My first bowl was in Paris 30 years ago. It brought instant devotion. Hot steaming broth with wafts of ginger, anise and clove, slick rice noodles, slices of rare beef, and flanking the bowl was a plate of what is called "table salad" (sa lach dia in Vietnamese), a heaping platter of additions, like fresh herbs, bean sprouts, greens, lime and chiles—this is the essence of North Vietnam's Pho (pronounced "fuh") soup. Entire restaurants are built on this one dish and all its variations.
This slaw takes off on a cabbage-onion-chile salad dressed with Mexican crema and lime that a Mexican neighbor used to make. It is delicious alongside anything grilled or frankly, tucked into a soft corn tortilla all on its own.
Ingredients
Serve these refreshing beer coolers over ice with lime and some salt -- then it's just a matter of adding as many dashes of hot sauce as you can take.
I found this heirloom idea of curing fruit in sugar and salt intensifies fresh flavors. At the same time, it is a brilliantly easy preserving method. No heat is used so that gorgeous peach flavor never flattens out. On summer weekends, I haunt markets and bring home all sorts of fruits. I line them up in strainers and end up with no room in the fridge for its usual occupants. I add herbs to some jars, others get chiles and spices, and on occasion some get moistened with rum or bourbon.
Ingredients
In the age of the 32-ounce (or larger) Big Gulps and the like, a small drink may not necessarily seem fashionable. But large quantity is not always related to good quality, as is attested by those mammoth margaritas, laced as they are with artificially flavored sweet-and-sour mix. This margarita is the real thing: purity and refreshing freshness that's strained into martini glasses after a vigorous rumble with ice cubes in a cocktail shaker. Just before your guests arrive, combine the tequila, orange liqueur, and lime juice in a pitcher, and you'll be poised for the shaking to begin.
We had the good fortune to spend a week in Mexico City a few years back, and while we ate killer food like madwomen, we were both entirely won over by the fruit waters, or aguas frescas that Mexicans routinely drink. Made daily with puréed fresh, ripe fruit, water and sugar, they are utterly enchanting and perfect for summertime sipping. You won’t miss the alcohol, we promise.
Crisp jicama and unripe mango with hot chile and lime are naturals together. And in a salad they refresh like nothing else.