Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:42:33 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Paul Lukas :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Paul+Lukas istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/tender-twist-on-easter-dinner/73205/ Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST When you think of Easter food, you think of festive cuts of meat: the glazed ham, the leg of lamb, the standing rib roast. What you probably don't think of when planning the holiday meal — or most other times when you're pondering a great piece of meat — is a shin. Look around, though, and you'll find shin meat all over town. It seems like every restaurant in the city is serving a braised lamb shank, and any Italian eatery worth its salt is serving up osso bucco, which is braised veal shank. A... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/lore-and-lure-of-the-cassoulet/69213/ Wed, 9 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST French bistro fare is usually fairly predictable — that's part of its classic appeal and charm. With few exceptions, steak frites is steak frites; a crθme brϋlιe is a crθme brϋlιe. But there's one bistro dish that comes in a near-endless array of variations, despite being described on most menus as "classic" or "traditional." It's a dish that ranks among the most relaxing comfort food, even though its ingredients and preparation methods can be the subject of heated debate. And with winter in... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/maligned-meat-gets-a-makeover/68789/ Wed, 2 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST It's standard practice for people to make New Year's resolutions regarding their eating habits. Usually it's a simple matter of eating less, or eating more healthfully. But many people are also resolving to eat more ethically — and that inevitably leads to the question of veal. Veal has always been a thorny proposition. Most people will eat beef, pork, or chicken without thinking twice, but a baby calf is, well, trickier, even for seasoned carnivores. Personally, I'll eat veal, but I tend to... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/emperor-of-tempura/63384/ Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST When it comes to fried food, there are two basic truisms: Everything tastes better when it's fried, and even the best fried food soon becomes a heavy, greasy mess. BarFry, a new tempura bar in the West Village, offers spectacular validation of the first maxim while turning the second one on its head. If you can think of it, chef Josh DeChellis, formerly of Sumile, BarFry can fry it. And they do it with such a light, clean touch that it barely even feels like you're eating fried food. It's more... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/undiscerning-palate/61555/ Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST It's been a little more than five years now since Blue Smoke opened, giving New Yorkers their first taste in decades of authentic pit-smoked barbecue. Since then, a seemingly endless stream of barbecue outlets has followed, including at least a dozen in the past year, and four in the past six weeks. The city's appetite for smoked meat, it would appear, is endless. But five years of unstinting demand have not yet produced a discerning palate among the city's barbecue enthusiasts Many venues in... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/baker-and-a-trucker/60577/ Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST On a recent morning in Red Hook, Brooklyn, self-styled baker and entrepreneur Kim Ima — better known as the "Treats Truck Lady" — was polishing Sugar. Sugar is what Ms. Ima calls her retro-style truck, from which she sells cookies, brownies, and other confections all over the city. The baked goods — served with a healthy dollop of good cheer from Ms. Ima — have already developed a devoted following since the Treats Truck first took to the streets in early June. Most mornings, Ms. Ima, 39, is at... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/summer-cocktail-hour/59116/ Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EST For most New Yorkers in these sweltering last days of July, the problem is how to keep cool. For cocktail mavens, the question is what to drink. "Summer is the time when you want to lighten everything up — light rum instead of dark, blended whiskeys instead of single-malt, bourbon instead of rye," a bartender at the Gramercy Tavern, Jim Meehan, said. "You want spirits that evoke summertime or the beach, as opposed to Calvados or brandy or rye or Scotch, which are more fireside sippers."... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/arts/portraits-of-the-nba-draft/57375/ Wed, 27 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST Consider the evolution of the humble Ping-Pong ball: Once an unassuming staple of suburban rec rooms, it's now the prime determinant of how millions of dollars are awarded in the state lottery. It also figures prominently in another kind of high-stakes lottery — the one that determines the sequence of teams at the beginning of the NBA draft, which takes place tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden. Those elements — chance, Ping-Pong balls, and basketball — will come together this evening at an... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/cool-as-iceberg/56923/ Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST "I'm proud to love it, and I have always loved it," Nancy Silverton, the Los Angeles-based chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, said. "It's something I absolutely crave." Was Ms. Silverton — a multiple James Beard Award winner — referring to caviar? White truffles? Perhaps a rare Bordeaux? Nope. She was waxing rhapsodic about iceberg lettuce. That's right, iceberg — notorious as a middlebrow object of ridicule, and the bane of salad snobs everywhere. In a world increasingly populated by... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/uncommon-cold/55964/ Wed, 6 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST "Is the line backed up around the corner yet?" the clerk asked, peering out apprehensively from behind a case filled with ice cream. The question was largely rhetorical, because the lines have been stretching around the southwest corner of Broadway and 76th Street almost from the moment that Grom — a new shop specializing in gelato, the supremely smooth Italian-style ice cream — opened last month. Grom has benefited from a tremendous amount of hype, much of it centering on that elusive quality... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/holy-grill/55041/ Wed, 23 May 2007 00:00:00 EST New Yorkers love their hamburgers, as evidenced by the seemingly endless series of burger joints that have opened in the past year. But Memorial Day marks the opening of summer cookout season, and many people will be cooking their own burgers over the next several months instead of eating them in restaurants. That raises the question: What's the best way to make a hamburger? The New York Sun posed that question to a variety of burger authorities and got some surprising results. While certain... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/where-meat-is-king/53610/ Wed, 2 May 2007 00:00:00 EST Joe Carroll has some very specific ideas about how to run a restaurant. "I didn't want to have cutlery of any sort here," he said recently, sitting in his barbecue restaurant, Fette Sau, which opened last month in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. "Barbecue is something you eat with your hands, like hamburgers or pizza. I reluctantly brought in some really terrible plastic cutlery because I thought people wouldn't like it, so they'd just use their hands. But it didn't work — people are stubbornly using... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/how-sweet-it-is-2007-04-11/52242/ Wed, 11 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EST Blended is out, single-origin is in. That's the message throughout the food world these days. Single-malt Scotch, single-barrel bourbon, and single-plantation chocolate and coffee all play to the notion that distinct sources can yield distinct flavors. The latest foodstuff to reflect this thinking is honey. Supermarket honey, like Golden Blossom or Sue Bee, is a blend of many different honeys. But gourmet shops and better supermarkets are giving more and more shelf space these days to... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/lamb-101/51823/ Wed, 4 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EST With Easter right around the corner, sales of lamb have been increasing. And that, paradoxically, is part of the problem for the lamb industry. "People generally think of lamb for special occasions and holidays, and that's about it," the marketing director of the American Lamb Board, Megan Wortman, said. So after Easter, sales will go back down to pre-holiday levels. And those levels tend to be low: Annual lamb consumption in America is only one pound per capita, compared with 66.5 pounds for... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/bread-circus/51327/ Wed, 28 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST Passover begins on Monday, which means matzo manufacturers have been working overtime to meet the seasonal demand. That includes the Streit's matzo factory on the Lower East Side, which operates 20 hours a day during the final Passover production push. With this year's run of Passover matzos finally produced and on store shelves, Streit's vice president, Aron Yagoda, could afford to relax and reminisce during a recent afternoon. Although the company makes and sells matzos year-round, about 60%... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/want-kangaroo-sausages-heres-your-guide-digger/50437/ Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST Anyone compiling a list of the hottest recent restaurant trends in the city would have a few obvious starting points. Steakhouses, certainly. Also burger and barbecue joints, and maybe gastropubs. But there's one trend that's been sneaking its way onto the culinary landscape: Australian food. The city now boasts at least eight eateries offering Australian fare, most of them having opened in the past year or two. Whether this can be attributed to shifting tastes or public relations campaigns... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/dixie-dining/49015/ Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST No part of America is as heavily mythologized as the South — the history, the accents, the music, and, of course, the food. Maybe that's why so many Southern restaurants in New York have been so disappointing: They can't live up to the myth, or to our outsized expectations, often because they devote more energy to providing lots of authentic-seeming Southern trappings than to the food. But two new restaurants in Brooklyn have gotten it right. The surprise is that they make little claim to being... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/frosting-that-warms-the-heart/48206/ Wed, 7 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST Let's face it: Whether you and your sweetie will be celebrating your first or umpteenth Valentine's Day together, there's probably going to be some chocolate involved. It's de rigeur — which is why it's also so clichιd, pat, predictable. If you're willing to do just a little bit of work in the kitchen, however, there's a relatively easy way to take that Russell Stover box to the next level, and to have a versatile treat to enjoy for days and even weeks after Valentine's Day has passed: Make a... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/touchdown-treats/47721/ Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST Forty years after its inception, the Super Bowl is barely about football anymore. Now it's all about the commercials, the halftime band, and — of course — the food. That last part can be daunting if you're throwing or attending a Super Bowl party. But whether you're a host or a guest, three magic words can go a long way toward making you the MVP on Super Sunday: baconwrapped dates. They may not sound like classic football food, but they're simple to prepare, they travel well, and everyone loves... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/battle-of-the-burgers/47326/ Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST So was there a year-end special on ground beef or what? That's the obvious question after witnessing the explosion of hamburger restaurants over the past two months. At least six burger emporia have opened since mid-October, with several more on the way. Several of these new burger outlets even have well-known chefs behind them. Adam Kuban, who runs the burger-centric blog "A Hamburger Today" (ahamburger.com), thinks it's because of the success of the Shake Shack, the popular burger stand in... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/new-york/development-spreads-to-brooklyns-fourth-ave/46257/ Mon, 8 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST With three lanes running in each direction, traffic zips up and down Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue, and for the most part there has been little reason to stop or slow down — especially in the 11-block stretch between Atlantic Avenue and Union Street. For years, a KFC was the primary food outlet along the uninspiring corridor of vacant storefronts, flat-fix shops, greasy takeout joints, and Laundromats. The most popular drink option was a 40-ounce beer from one of the corner bodegas. Now, changes are... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/grass-is-greener/45994/ Wed, 3 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST Still looking for a good New Year's resolution? Have I got a doozy for you — a way to make life healthier for the planet, for animals, and for yourself It's easy: Resolve to eat more steak. Okay, maybe it's not quite that easy. Still, if you're among the growing number of people who are uneasy about the effects of industrial agribusiness, but you're not really the type to head down to the food co-op for some organic kale, there's a surprisingly large number of outlets selling what we might... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/winter-greens/45760/ Wed, 27 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST This is a tough time of year if you're a big fan of fresh vegetables. Green beans, asparagus, corn, and many other vegetables are still available, but they're not at their best in December. Many of them tend to be overly starchy, with little of the flavor or tenderness that characterizes their peak growing seasons. But you can still make tasty green beans and other vegetables, even this time of year. The key is to put away that steamer basket and turn on your oven. Here's the deal: The dry heat... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/right-chinese-food-for-christmas/45439/ Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST Christmas is a time of family rituals — the tree, the presents, the Yule log on Channel 11. Unless, of course, you're Jewish. In that case, you probably have a different ritual: You go out for Chinese food. But while the gentiles get to enjoy their yuletide nostalgia, nostalgic Chinese food has become scarce. The influx of restaurants serving authentic Hunan, Sichuan, and Shanghai cuisine has made it increasingly difficult to find old-fashioned Cantonese-style restaurants. A pupu platter with... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/cream-of-the-crop-2006-12-13/45071/ Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST The traditional party libation this time of year is spiked eggnog. But if you really want to make an impression on your guests, I have three words for you: homemade Irish cream. For most folks, of course, Irish cream begins and ends with Baileys (there are other brands, but the term "Baileys" has essentially become synonymous with the entire category). Lots of people claim not to like Baileys, either because it's too sweet or because they think it's unsophisticated. But Baileys is the... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/beyond-turkey/43514/ Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST Every November, it's the same thing: the endless stream of articles claiming to have discovered the secret to cooking a turkey. The key is to brine it. No, the key is to position the bird breast side down. No, it's all about measuring the temperature in the breast instead of the thigh. No, forget all that — just deep-fry it. All that fuss brings very little reward, however, because — let's be honest — turkey tastes pretty bland. Ask yourself this: How much turkey would you really want to eat if... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/empire-state-syrup/43119/ Wed, 8 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST Just around this time of year in 2000, I was driving on a dirt road through Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota and saw an arrow-shaped wooden sign with a hand-painted message: "MAPLE SYRUP." A few miles and one very large moose later, I came upon the mapling operation — not the backyard amateur enterprise that the crude sign had led me to expect, but Wild Country Maple Syrup, a full-time commercial operation whose 10,000-tree sugarbush covered 320 acres. And their syrup, as I soon... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/dame-melba-youre-a-peach/42635/ Wed, 1 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST At the A.O.C. Bedford, the European bistro in the West Village, the staff puts on a grand display of preparing crκpe Suzette tableside. "Mmmm, delicious," my friend Ruth said, enjoying the Grand Marnier-accented dessert at the end of a recent dinner. "My compliments to Suzette." Then she paused for a moment, our eyes met, and we both said, almost simultaneously, "Who was Suzette, anyway?" I realized I had no idea. Thus began my foray into the history of dishes named after particular people, a... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/peasant-food-fit-for-a-king/41757/ Wed, 18 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST When I went shopping for lamb shanks a few days ago, my butcher was out of them. Same thing at my backup butcher, and at my two local supermarkets. When I expressed my frustration to one of the supermarket meat stockers, he replied: "You should've gotten here earlier in the day.When the weather gets cooler like this, those lamb shanks are the first things to go!" That's understandable, because lamb shanks are the quintessential meat for braising, which in turn is the quintessential cooking... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/top-dogs/40923/ Wed, 4 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST "You're writing about hot dogs?" my friend Bill said. "In October?" That's a typical New York reaction. New Yorkers like to think of their city as a serious hot dog town, but it's not. True, the hot dog was invented here — well, at least according to one story — but we don't take our franks very seriously. Almost everyplace else in America treats hot dogs as year-'round food, sit-down food, with full-fledged hot dog restaurants — or doggeries, as I call them. Only in New York are hot dogs... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/beyond-barley/40457/ Wed, 27 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST It's always fun to learn a new food-related word, and it's even better when the word itself sounds fun. Here is precisely such a word: maltster. That's what you call someone who's in charge of malting grains. Go on, say it: maltster. Isn't that great? When asked what you do for a living, wouldn't you love to be able to reply, "I'm a maltster"? But what is malt, anyway? It's a term most of us encounter at a very young age, thanks to the classic Mother Goose nursery rhyme "The House That Jack... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/and-the-best-chocolate-is/39976/ Wed, 20 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST Here's a confession: When it comes to chocolate, I'm perfectly happy with a Hershey bar. The reason this qualifies as a confession is that chocolate has become the latest domain of gustatory snobbery. If you listen to serious foodies talk about chocolate these days, you might think they're discussing wine or whiskey, complete with all the insufferable highbrow stuffiness. Admit to these people that you actually deign to eat milk chocolate, instead of dark, and they'll look at you like you've... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/real-rye/38819/ Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST Do you love rye bread? Maybe you do — or maybe you just think you do. "The Jewish deli rye most New Yorkers are used to is actually made with at least 50% wheat flour, not so much rye," the founder of Amy's Bread, Amy Scherber, said. "That's why it's so fluffy and tall, instead of compact and dense like rye bread should be. The flavor of that bread actually comes primarily from caraway, not from rye." It may sound scandalous, but it's true: The bread that generations of New Yorkers have thought... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/cotton-candy-reigns-here/37971/ Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST The Japanese restaurant Kenka, located on a bustling East Village block, is easy to miss. Neither its name nor its street number appears on the shop's exterior sign (not in English, anyway), and there are often so many people milling about out front that you can walk right by without realizing you've just passed a restaurant. There are two good ways to spot Kenka, however: The first is a huge statue (sometimes misidentified as a beaver or a raccoon, although it's actually a badger) that stands... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/g-t-101/37593/ Wed, 9 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST There are lots of things we can blame on mosquitoes — itchy welts, smelly insecticide, the West Nile scare. But let's give credit where it's due. Because the mosquito is also responsible, in a roundabout way, for one of summer's most storied libations: the gin and tonic. The story goes like this: When the British military was occupying India in the 1800s, the troops drank quinine water in order to ward off the region's mosquito-borne malaria. Quinine water tastes pretty nasty, so somebody came... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/cold-home-creamery/36761/ Wed, 26 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EST Although I'm a big believer in the "make it yourself" ethos — not just because I think homemade food tastes better, but because it's more fun — I had until recently avoided applying this doctrine to one of my favorite foods: ice cream. Everyone I knew who owned an ice-cream maker told me the same thing, namely that the machine was gathering dust in a cupboard. And they cited the same problem: The machine's mixing bowl had to be pre-chilled in the freezer before it could be used. As my friends... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/wheres-the-fire/36288/ Wed, 19 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EST Here's all the stuff about Craftsteak — Tom Colicchio's 10,000-squarefoot steakhouse that recently opened in the meatpacking district — that you don't really care about: The raw bar offers an excellent array of oysters ($3 each), ranging from briny Malpeques to cucumbery Watch Hills. The wine list is massive, although I suggest going with the Rogue Hazelnut Brown Ale, which is available on tap. The opulent dining room, with its wide banquettes and numerous modern touches, is miles away from the... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/fizz-factor/35898/ Wed, 12 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EST If you've ever been in a Jewish delicatessen, you've probably seen Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray soda, the celery-flavored soft drink that sounds so counterintuitive yet tastes so satisfying.It's ubiquitous at kosher delis but hard to find anyplace else. But there's another celery soda available in New York, and it's available at a very different sort of venue: Franny's, the Prospect Heights pizzeria specializing in artisanal wood-oven pies. The restaurant makes its own simple syrup, infuses it with... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/from-your-hometown-here-with-love/35454/ Wed, 5 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EST Last Monday night at Edward's, an American bistro in TriBeCa, the place was packed, the vibe was festive, and the scene at virtually every table was the same: Happy customers were tucking into bowls of chili, chili-cheese hot dogs, and some seriously nasty-looking pizza. A woman at the table next to mine took a bite of pizza, smiled, and said, "It's not very good - just like I remember!" This is Cincinnati Night, an event that's become a hit with New York's surprisingly large community of... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/surprise-in-steak/34790/ Wed, 21 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST Let's say you're in the mood for a steak - a really good steak. The obvious restaurant choice, then, would be a steakhouse. But wait - maybe you don't like the clubby, hyper-masculine ambiance at most steakhouses. And your idea of side dishes extends beyond hash browns and creamed spinach. And while you still want that steak, you don't necessarily need it to be big enough to choke a rhinoceros. That sets up a conundrum: You've been hearing for years how only 2% of American beef is graded USDA... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/in-cask-cure-for-ale-ments/34405/ Wed, 14 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST There was trouble a few weeks ago at the East Village beer mecca d.b.a. The bar's carbon dioxide line, which provides pressure for the draft taps, had sprung a leak, so beer just drizzled out of the nozzles. After fussing with the equipment for a bit, the frustrated bartender eventually posted a sign: "Sorry, no draft beer tonight." But that was fine with my group because we were drinking cask ales, which are "pulled" from their containers by pump-action taps without any added gaseous pressure... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/case-of-the-missing-butcher-shop/33569/ Wed, 31 May 2006 00:00:00 EST With summer cookout season kicking into high gear, New Yorkers will be buying lots of meat in the weeks and months to come. But where will they be buying it? One thing that seems certain is that they'll be buying less of it in neighborhood butcher shops than in years past. With consumers increasingly opting for supermarkets, upscale gourmet markets, or FreshDirect, the number of small, independent butcher shops in the city has been declining for years, and most of the ones that remain are... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/kosher-halal-butchers/33598/ Wed, 31 May 2006 00:00:00 EST Kosher butchers used to be found all over New York. But much like conventional butcher shops, kosher meat markets have fallen victim to the one-stop-shopping trend and are now much harder to find. Moreover, most remaining kosher butchers no longer cut meat to order. Every kosher shop I visited while researching this article sold shrink-wrapped meat that had been cut in a back room. "Years ago, a customer would come in and say, 'I want a shoulder,' and the butcher would toss it on the scale... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/summer-guide/dinner-worth-the-drive/33263/ Wed, 24 May 2006 00:00:00 EST With summer beckoning, lots of New Yorkers will hear the call of the open road. But with gas running more than $3 a gallon, you might need a little coaxing to respond to that call. And if you're anything like me, nothing breaks down that road trip resistance like the promise of great regional food waiting at the other end of the highway. With that in mind, here are four destinations that boast intensely local food scenes. You can easily visit any of them and get back home within the space of a... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/snap-crack-pop/32461/ Wed, 10 May 2006 00:00:00 EST About 10 years ago I was vacationing in southern Florida and was eager for my first taste of stone crab, a local delicacy I'd heard of but didn't know much about. The first restaurant I visited had stone crab claws on the menu."Aha," I thought to myself, "if they're only serving the claws, then they must not have fresh, live crabs. I'm not falling for that!" Feeling streetwise and sophisticated, I ordered the blackened grouper and figured I'd get fresh stone crab the next night. Three nights... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/delicious-derby/32075/ Wed, 3 May 2006 00:00:00 EST The Kentucky Derby is this Saturday, which means two things here in New York: OTB parlors will be packed, and lots of people will be drinking their annual mint julep. The julep is a lovely cocktail, but there's a lot more to Kentucky food and drink than that. The Bluegrass State has a rich culinary heritage, and there's no better time to celebrate it than this weekend. So if you're planning a Derby party, or if you just want a bit of authentic Kentucky flavor when you sit down to watch the... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/fat-of-theland/31654/ Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST "Would you like some extra fat with that?" That's not a query most of us are used to hearing. But it's what you'll hear from the counter clerk if you purchase some of the duck leg confit at Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn, 718-230-7600), the Park Slope gourmet shop. The Biefkraft folks are proud of their confit, and with good reason: Lots of places sell confit, but Bierkraft is one of the few shops that makes its own inhouse. "It's not hugely popular, but the people who like it tend to buy... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/how-to-eat-fried-pies/30847/ Wed, 12 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST When a state legislature strikes a blow for regional gastronomy, it's usually on the symbolic level, like when Texas lawmakers designated chili to be their official state dish in 1977. But the Georgia House of Representatives took a more direct approach two weeks ago, when it gave Willie Watts permission to resume selling her homemade fried pies. Some quick background: Fried pies are little hot-pocket semicircles of dough that are filled with fruit and, as the name implies, deep-fried. They're... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/apples-to-blood-oranges/30436/ Wed, 5 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST "I wasn't a very religious person when I got into this business," Eric Christensen said. "But I've become one over the years, because mother nature throws so many things at you." The business in question is the citrus industry, where Mr. Christensen holds a specialized niche. He and his wife, Kim, run Rising C Ranches, a small California operation that's become a leading purveyor of hard-to-find citrus fruits - some of them heirloom varieties, others just rare to the American market, but all of... PAUL LUKAS http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/premium-pork/29974/ Wed, 29 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EST From condiments to main courses, most food subcultures have their holy grails. Kobe beef, Beluga caviar, o-toro sushi, fleur de sel, Johnnie Walker Blue Label - each of these is a super-premium product that represents the acme of its particular category. For pork products, the holy grail is pata negra - the highly prized, fabulously expensive Spanish ham that's so hearty and rich, so magnificently delectable, it makes Italian prosciutto taste like Boar's Head. Or at least that's what you always...