The Boston Globe
Getting a taste of Japanese comfort food
COOKBOOK REVIEW By Debra Samuels GLOBE CORRESPONDENT DECEMBER 31, 2013 Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat take on home cooking in “Japanese Soul Cooking: Ramen, Tonkatsu, Tempura, and More From the Streets and Kitchens of Tokyo and Beyond” Ten Speed Press Number of pages:256 pp. Book price:$27.50 Harris Salat, owner of Ganso, a Japanese comfort food …
Read moreThink pie pastry is daunting? Try this 3-ingredient wonder
By Debra Samuels | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT -October 8, 2013 Leslie Fishman says the recipe for apple pie she learned from her mother “became a family favorite for decades.” Her daughter is the third generation to make it. NEWTON — At some point everyone wants to try making America’s iconic dessert, apple pie. Just the …
Read moreOutmuscling the applesauce competition
TASTE KITCHEN By Debra Samuels | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT Applesauce is the Swiss Army knife of comfort foods. Often baby’s first food, it pairs well with pork chops and poultry, is a nutritious snack, and a simple taste that’s appealing when you’re under the weather. We tasted seven commercially prepared brands of unsweetened applesauce with 13 …
Read moreA snack cake taste-off
BOSTON GLOBE By Debra Samuels | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 01, 2013 WATERTOWN — Let’s get this part out of the way: Those familiar single-serving snack cakes like Twinkies and Devil Dogs aren’t going to win any nutrition awards. They typically contain dozens of ingredients, with things like partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, palm oil, artificial flavorings, …
Read moreRaising the bar for frozen fruit treats
By Debra Samuels | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 27, 2013 DEBRA SAMUELS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE A good quality frozen fruit bar is a refreshing and low-fat snack and the world has discovered this. On a steamy summer afternoon, nine tasters were delighted to sample seven brands of frozen strawberry fruit bars, ranging in hue …
Read moreArrivederci Salem Food Store
By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent WALTHAM — Paul Ursino, 65, is retiring after almost four decades running Salem Food Store on Moody Street. With its deli counter, freezers, and well- stocked Italian pantry items, Salem Food Store specialized in imported cheeses, cured meats, specialty pastas, coffee, Italian bread, and handmade ricotta and sausages, produced locally. …
Read moreThe Village Greens
By Debra Samuels Globe correspondent APRIL 02, 2013 By April, weary New Englanders are looking for anything to poke through the thawing ground. It is often a crocus, welcomed like an old friend. To help lift our culinary spirits, we asked you to peek into your recipe collections for favorite dishes featuring spring greens. For …
Read moreLooking for a pearl among small tomatoes
By Debra Samuels | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT MARCH 05, 2013 There are hundreds of varieties of tomatoes, fruits that are native to the New World. Though we associate many tomato dishes with European cuisines, the bright red rounds were brought to Europe after the Spanish explorers found them in the Americas. A dispute over pricing …
Read moreSpam goes glam
By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent WELLESLEY — Those who know Susumu “Sus” Ito, 93, know that he is a Nisei (second-generation Japanese-American), a Congressional Gold Medal recipient from World War II’s legendary all-Japanese-American 442d Regimental Combat Team, an emeritus professor at Harvard Medical School, a furniture maker, photographer, dad, and grandfather. (Sus is second …
Read moreTasters evaluate 7 brands of canned light tuna
Whether tuna is raw in sushi and sashimi, grilled as a steak, or scooped from a can, the fish is awash in controversy. Overfishing, mercury levels, and dolphins caught in nets meant for tuna account for this. Where once a tuna sandwich for lunch was a routine event, we no longer eat canned tuna …
Read moreBento:Build a Better Lunch
Debra Samuels, bestselling author, food writer and cooking instructor, wants to give the American lunchbox a makeover. In the chapter on “bento,” the traditional Japanese lunch box, in her upcoming book, My Japanese Table, Debra encourages the use of color, texture and taste to create healthier and more visually appealing meals.
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