Elizabeth Shestak

When we eat at ethnic restaurants, spices are what typically set apart those flavors from those considered classic American. This layering of unique, and often disparate, flavors yields dynamic dishes that are inherently ethnic. Spices traditionally reserved for desserts, like cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg, are often a subtle, yet integral part of main ethnic dishes. […]

Cheese, like many culinary gems, was originally a mistake. Someone, somewhere, let the milk get hot and funky and the result was curds and whey. With a bit more manipulation, be it curing, aging, straining or stretching, the curd becomes the glory that we call cheese. There are people in this world who find the […]

Last summer I was asked to judge an Iron Chef-inspired contest at the Durham Farmers Market. I was thrilled. It certainly validated my notion that perhaps I know a few things about food around hereuntil I learned what the not-so-secret ingredient would be: summer squash. I have a very short list of foods I do […]

Any day is a good day for high tea: Mother’s Day, birthdays (mine or yours), anniversaries or simply because I haven’t seen you in a while. It doesn’t take much to justify a few hours spent sipping a warm, richly steeped brew while munching on delicate goodies. And for me, it’s the goodies that promote […]

These days, anyone who’s ever perused The New York Times dining section or seen a James Beard Award nomination form has heard that the Triangle is the Southern Part of Foodie Heaven. But some may remain unaware of our thriving bean scene. When we say beans we mean coffee, and when we say scene we […]

Find out more at Tabor Espresso’s website, or e-mail Dick Tabor. It takes 7.6 grams of coffee beans to create a perfect one-ounce shot of espresso. And after 30 years of making espresso, Richard Tabor knows how to measure an ounce by feel, like a baker who knows intuitively when his dough is done rising. […]