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 [...]

Natalie MacLean’s online wine and food matcher make pairing as simple as clicking your mouse.

A tasting of Portugal’s famous white wine–vinho verde–at NYC’s Astor Center was paired with food from David’s upcoming cookbook. The matches were magical.

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.

The Portuguese have as many fado ballads, their famously gut wrenching street songs about broken love, as they do recipes for salt cod. Maybe more. On the surface it might appear that Portugal is a nation of perpetual melancholics, obsessed with the idea of unrequited desire and dried fish, but over time I’ve come to [...]

The fun, great bites, and shenanigans that went into the book party of Johnny Iuzzini, Jean Georges’ pastry chef, held at Jacques Torres Chocolate.

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 [...]

One of the many things that boggles my mind is that as food bloggers become more proficient in their cooking skills–and technology get better, faster, and easier–the images of their dishes become shockingly good. I mean, perversely good. Take a look at smittenkitchen.com, 101 Cookbooks, or Cupcake Bakeshop. Some of those pictures are cookbook-worthy. And [...]

David Leite is reminded why he left advertising after watching Burger King’s “Virgins” commercial.

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

Although food-crazed bloggers and over-ambitious chefs have turned out every conceivable variation of turkey, on Thanksgiving the familiar is what we want. Food history editor Gary Allen explains.

The food loop is a silicon tie that makes trussing turkeys–for dinners Thanksgiving or not–a cinch. David’s been a fan for years.

Even if you’re thermometrically challenged, this surefire technique for finding the thickest part of the turkey thigh resulting in perfectly roasted birds works every time.

David Leite goes to Las Vegas and puts himself in the hands of chef Paul Bartolotta at the Wynn Hotel while closer to home he tries out NYC’s Porcao Restaurant.

Once I finished my book, I got a bit of my life back. So I decided to do a few things. Specifically: cook (non-Portuguese) meals, travel, and socialize. Three things that being chained to my desk like some medieval monk working on an illustrated manuscript has prevented me from doing.
To kick things off, I spent [...]

The cover art is finalized for The New Portuguese Table, and here’s your first sneak peek. The book will be available for pre-order in November 2008.

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.

Our food history editor, and sometime science guy, Gary Allen, helps a reader understand how to keep and care for salt cod.

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.