Category Archives: food & cooking

The Winter Market

Due to overwhelming demand, Somerville started a winter farmer’s market which takes place in the old armory building. It’s not within walking distance of Chez Belm, but it’s worth the short drive to be able to get fresh produce. Some … Continue reading

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“Caesar Salad”

I have been sick and I have been busy. The weasels in my lungs attempted to take up permanent residence, thwarted only by a solid week’s worth of insomniac coughing fits. I also spent a solid week planning, shopping for, … Continue reading

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French Onion Soup

I still remember my first bowl of French onion soup. It was January of 1978, and I was in New York City with the MIT Concert Band, the first stop of a week-long tour of the northeast. My friends and … Continue reading

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Aero Chocolate, Version 2

My first attempt at making aero chocolate turned out pretty well, but I was not satisfied with the final texture, which I found to be too dense. As I was considering making it again, my copy of Ideas in Food: … Continue reading

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Pork Belly Ssäm with Mustard Seed Sauce

The usual pre-holiday frenzy – gifts, menu planning for the family meal, last-minute work – kept me from posting much, and the post-holiday hasn’t been much better. Now that I’ve unearthed the house from a mountain of snow and taken … Continue reading

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Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad

I make a point of not buying supermarket beef anymore, but when I saw packs of freshly-cut marrow bones being added to the Stop & Shop meat display, I couldn’t resist. I may be picky about the actual meat, but … Continue reading

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Instant Chocolate Cake

With a new iSi charger in hand, I pulled another recipe out of my mind’s Deep Storage Facility, an instant cake invented by Albert Adrià at El Bulli. I first saw it in the 2008 Spain episode of No Reservations, … Continue reading

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Hydrocolloid Experiment 1: Aero Chocolate

I frequently rediscover ideas that have been dormant in the Deep Storage Facility of my long-term memory, triggered by a recent event or conversation. I was thinking about José Andrés’ Harvard lecture on the same day that a birthday present … Continue reading

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Fuji Apple Salad

The kimchi that I had made was coming up on three weeks old. Much to my surprise, it still smelled as fresh as when it first went into the fridge, even though it had acquired a slight fizz from CO2 … Continue reading

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Guinea Fowl, Red Cabbage, Trotter, and Prune

While some of you were checking out the tandoori turkey recipe for Thanksgiving ideas, I was out shopping for the final ingredients for the family holiday feast. I had already picked up my farm-raised fresh turkey (and participated in an … Continue reading

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