Bon Appetit December/January 2021

IN SWEDEN THE HOLIDAY SEASON revolves around one beverage: glögg. Seemingly every single meal during the month of December begins (and ends) with a glass (or three) of this warm ruby red mulled wine. When I was growing up, the moment my grandmother started to cook up a batch on her stove signaled that the festivities were about to begin. I knew that delicious spreads of baked hams, herring prepared in a variety of ways, lutfisk, and gubbröra would be landing on the dining room table in no time. Oh, and I was amped to realize that it wouldn’t be long until I’d receive some Christmas presents too. I was blessed to be raised by a family that put a strong emphasis on tradition and customs, especially when it came to…

• Pastry chef Ayako Kurokawa, owner of the tiny Brooklyn bakery Burrow, swears by this set of stainless-steel bowls from Japanese midcentury industrial designer Sori Yanagi. “They’re beautiful and practical, stackable and easy to hold,” Kurokawa explains. Whether you’re prepping your mise en place in the small bowl or mixing up holiday cookies (we have some good ones on page 82) in the big bowl, you’re covered. For Kurokawa, no others will do; she brought her own personal set to Burrow the minute she signed the lease.…

• We heard about Casa Bosques from chef and artist Laila Gohar, who used the chocolate to create edible surrealist busts. Cool, we thought. Then we tried it. Tasty, we thought. The bean-to-bar chocolate company was founded by Rafael Prieto, who runs design agency Savvy Studio when he’s not tinkering with chocolate in Mexico City. “We have these ancient traditions of eating and drinking cacao in Mexico,” Prieto says, “so why, when you think ‘chocolate,’ do you think of Belgium and Switzerland?” Prieto works with chefs like Enrique Olvera and Elena Reygadas to pair chocolate from Latin America with roasted blue maize, hoja santa, pink peppercorn, and—Gohar’s favorite—cardamom.…

• Ceramist Lalese Stamps was feeling stuck. “I was making the same pieces over and over—pieces that people wanted to buy—but I wasn’t challenging myself,” she recalls. To break out of her rut, Stamps made a different mug every day for 100 days. She chose sleek black clay for the project and fashioned unique handles for each. One resembles the rings of Saturn, another a tiny steering wheel, and a third sports spikes worthy of Bowser Koopa. These two, which we love, suggest rainbows in monochrome.…