What makes curry, curry

Curry is a sauce served over meat, fish or vegetables, and usually with steamed rice. Curry powder is ground from a wide variety of dried leaves, roots, twigs, berries, seeds, and ... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

Curry for Christmas: An ancient Indian culinary mystique

By Ernest Beyl

Yes, I know, food writers in December issues are supposed to write about turkey and roast beef for those year-end holiday dinners. But I’m going to write about curry. I’... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

Saga of the salad

By Ernest Beyl

Before I delved mouth-first into the subject of salads for this story, I thought (perhaps understandably) that they were created by the French. Sounds logical, doesn’t it? Ho... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

With apologies to Rodgers, Hammerstein, and Coltrane: Here are a few of my favorite things

By Ernest Beyl

Usually when I write one of these Appetites and After-thoughts columns, I write only about food. But there are other appetites not necessarily related to the stomach. So here IR... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

For the city that has everything: A new San Francisco dining trend?

By Ernest Beyl

San Franciscans are said to be discerning diners, but they will eat anything, kale for example, and they will adapt to the next new food craze with religious zeal. But just what is... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

The third annual Ernestos: Best of North Beach Awards

By Ernest Beyl

Who would have thought it? Here we are in the third year of my Ernestos: Best of North Beach Awards. The Ernestos started out in 2013 as an idea for a column. Now it’s an ins... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

Mollie’s kitchen warms the heart

By Ernest Beyl

Occasionally I like to write about people I call Unlikely Heroes or Heroines in the Gastronomic Trenches. Today I’m going to write about my mother. Amelia — everyone called... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

Infamous recipes by famous people — and vice versa

By Ernest Beyl

I’m a collector of unusual recipes, the kind not found in The Joy of Cooking. Here are a few that might appeal to you. GEORGE LANG’S GRAVLAX You may recall the New York... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

‘Helpful Hints to Housewives’ Resurrecting lost kitchen advice

By Ernest Beyl

Not long ago on a cloudy afternoon, I happened to be thumbing my way through Helpful Hints to Housewives, the 1928 edition. It belonged to my mother, and when she gave it to me alo... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

More about crab than you may want to know

By Ernest Beyl

The other day I got to musing about crab. The Dungeness crab season opened Nov. 15. I submit to you that Nov. 15 was one of the most important dates on this year’s calendar. ... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

Three more reasons to hang out in North Beach — just in case you need them

By Ernest Beyl

I enjoy hanging out in joints – restaurants and bars of humble and modest stature. And I do not use the word “joints” in the pejorative sense. I use it as homage ... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

Signature San Francisco dishes

By Ernest Beyl

I enjoy reading about food. I’m assuming you do, too. So here are a few stories about signature San Francisco dishes, a bit of history on your plate. CELERY VICTOR If there w... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

Consider Calzone’s

By Ernest Beyl

Sometimes I think Calzone’s — the North Beach, high-style restorante with a lot of sidewalk action — gets a bum rap. “Too touristy,” one is apt to hear. What&... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

The Sauerkraut Kid tries out the new Schroeder’s

By Ernest Beyl

Schroeder’s, one of the oldest San Francisco restaurants — it was established in 1893 — has reopened after undergoing some sensitive renovations. They were sensitive beca... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts

San Francisco museum cafes and restaurants

By Ernest Beyl

I’m a big fan of cafes and restaurants in museums. I have been known to go to a museum — ostensibly to stand in a long line to see a blockbuster show — only to become dis... Read More

Appetites and Afterthoughts