Laurie Woolever is a fresh and highly original voice in the food writing game. She’s a journalist—having worked as an editor at Art Culinaire and Wine Spectator—and was Anthony Bourdain’s longtime assistant.
Hamburgers, with secretive beef blends, over-the-top toppings, and outrageous prices, used to be the celebrated calling card for any respectable chef. Then the histrionics of the patty became a punch line.
These little oyster-shaped bites are often overlooked at the grocery store, but when you fry them, they become a party snack, a salad topping, or the filling for a sandwich.
While the name Zabar is most associated with a delicatessen empire based on New York’s Upper West Side, it’s Eli Zabar (the most punk rock of all in the Zabar clan) who has the most interesting story to tell.
In the West, where it’s called the ghost pepper, the king chile is synonymous with scorching heat and show-off frat boys. In Northeast India, it is a way of life and a means of survival.