Table of contents for May 2019 in Food & Wine

2017 BEYOND SAUVIGNON BLANC ($12) For those people who want a Sauvignon Blanc that walks a finely tuned line between California fruitiness and New Zealand pepperiness, this South African version from the estate Buitenverwachting (Dutch for “beyond expectation”) should be a no-brainer—not least because of its absurdly low price. 2017 AGRICOLA PUNICA SAMAS ($19) A springtime white should hit your palate with a “ping!” and wake up your taste buds after the rich reds of winter. This Sardinian Vermentino is a perfect example: zesty, lively, and yet with a mineral backbone that adds nuance. Chill it down, now that it’s warm enough outside to actually want a chilled wine. 2015 CORISON NAPA VALLEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON ($95) Cathy Corison is one of Napa Valley’s top winemakers, and her Cabernet—especially…

A RECIPIENT OF THE 2018 John Egerton Prize from the Southern Foodways Alliance, Germaine Jenkins is the force behind Fresh Future Farm, a farm and grocery store in North Charleston, South Carolina. When Jenkins first moved there, she found that if her family wanted food of a certain quality, she had to leave the neighborhood. In an effort to lift up her community and provide a necessary resource, she started growing produce and selling it in her grocery store. Her approach is one grounded in pragmatism and sustainability. —INTERVIEW BY JULIA TURSHEN, FOUNDER OF EQUITY AT THE TABLE (EATT) AND AUTHOR OF NOW & AGAIN JT: You were exposed to a community garden at a young age. How did that affect you? GJ: It was like a light switch;…

I AM A WOMAN WHO LUXURIATES in the warmth of summer’s kiss so intensely that I spent nearly 18 months ensuring I never escaped its embrace. After 17 years of making my living as a writer, I was traveling so much that my home had become an albatross—a place that signaled nothing more than the tedium of things that needed fixing. So I leaned into the travel. I sold my house, put everything in storage, and hit the road indefinitely to chase summer around the globe with nothing more than my laptop, a single suitcase containing a few sundresses and a swimsuit, and one hell of an appetite. Along the North Sea in Holland, where the June sun hangs high until nearly 10 p.m., I met up with friends…

ON THE HUNT for beautiful beaches and fantastic food in Lisbon, Associate Food Editor Kelsey Youngman stopped by a family-owned Mozambican restaurant, Cantinho de Aziz, where dining feels like hanging out at a friend’s house. “Everyone is touching elbows,” Youngman says. “You’re drinking wine that’s cheaper than a bottle of water; everyone’s sharing food—it feels like a big party.” Her favorite was the grilled coconut chicken with chef Jeny Sulemange’s addictive coconut rice. Youngman has three tips to capture the experience at home: invite good friends, buy plenty of vinho verde and crisp lager, and serve the drinks ice-cold. GRILLED CHICKEN WITH COCONUT RICE AND CHILE-LIME SAUCE Use full-fat coconut milk; you’ll skim the cream to make the marinade and use the rest to infuse the rice with coconut…

St. Croix DIGBY STRIDIRON’S WEST INDIAN RESTAURANT, BRAATA, IS THE NEW HEART OF CARIBBEAN COOKING. Throughout the Caribbean, you have to look hard to find restaurants serving the West Indian fare that islanders have eaten for centuries. It’s often more pasta, less mofongo. On St. Croix, the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, chef Digby Stridiron, the modern poster boy of the Caribbean kitchen, is changing that. A native Crucian, the ultra-chill Stridiron asserts the glories of the region’s foodways at his newly opened Braata. This intimate spot in Frederiksted, where soca music bounces in the breeze, champions the culinary influence of African slaves and the native Taíno people through a menu rich with fish caught in nearby waters and produce grown on the island’s many sloping fields.…

MY FIRST FOOD MEMORY is of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the beach. Every morning during summers on the coast of South Carolina with my cousins, my mom would make PB&Js using the whole loaf of sliced white bread and stack them back in the plastic sleeve for a beach picnic. No matter how much we tried to avoid it, they were sand magnets. Occasionally, my dad would bring a tray of foil-wrapped chili dogs down to the beach “for the adults.” If this was adulting, I wanted an upgrade. By the 1990s, I got one: Dinners at the beach rental grew epic in scale, with my grandmother and aunt, dressed in their muumuus, one-upping each other with Italian spiedini or fish stew. It was a time…

CLASSIC CEVICHE THOUGH PERUVIANS CLAIM ceviche as their national dish, chilled, citrus-dressed seafood is a mainstay in homes and restaurants in Central and South America almost anywhere ocean meets coastline. A balance of heat, salt, acidity, and crunch is key. As with any seafood recipe, it’s essential to use the freshest, most sustainably sourced fish and shellfish, both for flavor and for the sake of food safety. After you’ve nailed the classic ceviche recipe below, have fun playing with add-ins, toppings, and different chips for dipping to create your own signature ceviche. —SANDRA GUTIERREZ ACTIVE 15 MIN; TOTAL 45 MIN SERVES 4 1 lb. ½-inch-cubed skinless red snapper fillet (from 1 [2-lb.] skin-on red snapper fillet)1 cup lime juice (from 8 large limes)¾ cup ¾-inch-diced plum tomato4 medium radishes, cut…

“A QUALITY BEACH COCKTAIL should make the music you’re listening to a little sweeter and the company you keep a lot more pleasurable,” says Brian Miller, the pirate gear–clad beverage director of The Polynesian in New York City. So, what do Miller and other bar pros sip when they head to the beach? A ration or three of rum, sure. But also easy, sophisticated riffs on lounge-chair classics, like a perfectly tart strawberry daiquiri, a gin slushie blitzed with mint and honeydew, and a truly exceptional rum and Coke. A little prep can ensure you’re ready for happy hour at any moment: Bring your own blender from home for frozen cocktails and fresh juices, and stash spirits in the freezer when you arrive—the extra chill will decrease the quantity…

ANY TIME SAMIN NOSRAT gets a whiff of saltwater air, she’s catapulted back to her childhood in San Diego. Best known for her cookbook Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, followed by a Netflix series of the same name, Nosrat went to high school three blocks from the ocean, her “happy place.” Her family is from Iran, and as a child, she spent many Persian holidays at the beach. They would celebrate Chaharshanbe Suri, just before the Persian New Year, Nowruz, by jumping over fires at sundown and eating ash reshteh, a thick soup made of noodles and beans. Then, on Sizdah Bedar, the 13th day of Nowruz, they would gather for a beach picnic, toting samovars filled with tea and unrolling Persian carpets over the sand. Now based in Berkeley,…

I LOVE TO COOK when I travel. But it’s all too often that I’m faced with one of my worst nightmares—an ill-equipped kitchen. This means dull knives (or none at all!), a couple pieces of cookware, or a severely limited supply of pantry essentials. As the resident Mad Genius at Food & Wine, I created these two recipes that come together easily no matter the kitchen, with ingredients you can find just about anywhere. Chicken Scarpariello With Pickled Peppers ACTIVE 20 MIN; TOTAL 45 MIN; SERVES 4 This classic Italian-American dish comes together quickly with minimal prep. Serve with crusty bread for a satisfying meal. 4 (4-oz.) bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs1 tsp. kosher salt½ tsp. black pepper2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil4 (4-oz.) sweet Italian sausages½ cup dry white wine6…

A LOT OF PEOPLE FEEL there’s nothing more crisp and enlivening than a cool ocean breeze; as it happens, grapes feel exactly the same way. White wines from vineyards close to the ocean seem to have a hint of seaside freshness: bright acidity, an oyster shell–like minerality, the saline hint of sea spray. How to find them? Just head to the coast. Tuscany or Chile, Portugal or Provence—take your pick. And these bottles are also perfect with the vibrant green vegetables of spring, from fresh lettuces to sautéed sugar snaps to, well, you name it. 2017 POGGIO AL TESORO SOLOSOLE ($25) Vermentino’s fresh flavors and almondy finish make it a perfect wine for linguine with clams or any other shellfish pasta. Poggio al Tesoro’s flinty bottling, with its apricot-and-white-flowers…

LIKE SO MANY KIDS, summers at the beach were everything to me: freedom, friends, fresh air, and most of all—frozen treats from the truck that pulled into the beach parking lot each afternoon, which we’d run to meet with crumpled bills clenched tightly in our fists. There was nothing better than those sticky sweets and the satisfaction that came from choosing whatever you wanted from the familiar menu. I usually opted for a strawberry shortcake pop, but once in a while I relished a rocket pop. Who could resist those bright, sugary layers, as well as the bonus of the deep blue your tongue turned? Perfect for showing off to your siblings. Flash forward 30 years and I still get nostalgic for those pops. Of course, they’ve now become…