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Open a jar of herbes de Provence and the fragrance immediately suggests southern France: sun-warmed hillsides, wild thyme, rosemary bushes and long lunches beneath under plane trees or along an idyllic beach. Herbes de Provence is a widely used dried seasoning blend associated with Provence and the Mediterranean cooking of southeastern France. There is no single definitive recipe, but the traditional foundation is usually thyme, rosemary, oregano and savory. Marjoram, basil,

August 29, 2026 | By Bruce R. Feldman No one goes to Japan to eat at McDonalds, but McDonald’s Japan is something a little different and a lot more delicious than its American counterpart. Familiar items share the menu with a shrimp cutlet sandwich, a teriyaki pork burger, a roasted soy sauce beef sandwich, shake-it-yourself seasonings, an edamame and corn side dish, melon soda, and a rotating cast of seasonal curiosities. Think of it as a cultural field trip with French frie

An icebox cake is made by layering crisp cookies or crackers with whipped cream and refrigerating the assembled dessert for several hours—preferably overnight. As it rests, moisture from the cream slowly softens the cookies, transforming them into tender, cake-like layers. What began as a stack of store-bought ingredients emerges from the refrigerator cool, creamy and scrumptious. Icebox cakes feel light and refreshing. They are also ideal for entertaining. Most require littl

The Compact Mini Food Processor You’ll Actually Use Every Day Large food processors are useful, but they are also heavy, bulky and often more trouble than they are worth when dinner requires only half an onion and a handful of parsley or a few ounces of grated parmesan. The KitchenAid 3.5-Cup Food Chopper succeeds precisely because it is designed for these smaller, everyday jobs. Compact enough to remain on the counter—and light enough to retrieve without fuss—it quickly chop

Clafoutis is a wonderfully uncomplicated French desserts that looks far more sophisticated than it is and is quite easy to make. Pronounced kla-foo-TEE, it originated in rural south-central France. The traditional version—clafoutis aux cerises—is made by arranging fresh black cherries in a buttered baking dish, pouring over a thin batter of eggs, milk, flour and sugar, and baking until puffed, golden and just set. The fruit softens and releases its juices as the batter develo

The All-Clad D3 12-inch sauté pan is the MVP of our kitchen. This is the pan we reach for when we want beautifully browned chicken, crispy-skin fish, a quick pan sauce, or pasta finished in the skillet – which is to say that we use it a lot. It is especially good for searing. Preheat it, add a little oil, and chicken develops the sort of deep brown crust that is impossible to achieve with nonstick cookware. Once you remove the food, the browned bits left behind are exactly wh

Kitchen Utensils designed in France for the pleasure of eating wel Few kitchen pieces are more essential than polished copper cookware. Just ask the French. They will draw your attention to Mauviel, makers of pots and pans that, while they are stunning to behold, offer considerably more than good looks. Made in France, the collection combines a substantial two-millimeter copper exterior with a nonreactive 18/10 stainless-steel interior. Copper heats quickly, spreads heat even

The Gozney Arc XL Brings Pizzeria Firepower Home Introducing the Gozney Arc XL—a sleek, exceptionally well-engineered outdoor oven that comes remarkably close to delivering the performance of a professional pizzeria. Designed to accommodate pizzas up to 16 inches, the Arc XL reaches temperatures of 950°F and can turn out a beautifully blistered, restaurant-style pizza in about 60 seconds. Its signature lateral gas burner creates a rolling flame across the oven’s ceiling, dist

You can spend a lot of money on a bottle of balsamic vinegar, and we have. Once a while, when we have some juicy vine-ripened tomatoes grown by a friend in her backyard, a drizzle of rich, knock-your-socks-off balsamic (plus a few grains of maldon salt) is worth the splurge. But for every day cooking, we prefer a reasonably priced bottle. I did not say cheap. I am talking about a good quality balsamic that satisfies our everyday needs, something dense, sweet, silky, well