Skills & Techniques

Sauce béchamel stands as one of the five mother sauces of classical French cooking. The classic sauce bechamel is smooth,...

What Is Court Bouillon? Court bouillon is a light, aromatic cooking liquid used primarily for poaching fish and seafood. The...

What Is Mirepoix? Mirepoix is one of the most important building blocks in French cuisine. At its simplest, it is...

What Does Terroir Really Mean? The word terroir comes from the French word terre, meaning land. However, in French cooking,...

A French Landscape You Can Taste French cooking is often described as “refined,” but that word only captures the surface....

If you walk into a kitchen in Italy, you won't find a spice rack filled with fifty different dusty jars....

Italian Cooking as a Way of Thinking Beyond Recipes Italian cooking as a way of thinking goes far beyond recipes...

Cheese as Structure in Sauces, Not Just Flavor Cheese as structure in sauces is one of the most overlooked ideas...

Why Pasta Shape Matters More Than You Think Why pasta shape matters is often overlooked in everyday cooking. Pasta is...

Emilia-Romagna Cuisine and Northern Italian Identity Emilia-Romagna cuisine is widely regarded as the foundation of northern Italian food culture. This...