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Burning Question: Aren't Hors d'oeuvres Just Appetizers?

Susannah Chen — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:30:45 PST

Finger foods, starters, appetizers, hors d'oeuvres: call them what you will, but in the days leading up to yet another New Year's Eve celebration, they've been the talk of every media outlet food section. In reading them all and planning my own Saturday festivities, I've come to wonder: is there a difference between appetizers and hors d'oeuvres?

Although both are meant to foster an appetite and they're listed as the same thing in Wikipedia, there is a subtle difference between the two courses. The French term hors d'œuvre (pronounced "or-derves"), which literally means "out of work" but translates to "outside the meal," is a one-bite item that's either stationary or passed and served separate from or prior to a meal.

This means an hors d'oeuvre is typically finger food and might refer to, among other items, canapés, crudités, deviled eggs, and bruschetta. Appetizers, on the other hand, appear as the first courses when seated at the table. They're often slightly larger and composed in a way that complements the entrée and dessert courses to follow. Which do you prefer - or is it all the same to you?

Know Your Ingredients: Porchetta

Susannah Chen — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:15:17 PST

If there's one ingredient that may be able to oust bacon as the prized protein of the moment, it's porchetta. It's been appearing everywhere in farmers markets, Italian restaurants, and sandwich shops around San Francisco.

Pronounced "por-ketta," porchetta is an Italian specialty of slow-roasted suckling pig. A young, milk-fed piglet is gutted, deboned, stuffed with a mixture of garlic, herbs, and seasonings, then roasted whole in a wood-burning oven.

Porchetta originated in Lazio, a region of west central Italy, where it was probably a mountain food eaten during wintertime feasts. The specialty has since become entrenched in much of the country's culinary tradition. In Umbria, porchetta is flavored with fennel in garlic; in Rome, rosemary and garlic; in the Marches, wild herbs; and in Sardinia, myrtle leaves.

Sometimes referred to as "Italian pulled pork," porchetta is succulent, extremely fatty, and savory. In Rome, it's popular for street vendors to serve it sliced and sandwiched between a roll. Have you ever tried porchetta?

Source: Flickr User Pedro Angelini

Know Your Ingredients: Old Bay Seasoning

YumSugar — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:20:16 PDT

If you love shore food like I do, then chances are, you're familiar with Old Bay seasoning. But what exactly is it, and how did it attain the cult status that it has today?

Old Bay Seasoning is a proprietary spice mix that's become a seafood staple. The blend, which was named after the Chesapeake Bay, was first created in the 1940s by a Baltimore spice merchant, and soon became a popular accoutrement among East Coasters for steamed, hard shell crabs. In the 1990s, spice company McCormick purchased the brand, preserving its distinctive yellow box and logo, but bringing Old Bay to supermarket spice aisles across America.

The recipe of the mix is a closely-guarded secret, but there have been many attempts to recreate the exact blend of cinnamon, ginger, mustard, bay leaves, celery seed, laurel, and black and red pepper. Old Bay is often used in fish and shellfish dishes, corn on the cob, and French fries - although modern-day recipes call for the seasoning in everything from eggs to stir-fries. How do you use Old Bay?

Get to Know Gefilte Fish

Susannah Chen — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:15:00 PDT

Despite my love of Jewish food, I must confess I've never held a deep understanding of gefilte fish. Growing up, I'd stare at jars of those cloudy, floating Manischewitz members with a mixture of intrigue and disgust. What, exactly, was gefilte fish? I wondered. Did people actually eat that?

Now that I have the palate of an adult, I'm no longer disgusted, but as someone who's never tried gefilte fish, I remain intrigued. Gefilte is actually Yiddish for "stuffed," and this dish is really just white fish that's been chopped, seasoned with carrots, onions, and eggs, stuffed back into the skin of a fish, poached, then served chilled. Find out the story behind its creation when you read more.

Know Your Ingredients: Cornish Game Hens

Susannah Chen — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:54:28 PDT

It's all too easy, I realized, to cook game hens but truly have no idea what they are. I discovered this after losing an argument to a fellow editor, who claimed that game hens are just baby white meat-only chickens.

She's right: a game hen - also known as a poussin or Cornish game hen - is pretty much that. It came about in the 1950s when two different bird breeds were crossbred to create a juicy, single serving-sized bird with short legs and a plump breast for mostly white meat. Contrary to their name, Cornish game hens aren't hunted, don't taste gamey (in fact, they're known for a delicate flavor), and can be either male or female.

Game hens are sold unboned and are typically under two pounds and no more than six weeks old. They are most commonly roasted whole, although barbecuing them is an option as well. Those of you who cook them at home: do you prefer them to conventional chicken?

Source: Flickr User stu_spivack

Know Your Ingredients: Sofrito

Susannah Chen — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:40:53 PDT

If you found the term adobo to be a confusing catchall, then wait until you learn about sofrito. Generally speaking, the word describes a combination of aromatics that have been sautéed slowly in cooking oil to make a flavorful sauce. This is used to enhance everything from soups to meat dishes. But despite the fact that the cooking term is widely employed in Latin and Caribbean countries, its specific meaning can differ substantially from one nation's cuisine to another. To understand sofrito's regional differences, read more.

4 Things You Didn't Know About Grenache

Susannah Chen — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:24:55 PDT

Compared to its European counterparts, Grenache doesn't get much love in the American wine landscape, but at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic, wine expert Anthony Giglio lobbied to change that. Giglio hosted a seminar titled "The Great Grenache Smackdown!" that encouraged attendees to taste the difference between various Grenache wines from around the world. During the course of our education, I learned four key facts about the lesser-known Grenache grape. Find out what they are when you keep reading.

Lox and Smoked Salmon: Not Exactly the Same Thing

Susannah Chen — Thu, 19 May 2011 11:14:01 PDT

Though the terms "smoked salmon" and "lox" are used interchangeably, they're in fact, not quite the same thing. Real lox (also called belly lox) refers to the midsection of a salmon that's simply been cured in a salt brine; consequently, it possesses a saltier flavor than what many of us associate with smoked salmon.

Part of the confusion arises from the use of the term "Nova lox" or "Nova salmon," which originally referred to the lightly cured and cold-smoked salmon that hailed from Nova Scotia.

Today, smoked salmon is often prepared using wild and farm-raised salmon from both the Atlantic as well as the Pacific - and modern-day usage of the term has further blurred the distinction between lox, Nova lox, and smoked salmon. Did you know the distinction between the two?

Source: Flickr User jeredb

Know Your Ingredients: Chile Peppers

Susannah Chen — Tue, 03 May 2011 11:07:47 PDT

Cooking for a Cinco de Mayo celebration means utilizing different varieties of chiles, from habañeros to jalapeños to serranos. But you know what I began to realize? The more I cook with the little devils, the more I get confused about the differences between them - so I'm setting the record straight with a primer on peppers. Get to know them in one hot minute when you keep clicking.

'Tis the Season! A Primer on Pacific Salmon

Susannah Chen — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 03:22:57 PDT

American farm-raised catfish is seeing a pretty dismal season, but luckily, the same won't be said for salmon. Last week, fish and wildlife officials announced that Pacific salmon season will kick off May 1 and likely run through September - a breath of fresh air after a shortened schedule in 2010 and no season to speak of at all in 2009 and 2008.

While most of the season's salmon buzz revolves around king, or chinook salmon, keep in mind that it's only one percent of the salmon catch - there are plenty of other salmon in the sea! For a little bit of salmon species 101, read ahead.