Claudia Roden

10 Great Cookbooks for Summer

Sure, you may have a dozen newly opened gastropubs within Yelp distance from where you live. Or food trucks. Or, arguably best of all, neighborhood taquerias. But in summer, when L.A. farmers markets are loaded with gorgeous produce, sometimes it's more fun to cook your own dinner. Just to prove you ... More >>

2012 IACP Award Winners Announced

The IACP, which would be the International Association of Culinary Professionals and not the International Association of Chiefs of Police -- yes, that's an old joke now, but you try googling IACP and see what you get -- announced their 2012 award winners at their annual conference last night in Ne ... More >>

2012 James Beard Foundation Award Nominees Announced: The Mozza Edition

Yesterday the James Beard Foundation announced its 2012 nominations for book awards, journalism, design and graphics, broadcast and media, and restaurant and chefs. It is a very long list. There were also awards given for lifetime achievement (Wolfgang Puck!) and humanitarian of the year (Charlie Tr ... More >>

Top 5 Matzo Ball Soups in Los Angeles

J. RitzNate 'n Al​ Matzo ball soup is a comfort food with a relatively simple taxonomy. Camps are mostly divided along the lines of sinkers vs. floaters, clean broth vs. noodles/crackers/carrots/etc. Opinions range and styles vary, and a perusal of the literature by authorities such as Claudia ... More >>

Best Turkish Delight: Nory Locum in Canoga Park

A. ScattergoodTurkish delight at Nory Locum​ If you've never had excellent Turkish delight, deceptively simple bits of chewy, gelée-like candy often flavored with bergamot or rosewater, sometimes shot through with pistachios, you haven't been spending enough time in Middle Eastern shops or r ... More >>

A Snack Without Borders: Kibbeh

D. GonzalezKibi at Mariscos Yucatan​ One type of appetizer, many different spellings. Kibbie, kibi, even quibe. Through migration and trade, kibbeh, a Middle Eastern meze standard, has integrated itself into the cuisines of Brazil, and Mexico's state of Yucatan. And since Los Angeles is hom ... More >>

Best Spice Shop: The Spice Station

J. Ritz​If you happen to be cooking your way through the tomes of Madhur Jaffrey, Claudia Roden, Paula Wolfert, and other authors who mine the depths of specific cuisines, you know the ups and downs of assembling ingredients. Some days it's a joy to stop at three different shops to find the sp ... More >>

James Beard Media & Book Awards Announced: The Winners

​The James Beard Foundation has announced the winners of the 2010 James Beard Foundation Media & Book Awards. The Restaurant and Chef awards will be announced tonight. The Weekly's longtime restaurant critic Jonathan Gold has won the Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Reviews award. Cook ... More >>

Dr. Eliot's 5-Foot Shelf: Were The Harvard Prof a Cook, That Is

Photo credit: Amy ScattergoodThis is not a product endorsement In 1909 publisher P. F. Collier and Son published a 51-volume anthology of classic literature, compiled by then Harvard president Dr. Charles W. Eliot. It came to be known as the Harvard Classics, but when it was published, the anth ... More >>

Soul Kitchen: How to Keep Your Aubergines from Exploding Claudia Roden's Eggplant Dips

You gotta love a recipe that begins with a tip on preventing detonation. Which is how Claudia Roden, cookbook author extraordinaire, proceeds with many of her eggplant recipes.

Ask Mr. Gold: Favorite Cookbooks