The Timeless Appeal of Champagne and Fried Chicken

Which came first, the fried chicken or the Champagne? The answer doesn’t matter. What’s important is that they belong in the same sentence, and on the same table. It may seem incongruous to those who equate Champagne with frothy social events or haute cuisine, but wine lovers have long known the uncanny rapport of ethereal…

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The Nostalgic Appeal of Mung Bean Desserts

At the Malaysian pastry shop Kuih Cafe in downtown Manhattan, the baker Veronica Gan, who’s in her mid-50s, sells ang ku kueh, a piece of pliant, toothsome ruby red mochi molded in the shape of a tortoiseshell. Mochi itself has little flavor — its pleasures are textural — but bite into the confection and you…

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