From yesterday’s Newsday: “The Trini air is full of festivities at the height of the season … It?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s parang here, cocktail parties there and dinners everywhere. Wondering where to go for a gourmet New Year?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s brunch or dinner? Can?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t figure out where to take the family to dine and party Old Year?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s night? Hotels and restaurants offer many dining options... 

Found an interesting article on Hindu Eating Habits in Trinidad from DesiJournal.com. Like many Trinidadians I’ve attended pujas/Indian weddings/Divali festivities. It’s always a grand time! Filling and lighting deyas is one of my all-time favorite childhood memories Excerpt: The Soharee leaf, a plant native to Trinidad, has served the Hindu community for more than a century. In... 

Chicken with za’atar, shankleesh, basil, tomatoes and sumac oil on a bed of couscous. – Battimamzelle Restaurant (Trinidad) Photo taken by the lovely and generous Chennette American Eagle Latitudes, (the inflight magazine of American Eagle) has a great article called Trinidad “Sweet Hand” Cuisine. There are just a few errors in it that I’d like to correct 1.... 

From the Northshore Outlook comes the following gift suggestions for that Wine Geek in your life Recommended suggestions include: The Danby 30 Bottle Wine Cooler Excerpt: One of the best wine gifts I ever received was a Danby Wine Fridge. It holds approximately 40 bottles. The temperature-controlled shelves make it easy to store reds, whites, icewine and bubble all in the same fridge and all at... 

Blondie – Ruby Tuesdays (Trinidad) Photo taken by the lovely and generous Chennette The tourist guide “Discover Trinidad and Tobago” has a guide to eating out in the North-West. Because of its geographic focus the only establishments mentioned are those in and around the capital (Port of Spain). Excerpt: The north west has everything from fine dining restaurants to fast food... 

As I’ve mentioned earlier in this blog, I’m a HUGE fan of Michael Lomonaco’s Epicurious over on the Travel Channel. Thanks to that show I became aware of the Epicurious.com website which is also the database of Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines. I only have one issue of Gourmet magazine, that I bought while at the Miami International Airport on my last visit to the US in 2004, but... 

Profiteroles with vanilla icecream and chocolate sauce with almonds – Battimamzelle Restaurant (Trinidad) Photo taken by the lovely and generous Chennette Fodor’s Travel Wire has come out with their list of Ten Best Caribbean restaurants, and sadness of sadness there isn’t a Trini name among them! Now why is this? After the obligatory outburst of anger and eventual resignation... 

Several years ago Food & Wine Magazine did a feature on Trinidad’s food culture. The piece was taken in the context of the late Ismail Merchant‘s film adaptation of V.S. Naipaul‘s book “The Mystic Masseur” which was being filmed on location. In it, Food writer Tama Janowitz states: At last we’re seated and platters of food begin to arrive, two portions... 

In an addendum to my previous post on Angostura Bitters, Saveur Magazine has an article entitled The Bitters Truth where their intrepid reporter tours the factory and learns about the history (and mystery) surrounding this almost 200 year old recipe! Excerpt: From the outside, the complex of warehouses and offices looked not just imposing, but impenetrable. I approached a security officer standing... 

Now that we are officially heading into holiday season I think it’s time to remember that joyful eating and healthy eating -CAN- go together! You’ll feel better engaging in moderation as well the following 3 quick tips for healthy eating during the holidays 1. Enjoy plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. At least 1/2 of your bread/rice/cereal intake should be whole-grain. One... 

It seems hard to believe that the Pineapple Upside Down cake has not always been with us, however in reality canned pineapples were not available until 1903 when Jim Dole of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (now Dole Pineapple) perfected a way to tin them. So where did people get the idea of putting fruit at the bottom of a cake pan? Well this technique has been around since the Middle Ages. Traditionally... 

Holiday time is upon us and that means one thing. Entertaining. Whether you are visiting someone’s house for a few hours or a weekend it’s always good form to carry something in hand. But what do you choose that hasn’t been given 1000 times before? About.com‘s Brett Moore offers the following ideas. From About.com: by Brett Moore If you have been invited to dinner or a cocktail... 

From Yahoo!News By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer Mon Oct 23, 7:41 PM ET CHICAGO – New research on vegetables and aging gives mothers another reason to say “I told you so.” It found that eating vegetables appears to help keep the brain young and may slow the mental decline sometimes associated with growing old. On measures of mental sharpness, older people who ate more than two... 

The Bon Appetit Cookbook: More than 1,200 of the Magazine’s All-time, Best-loved Recipes The Boston Globe says: “There’s a new addition to the category of doorstop cookbooks — which includes the venerable “Joy of Cooking and the timeless The Gourmet Cookbook. Bon Appetit bills itself as “America’s favorite food and entertaining magazine ” and is celebrating... 

Chicken is a meat that can be substituted easily for veal in dishes calling for this “baby” meat. You will be surprised how you won’t really tell the difference in your recipes and the substitute will also save on you pocketbook. Source: Chicken replaces veal in piccata dish, The Valley Independent Tweet  Read More →

I love my slow cooker! I can prep early in the day, clean up the kitchen and just go about my normal routine knowing that come evening I’ll have something hearty and HOT to fill myself (and my parents) with. However slow cooking is not as instinctive as I would have thought. There are quite a few little mistakes that I’ve made along the way and there are still some dishes I’m trying... 

A new study of people who crave chocolate shows that eating chocolate, or even just looking at a picture of it, turns on pleasure centers in the brains of cravers far more than in people who don’t crave the confection. Viewing pictures of chocolate also activates an area of the brain known to be involved in drug addiction. The study, by Ciara McCabe and Edmund Rolls of Oxford University in England,... 

Did you know that there are over 60 varieties of olives? The other day while watching the Food Network I saw one of the chefs in a supermarket of some sort looking for olives. My jaw dropped as I witnessed open containers (buffet style) of olives glistening like a multicolored mosaic of sorts. I had never realized that they came in so many different shapes, sizes and hues! Here in our local supermarkets... 

By: Beth Scott Junk food addicts argue with health food nuts, asserting white bread to be the best. The health food nuts retaliate exclaiming about how much better store bought whole wheat bread is than white bread. The battle rages on… On which side of this debate do you stand? For that matter, which side should you REALLY be pulling for? Tweet  Read More →

From GlobalChefs.com (a culinary online magazine written by chefs) comes the following “Cooking Tips From The Pros”. Cooking With Olive Oil Do not saute (fry) food in good olive oil. High quality olive oils contain small particles from the olives that the oil was pressed from. When these are introduced to intense heat the particles burn and give the oil and the...