Christopher Kimball's Substack

Our family has frequently vacationed at GoldenEye, the resort in Jamaica built around Ian Fleming’s homestead, which still features his writing desk and typewriter. A set of stone steps leads down to a small grotto where he liked to snorkel, an experience that shows up in many of his books, especially Live and Let Die. In fact, Port Antonio (not far from GoldenEye) has a small island in its bay, and I like to think that this was the inspiration for the treasure island described in that book.

Many breakfast recipes are simple formulas: pancakes, waffles, biscuits, etc. I include the muffin on that list. It’s a basic recipe that can be adjusted to make make corn muffins or perhaps nutmeg muffins, and it can be adapted for inclusions like blueberries, peaches, pecans, etc. And it is simple. I use buttermilk as the liquid of choice, along with a stick of melted butter, two eggs, 3 cups of flour, a 1/2 cup of sugar, leavener, salt, perhaps some nutmeg, and a bit of vanilla.

American home cooks do not prepare a lot of fish, except on the grill. The one exception to this rule is salmon, putting aside shellfish such as shrimp. The Japanese have a great technique for salting salmon before cooking it. Just take 3 tablespoons of light brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of coarse salt, rub it over the filets and let them sit in the fridge for up to an hour. This will firm up the salmon and also get rid of the white stuff (albumin) which oozes out during cooking.

At Origen restaurants, Evellie Reyes and Rodolfo Castellanos char vegetables and sausages over a wood fire. I recently visited Oaxaca for a second time, and, yes, it is a gorgeous city, and, yes again, it has been discovered first by wealthy Mexicans who use Oaxaca as the location for a second home, but also by tourists. That is why there are plenty of art galleries and fancy restaurants. What is most fascinating about Oaxaca is the culinary range.

My father, born in the early 1920s, used to tell me that he remembered the ice man since his family’s “icebox” was exactly that – a box that held a big square of ice (with drainage) to keep things cool. By the late 1920s, the refrigerator was born and then icebox desserts were really off to the races.

Yours truly at the gasthaus. It was cooler higher up but still in the 90s. My wife, Melissa, has relatives in Salzburg, so we try to visit every year or two. This year, it has been incredibly hot, close to 100 degrees most days, but Salzburg and Vienna are still great food destinations. Left: Daughter Rike high up above Salzburg; Right: Son Oliver dressed up in his Red Bull outfit at a Red Bull soccer match. We stay at a private farm just outside of town.

Kachumber is a simple salad of crunchy produce that’s popular in Southeast Asian Cuisine. You can find it made with unripe mango, peppers, and all sorts of herbs, but cucumber, tomato, and onion are nearly always present. The salad isn’t doused with an oily vinaigrette, but seasoned simply with lemon juice, chili powder, and cumin, proving once again that the classic French vinaigrette is not a bad thing, but hardly universal.

Illustration by Roz Chast from The Two Saddest Kitchens I just interviewed Roz Chast, the cartoonist of New Yorker fame, and she co-wrote an illustrated book entitled The Two Saddest Kitchens. My favorite bit is about turning on a stovetop burner. She writes, “Hey, big boy! Do you want to TURN ME ON?

Orange Kiss-Me Cake is one of the few Pillsbury Bake-Off recipes that has stood the test of time, with dozens of variations. It uses an entire orange, rind and all, for rich orange flavor. I am fascinated by the Pillsbury Bake-Offs. They tell a story about America, year by year, providing a bit of insight into who we were, what we ate, and how we viewed the world. In 1950, Orange Kiss-Me Cake won the Bake-Off (it was just in its second year).

Pestos are the easiest way to get dinner on the table. You do not need a recipe—just include nuts (almonds work great; you don’t need pine nuts), grated Parmesan or pecorino, one or two cloves of garlic (raw garlic in a pesto can be overwhelming), olive oil and some sort of greens (basil, arugula, parsley, or a combination, etc). You can cook garlic cloves in water for a minute or so to mute their flavor.