Elissa Atlman finds brotherhood and understanding in, of all places, The Ten Commandments, while making matzo meal sponge cake for Passover.

Frank Alexandre is so excited to make his point, he hip checks a table out of the way as he lurches toward the photograph on the wall. “Olhe! olhe!” he says, falling back into his native Portuguese. The picture, hanging in the Casa de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, a social club in the Ironbound section [...]

Steve Sando, the emperor of beans, offers a cookbook that explains bean basics, offers recipes, and introduces us to the unusual and delicious.

Dorie Greenspan, baker, cookbook author, and Paris resident outlines a romantic tour de eating fo lovers of all things French for Valentine’s Day.

It happens, without fail—to me, to you, to everyone. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a vegetarian or a flexitarian, a carnivore or an omnivore, or any crossbreed of the above: the month of January, for culinarily inclined people, nearly always starts with a great and honest endeavoring towards more healthful, conscious eating, which is also [...]

Even if the trees, with their flares of color, didn’t belie the late September weather, I’d know it’s harvest time in the Douro Valley, home of Portugal’s port production, because the only road kill I’ve seen strewn along perilous switchbacks and cliff-hanging straight-aways are bunches of mangled grapes. Ahead of me, the reason: a wheezing [...]

Here are the best 20 cookbooks and food books of 2008 as compiled by Leite’s Culinaria.

Food writer and cookbook author Diane Morgan extolls the virtues of cool-weather cooking and offers up her recipe for a soul-heartening beef borscht.

Our pick this week: the demonized ingredient: fat. Jennifer McLagan’s eye-opening book covers all types of fats and their uses. The recipes are fantastic.

Alfajores are a family staple in Ana Schwartzman’s home. No wonder: alfajores are shortbread cookies filled with dulce de leche and covered in chocolate.

Food writer and humorist Jess Thomson recounts her hilarious and daunting visit to the mecca of molecular gastronomy in the States: Grant Achatz’s Alinea.

Food writer Monica Bhide uses cooking and languages to bridge worlds and cultures to answer some of the difficult questions posed by her curious son, Jai.

When making a nettle-pecan pesto for pasta, writer Jess Thomson discovers that when handled properly stinging nettles don’t have to bite back.

This anthology serves up 53 pieces of writing about the South, its cooks, and traditions. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in region cooking.

Cookbook authors are an amazingly dedicated bunch. When we here at LC peruse a new book, looking for the recipe we’ll test before posting, I think not enough thought goes into the process of creating a book. Lifetimes are spent writing, testing, photographing, and tweaking — all in the hopes for perfection, for recognition, for, [...]

Janet Boileau, Portuguese food scholar, enjoys the food on Madeira, including wine-garlic pork sandwiches and limpets grilled with butter and garlic.

Janet Boileau and David Leite met photographer Nuno Correia for lunch at a Lisbon restaurant, where they get restaurant recommendations and travel tips.

David finds the fashion statement at Bica do Sapato restaurant in Lisbon to be an inspiration while cooking at home. A tip: the shirts run small.

Pois Cafe, a local restaurant in the Sé district of Lisbon, becomes a favorite spot of David Leite’s while he lives and works in Portugal. Tip: Get there early.

David pursues one of his great passions: fried clams. But not just any fired clams, but the fried clams of his youth, with plump juicy bellies.

The longtime favorite of Rhode Islanders is a clear-broth clam chowder made with only quahogs, salt pork, potatoes, and a splash of Worcestershire sauce.

David spends his days immersed in the Portuguese way of life, dining and working like a true Lisboeta in Rossio square in the heart of old Lisbon.

Of all the bad things that could befall a baby, what happened to me was perhaps the best of the worst. I was born with only one arm. Well, sort of. Technically, I was born with radial aplasia, a condition that made my right arm about the size and shape of a plucked turkey [...]

Ice cream, gelato, semifreddo are all favorites of food writer David Leite. Here he outlines the exercise regimen he underwent just to eat gelato.

This easy recipe for deep-dish French toast made with brioche promises big rewards for little work. Make it the night before then pop it in the oven.