As California restaurant critic Merrill Shindler observes, "Like politics and religion, nobody agrees about the one true chili." It's a dish that's easy to get into an argument over.

As California restaurant critic Merrill Shindler observes, "Like politics and religion, nobody agrees about the one true chili." It's a dish that's easy to get into an argument over.

I have a confession to make. For years I have been making a chocolate cake that everybody raves over. Once I took it to a committee meeting and one of the committee members said it was absolutely the best chocolate cake he had ever tasted. Another time I took it to a party and people actually fought over the last slice. Without fail, whenever I serve it, somebody asks for the recipe. Well, the cake does contain some flavorful ingredients— Kahlua , sour cream, and almost a pound of chocolate. But

What do award-winning cookbook author Rick Bayless, Food Network Iron Chef Bobby Flay, nationally acclaimed pastry chef Gale Gand, and Chloe, my granddaughter, have in common? They all began their culinary education by slaving over a hot light bulb.

Many dishes rely on a vital ingredient, in risotto it's arborio rice, in ailoi it's garlic and in anything called Florentine it's spinach. But of all the dishes that depend on a critical or key ingredient, surely key lime pie heads the list.

While he was Tsar of Russia, Peter the Great had his ambassador deliver a gift of fine caviar to Louis XV, King of France. When, with great ceremony, the young monarch tasted his first mouthful of the precious stuff, he became nauseated and promptly spit it out on the carpet at Versailles.

I remember well the first time I went to Paris, more than 30 years ago. What impressed me most was not the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre. No, it was the bread. Crusty, chewy and full of flavor, there was simply nothing like it available at home at the time.

Recently, tired of seeing cookbooks not just in burgeoning bookcases, but all over the house, my wife suggested it was time for me to pare down my collection. I agreed, but trying to determine which of my cookbooks were essential and should be kept and which I could get rid of was not an easy task. Sure, some decisions were easy. For example, do I need an Oreo cookbook containing dozens of recipes using the crushed cookie as an ingredient, none of which rival simply eating a couple of Oreos with

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, the old adage says. That's good advice, but there's an assumption underlying it that ought to be challenged. What's wrong with lemons? A life without them -- from the culinary perspective -- would be sour indeed. I came to this deep, philosophical revelation while lounging at the backyard of some friends who live in California. Just a few feet from where I sat was their lemon tree, drooping with fist-sized fruit. It occurred to me that even those of us

I rarely skipped school when I was a kid. That’s because I always hated to miss lunch. After all, one of the greatest school traditions is the school lunch. Kids who bring their own may may not ever know the amusement of trying to figure out what’s in mystery meat. We weren’t served gourmet meals in the school lunchroom in my day, and even though school lunches are better than ever, American schools still have a long way to go before they catch up to the bill of fare at the typical French school