Rachel Laudan

Tomorrow I will do a radio interview on the Islamic roots of the Mexican kitchen.  I always like to give this a bit of a new twist, so this time it’s noodles. Here’s a Sunday dinner we had with our friend Jordi and his family just outside Barcelona a year or so ago. First course:  [...]

In her informative and delightful book, Sufi Cuisine (2005), Nevin Halici, one of Turkey’s leading culinary historians, gives a recipe for pomegranate sherbet: a cup of freshly squeezed juice, 2/3 cup sugar, and 3-1/3 cups of water. Apart from her useful advice to to “roll an uncut fresh pomegrante underfoot on the floor” before squeezing [...]

One objection that comes up time and again when people discuss my theory about the Islamic origins of mole poblano is this: how come, if mole was introduced by the Spaniards, it is now the celebration dish in small villages all over Mexico? Perfectly good question. And I think there is an answer to this [...]