods. Often baby’s first food, it pairs well with pork chops and poultry, is a nutritious snack, and a simple taste that’s appealing when you’re under the weather. We tasted seven commercially prepared brands of unsweetened applesauce with 13 …
Read moreBOSTON GLOBE By Debra Samuels | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 01, 2013 WATERTOWN — Let’s get this part out of the way: Those familiar single-serving snack cakes like Twinkies and Devil Dogs aren’t going to win any nutrition awards. They typically contain dozens of ingredients, with things like partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, palm oil, artificial flavorings, …
Read moreBy Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent WALTHAM — Paul Ursino, 65, is retiring after almost four decades running Salem Food Store on Moody Street. With its deli counter, freezers, and well- stocked Italian pantry items, Salem Food Store specialized in imported cheeses, cured meats, specialty pastas, coffee, Italian bread, and handmade ricotta and sausages, produced locally. …
Read moreBy Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent WELLESLEY — Those who know Susumu “Sus” Ito, 93, know that he is a Nisei (second-generation Japanese-American), a Congressional Gold Medal recipient from World War II’s legendary all-Japanese-American 442d Regimental Combat Team, an emeritus professor at Harvard Medical School, a furniture maker, photographer, dad, and grandfather. (Sus is second …
Read moreFirst in a 2-part post on the cookbook, “Secrets of a Jewish Baker: Recipes for 125 Breads from Around the World” by George Greenstein I’m on a toot. I get like this every once in a while. I read a book by an author that is new to me and I have to read everything …
Read moreBy Debra Samuels GLOBE CORRESPONDENT DECEMBER 04, 2012 CHESTNUT HILL — Some people watch the Food Network for entertainment. For Liora Kushner, it was educational television, which eventually led to a catering career. Kushner, 39, a lawyer by training, switched fields after the birth of her third child, Maya, 5. “I went to the …
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