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Gourmet's Guide

Features, tips, secret sources, and personal recommendations from the Splendid Table's national guests and resident experts. For articles and resources on specific categories of products, visit From Soup to Nuts

Tastings | Tuesday Night Kitchen
Product Recommendations & Sources | Cooking Schools
Organizations | Publications | Web Sites
Miscellaneous | Chat Archive


Tastings

Baked Beans
With a little "doctoring," Lynne finds this picnic staple quite acceptable.

Barbecue Sauce
It's summertime, and that means barbecue! Lynne and Al compare three widely available barbecue sauces to help spice up your backyard picnic.

Canned Chicken Stock
Canned chicken stock is a pantry staple, but quality and flavor vary greatly. Lynne tasted these widely available brands to find the best.

Canned Chicken Broth
Out of 27 varieties of ready-to-use chicken broth, these are the picks from Jeanne McManus, food editor of The Washington Post.

Chocolates
We conduct a blind taste test of chocolates worthy of gift-giving.

Chocolate Tips from Dorie Greenspan
Baking authority Dorie Greenspan is back from "Chocolate University" with tips on how to properly evaluate a chocolate's taste.

Chocolate Chips
With the holiday baking season just around the corner, Lynne and Al decided to check out brands of chocolate chips to determine what’s worth buying and what’s not.

Hot Dogs
David Rosengarten travels the world in search of the best. We asked him about hot dogs, which he divides into three groups: The Bologna ("Baloney") Dog, the Chicago/New York Dog, and the Coarse Dog.

Jam Tasting
Any good supermarket today most likely features a dizzying array of jams and preserves. Al wondered which type Lynne would pick.

Vanilla Ice Cream
Grocery guru Al Sicherman had Lynne taste and critique three readily available brands of vanilla ice cream.

Peanut Butter
Who makes the best peanut butter? Lynne and Al Sicherman put their taste buds to the test.

Salt: Sea vs. Mortons
Is sea salt worth the extra cost? Al and Lynne taste-test a range of salts, and find that pricier isn't always better.

Supermarket Salsa
When lush, perfectly ripe tomatoes are not to be found, which bottled salsa is an acceptable substitute?

Salt
When Cook's Illustrated magazine conducted a taste test of salts, they discovered they are not all alike, although flavor differences were extremely subtle.

Saltines
Which brand is best, especially for settling a queasy stomach?

Sour Cream
Al Sicherman thought it might be interesting to get Lynne's take on full-fat versus no-fat sour cream.

Spaghetti Sauce
Can anything good come in a jar?

Packaged Stuffing Mix
Find out the best of these quick and easy stuffing mixes.

Iced Tea
Our grocery guru Al Sicherman and Lynne conducted a tasting of widely-available bottled iced tea and instant tea mixes.

Canned Tomatoes
It's no secret that tomatoes are a critical part of Lynne's cooking, and Al was curious about her favorites.

Tortilla Chips
In a recent judging of tortilla chips, 27 members of Cook's Illustrated magazine staff tasted the most popular brands as well as a few premium-priced specialty chips.

Canned Tuna
Lynne tasted three national brands to find out if any captured that fresh-from-the-sea flavor.

Bottled Water
The priciest isn't always the best, as Lynne discovers.


Tuesday Night Kitchen

Tuesday Night Kitchen was an eight-week experiment on the Splendid Table site intended to give you some ideas for simple weeknight meals. Each week we explored a food subject with tips, recipes, questions and answers with Foodtalk contributors, and periodic reports from food critic David Rosengarten. Find it all here.

Grilled Vegetables
Lentils
Mediterranean Flavor Tricks
Onions
Salad Dressings
Salads
Summer Pastas
Two Grains


Product Recommendations & Sources

A Day at the Farmers' Market: Tips, Recipes & More
Adopt a Peach Treet
Aleppo Peppers
Argan Oil from Morocco
Bacon-of-the-Month Club
Balsamic Vinegar: Lynne's picks
Barbecue Ribs
Barrington Coffee Roasting Company
Best in Mail Order from Marian Burros
Bread Bakeries, the country's best
Buffalo
Organic Butter and Ham
Superb Candied Citron: Lynne's picks
Upscale Candy Bars
Catalogs for Food Mail-Order, from Lynne
King Cakes, a Mardi Gras tradition
Carolina Gold Rice
Cassia Buds
Chocolate Brands Containing Porcelana Cacao Beans
Copper Pans
Mail Order Sources (12/01)
Lynne's Favorite Dried Fruits
Food and Wine Reference Books, from Kitchen Arts & Letters Bookstore
Formaggio Kitchen, for exquisite cheese
Frozen Pizza
Hot Chocolate
David Rosengarten's Sources for Indian Food Products and Pantry Staples
Francine Maroukian's Holiday 2006 Mail Order Gifts
Lynne's Last-Minute Holiday Gift Ideas
Plan Bee Honey
Ice Cream
Ice Cream, MooBella Ice Cream Maker
Kettle Brand Potato Chips
Seedless Kishu Tangerines
Los Angeles' Ethnic Delis
Loco Soda
Lynne's Gift Picks for 2005
Lynne's Holiday Gift Ideas for Cooks
Lynne's Sources for Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese
Love Tree Farmstead
Mediterranean Mussels
Chiltepin Chile Peppers
Fine Chocolate
Mail-Order Food Picks, from Jeffrey Steingarten
Mail-Order Fruit Picks, from Russ Parsons
Holiday Mail-Order, from Jane and Michael Stern
Mail-Order Phone Numbers
Top Five Mail-Order Picks, from Jeffrey Steingarten
Mexican Ingredients
Miracle Fruit
Newman's Own Organics
Nut Oil
Nut Oil, recommendations from Sally Schneider
Nut Oils by La Tourangelle
Olive Oil: California
Olive Oils, Ligurian
Olive Oil: Lynne's Bargain-Priced Picks
Olive Oil: Lynne's Picks for 2006
Olive Oil: Moutere Grove from New Zealand
Olive Oil: Picks and a Tip for Storing Oil from Deborah Krasner
Olive Oil: Tips and Picks, from Rolando Beramendi
Olives, Ari Weinzweig's Guide
Orikaso Dinnerware
Organic Peaches and Nectarines
Pasta Pick
Rickles: Rick Fields' Pickles
Replacement Parts for Kitchen Equipment
Ready-to-Use Stocks
Rice
Sake Brewery
Seed Catalogs picks from Ann Ravers
Salami and Ham
Copper River Salmon
Mail-Order seeds from gardening expert Jack Staub
Mail-Order Gifts from The Slow Food Guide to New York City
Sour Cream
Sourdough Starter
Spanish Hams
Speciality Cocoa: Lynne's picks
Spices
Spice blends from Nirmala Narine
Sur La Table
Tennessee T-Cakes
Tree-Ripened Cherries and Other Fruit
Yukon River King Salmon
Wasabi
World Food Markets Worth a Trip
Whole Wheat Pasta - Marian Burros Picks the Best
Zingerman's


Cooking Schools

Lynne's Cooking School Recommendations
Culinary Institute of America, The
Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, The
Culinary Vacations
École de Cuisine La Varenne
L'École des Chefs
Italy, Lynne's Recommended Cooking Schools in
New England Culinary Institute
Sotheby's Institute of Art
America's First Sushi Academy


Organizations

Bread Bakers Guild Team USA 2002
Members of the Bread Bakers Guild Team USA 2002 hope to repeat The Guild's stunning 1999 victory when Team USA captured first place, beating the French at the prestigious Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (the World Cup of Baking).

Damiano Center/a>
in Duluth, Minnesota. An organization that works to enusere that unconsumed food at restaurants and farmers winds up on a table, not in a landfill.

The International Edible Books Foundation
Sponsors of an annual book event where all entries are eaten!

Edible Schoolyard
The goal of this program is to create and sustain an organic garden and landscape that is wholly integrated into the school’s curriculum and lunch program.

Heifer Project International
This nonprofit organization helps needy families learn how to manage sustainable farming and provides assistance to over 23 million people in 110 countries.

Holiday Gifts that Support Local Agriculture and Local Eating
Information and links to organizations and resources promoting local agriculture and eating.

Iconoculture
This organization provides customized research and advisory services to some of the biggest names in consumer goods today.

The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Oldways Preservation/Cheese of Choice
Find information on the Cheese of Choice Coalition and cheeses that may be banned from import, production and sale.

Slow Food Movement
Rediscover authentic culinary traditions and preserve the world’s quality food and wine heritage with the Slow Food Foundation.

Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders

Vanishing Honeybees


Publications & Newsletters

Art of Eating, The

Asian Foodbookery, The

Au Juice magazine

Baking Sheet, The

Classic Cookbooks Edited by Judith Jones

Geek Cooking

Meatpaper Magazine

Organic Style Magazine

The Rosengarten Report

Salsas That Cook

Sweet Addiction

Tomato Publications


Web Sites

Abalone

Abenaki Nation

Food Allergy Translation Cards for Travelers

Alexis Bailey Vineyard

Peter Anton

Eric Badlands Booker, Competitive Eater

Brooklyn Brewery

Carolina Gold Rice

Challah for Hunger

cheesefrance.com Order cheeses directly from France. Note: Site is in French.

Chinese Food Authority and Teacher Bik Ng

Citysearch

Cook's Illustrated Magazine

Cooking On Rue Tatin with Susan Loomis

Crescent Dragonwagon

Crying While Eating

David Leite

Enologix

Web Food Finds Deborah Krasner's favorite food shopping sites

Dried Beans

Food Politics and Nutrition Research Funding

Healing Foods Pyramid

Joe Bravo, Tortilla Artist

Hoppin' John's

Julia Child's Cambridge Kitchen

Kate's Lazy Meadow Motel

Leeners for Things Fermented and Preserved

Marmite

The Nanny Nutrition Dilemma

Kelmscott Farm

Lavender Products from The Rona Barrett Foundation

Mache

The Museum of Burnt Food

Sally Schneider's A New Way to Cook

Picnicking in the Nude

Rick Rodgers' Cuisine Américaine

Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery

Secrets of Salsa

Smithsonian Folklife Festival "Food Culture U.S.A."

Solar Cooking

SoloVinoWines.com

Space Store

Stonyfield Yogurt's Healthy Vending Machine Program

Synesthesia - Richard E. Cytowic, M.D.

Tomato Vaccine Research at Arizona Biodesign Institute

Television Without Pity

Trans-Fats in New York City Restaurants

Tupperware

The Not So Big House

The Vasa Museum

Artist Lisa Venditelli

Vocation Vacations

Washington D.C. Snacks

Artist Will Sillin

Wine Web Sites recommended by John Brecher and Dorothy Gaiter


Miscellaneous

Cereality

Feeding Desire

King Corn

Marshmallow Peeps and Peep Research

The New Museum of Contemporary Art in Soho

Food in the Movies

Oyster Shell Recycling Program

Paris Walking and Dining Tours

"Taking America to Lunch" Exhibit at the Smithsonian


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