Travel

If you asked me 10 years ago after feasting at a trattoria in Florence on fiocchetti alle pere con salsa di taleggio e asparagi that one day I would be able to replicate the experience, I would have laughed in your face. Back then the only thing I knew how to make was frozen pizza. But time has a way of changing us, and that trip to Florence changed me too. Here I am 10 years later, recreating that meal of a lifetime.

I recently spent a few days with Najmieh Batmanglij — known to many as the “Queen of Persian Cooking” — who opened me up to the cooking of her native Iran, and in particular to a rice dish called jeweled rice, or Javaher Polow. When I took my first bite, I almost cried from a near overload in flavor, fragrance, balance and a notable infusion of love in the grains of rice, tart little barberries, and strands of candied orange peel.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara: When it’s good, it can make your eyes roll back in your head with pleasure. It lurks there, beckoning, batting its eyelashes on Italian menus. When you don’t order it, you usually end up wishing you had. This pasta dish seems easy to make at home, requiring only few ingredients like bacon, eggs, and pasta.

From six-ingredient options to dessert on the go, there’s something for everyone.

Gas-station convenience stores are filled with everything you need to curate a charcuterie plate on the go.

Cheers to summer — and pretending our front stoop is an Italian piazza.

If you don’t know what salmon rillettes are, you’re missing out. Creamy but light, flavorful without being overpowering, think of it as salmon’s answer to paté. It’s a spread that’s sure to impress, and it’s deceptively simple to make. This version comes from Talbott & Arding, an upscale larder in Hudson, New York.

A forceful kick from behind you sends the chair launching forward. Another blow immediately follows, and somewhere a child starts to scream. You feel the anger swelling inside of you as you start to plot your revenge. The hunger is taking control… This may sound like the beginning of a horror movie, but in reality it’s just another day on a plane. Travel can do a number on anyone’s diet: airports are littered with fast food, pubs, and ice cream stores.

What are apple dumplings? Think of them as bite-sized versions of apple pie (only better), with all the goodness of a flaky crust and gooey apple filling. Many are made with whole apples, but the ones I’m hooked on are made with diced apples, which make them super easy to eat. I love picking some up from a local farm stand as a treat for my family and, no matter what, I always eat one straight away. They’re that good!

A French 75 is a wonderful thing. Fizzy, refreshing, and just boozy enough, it’s a cocktail we can get behind. And we’re in good company: Papa Hemingway was a fan, and so was Dickens (or so we hear). But what if we told you there was a way to make this delightful sipper even better?

Walk into any bar in Miami and, chances are, you’ll find a mojito on the menu — or, at the very least, a bartender who can make you a mojito. This classic cocktail, made with fresh mint, lime juice, sugar, rum, and seltzer, is about as Miami as it gets. Perhaps that’s because it’s also the ideal antidote to the Florida heat.

With its combination of tender roasted pork, smoked ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard, a Cuban sandwich is pretty close to the ideal sandwich. It checks all the right boxes of salty, smoky, meaty, melty, and tangy. But what if you were to take a classic Cubano and cross it with a grilled cheese? We thought it sounded like a good idea, too, when we spotted it on the menu at chef Richard Hales’ Bird & Bone (the fact that it was served with waffle-cut fries didn’t hurt either).

This recipe is a great traveler and makes friends everywhere it goes.

You can make it in an airport or hotel room, and it will keep you going until lunch.

Because if you're cooking on vacation you should have the easiest recipes possible.