Culinary Odyssey
- Summer months bring tomato bounty
- By Salim Ben Mami
- While traveling in Europe and North Africa for the last two weeks, I called my friend, Juan Jose from Filaki farms in Oregon House, to find out if his organic greenhouse tomatoes are ripening fast enough.
To my pleasant surprise, he committed to pro... Full story
- Kreatopita meat pie a Greek Easter tradition
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Greek Easter will be celebrated this coming Sunday. The seven weeks of Lent, in the Greek Orthodox Church tradition, are the preparation to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
During this period, followers traditionally abstain fro... Full story
- Asparagus season has arrived
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- While visiting Boulette's Larder in San Francisco last year, I made a great discovery. Traditionally, there is a farmer's market every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in front of the ferry building.
There are often multiple stands selling fresh organ... Full story
- Culinary Odyssey: Meyers make lemon curd tarts more flavorful
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Throughout the years I have tasted a great many lemon tarts and my favorite is definitely the one that is served at Boulettes Larder restaurant in San Francisco at the Ferry Building. I personally recommend using Meyer lemons mainly because they are ... Full story
- Culinary Odyssey: Parchment packet highlights grouper’s flavor
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- While visiting Florida and the Bahamas last week, I developed a great appreciation for the grouper fish. I decided to create a recipe that will pay tribute to the natural flavors of this fish.
There are about 21 species of grouper found in the Carib... Full story
- Gateau adds versatility to mashed potatoes
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- I have experimented with mashed potato gateau for quite a while, and it is only after a lucky occurrence that I discovered the richness and complexity of this dish.
This potato gateau — which can be offered as a side dish or entree — is ... Full story
- Celebrate Valentine's Day with truffles
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- The legend behind the Valentine's Day celebration is a bit inconsistent. According to various sources, Valentine's Day is named after an early Christian martyr named Valentine. He was persecuted as a Christian and sentenced to be executed under the R... Full story
- Timbale incorporates eggplant, ditalini pasta
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- This dish could be baked in individual serving size tartlet molds or in a large pastry shell, according to the number of guests and the kind of effect you wish to create. When well done, it is a work of art, mainly because the process of putting it t... Full story
- Prawn risotto has light Asian flavor
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- This week's recipe is more of a fusion between East and West. Risotto is traditionally a north Italian rice dish. Theoretically, the Arabs brought rice to Sicily and Andalusia in about the 14th century.
Later on, the Po Valley, which runs from the w... Full story
- Simple lamb stew ideal for winter season
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Lamb stews are quite popular in the Mediterranean, and there are as many recipes as there are villages. In Morocco, lamb stews are often prepared with olives, nuts, plums or apricots, honey and exotic spices.
In Greece and the Middle East, there is ... Full story
- Meyer lemons offer versatility
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Last week, I got a call from a dear friend of mine residing in Loma Rica who provides me with tomatoes in the summer and Meyer lemons in the winter. I went to visit her and collected the Meyer lemons.
Interestingly, this citrus fruit is native to Ch... Full story
- Greek custard pie is delightful served with sorbet
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- The most challenging part of this dessert is to be able to pronounce it: ga-lak-to-bou-ree-ko. This week's recipe is my wife Anne's version of galaktoboureko, and the following story is written by her:
I remember seeing the Kokkari cookbook for the ... Full story
- Start the year off with a healthy soup
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- After a festive holiday season, today's column is about starting the new year with a healthy and nutritious meal. This week's recipe is a combination of my own version of the Moroccan harira lentil soup and a chicken-lemon soup.
The main ingredients... Full story
- Prepare a special New Year's Eve dinner
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- I traditionally dedicate my last column of the year to a kind of Babette's feast where the most appealing recipes of 2012 are selected and organized into a three- to five-course meal.
Since the menu is quite a bit demanding, we will start with a sim... Full story
- Duck confit requires some preparation
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- A holiday confit de canard recipe requires few steps before you get the crusty, honey-glazed duck end result. A brief insight into the ancient confit technique reveals to us that in the old days, most meat, poultry or fish were preserved through smok... Full story
- Closing in on the perfect prime rib
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- I am not quite sure that there is a perfect prime rib, though the one I prepared last week felt like the one. Purchase the rib eye at least five to seven days prior to roasting it. Remove the meat from its package, wash it lightly and place it in the... Full story
- Persimmons add complex flavor to salad
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- One of the main rituals I have been observing for the last few years is the fall-winter harvest of pomegranate, persimmons and olives. Very shortly, I will be packaging and selling my own olive oil under the Café Collage label.
This week's re... Full story
- Enhance mahi-mahi with lemon-caper sauce
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- I encountered this holiday recipe during my recent trip to Maui.
For quite a while, I was not that fond of mahi-mahi, mainly because I could not find an appropriate fish supplier. (Fresh mahi-mahi is generally found in specialty stores that offer a ... Full story
- Frangipane tart a classic fall dessert
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- As announced in the previous columns, I will be focusing for the next few weeks on recipes for the holiday season. This week’s recipe is my wife Anne’s version of a simple tart for those who prefer less sweet desserts. Traditio... Full story
- Pork tenderloin entree an elegant holiday option
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- For the next few weeks, I will feature recipes that will make your Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations more special. This week's dish — glazed stuffed pork tenderloin — is quite a delicacy, complex in flavor yet easy to prepare.
The s... Full story
- Seasonal butternut squash recipes abound
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- With the abundance of butternut squash this fall, I could easily dedicate the rest of the year just to developing recipes around this buttery sweet and nutty holiday vegetable.
So today I am including two recipes. The first one is inspired by the po... Full story
- Fruit salsa makes elegant complement to prawns
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- In the next few weeks, I will be focusing more of my recipes toward the upcoming holiday season. I developed this fruit salsa with prawns recipe with the holidays in mind. It is suitable for a multi-course menu, which is what I like to serve for New ... Full story
- Serve carpaccio as an antipasto
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Carpaccio and bresaola are often offered as an antipasto with olives, various cured meats, cheeses and other pickled vegetables. The difference between the two meat cuts is that the carpaccio is served raw or lightly seared and the bresaola is air dr... Full story
- Melon soup is elegant in its simplicity
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- I have been wanting to develop a recipe for piel de sapo melon-based soup for a while. I had the opportunity to finalize it last weekend while designing a nine-course meal for a birthday dinner.
After the meal, when I asked the guests about their fa... Full story
- Caramelized fruit tart heralds autumn
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- The cool days are back and it is time to reflect about the coming fall and winter months. I am spending this week harvesting apples and pears from several nearby orchards. The main idea is to caramelize all the fruit to make topping for meat and poul... Full story
- Fresh Peach Tart brings last taste of summer
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- One of the main lessons I learned while traveling in France, Tunisia and Washington, DC, the past three weeks is not to draw comparisons between different cultural patterns and behaviors. I had to understand on a deeper level that each gastronomy is ... Full story
- Flatbread recipe melds unique flavors
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- During a recent culinary expedition to the Bay Area, I dined at Aziza and Boulette Larder in San Francisco, and Chez Panisse and A Cote in Berkeley.
Among the several dishes that I tried, the flatbread with figs inspired me the most. So I experiment... Full story
- Travels germinate idea for Fresh Corn Relish
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- It was not until I returned from the East Coast recently that I really began to experiment with fresh corn. When I tried to take over cooking a dinner for a family reunion, my sister-in-law, who is from Atlanta, insisted on being in charge of the cor... Full story
- Gazpacho, bruschetta celebrate tomato harvest
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- For this week's recipe, I thought of combining both gazpacho — which is a chilled tomato-based raw vegetable soup — and bruschetta as a way of celebrating the tomato season.
The home of gazpacho is Andalusia, in southern Spain. Each hous... Full story
- Poached salmon recipe developed in Alaska
- By Salim Ben Mami/For the Appeal-Democrat
- While in Alaska last week, I developed a couple of recipes using Alaskan sockeye salmon. I will introduce one of the recipes today.
Sockeye salmon, also known as red salmon, is in the peak of its fishing season in Alaska. Sockeye is mainly found in ... Full story
