A colleague took us out to lunch at the World Bank, and after a 15-minute underground security procedure, we emerged into a self-contained environment with its own cafes and fountains and art galleries, and even its own bank; really, its own economy. The cafeteria had several international food stands, but notably quite a few American…

Malbec has been a default wine for us for a long time, because it goes easily with the basic red meat dishes we often end up eating. Even when, like today, we just have veggie sausages with spaghetti sauce, it’s a simple way to forget the sausages are only pretend. (Photo: Bon Air Park, Arlington,…

Tres leches cake: There’s only one layer but it’s a process that involves many steps. The cake is made with a lot of egg whites and a little bit of flour, with vanilla and almond extract providing the dominant taste. Then, once you’ve baked the cake and cooled it to room temperature, you pour milk,…

Salmon cooked in lettuce. It’s a recipe from Asturias, the verdant and rainy part of northwestern Spain where the weather most resembles what we’ve experienced over the past month. I would be just fine if I lived in Asturias, or Ireland or Oregon or northern Minnesota, but since I didn’t actually sign up to live…

A lemon candy at the place where I get my haircut, which I swallowed in one gulp but managed to avoid choking on. This was a good way to end the week. We had Ethiopian at Lalibela and then tried to go home but had trouble flagging down a ride from a car sharing service,…

I usually have spicy food when I don’t have time to prepare anything complicated and I’m going to lean on a condiment to complete a meal. One example is my very hot mustard. I bought it accidentally without noticing the tiny label in a corner of the bottle that says “hot,” which seems like a…

When it was around 2007 I remember a coworker mentioning he hadn’t had “fresh” asparagus all spring. He’d eaten asparagus, but it was “from California, or wherever.” This was when the food trends we know today were just getting started and it was probably the first time I’d ever even thought about associating whether a…

Veggie sausages with spaghetti and tomato sauce. The sausages, from Whole Foods, are a healthy alternative to chorizo and taste much the same. (Photo: Public library, Rockville, Maryland.) >> May 18 << May 16

Cinnamon puff muffins. The statement introducing them in the The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion, which I disagree with, reads as follows: “In clothes, in design, and in baking: Simple and classic go hand in hand.” But surely it isn’t all that simple to bake an old-fashioned savory pie? For these muffins, which are certainly…

I mixed romaine lettuce and ramp leaves and put them in a bowl under some vermicelli noodles. On top of that I put ribeye steak cubes that had been marinated in nước mắm and chili pepper flakes, creating a hot and peppery version of bún. In the garden I planted Thai basil and beefsteak tomatoes….

Seitan stir fry with ramps and spring onions. I cooked it in a mole amarillo sauce, which is quite simple to make compared to the mole coloradito I made earlier. In this version of an amarillo, you roast two ancho chiles and one guajillo chile and soak them in hot water. Then char vegetables under…

Half and half cookies. My cookbook says they’re a “New York City bakery staple,” but I wouldn’t know. They are white cookies made by mixing a stick of butter with shortening, lemon zest, and sugar, then combining with dry ingredients and sour cream. The cookies come out very soft and taste puffed up like they’re…