Sushi lovers will love the book The Zen of Fish: The Story of Sushi, from Samurai to Supermarket by Trevor Corson. I certainly enjoyed the read because the book is filled with the history of sushi, scientific explanation of the … Continue reading →

Dinner alone is one of life’s pleasures. Certainly cooking for oneself reveals man at his weirdest. People lie when you ask them what they eat when they are alone. A salad, they tell you. But when you persist, they confess … Continue reading →

Eager to be the good neighbour, wanting to make sure she wasn’t lonely, I invited her over for dinner with me and my three small children. She gave me such a look. ‘Why, uh, thanks … but you know, I … Continue reading →

I have thought about the apparent contradiction that someone who has dedicated most of her working life to cooking should be so reluctant, when she eats alone, to cook for herself. The explanation is that I consider cooking to be … Continue reading →

Eating as a simple means of ending hunger is one of the great liberties of being alone, like going to the movies by yourself in the afternoon or, back in those golden days of youth, having a cigarette in the … Continue reading →

But in practice, eating alone feels wrong. I’m so accustomed to eating with people, and serving people who are eating with people, that the social aspect of it seems inextricable from any other step on that journey from farm to … Continue reading →

You need music to cook to, especially under less-than-deal conditions. Break it out. Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan for soups. Bruce Springsteen for stews. Turn up “Atlantic City” when you’re making beef stroganoff. The heat coming from the stovetop is … Continue reading →

In the end, I always want potatoes. Mashed potatoes. Nothing like mashed potatoes when you’re feeling blue. Nothing like getting into bed with a bowl of hot mashed potatoes already loaded with butter, and methodically adding a thin cold slice … Continue reading →