Curious Cook in the New York Times: American dry-cured hams, country and European-style

In Wednesday's Curious Cook column I write about the new wave of fine American hams, cured with salt and eaten uncooked, like Spanish jamón iberico and serrano and Italian prosciutto.

Last month I attended the 5th World Congress of Dry-cured Hams, which was held in the Spanish town of Aracena, near Sevilla. I enjoyed some remarkable jamón there and learned a great deal from producers, scientists, and ham lovers. I'll be writing more about this later on.

In the meantime, if you like ham and haven't read David Arnold's brief and brilliant treatise on the subject, published a couple of years ago in Food Arts, get it here. It's packed with information and beautifully written.

Curious Cook in the New York Times: Asparagus snapping

In the May 6th edition of The Curious Cook, I write about asparagus: why and how it toughens after harvest, how to slow its toughening, and whether snapping the stalk really separates the tough from the tender.

Curious Cook in the New York Times: Making yogurt and crème fraîche

In this month's column I write about cultured dairy products and how to make them at home. I've also put together a recipe for a hybrid between two Indian desserts, easy shrikhand (sweetened drained yogurt) and tricky mishti doi (milk cooked down by about half, then fermented into yogurt). It sweetens a drained yogurt with its own whey, cooked down with sugar to make a tart caramel.

For two dozen unusual recipes from the yogurt belt (Eastern Europe to India), including "proto-pasta" made from yogurt and wheat, see Anne Mendelson's recent and fine book Milk (Knopf, 2008).

Cooking pasta in minimal water: seconds

My Times column of last Wednesday incited dozens of readers to write, more by far than any other column has done. Here's a summary of what I heard from you.


To my surprise, no one seriously objected to the idea of cooking pasta in much less water than the usually prescribed 4 to 6 quarts per pound. A couple of readers doubted that fresh pasta can be cooked this way. I doubted it too, until I tried it.

Many people have been cooking pasta in minimal water, including Sicilians in Sicily and here in the U.S., and parents of young children who are impatient to eat. Frequent campers point out that the savings in water and energy are especially valuable in outdoor cooking.

Some people, including Ligurian olive growers and chef Alain Ducasse, have been cooking small pasta shapes in the manner of a risotto, starting with a small amount of liquid and making frequent additions as the liquid is absorbed. The released starch helps thicken the liquid into a sauce. (Thanks to Patrick Wang for the link.) The Valencian dish fideuà is a version of paella made with pasta instead of rice.

Many people bring pasta and a reduced volume of water to the boil, then turn the heat off while the pasta cooks through. Some use an infomercial product, a plastic tube, designed for this method. Off-heat finishing does work (the pot temperature stays plenty high), and saves the energy of keeping the water at the boil.

A number of technically minded readers suggest other ways of saving energy. Start the water in an electric kettle, which is more efficient than a pot on a burner. Put the lid on the pot to prevent heat from escaping via evaporation. Once the pasta is cooked, keep the water in the pot and let it contribute its heat to the dwelling, rather than pouring it down the drain. (Works best in winter.)

Some readers avoid wasting pasta water by adding it to soups. Others add it to their gardens.

My thanks to everyone who took the time to write!

Curious Cook in the New York Times: Cooking pasta in minimal water

In today's Curious Cook column, I write about a different way to cook pasta: starting in cups of cold water instead of quarts at a rolling boil. The pasta comes out fine, and the small amount of leftover cooking water is thick, delicious, and useful.

Curious Cook in the New York Times: Aging, aerating, and uncorking wines

In this month's Curious Cook column I report on an instructive tasting and conversation with wine chemist Andrew Waterhouse and retailer and connoisseur Darrell Corti. We talk about storage temperatures, how much a wine can be really be changed between opening and sipping, and a simple way to get rid of cork taint.

Curious Cook in the New York Times: Two-tone persimmon pudding

The chemistry of dark, rich persimmon pudding is the subject of my column in the New York Times this week. There's also a recipe for a pudding with two very different colors and flavors.

Curious Cook in the New York Times: To brine or not to brine the turkey

In this week's Curious Cook column I write about how brining produces a moister roast, why I still don't like to brine the Thanksgiving turkey, and how to moisten the turkey breast after cooking it, not before.

Curious Cook in the New York Times: Pots and pans and heat

In today's New York Times column I write about how different pots and pans handle heat, a couple of new nonstick surfaces, and the stovetop equivalent of tears in a wine glass.

Curious Cook in the New York Times: Cold in the kitchen

In today's Curious Cook column I write about the uses of cold in the summer kitchen, including a method and recipe for freezing ice cream and sorbet mixes in 30 minutes without a machine.