Innholdsfortegnelse for October - November 2016 i SAVEUR

Of Earth and Sky The path to the sky,” said Yieber Cueva, pointing to a faint track leading upward into the mist. Lowering clouds masked Qullqi Cruz, the Silver Cross, a glacial peak thousands of feet above the unpaved road. Rockslides left gravel streaked like tears down the mountain. It was the rainy season in the Andes. I took it on faith that we were heading in the right direction and clambered after my translator, a stocky former porter on the Inca Trail. My heart pounded. My head felt as if it might explode. Putting one foot in front of the other took all my will. At this elevation, oxygen deprivation was a threat, and chewing astringent coca leaves, a local remedy for mild altitude sickness, didn’t give me the…

Traditionally, col fondo would be decanted to clear the sediment, but today, many prefer to drink it as cloudy as it comes. Ca’ dei Zago Prosecco Col Fondo, $20 Sourced from old vines planted high up in the terraced slopes of Valdobbiadene and produced by the Zago family for five generations, this signature, biodynamic wine clocks in at a refreshing 10% alcohol and offers a textbook introduction to the style. cadeizago.it Costadilà Bianco dei Colli Trevigiani 330 slm, $24 Among the first expressions of col fondo to gain attention in the United States, Costadilà’s labels are named according the altitude at which the grapes are grown. Round, yeasty, and pear scented, the 330 slm is an ideal accompaniment to prosciutto and other cured meats. costadila.it Zanotto Col Fondo, $20 With…

You wouldn’t believe how hard it has been to explain what indigenous food is,” chef Sean Sherman tells me. “I’ve had the same conversation over and over. I have to go back to the beginning all the time.” For Sherman, a Sioux chef championing indigenous food, going back to the beginning means talking about the unbroken presence of Native people in the Americas, and the food systems that once nourished them. It means peeling back the layers of colonial foods that, over centuries, have coated indigenous diets—sugar, industrial meat, processed grains. It means finding a way to express these traditions in the context of modern urban dining in the restaurant he and his business and romantic partner Dana Thompson plan to open early next year. The restaurant will be called…

MAKES SIX 5-INCH WAFFLES Active: 20 min. • Total: 30 min. (plus overnight resting) Sourdough starter mixed into classic waffle batter gives a brightness, airiness, and—who knew?—exterior crunch to waffles that non-yeasted batters can’t match. For this recipe by Stephen Jones of Washington State University’s Bread Lab and Jeff Yankellow of King Arthur Flour, be sure to use a starter that’s fully risen and made from equal parts whole wheat flour and water. (If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour, use regular whole wheat flour and loosen the batter with up to ½ cup more milk as needed in step 3.) 1 cup milk, plus more as needed 1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter ⅓ cup mature whole wheat sourdough starter, risen and stirred down to the consistency of…

While science and evolution may offer practical explanations for most of the planet’s edible resources, who needs science when ancient myths give our favorite indigenous foods the origin stories they deserve? But consider yourself warned: The gods of yore were wrapped up in some sordid rituals. HAWAII: Breadfruit According to Hawaiian lore, the first breadfruit tree grew from the testicles of a man who had sacrificed himself for his family. When the unwitting gods were presented with the prickly green fruit, they were delighted and ate its spongy flesh. But upon learning from where it came, they were horrified; the gods vomited the offering across the Hawaiian Islands, thereby populating them with enough breadfruit to last until the end of time. AMERICAN SOUTHEAST: Strawberries The original love memento, strawberries harken…

MAKES 2 DOZEN Active: 35 min. • Total: 55 min. (plus chilling) Chilling the meat overnight will allow the seasoning to penetrate all the way through and firm up the meat for easy grinding. If desired, you can brown the poached sausages in a lightly oiled skillet for 2 minutes (let cool before wrapping them in the dough). 1 lb. boneless pork shoulder, cut into ¾-inch cubes ⅓ lb. pork belly, skin removed, cut into ¾-inch cubes 2 tsp. fine sea salt or kosher salt ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper ¾ cup cooked sushi rice or Chinese rice Heaping ¼ cup crushed ice ½ tsp. garlic flakes 1 Tbsp. olive oil (optional, for browning) 1 In a medium bowl, place the pork; season with salt and pepper. Cover and…

SERVES 4 Active: 35 min. • Total: 1 hr. 35 min. Boni’s writing had few frills, and her rustic recipes followed suit. But a seemingly simple dish of whole sausages braised in marinara has spicy-sweet, cooked-all-day flavor. Garnish with torn fresh basil or Italian parsley leaves for a bright, herbaceous finish. For the sausages and gravy: 4 hot or sweet Italian sausage links (about 1¼ lb.) 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1 small yellow onion, chopped ¼ tsp. kosher salt, plus more as needed ⅛ tsp. freshly ground black pepper 1 large can (28-oz.) whole peeled tomatoes, cut or torn into small chunks, juices reserved 1 small can (8-oz.) tomato puree (sauce) For the polenta: ¾ lb. cornmeal 2 tsp. kosher salt, or more to taste For serving: 3 Tbsp.…

SERVES 1 Active: 15 min. • Total: 15 min. Pressing down on this sandwich with a spatula while it toasts in the pan is the key to achieving the outer crispness and well-melted cheese that you want in a Reuben. Pile the meat on generously but not more than an inch or two thick or else the interior won’t get sufficiently warmed. 3 Tbsp. sauerkraut, well drained 2 Tbsp. Thousand Island dressing 2 slices dark rye bread Unsalted butter, softened 4 thin slices Emmenthaler Swiss cheese 4 slices Jewish-style corned beef, or more to taste Optional for serving: kosher dill pickle, potato chips, radishes 1 In a small bowl, mix the sauerkraut with the Thousand Island dressing. Set aside. 2 Spread one side of each bread slice generously with softened…

ELI ROGOSA WAS HIKING in the Galilee region of Israel when she first saw it: wild wheat growing tall and healthy by the side of the road. “It jumped out at me,” she remembers. “Wild wheat—beautiful, majestic, with this shiny head.” So she started asking around, looking for flour made with local wheat. There was none. All the flour was imported from the United States. Rogosa was horrified. And also galvanized: She went on to found the Heritage Grain Conservancy, where she works to save forgotten grains. The wild grasses she admired were descendants of the very first ones, the ones that changed the → course of human history by giving us our very first bread. And no one was eating them. BREAD GOES WAY BACK, VERY LIKELY to the…

There may be a thousand reasons to cherish eggs, but this, to me, is chief among them: They created the need for sexual intercourse (magazine decorum prevents me from using the more visceral term, which I prefer). As the food writer Harold McGee notes in his concise history of the egg in On Food and Cooking, single-celled organisms created their own DNA and split in two, but multicelled organisms, appearing about a billion years ago, required a more complex form of gene transfer. Thus, eggs and their need for fertilization. The egg, therefore, can be said to have come before the chicken, by billions of years. • But who among our two-legged upright ancestors actually ate the first egg? We can make a good guess: He was most likely the…

SERVES 4 Active: 45 min. • Total: 1 hr. 20 min. Faster than coq au vin but arguably more flavorful, this twist on the French original—adapted from chef Antoine Westermann's recipe—features sweet roasted garlic, bronzed chicken, and a glossy, aromatic red wine sauce. 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter 4 very small garlic heads, tops trimmed off One 5-lb. chicken, cut into 6 or 8 pieces Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper, plus 1 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour 4 ¼ cups chicken stock, preferably homemade 4 ¼ cups côtes du rhône, or another dry red wine 2 fresh thyme sprigs, plus more for garnish 1 whole clove 1 bay leaf 1 celery stalk, diced 4 cups small (1-inch) cauliflower florets, preferably a mix…

SERVES 4–6 Active: 20 min. • Total: 35 min. Fiskesuppe, as it’s called in Norwegian, can be found at nearly every restaurant on the Lofoten Islands of northern Norway. Local cooks sometimes swap out cod for other seasonal fish, such as salmon, or add accents like red pepper, chunks of bacon, or chive oil. For the chive oil: 1 bunch chives Pinch salt ½ cup olive oil For the soup: 1 Tbsp. olive oil 4 large carrots , diced (1 ¼ cup) 2 yellow onions, chopped (2 ¼ cups) 2 celery stalks, diced 2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more as needed 2 cups fish stock ⅓ cup dry white wine 4 cups heavy cream 1 cup creme fraiche, or more to taste 1 ½ lb. fresh cod, cut into 1-inch…

origins THE ORIGINAL COMFORT FOOD Where ground has been dug, the soil, which has been moved, aerated and mixed, becomes more fertile,” writes historian Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat. According to her book A History of Food, about 10,000 years ago, the simple act of hungry nomads unearthing wild roots from the soil may have been the first step toward intentional farming. As they dug, early humans turned to sharp sticks and pointed stones to mine the soil, noticing that the plowed ground would produce more food over time. Rather than just collect plants, they began to cultivate them. With the dawn of domesticated agriculture, there quickly arose the need to store, protect, and distribute resources. Put simply, the root may very well be the root of organized society. And by this theory,…

Cultivated in Armenia’s rich, volcanic soil at high altitudes, these grape varietals are entirely indigenous and vital to the tradition of winemaking in the cradle of viticulture. ARENI The best known of Armenia’s varietals, areni is a thick-skinned, late-ripening grape. It’s considered one of the country’s finest, and produces fresh, bright red wines with soft, elegant red fruit flavors. KAKHET This late-ripening varietal is thinner-skinned than areni, and deep violet-purple in color, with small berries that make for sweet, fresh, floral juice. SIRENI Originally from Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory in South Caucasus, sireni is a thick-skinned red grape with tannic structure. It ages and develops reliably well in barrel. TCHILAR Rare and nearly extinct until recently, tchilar is a grape to watch in the coming years. It’s mildly floral with…

Origins A STAPLE INGREDIENT AT ITS SOURCE Though vanilla vines have grown wild in Costa Rica for millenia, they’ve been cultivated there as a commodity crop for only 35 years. At Cinco Ramas, a nine-year-old vanilla farm in the San Carlos region, owners Rob and Geri Brown are fighting to keep the scaling industry sustainable and ethical. It’s a challenge, considering what is being referred to as the “vanilla crisis.” Around the world, climate change has confused this delicate orchid, complicating the already complex cycle of growing and producing its beans. At Cinco Ramas, the Browns have been experimenting with beneficial microorganisms, a mix of fermented plants, herbs, molasses, milk, and manure that promote growth and protect the vines and beans from pests. After each vanilla orchid is delicately pol…

SERVES 4 Active: 35 min. • Total: 1 hr. 30 min. (plus chilling) Two types of soy sauce and a touch of sugar give this dish—beloved throughout China—its signature glossiness and a deep red-brown tint. Serve the tender pork belly morsels and boiled eggs with a light vegetable, like bok choy. 6 eggs 1 spring onion, white part only ¾ oz. ginger (about a 2-inch piece) 1¾ lb. pork belly, skin on if desired 1 Tbsp. canola or vegetable oil 1 star anise 1 cinnamon stick 3 Tbsp. Shaoxing wine 3 cups hot water or stock 2 Tbsp. light soy sauce 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. dark soy sauce 3 Tbsp. superfine sugar or 1 ½ oz. rock sugar Cooked white rice, for serving 1 In a small saucepan, add…

SERVES 6 Active: 35 min. • Total: 1 hr. Characteristic of the region’s curries, this intensely spicy one from chef Kevin Joseph of Durban’s The Oyster Box hotel gets its heat not from chiles, but pastes made of fresh garlic, ginger, and onions, plus lots of curry powder. Though not cooked long, the sauce is rich and thick thanks to heaps of ground spices and unsweetened coconut cream. 5 medium cloves garlic, coarsely chopped One 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped ½ medium white onion, coarsely chopped 2 medium tomatoes 6 oz. (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. ground turmeric ½ cup mild curry powder 1 ¼ lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes 1 ½ tsp. kosher salt, divided, plus more…

It’s impossible to visualize all the varieties of the tomato. I like to compare it to dogs, of which there are only about 400 different breeds. Tomatoes, however, have thousands of varieties, all genetically distinct. A Mortgage Lister beefsteak and a Sara’s Galapagos are about as different as a dachshund and a Great Dane. They each have different characteristics, tastes, disease and pest resistance, and culinary uses. Every year, the folks at Seed Savers Exchange, an organization of gardeners dedicated to preserving heirloom crops, grow hundreds of varieties at Heritage Farm and offer them up to the public to see and sample. Diversity is an essential element for the future of agriculture. Seed Savers makes no value judgments on which seeds to preserve. The answer is simply “all of them.”…

Some of the best ideas arise from a desire for more money earned in less time—and are possibly fueled by alcohol. Such was the case with conveyor-belt sushi, or kaiten-sushi, a worldwide yet underrated dining phenomenon that embodies everything about the Way We Eat Now: reasonably nutritious food served in an inexpensive, inclusive way that requires no special knowledge while employing of-the-minute technology, a frictionless commerce model, and a sense of dining as entertainment suitable for all ages. Here’s how it began: In 1947, Osaka restaurateur Yoshiaki Shiraishi visited an Asahi factory and observed a winding stream of beer bottles floating across the brewery’s filling floor on a conveyor belt. How many more customers could he serve at his standup sushi bar, he wondered, if he were to install such…

Leftovers are the neglected stepchild of the food world. If something was not the intended outcome, if it was not the reason for cooking in the first place, how can it be any good? Very easily. On Christmas Eve I glaze a huge ham in honey and mustard and soy—a bigger piece than my family could ever hope to eat as cold cuts—and roast it fiercely until it’s the color of a lacquered Chinese box. I’m excited about eating it simply in slices as it cools, and perhaps for the few days that follow. But after that, it’s time for thick slabs to go into the pan until they’re the color of copper kitchen pans, to be eaten with fried eggs. Cubes of it are braised in chicken stock, the…

One day, while sitting at the counter of San Francisco’s Varsity Sweet Shoppe, little Judith Friedman struggled to sip her milk shake. Its tall paper straw was an inflexible and insurmountable barrier for a girl of diminutive size. Pulling the straw toward her might tip the glass; bending it would block the shake’s flow. Her father, Joseph B. Friedman, took notice. • It was the 1930s, and while a little lift for Judith may have sufficed, Joseph—who already had a few patents under his belt—was not one for a quick fix. Back home, he grabbed one standard paper straw (patented by Marvin Stone in 1888), a length of dental floss, and a metal screw. • In order for the straw to bend without compromising its function, a hinge that allowed…

SOME PEOPLE CALL ME A DESSERT ANTHROPOLOGIST. • Culling together taste memories, recipe fragments, and archaic ingredients, I resurrect desserts from bygone legendary restaurants. At my Los Angeles bakery, Valerie Confections, we recreate several, including the Coconut Cream Pie of the Bullocks Wilshire Tea Room, served for more than 40 years at the Art Deco–era department store, and Scandia’s Apple Cake, a terrifically dense torte layered with five pounds of thinly sliced apple, revived from a 1940s Hollywood haunt. Recently, I began rummaging around for information about Ships, a locally beloved diner that closed in 1995. For years, I passed its hulking space-age sign at the corner of La Cienega and Olympic Boulevard, which remained after the restaurant closed its doors. SHIPS it declared. As a Los Angeles transplant, I’d…

Roll link sausages in small squares of pastry dough. Bake them in a hot oven. Fifteen words. That’s the entire recipe for “Link Sausages in Pastry” published in Irma Rombauer’s original 1931 Joy of Cooking. While it’s most likely not the first reference to the party snack that would come to be known as pigs in a blanket, it has the → straightforward, imperative tone of an urtext. And in deference to Rombauer’s pragmatic approach to recipes and cooking, you really don’t need to know much more. Which sausages? What pastry? Cook’s prerogative. While he was growing up in Antibes, France, Laurent ’s mother wrapped garlic sausages in bread dough and served them for dinner at least once a month. In Toronto, Mitchell’s mom wrapped supermarket cocktail wieners in a…

THE TALISMAN ITALIAN COOK BOOK by Ada Boni First published in English in 1950 by Crown. COOKING IN 10 MINUTES by Edouard de Pomaine First published in English in 1948 by Bruno Cassirer. HELEN BROWN’S WEST COAST COOK BOOK by Helen Evans Brown Published in 1952; republished as part of the Knopf Cooks America series in 1990. Before there was Julia, there was Edouard de Pomiane. Before Marcella, there was Ada Boni. And before Alice and the rest of the California crowd, there was Helen Evans Brown. The fact that most cooks today will react to those names with puzzlement is unfortunate. These authors wrote terrific cookbooks that not only helped form the basis of how we think about French, Italian, and California cuisines but also hold up as well…

One night in Mexico in 1943, at the Victory Club restaurant in Piedras Negras, some U.S. Army wives showed up hungry. Unfortunately, the kitchen had closed. The women were visiting from Eagle Pass, Texas, a few miles across the border, and though the story’s not clear on why exactly they were in town—some accounts say they were shopping; others say they were there to get drunk on chicos, blackberry tequila cocktails that were trendy at the time—what is known is that the maître d’ that night was fast on his feet, nimble enough to run into the kitchen and throw together a snack: fried tortilla pieces topped with melted cheese and cold, pickled slices of jalapeño. The man’s name was Ignacio Anaya. His nickname was Nacho. When the ladies asked…

MAKES 8 Active: 25 min. • Total: 1 hr. (plus chilling) Einkorn flour has a subtle sweetness that pairs incredibly well with honey and nuts. More substantial than white flour but less dense than regular whole wheat flour, it makes perfectly textured, toothsome scones, like these, adapted from the Brooklyn Bread Lab. 1 cup hazelnuts 4 oz. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter 3 cups all-purpose einkorn flour, plus more for dusting ¼ cup granulated sugar ¾ tsp. kosher salt 1 ½ tsp. baking powder 1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. coarsely chopped fresh rosemary ½ cup buttermilk ½ cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing 2 ½ oz. (about 2 ½ Tbsp.) honeycomb Coarse sugar, such as turbinado or Demerara, for topping 1 Preheat the oven to 350°. Add the hazelnuts…

SERVES 4; PHOTO PAGE 75 Active: 45 min. • Total: 1 hr. 30 min. In this modern-day riff on braised poulet au riesling , succulent pan-seared chicken is nestled into a white wine cream sauce at the final moment. This recipe is adapted from chef Antoine Westermann, owner of Paris and New York City’s Le Coq Rico restaurants, which focus on fine poultry. One 4-lb. chicken, cut into 8 pieces Kosher salt 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided 1 red onion, ½ finely chopped, ½ quartered through the stem ½ cup dry riesling ⅔ cup chicken stock, preferably homemade ½ cup heavy cream Parsley sprigs, for frying (optional) Vegetable oil, for frying the parsley (optional) 10 oz. chanterelles, brushed clean, large ones halved lengthwise 1 firmly packed cup Swiss chard leaves…

MAKES ABOUT 20 Active: 1 hr. • Total: 2 hr. In Armenian and nearby Middle Eastern cuisines, dolma refers to a family of stuffed vegetable dishes, most often wrapped in grape or cabbage leaves. You can use this same meat-and-rice filling—and a similar steaming technique—to hollow out and stuff zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, or peppers. Dolmas taste best warm, and leftovers can be resteamed one or more times as desired. 2 medium heads green cabbage (about 5 pounds), cored, leaves carefully removed and reserved 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter ½ cup tomato paste Kosher salt 1 lb. ground beef ¼ cup short-grain white rice 1 large yellow onion, minced (1½ cups) 2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped 2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro leaves, chopped 2 Tbsp. fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped ½ tsp. dried…

Like all fruits, vanilla begins with a flower: A single flower that opens up on only one day every year, and if you fail to pollinate it, that’s it. No vanilla bean. The flat-leaved vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia) is a vine-like tropical plant with dark, leathery leaves that produces ornate, pale green flowers. Up until the mid-19th century, vanilla orchids were pollinated exclusively by a particular genus of bee in Mexico, called Melipona. Over the years, as demand rose, attempts were made to industrialize the pollination process, to no avail. Vanilla was stubborn. All of this changed thanks to the ingenuity of a 12-year-old slave named Edmond Albius on the island of Bourbon, 500 miles east of Madagascar. In 1841, Albius discovered he could manually pollinate the orchid using a…

origins HOW SOUTH AFRICA GOT ITS INDIAN ACCENT It’s a sunny winter Thursday, just past noon, and on the streets of Durban, bakkies (pickup trucks) idle doubleand triple-parked across wide boulevards as workers heave deliveries in and out of nearby shops. Ears of corn lap up flames on outdoor grills; women get their braids coiled by the side of the road. The heart of the city’s Central Business District hums with a scene that plays out daily, with the most minor of variations, across Africa in Kinshasa, Dakar, Bulawayo, and Gaborone. And yet, the action here unfolds in the shadow of the sprawling Juma Mosque, seemingly plucked from the by-lanes of Delhi, the sun glinting nimbly off its golden domes. Streets named Dr. Yusuf Dadoo and J. N. Singh intersect…

Most people don’t even recognize this wine as prosecco,” says Luca Ferraro of Bele Casel winery, an organically farmed family estate in Asolo, Italy, just over an hour’s drive northwest of Venice. Hazy with sediment, the wine certainly doesn’t resemble typical prosecco, that crisp, clean, quintessentially carefree breed of bubbly. But as Ferraro is quick to point out, this is “the real prosecco.” He’s talking about prosecco col fondo (meaning “with its bottom” or “with sediment”), an unfiltered, lightly effervescent, bottle-fermented expression of prosecco, produced with the deposit of spent yeast cells intact. Markedly drier, yeastier, and more savory than conventional versions of the wine, it has been produced in and around the rolling hills of Asolo, which, along with the towns of Valdobbiadene and Conegliano, constitutes the wine’s ancestral…

Baking an incredible loaf of bread falls, somewhat frustratingly, between couldn’t-be-simpler and intimidatingly complex. For 30,000 years, we’ve known that making dough requires only flour and water, yet somehow it’s taken mankind nearly that long to figure out what takes bread from the simple sum of its ingredients to the airy baguettes and chewy ciabattas we hold to impossibly snobbish standards today. Spoiler alert: It’s not fairy dust. It is, however, a starter. A mixture of flour and water, pre-ferments—or starters—are called so because they’re left out on our counters to ferment prior to mixing a full bread. Some are ready in hours. Others take days. But it’s as simple as stirring and walking away. THE BACKGROUND At various moments in the last 6,000 years, the miracle of natural leavening…

MAKES 2 DOZEN Active: 1 hr. 40 min. • Total: 3 hr. (plus overnight chilling) The dough, a variation on a Southernstyle biscuit dough, is rolled out and folded several times to ensure delicate layers. Leftover dough and scraps can be rolled out again and cut and baked into biscuits. The dough can also be made in advance and refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen until ready to use. For the pigs in a blanket: 2¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 2 tsp. cream of tartar 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. fine sea salt 5 Tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes 5 Tbsp. chilled vegetable shortening 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. buttermilk 1 Tbsp. half & half or heavy cream 1 egg…

SERVES 1–2 Active: 10 min. • Total: 10 min. “Beef is excellently suited to Express-cookery, since it is delicious when it is served underdone,” de Pomiane advises. Use a steak sliced no thicker than 1 inch to achieve a crispy crust and warm, pink center in a short cooking time. 1 bone-in sirloin steak, 1 inch thick (about 1 lb.) Salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 Tbsp. canola oil 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter ½ lb. button mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced (about 3 cups) 1 small shallot, minced 1 slice thick-cut ham, finely diced Lemon wedge, for garnish (optional) Parsley, for garnish (optional) 1 Season the steak generously with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet to high heat and add the oil. Once hot but not yet smoking, add…

The author’s grandfather conceived the iconic sandwich, according to family lore, in Omaha, Nebraska in the 1920s. But history, ELIZABETH WEIL finds, is a hot mess on rye with a side order of counter-theories and accusations We all need stories in order to live. A cliché, yes, but true for writers, and a few years ago I decided to tell my family’s best one: My grandfather invented the Reuben sandwich. To be honest, I’d been avoiding the inevitable throughout my young adult life, more focused on defining my future than examining my past. Plus, I had sauerkraut issues, having grown up in suburban New England in the 1970s, pre– fermentation boom. But just 500 words, not a big deal, no definitive claim. On the back page of the New York…

SERVES 6–10 Active: 15 min. • Total: 30 min. A balance of pickly, salty, cheesy, and crisp, this recipe—inspired by the original—proves that simple is preferable when it comes to nachos. When deep-frying your own tortillas, look for soft tortillas made with all corn (and no flour) for the crunchiest results. Vegetable oil, for frying 10 soft corn tortillas, cut in half Kosher salt 1¼ cups refried black beans 1 medium shallot or ¼ red onion, minced ½ cup shredded orange cheddar cheese (1½ oz.) ½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (1½ oz.) ½ cup crumbled queso fresco or Cotija cheese 20 pickled jalapeño slices, or to taste 1 Set a paper-towel-lined tray next to the stove. In a large, high-rimmed skillet, add enough vegetable oil to reach 1 inch…

the origins issue HOW CHICKEN BECAME OUR NATIONAL BIRD An obscure poultry scientist from Iowa named Howard Pierce did more to change our daily eating habits—for good and ill—than perhaps any single person in human history. Because of Pierce, chicken is now the American meat of choice: Today, we each eat more than 80 pounds of chicken every year. That is four times as much as we did in 1950, when chicken was a distant third behind beef and pork. How that dramatic switch took place is one of the great but largely forgotten origin tales of American cuisine. • You can still find the domesticated chicken’s wild cousin in the foothills of the Himalayas and the forests of Vietnam. Called the red jungle fowl, the bird is a kind…

SERVES 4 Active: 35 min. • Total: 1 hr. 45 min. Its name derived from the French verb souffler, meaning "to breathe" or "to puff", a soufflé’s pillowy top will naturally rise in the oven but slightly deflate just moments after removal. The eggy treat’s fleeting moment of perfection is one of the reasons the dish is handled so delicately by chefs and cherished so deeply by diners. This savory cheese version is courtesy of chef Daniel Skurnick of Le Coucou restaurant in New York City. 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for greasing 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour 1 cup whole milk ¼ tsp. kosher salt ¼ tsp. freshly ground white pepper ⅛ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg 4 large eggs, yolks and whites separated 1 ½ firmly packed cups shredded…

Rent a car and wind through this farflung archipelago’s picturesque roads. BEST WATERING HOLE In the charming village of Henningsvær, the Climbers Café is the after-hours spot for local rock climbers. Stop in to drink a beer with an adventurous cross-section of travelers and scaling legends. nordnorskklatreskole.no/ climbers-cafe STASH THIS IN YOUR SUITCASE At Engelskmannsbrygga, a one-time cod liver oil factory in Henningsvær, Cecilie Haaland has been making ceramics for 20 years. Many pieces feature images imprinted from fish she has caught herself. Take home a rough-hewn mug or a fish-tail emblazoned vase. engelsk mannsbrygga.no OFF-ROAD ADVENTURE A rare and wild fruit, cloudberries are near impossible to cultivate commercially. Ask locals where to find this soft, yellow, raspberrylike beauty, but beware: Some foragers are territorial about their cloudberry patches. BEST ROAD FOOD…

The many ways we love dried and (sometimes) salted cod. NORWAY In Norway, cod is aged on racks anywhere from a couple of weeks to two months. Called tørrfisk, or stockfish, it’s reconstituted and folded into fish soup, stewed with tomatoes and onions for bacalao, and sautéed with bacon and potatoes. ITALY The largest consumer of stockfish outside of Norway. Restaurants in the Veneto make baccalà mantecato, or rehydrated cod whipped with olive oil until dense but fluffy, like a fish mousse. FRANCE In French, cod is known as morue, which at one point, was synonymous with “prostitute.” Today, it’s more often equated with salt cod, which is soaked and whipped with garlic, olive oil, cream, and potatoes, and baked to make brandade de morue or (the potato-less) brandade de…

Origins HOW GRAPES SHAPED A COUNTRY, A CULTURE, A PEOPLE “This is it: the genesis,” exclaims winemaker Paul Hobbs, walking through a tight opening into a mass of monolithic rocks. “The cave where it all began.” Hobbs and his partners are taking a break from their vines to explore one of the world’s oldest known winemaking operations. It’s in a cave. In Armenia. And not just any cave: a massive, primordial, bat-infested, Transcaucasian caveman cave. The Areni-1 complex, uncovered in 2007, contains a 6,100-year-old winery replete with fermenting vats, a grape press, and subterranean clay storage vessels. Altogether, it’s the best -preserved archeological site in the ongoing search for winemaking’s birthplace. And it’s only 60 miles from Mount Ararat, where Noah is said to have parked his ark after the…

SERVES 4 Active: 30 min. • Total: 1 hr. 30 min. Bunny chow, a hollowed out bread bowl with a spicy, meaty curried filling, is as delightfully messy as it sounds. You can eat every last morsel of this version from Hollywood Bets in Durban, including the curry-soaked bread from the bottom and sides. 6 large cloves peeled garlic One 3-inch piece peeled fresh ginger ¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp. canola or olive oil 2 large white onions, chopped (about 3 cups) 4 bay leaves 2 small cinnamon sticks 1 Tbsp. ground turmeric ¼ cup plus 1 Tbsp. garam masala 3 medium tomatoes, chopped (2 cups) 2 ¼ lb. boneless mutton or lamb shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes 2 Tbsp. kosher salt 3 medium russet potatoes (1 ¾ lb.), peeled…