Like
most people, I don't think much about food except when I'm hungry.
Then I head for the kitchen or a restaurant. Food doesn't
usually come to mind when I'm surfing the Internet.
Until lately, that is.
A
couple of months ago I happened upon some Web sites that pushed my
epicuriosity button. Actually,
the one that keeps stimulating my palate is called epicurious.
What you'll see there is everything your taste buds might
desire: eating, drinking, playing with your food and epicurious TV
sections.
In
the eating category, you'll find links to pages with Recipes,
Ingredients, Basics, Seasonal Cooking and International Eating. The
page also features cookbook reviews and "A Complete Eating
Index." There's even an Epicurious Food Book Store on the page.
In
the Recipes section you'll find a huge database of 14,000 recipes.
You can access it by entering a keyword, or you can go to the
main page and search by cuisine, course, main ingredient, preparation
method or season/occasion.
The
Cuisine section includes African, American, Asian, Caribbean, Eastern
European, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Jewish, Mediterranean,
Mexican, Middle Eastern, Scandinavian and Spanish cuisine. Once you've
chosen the type, you can further refine your search by ingredients.
I've
never been a great lover of seafood, except for shellfish.
However, the grill and broil recipes for fish from both Gourmet
and Bon Appetite have my
mouth watering at just the thought of them. There's a recipe for
grilled halibut with creamy guacamole sauce that is out of this world!
And a recipe for grilled sea bass with tropical salsa will
convert anyone who shies away from otherwise ordinary fish.
For
your libations, the Epicurean Food site has 700 recipes for both
tipplers and teetotalers. These
even include "24 hot chocolate recipes to snuggle up with"
and "a collection of winning punches" (not the kind you take
on the chin). The-not-too-faint-at- heart might try the Artillery
Punch…with caution.
Finally,
in the "Playing" section, you can find 1001 tips from great
chefs of the world. Whether you're pickling, microwaving, prepping,
storing or freezing, experts like Jacques Pépin, James Beard, Betty
Fussell and Barbara Kafka probably know how to do it better. Plunder
their secrets here.
While
you're looking for food sites, don't miss the Gourmet
Spot, with all-round information about food, recipes, restaurants
and hand-selected links to other food sites.
The
Recipe Link
carries 20,000 recipes, columns about food and dining, a section on
ethnic cooking, tips and hints on health and fitness, dining guides to
restaurants and special guides for diabetics or others needing special
foods.
Yesterday,
I decided to look for a salad recipe that I once used but had
forgotten. I had even
forgotten the name, but as I browsed through the salad list in
"Cookbook Heaven" it jumped out at me. There it was on the
Internet, my long-forgotten recipe for Green Goddess salad dressing.
The number of recipes for salads and dressings alone is incredibly
large and comprehensive. It
must include every recipe ever published.
Also
prominent in The Recipe Link are daily recipe plans where you can find
recipes for starters, salads, soups, breakfasts, lunches, entrees and
desserts. Happily, they offer several superb recipes in each category.
Who said planning meals was a chore?
Today
my palate was tempted by cucumber aspic for starters, spring greens
soup, chicken salad tostadas with cilantros and stuffed peppers with
green rice. Yum yum!
If
you're a beginner and need to pick up some of the basics before going
on to the fancier preparations, check out the Reluctant
Gourmet. It also has some useful tips for advanced cooks and
chefs.
Travelers won't find very many comprehensive restaurant
guides on the Internet. One of the largest and best known is Fodor's.
Most of the major cities of the world are included. Fodor's
provide their recommendations, a description of the décor, their food
choices and prices.
About
their guide, they write, "Fodor's Restaurant Index is the
quickest way to find a restaurant in any destination we cover. You
won't find every restaurant in town here--we are not the Yellow
Pages--but you will find expert reviews of those establishments that
meet Fodor's standards for quality, service, and value."
Often
when looking for restaurants around the world, you'll find that the
best approach is to choose your destination and then look for
restaurants in the city or country listings.
If
you're prepared to spend a bit of time at it, you'll certainly find
the Internet a source of some outstanding eateries where you can
imbibe and dine with great gusto at the price you can afford.
