"There is one American ham that has been considered worthy company to these others: the Smithfield ham of Virginia. Part of this ham's appeal is its pedigree, which is enforced by a 1926 Virginia law that makes it illegal to call a ham 'genuine Smithfield' unless it has been dry-cured, then aged for a minimum of 180 days within the Tidewater town of Smithfield. Country hams from elsewhere in the South are cured in the same way but may not necessarily be aged as long."
"To cooks of our grandmothers' generation, who had never heard of aluminum cookware, cast-iron pans were indispensable. Both of our maternal grandmothers called theirs Griswolds. We assumed this was a quaint term of affection, discovering only recently that it was the name of the manufacturer."
"Watermelon is a very democratic fruit: large enough to feed a crowd, sweet enough to please children and low enough in calories to appeal to weight-conscious adults."
"Spice rubs are to classic French sauces what street performers are to opera stars: exotic, a little wild, and prone to improvisation. They provide intense culinary excitement without requiring hours of labor."
"A cookbook called 'Salsa' by Reed Hearon, a former chef at Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, N.M., and now the chef at Lulu in San Francisco, was just published by Chronicle Books ($12.95). Another called 'Salsa,' by P. J. Birosik, the food editor of The Sedona (Ariz.) Red Rock News, will be released by Collier Books ($13) next month. 'Salsas, Sambals, Chutneys and Chow-Chows,' by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby (Morrow, $20), is just out."
East Coast Grill & Raw Bar 