Innehållsförteckning för May/June 2022 från Cook's Illustrated

My parents used to tend a highly productive asparagus patch at the edge of our garden until one day a new neighbor moved in next door. As part of the sale, they checked property lines, and our beloved patch of “grass” changed addresses overnight. This corrective surveying had the unfortunate effect of pushing me to crime. Unable to get fresh asparagus at home, I ventured into a few of my neighbors’ yards to share in their bounties. It’s not my proudest memory, but it does speak loudly about my infatuation with this herbaceous perennial. Especially compared with other green vegetables: Let’s just say I wasn’t bending morals to harvest broccoli. Asparagus’s green-and-purple tips emerging from soil are one of the earliest edible indicators of spring, bested only by rhubarb here…

Book a table at nearly any of the seaside restaurants of Portugal’s Algarve region, the country’s sandy and rugged southernmost coast, and it won’t be long before you witness a signature local spectacle: a server bringing a hammered copper clamshell-shaped pot to a table; unsnapping its latches; and lifting its top to unveil a hearty, steaming stew. This unique vessel and the dishes cooked and served in it go by the same name: cataplana. The origins of the pot are somewhat hazy—some say fishermen used cataplanas as lunch boxes of sorts, taking them out on their boats to store their catches and then transferring them right to the fire when it came time to cook—but it is easy to understand the stew’s lasting appeal: It’s at once simple, one-pot fare…

In the past decade, the meat-alternative field has seen an explosion in innovation, resulting in next-generation products that are increasingly more like the real thing. But cooking with plant-based meat still requires a few adjustments. Imitation products are tackier and more cohesive than actual ground beef, cook more quickly, lose less volume during cooking, and require less added salt since salt is incorporated during processing. If you’re new to the category, the following roundup of hearty meat-free mains is a good place to start. We’ll teach you what to expect and how to tweak the ingredient lists and methods for three family-friendly favorites. PLANT-BASED CHILI SERVES 6 TO 8 TOTAL TIME: 50 MINUTES Use the lesser amount of chipotle chile if you prefer a milder level of spiciness. Load up…

Induction cooking is well established in other countries but has only recently gained traction in the United States, growing 30 percent year over year in 2020, according to the Wall Street Journal. Induction offers a completely different cooking technology: While traditional stoves rely on gas flames or electric coils to heat pans, induction burners and stoves work by generating heat directly in the pans themselves. Under sleek glass-ceramic surfaces, induction stoves and portable induction burners contain coils of copper wire. Electricity passes through these coils, which creates a magnetic field that induces (hence the name “induction”) an electric current in the metal of the pan, causing atomic-scale friction—which makes the pan hot. To be compatible with an induction burner, a pan must contain ferromagnetic metal, meaning that a magnet will…

Fill Spice Jars Without a Hitch When Warren Kitzmann of Minneapolis, Minn., used a funnel to help fill small jars with bagged bulk spices, he found that the spices didn’t flow well through the narrow neck of the funnel. Now he does the job with a disposable pastry bag, the bottom cut to just fit into the openings of the jars. The larger channel of the bag makes the filling process much smoother; plus, there’s no spice spillage and the bag is reusable. Keep a Stash of Pasta Water After boiling pasta, J. McAuliffe of Grand Blanc, Mich., reduces the cooking water to concentrate the starch and then freezes the water into cubes. The starchy ice is perfect for adding body to sauces and soups—and for the occasions when he…

To make carciofialla giudia, the fried artichokes that Roman Jews have prepared for centuries during the thistle’s spring harvest, cooks start by plucking the tough bracts off a bunch of very fresh blooms. Next, they trim and strip the stalks of their fibrous skin and carve the blossoms to expose their inner cone of tender, chartreuse leaves. Then they deep-fry the artichokes a few at a time—twice. Once to soften up the vegetable’s dense heart, and again to make the petals unfurl and crisp. It’s a lot of ceremony for a simple primo, but according to Joyce Goldstein, chef and author of several books, including Cucina Ebraica: Flavors of the Italian Jewish Kitchen (1998), the fuss was intentional for Renaissance-era Jews. When they were banished to the ghetto along the…

Braising renders asparagus neither crisp-tender nor browned nor vibrant green—yet it’s about to become your favorite way to cook the vegetable. Hear me out: While I’m a fan of the grassy, snappy spears that are the goal of grilling, roasting, and sautéing, braising coaxes asparagus’s gentler side into the spotlight. The crisp bite gives way to silkiness; the fresh vegetal flavor evolves into more-complex sweet nuttiness; and the braising liquid can travel into the spears, seasoning them inside and out. Cooking the most tender asparagus starts not on the stovetop but at the supermarket. Asparagus spears range from pencil-thin to thick and hearty, so I bought an assortment to cook (for the moment, just in salted water in a skillet) to determine the optimal size for braising. I hypothesized that…

Over the years the word “vanilla” has become synonymous with “plain” or “boring,” which is unfair; vanilla is bursting with complex flavors. It can taste smoky, spicy, floral, and even fruity given the species, where it’s grown, and how the vanilla beans are cured. There are two common species of vanilla: Vanilla planifolia and Vanilla tahitensis. V. planifolia is more widely grown and is used in most commercial applications. V. tahitensis is less widely grown, and its flavor is more fruity and floral. Vanilla flavor varies from region to region as well. According to Tim McCollum, founder and CEO of the vanilla and chocolate purveyor Beyond Good, Madagascar vanilla (V. planifolia) is full-bodied, rich, and creamy. Mexican vanilla (V. planifolia), on the other hand, is “a bit warmer and spicier”…

What is it? Corzetti (sometimes called croxetti) are small, thin rounds of pasta embossed with decorative patterns. Originating from the Ligurian coast of Italy, where Genoa is located, the pasta is thought to have been first stamped with a coin, called a corzetto in medieval Genoa. Nowadays, though, pasta makers use stamps such as this one to make elaborate designs, ranging from coats of arms to geometric patterns to flowers, sunbursts, or even octopi. The wooden stamp has two parts. One is barrel-shaped with a raised edge at one end for cutting the rounds of pasta and a decoratively carved surface on the other. The second piece consists of another carved surface attached to a handle. After making a traditional corzetti dough from flour, egg, water, and white wine, I…

Conservas—or seafood carefully packed and preserved at the peak of its freshness—are a staple in grocery stores, restaurants, and home pantries in Spain and Portugal, and to peel back the lid on a tin is to take part in an age-old Iberian tradition. CANTABRIAN ANCHOVIES hail from Spain’s Bay of Biscay, where they are caught in trawls, brined, and packed by hand in extra-virgin olive oil. Passionate collectors of SARDINES stockpile tins and age them for years, allowing the fish to turn richer and fall-apart tender. Diminutive ZAMBURIÑAS, or small scallops, are beloved in northwestern Spain’s Galicia. Also from Galicia are the finest RAZOR CLAMS, a delicacy harvested by divers in the rough, rocky coastline of the Cape of Finisterre. MUSSELS are often preserved in escabeche, a tangy brine made…

Crudités, a haute French import (the French word means “raw”; the culinary term is always plural), surfaced in stateside cookbooks around the mid-20th century, and Americans latched on immediately. Homemakers ers and restaurant chefs appreciated how easy it was to platter up crisp vegetables with a dip or two and call it hors d’oeuvres. Even James Beard glorified crudités in one of his works, declaring it “the most appetizing dish imaginable.” With the advent of baby carrots in the 1980s and eventually prepackaged relish trays, the concept stopped feeling even remotely glamorous. But it’s back on the upswing: Farm-fresh produce has never been more diverse; dips, more inspired; and grazing boards, more in vogue. Start with the freshest seasonal vegetables you can get. Beyond that, it’s all about treating the…