Category Archives: Cuisine

Everyone knows that certain foods are associated with certain holidays, but did you ever wonder why that is?… Continue reading →

In my early to mid-​​​​twenties, before enrolling at the Culinary Institute of America, I had already started exploring wine with keen interest. By the time I arrived at Hyde Park, I was familiar with many of the major grape varieties and some basic … Continue reading →

Leave it to the Swiss to make the traditional peasant practice of dunking stale bread in a pot of melted leftover cheese into something remotely fashionable. Actually, it was the result of efforts by the cheese industry in Switzerland to promote … Continue reading →

I never believed that whole equinox thing — spring never arrives in March in the Hudson Valley. For a time I thought April first (opening day of trout season) was the real first day of spring, but that, invariably, was a cruel joke for flyfisherfolk. … Continue reading →

Many people claim to have spent their whole life in the hospitality business. Few can claim to have been born in it! Agnes Devereux’s story began in a small village at the foot of a mountain in “the golden vale” of Ireland. … Continue reading →

Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against really good wine. I’ll drink it whenever I can — especially if someone else is buying. However, most of the time, I’m on a mission to find something drinkable that I can afford. One friend dubbed this a quest … Continue reading →

Every spring, probably since the last ice age, several species of ocean fish travel — like salmon — up the Hudson to spawn. First come the shad, then herring, followed closely by striped bass. The shad are actually a large species of herring, while the … Continue reading →

Summer has come on with a vengeance this year, and for some reason, the summers we remember are always more glorious than the one we’re experiencing. Perhaps it’s just that we were children back then, when everything was magical (or so … Continue reading →