It’s nice to see that most stores are carrying pickling cucumbers in the produce section. That part of the culinary world has picked up nicely.  Every site and book out there would be remiss if they were to leave out this old and venerable practice.  I teach pickling at school and it is an important… Read more »

As the season wears on, I sit on my back deck reminiscing the awful winter that we just experienced. It’s hard for me to get too upset about the heat for that reason and also I guess because I have spent so many years in professional kitchens, hot and sticky have been the order of… Read more »

What a whirlwind the past two weeks have been. It’s nice to be back behind the wheel again, not managing anyone or anything and just cooking; well, shucking is more like it. And deciding that I didn’t have enough to do, I accepted an invitation to work with some good friends of mine, chefs up… Read more »

 It is nice sometimes to take a step backwards and reacquaint oneself with skillsets that seem to have eluded us. Truth be told, chefs work hard, but as has been noted by aging chefs such as Anthony Bourdain, you just get to the point where the body doesn’t recover like it used to. Even so,… Read more »

Another Memorial Day has passed, and while the crux of the weekend is to memorialize those who have fallen in service to this great nation, it also means the beginning of summer. We must never forget why the day exists and what it stands for, and I hope that many of you were able to… Read more »

I’ve been in an animal sort of mood lately. Last week my invective was focused on tourists and their infrequent but blaringly stupid interactions with large wildlife, whether it be the good people in Yellowstone with the brown bear and her cubs or the tourists in our neck of the woods with the ponies on… Read more »

The Koreans have mastered the art of fermentation, a skill that is becoming more and more prevalent as we try to understand exciting, homemade global foods such as kimchi. The first time that I ever made kimchi was about a year and a half ago, and I just finished my experimental jar today – a… Read more »

(Reprinted from Bayside Gazette May 1, 2014 issue) Yesterday at the club, I had the opportunity to discuss life, liberty and the pursuit of bigger and better things in Ocean Pines with one of the directors on the board. While we may not have agreed on everything (disagreement and discourse being some of the great… Read more »

There’s just something about the French that I adore.  Maybe it’s because of my namesake; mayhap I long to understand my lineage long-removed from the old country.  The first Souplis, Andres, landed in America in 1962.  It wasn’t long before the name was Anglicized closer to the name as we know it today. French class… Read more »

 The horrors began early in the afternoon, just after the beautiful wedding in Queens.  I was warned of the drinking abilities of the Polish, but I felt I was ready for the task.  In fact, I knew I was ready. The day started off innocuously enough, with my five-hour drive to New York ending with… Read more »