Food & Wine March 2018

BIJU’S MADRAS CURRY SPICE BLEND Colorado restaurateur Biju Thomas’ marigold-colored madras curry blend is a perfect balance of warming spices. Add to caramelized onions then simmer with coconut milk for a quick curry base. $8 for 2.8 oz.; littlecurryshop.com LA BOÎTE VOYAGER BLENDS MASSALIS Chefs Eric Ripert, of Le Bernardin, and Lior Lev Sercarz collaborated on this fragrant blend, which incorporates fenugreek, turmeric, honey, and clove. Throw it over roasted vegetables or Greek yogurt. $15 for 2.5 oz.; laboiteny.com RUMI AFGHAN CURRY BRAISE Toasted cardamom, black pepper, nigella seed, and saffron form the backbone of this coarse, earthy rub, which is produced by a company that empowers Afghan women. We love it on lamb or pumpkin. $12 for 2.5 oz.; rumispice.com SPICEOLOGY CURRY MADRAS Chef Pete Taylor (the resident spice expert for thespruce.com) grinds and packs this…

BOLIVIAN BREAKTHROUGH Back in 2007 at the start-up party for Che, our Bolivian casting director got me a bottle of singani. We cracked it, and after I tried it I kind of grabbed him by the lapels and said, “What is this stuff? You’ve got to put together a mule train to keep me supplied.” GOVERNMENT ISSUES We initially imported 250 cases [of singani]. About nine months later we got a call from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau: “We’ve noticed all these cases disappearing and they haven’t been sold, so what’s going on?” We had to explain: Steven’s been drinking it. RESPECT THE CLASSICS Whether it’s food or movies, you mess with a classic, you better know what you’re doing. It’s about expectation; if something’s altered in the primary DNA, you think,…

1. JULIA CHILD ON THE SET OF THE FRENCH CHEF, 1963 // PAUL CHILD On her first cooking show after publishing her landmark book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Child made cooking fun and fearless. Child’s husband took this photo at a promo shoot, which poked fun at the amount of work it took to produce the show. The tight behind-the-scenes work paved the way for how cooking shows are made today. THEN & NOW 2. “STILL LIFE WITH WATERFOWL,” 1873 // CHARLES PHILIPPE AUGUSTE CAREY One of the earliest photographers, Carey helped establish the artistic possibilities of the new medium. “The thing that makes Carey’s work so amazing is that food, separated by centuries, is the same in its most raw form,” says photographer Andrea Gentl. “This should be a reminder that,…

Little-known fact: Food personality and F&W contributor Andrew Zimmern wrote his college thesis on the daguerreotype, the first commercially available photograph. That’s one reason why I invited him, along with photographer Christina Holmes, chef and influencer Camille Becerra, and food stylist Victoria Granof, to join me to talk about the evolution of food photography. The medium has changed more in the past 10 years—due in part to digital tech, social media, and more sophisticated food consumers—than any other time in the 192-year history of the photograph. We convened in a brick-arched room 30 feet below the streets of Brooklyn, in a former 1850s-era brewery most recently reinvented as a cheese-aging facility called Crown Finish Caves. Ripe with history, it felt like the right setting for our talk. An edited version of…

WE’RE CRAZY about the House Fries from Michael and Christina Corvino’s eponymous restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri— scoop-shaped, well-seasoned morsels that marry the airy puff of pommes soufflées to the meaty crunch of a good french fry. Their secret? An eight-step method (below) that entails rinsing the spuds of excess starch, simmering them in salty vinegar water to season each fry perfectly, then air-drying and frying them twice, with a stint in the freezer in between. Serve the finished fries with XO sauce and aioli as they do at Corvino, or dunk them in spicy mayo. CORVINO HOUSE FRIES ACTIVE 40 min TOTAL 4 hr INGREDIENTS 2 (1-lb.) russet potatoes, scrubbed 8 cups water 1 cup distilled white vinegar 3 Tbsp. kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) Neutral oil, such as grapeseed, for frying Flaky sea salt, for serving 1. CUT Cut…

Squash and Black-Eyed Pea Coconut Curry Total 40 min; Serves 4 to 6 Black-eyed peas and squash need only a quick simmer to soak up this rich, warming coconut curry. 2½ lb. acorn squash, cut into ¾-inch wedges 2 Tbsp. canola oil 1 Tbsp. garam masala 1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste 2 Tbsp. coconut oil 1 tsp. mustard seeds 1 large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced 1 serrano chile, halved lengthwise, stem attached 3 garlic cloves, crushed 1 (15-oz.) can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained 2 plum tomatoes, cut into wedges ½ tsp. ground turmeric 1 (15-oz.) can coconut milk 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine squash, canola oil, garam masala, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper in…