Crab Season’s Coming

By Andrew Hunter

If you ask someone from Baltimore what’s the best crab, they’d say blue crab, with a local’s pride. But if you ask folks up and down the Pacific Coast from San Luis to Juneau, they’d say Dungeness. Regional food pride is one of the things that makes our country’s cuisine great!

Personally, we like Dungeness because we can get it from local fishermen, and we associate it with the holidays because crab season starts in November and peaks in December. Yes, you can get it through June, but our opinion is it’s sweetest in December. So use any kind of crab you like in this recipe; just buy local when you can.

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Baja Fish Tacos

By Andrew Hunter

The taco phenomenon rages on in L.A. via stands, carts, trucks and taquerias. Carne asada, al pastor and carnitas are all part of Angeleno culture but when I think of Baja, I think of fish tacos.

Baja-style tacos means fish, shrimp, even lobster and must include a cerveza with lime. It’s not uncommon to see folks in a queue snaking around blocks for a bite of something really special. Hot, crispy fish in grilled corn tortillas topped with cool, crisp slaw, lime crema and spicy pico.

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Chickpea Lessons in a Taxicab

By Andrew Hunter

With my travel schedule, I end up in a lot of taxicabs. I’m always curious about the drivers, where they’re from, and if they’re professionals, craftsmen or artists from a faraway place. Since it’s rude to ask such questions directly, I usually engage in conversation and their stories typically come flowing forth.

Meet Kareem, a Palestinian driver in Phoenix. I jumped into his taxi yesterday wearing my chef jacket; Kareem called me “Chef” with a reverence of someone from a fancy hotel background…turns out he once worked for the Ritz-Carlton. I reciprocated by asking respectful questions of him, which evolved into a discussion on mezze platters. I’m working on a mezze concept and so am especially interested.

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Curiosity, Courage and Confidence

Chefs are an odd lot. We have the stamina to work long hours, the courage to experiment and be improvisational, and the creative fuel to cook delicious food every day. Actually, this means we’re more foolhardy than odd, but we all have lots of tricks and techniques we’ve learned over the years that help us in a pinch.

I thought it would be fun to share a few tricks of the trade with you every few weeks ... it’s like a peek behind the kitchen doors. And remember, regardless of a chef’s character, our curiosity, courage and confidence is what separates the good from great. I tell my boys all my secrets, though I think they’re sick of hearing them, so I hope you enjoy!

Salt: Why you’ll only see kosher and sea salts in a respectable kitchen; never iodized.

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City Boy, Country Boy

By Andrew Hunter

Sometimes I wonder how two boys from the same family could choose such different paths in life. This time, I’m not talking about Ben and Nick, but my brother Tony and me.

I live in a densely populated urban center. My view at night is houses and bright lights. Tony lives in a sparsely populated rural sprawl that can’t be found on GPS. His view at night is trees and moon shadows. Tony’s a pharmacist and I’m a chef, but we both love cooking with family and friends in our chosen locales.

He’s the kind of guy who digs a deep hole every Thanksgiving in frozen earth to cook a giant ham with hot rocks buried in dirt. While I prefer stirring Arborio rice and butternut squash together over a giant propane burner from the Chinese hardware store to make creamy risotto.

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