Recently, I wrote an ode to Breger cookies on this blog. I am now proud (and just a little smug) to report a berger sighting in Roanoke, Va, over 5 hours from the Berger Source, Baltimore. The Berger sighting was in a little specialty store miles from the West Virginia border called Tinnell’s Finer Foods. When the storeowner was asked to explain the Berger presence, he said he has a relative in Baltimore who introduced him to the cookie, and he has been importing them ever since!
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12Dec
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02Dec
I don’t know how I cooked before I got my first mortar and pestle set. I mean, really cooked. Crushed freshly-toasted sesame seeds to make a stir-fry, or ground mustard, cardamom, and black pepper for another attempted Indian curry, or pulverized cilantro for salsa. When you crush ingredients this way, their oils are released and combined to a degree that can’t be accomplished using a food processor–not exactly. Home-ground spices are fresher and, not surprisingly, often more potent than their store-bought, pre-ground counterparts. I’d go so far as to say the act of crushing and grinding the food components has a kind of soothing, therapeutic effect.
While wooden and metal sets are available, my preference is for the marble ones, due to their durability and resistance to odors and stains. You can choose from among a variety of sizes and materials at Sur le Table and Williams-Sonoma, and if you feel like sparring with other bargain hunters, you might luck out in the cutthroat treasure hunt that is the T.J. Maxx housewares section (I recently scored a decent 5″ set there for $7.99). -
29Nov
Pardon her headline but z -
21Nov
Baltimore is not known as a food capital. Its culinary offerings fail to rank with those of Paris, Rome, and London. However, there is one delight unique to Charm City (Baltimore), the Berger. The Berger, for those unaware, is a cookie, though calling it such is like referring to Monet as a painter, or Moby Dick a book. The term defines it, but fails to fully explain the sheer brilliance of the item. A Berger (for it is indeed worthy of the capital letter) has a cake-like, vanilla bottom, somewhat more moist then a Pepridge Farm cookie and somewhat tastier. However, it is the top of the Berger that invokes the eater’s fervor. It is a deep, full-bodied chocolate cr -
19Nov
Salty, dried, powdered vegetables. Appealing though this may sound, a mere semantic description can’t do justice to the unbelievable niftiness of Vegeta. It is with burbles of happy joy that I report you can now find this traditional Croatian seasoning at the Wegmans in Sterling, out by Dulles.
Stick this stuff on pretty much anything. Rub it on chickens before roasting them. Pour it on vegetables. Mix it with salad dressing when you feel lazy. Toss it on popcorn. Toss it on your friends. Here’s a fast recipe for Vegeta chicken wings:- Wash the wings, trim off the thin wingtip piece, and cut the drumette and the wing into two pieces
- DRY thoroughly with paper towels, I really mean it.
- Mix say, half a cup of mayo with a couple tablespoons of Vegeta till the mayo is bright yellow, then mix thoroughly with the chicken until well coated
- Put chicken on a grill pan that has been covered with aluminum oifl,, broil for 5-8 minutes on either side.
For us metro-only types, it’s also available online at Malincho.com
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19Nov
Ode to eight Ikea Swedish meatballs sitting on a well-priced-yet-trendy-looking trayOh savory balls of meat from Ikea
I’d climb metric shelving-units to see ya
And fight the whole Swedish Navy
To reach your lingonberries and gravy
and the cinnamon buns of your cafeter-ia.
IKEA College Park | 10100 Baltimore Ave College Park, MD 20740 | $5.80/serving
-ZAF
