The Negroni was invented in Florence by the Italian Count Camillo Negroni in the early 20th century. He fortified his Americano drink by replacing the usual soda water with gin. The bartender added an orange peel and the Negroni was born! Recently, the Negroni has grown in popularity and is now officially part of the cocktail canon in the United States
Confession: I don’t like to do much to my steaks. Good meat doesn’t need it. Over the years, I have even started to forgo adding pepper to them. But we have to shed our comfort zone sometimes, so out came the black pepper along with toasted coriander and fennel, which I have been playing with a lot of late. What we got was one hell of a crust: fragrant, smokey, with a hint of spice. Finish with garlicky pan juices, some lemon zest, fresh chopped thyme and the gentlest squirt of lemon juice to cut the fat.
A few years ago, in need of using some leftover ghee, the South Asian equivalent of clarified butter made its way onto the bird, filling the house for hours with the smell of drawn butter and citrus and thyme. One year, I placed fresh curry leaves on the skin, peeled them off when they were crisp and crushed them into a powder that was sprinkled on the carved meat.
Showstopper lamb legs span the globe. They are prized across several religions for a celebration-worthy roast. In the meat-eating communities of South Asia, that means Raan, the special meal lamb or mutton leg found at Muslim celebrations is the kind of centerpiece that graces tables at holiday such as Eid or a good wholesome dawaat.
The first pop up I ever held was for a concept I called “Indian Tacos,” teaming up with the chef at a popular neighborhood Brooklyn restaurant that also happened to be my “Cheers,” a real-life version of the TV sitcom bar “where everybody knows your name.” I may be dating myself for the younger audience here. On Monday nights, my “Cheers” was bar only, so I teamed up with the chef to take over the empty kitchen. The idea was to take smaller street-style tortillas and pile them with two options, including a pulled pork play on a classic pork vindaloo curry.
Historically one of the last cuts to be consumed from the previous year’s harvest, the brisket provided valuable calories before the first foods of spring became available. As a result, March and April traditions abound with brisket as the centerpiece — no matter your religion, the brisket reigns supreme.
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