I’m fortunate to live in Astoria, a neighborhood in New York that’s really four or five ethnic enclaves stacked on top of each other. Though traditionally Greek, Astoria’s also home to Italians, Egyptians, Serbians, and plenty of other ethnicities I can’t pin down yet. As you can imagine, the food here is pretty sweet.

And it better be. Astorians are finicky eaters and terrifying shoppers. To keep them happy, even modest groceries carry at least three kinds of spiced sausage, feta from six countries of origin, and enough varieties of olive oil to displace everything else in your pantry. I’ve never seen an Astorian fail to find their favorite version of some imported food, and for the sake of my the cashiers at my shops I hope I never have to.

It was while browsing the honey aisle (yes, aisle) of my local import food shop that I came up with the idea for this ice cream. A jar of pine honey caught my eye, and given how much attention Ethan and I give to honey varieties, I felt obligated to try it in some ice cream.

tart your meal with a hummus variation that’s much more exciting than your average storebought tub and will help you get through the abundance of summer squash that’s currently flooding your garden. This dip highlights the smoky flavor of roasted squash and the herby richness of za’atar. Don’t want to crank on your oven? Try grilling the squash for that smoky char! This is the perfect simple salad to ride next to the main dish at your cookout tonight and then serve as an easy vegetarian lunch tomorrow. Ideal for a summer feast, this bulgur salad is colorful and light, incorporating fresh herbs, walnuts, apricots, radicchio, and a lemony dressing. Like with any grain salad, this is infinitely adaptable—we like the idea of adding pine nuts or dates! Grilling with skewers is always a fun option for dinner and this kofte kebab recipe takes the basic skewer one step up from the ubiquitous chicken-pepper-onion combo. The kebabs are made with a heavy dose of spice and are accompanied by a harissa yogurt sauce that’s simultaneously cooling and punchy. Try filling a pita or flatbread with a scoop of bulgar salad, one or two kebabs, and a dollop of sauce for a handheld dinner you can eat while still mingling with your guests.

Oil doesn’t hit you over the head in this ice cream—that’s the rosemary’s job. Its alpine punch recedes as the ice cream melts on the tongue, giving way to the sweet, resinous honey. The olive oil glides across the finish, smooth and ethereal. It also lightens the texture as something of a respite from all the cream, making for an easily scoopable ice cream that melts effortlessly in your mouth.

If serving on its own, drizzle on some more olive oil and sea salt for a Mediterranean sundae. I used it to round off slices of generously spiced honey cake, but I’m itching to try it with baklava, another Astoria specialty. But what kind of baklava?, the Astorian may ask. You’re on your own there—I’m keeping out of that fight.

Max Falkowitz writes Serious Eats’ weekly Spice Hunting column. He’s a proud native of Queens, New York, will do just about anything for a good cup of tea, and enjoys long walks down the aisles of Chinese groceries.

Over the course of all my vegan comings and goings, there’s one motto that’s constantly been repeated in my head. Always be prepared. (Any similarities to existing mottos is completely coincidental.) Nowhere is this more apparent than with lunch.

I’m the kind of thoughtful, loving husband who likes to ensure that his dogs and his wife are well-fed at all times, which means checking the fridge every day before I head into the office to make sure that there’s an adequate supply of ready-to-eat (or at least ready-to-heat) food to satiate them during the eight to 12 hours I’m out. It’s a purely selfish endeavor, really. I just can’t stand the thought of coming home to emaciated stick-figure versions of my loved ones listlessly pulling their skin and bones along the floor, Walking Dead-style, gnawing at the edges of the table or my oh-so-non-vegan leather couch in a desperate attempt to absorb nutrients.

Kofte kebabs have seasoning built right into them, packing more flavor in less time. It’s the kind of thing that comes off looking and sounding very impressive, but is really no more difficult to make than a hamburger.

Note: Kofte Kebabs are traditionally made with lamb, however, ground beef or pork can be substituted. Harissa is a Tunisian spice pasted made from piri-piri peppers. It can be found in cans or bottles in most major supermarkets or specialty grocers. It’s not in any way Lebanese, but I like the flavor it adds to the dish. If you can’t find it, any fresh chili sauce will do, such as sambal oelek. Serve kebabs with yogurt sauce on boiled rice or with a grilled flatbread, such as this grilled naan.

Hearty make-ahead salads have become a staple for me, ready to be pulled out and consumed at moments notice, whether as a hearty dish at dinner, a quick midnight snack, or a full-on lunch. If they’re not the Swiss Army knife of the vegan fridge, they’re at least the duct tape or rope.

Season well, let your salad rest, and drain. Salt and other dissolved solids can pull moisture out of greens and vegetables, leading to salads with a watery build-up at the bottom. This can dilute flavor and throw off your dressing and seasoning. That’s why I always make sure to season a make-ahead salad extra-well, knowing that some of the extra salt will get diluted into the extracted liquid, which I then partially drain off. If I have time the day I make the salad, I’ll do it then (the liquid takes about an hour to get pulled out). If not, I’ll drain the salad just before I eat it the next day.
With these basics in mind, there are any number of directions you can go. Here are a couple of my favorite salad recipes: three you’ve maybe seen here before and a brand new one designed to take advantage of the awesome pomelos I’ve been seeing around this season. It combines the bittersweet pomelo with crunchy jicama and bean sprouts, along with cilantro, peanuts, fried shallots, and a sweet-and-hot Thai-style lime-based fat-free dressing. Grapefruit would work just as well if you can’t find pomelo.

There are a few keys to making a great make-ahead salad. Here’s what I always try and keep in mind:

Use bold flavors. A hearty salad is not a palate cleanser or a refreshing side dish. It’s a course on its own and should be flavored as such, whether that’s with a bold dressing or plenty of flavorful ingredients.
Pick ingredients that stay crunchy. Nothin’ worse than mushy, wilted greens, or vegetables that have turned brown from the acid in the dressing. I use ingredients that stay bright, fresh, and crunchy even after a day or two of sitting in the fridge. Hearty greens like kale or young collards are perfect, as are crisp vegetables like jicama, lightly blanched cauliflower, or carrots. Celery makes a great flavorful crunchy element. Nuts and dried fruit make great additions as well.
Include at least one “star” player. I’m talking an ingredient that will take the salad and change it from a side dish into a main course. Most often, for me this is beans, whether chickpeas, white beans, or black beans. Canned, rinsed beans are totally fine in this situation.

There’s a long line of pubs down Queens Boulevard that may lead you to think that this stretch of Sunnyside is solely Irish territory. But a small yet popular group of Middle Eastern restaurants also calls this neighborhood home, and a 15 minute subway trip from Grand Central to the 40th or 46th Street stops on the 7 train can reward you with some top-notch Turkish and Lebanese cooking, if you know where to look. A glance at Grill 43 may suggest that grilled meat and poultry are the specialty of the house. They are not. But where the kebabs and shawarma disappoint, the dips, spreads, and salads on the menu are worth a visit all on their own.

Impressively flavorful mezze run $4 to $5 each, or $13.95 for a plate of four. Don’t miss eggplant in any of its forms, roasted whole and topped with garlic sauce, chopped up with tomatoes and chilies (in hot and mild versions), or puréed into patlican salatisi, a lighter baba ganoush that favors olive oil and straightforward smoke over tahini. A piquant relish of ezme carries a fierce heat to liven up the restaurant’s fresh, crisp-crusted bread; I’ve found no equal of it in New York. Grill 43 is especially rewarding at breakfast, when you can get their excellent Menemen ($5.95)—a homestyle dish rarely seen at Turkish restaurants in the city. The tender curds of egg are stained orange by the tomatoes and peppers they’re cooked with, leaving a film of oil on the plate best sopped up with more of that great bread.

Back in 2011, El Shater, a beloved neighborhood Lebanese deli and lunch spot, shut its doors. Members of the owner’s family split off to open two new spots. One, Habibi, took over El Shater’s old space. It closed a little later, passed hands once again, and is now Grill 43.

The other opened down on Queens Boulevard, where it is to this day. Souk El Shater doesn’t look like much—it’s a slender Middle Eastern grocery (“souk” translates as “open market) with a food counter up front. But it’s home to some of the greatest shawarma in Queens, deeply spiced beef and more delicate chicken, both exceedingly juicy and well seasoned. You can get your meat wrapped in thin pita with pickles and garlic sauce for a mere $3.50, but also on a platter ($8.50) with dips like fresh homemade hummus and a very creamy babaganoush. The winning condiment may be a fierce, grassy purée of green chilies with olive oil “and some secrets I can’t tell you,” says the man with the shawarma blade.

Adding some sprigs of rosemary felt only natural. From there it seemed only right to include some grassy, heady extra virgin olive oil. Astorians practically use it to fuel their cars and lawn mowers.

If you’ve never had olive oil in ice cream, take a moment to consider how delicious it can be. And if you don’t trust me, take the olive oil gelato at Otto (of Mario Batali fame) as proof that it can be magnificent in sweets.

Counter seating is limited at Souk el Shater—just four stools—so consider taking your bounty to go and heading over to the Gaslight Pub a few doors down. The bar offers specials like three draft beers for $10, which are best enjoyed on their surprisingly nice patio in the back, and you’re welcome to bring in as much food as you’d like.

Ethan Frisch is the chef and co-mastermind behind Guerrilla Ice Cream. He’s traveled around the world (30 countries, 5 continents) and worked as a pastry chef and line cook in some of NYC’s great (and not so great) restaurants. He currently lives in London, where he really misses New York City tap water.

8 Hours of Effort

The tradition of Ramadan Keskek, which has been kept alive for centuries in Iskilip district of Çorum, continues. It is an indispensable part of the iftar meals in Ramadan. While the Keskek bakeries in every neighborhood of İskilip continue to witness this tradition, there is great interest in the bakeries during the iftar hour. Social distance is especially emphasized this year in the keşkek bakeries, which have overflowed in recent years.

Included in UNESCO’s “intangible cultural heritage” list, the 8-hour flavor journey ends at iftar tables. Iskilip Keşkek no longer know almost all of Turkey’s reputation. Keskek, one of the special dishes of İskilip, is the second longest-cooked local dish of the city after the famous İskilip Dolması. I wish it attracts so much attention for bakery owners. Keskek bakeries, which work one month a year, try to provide all kinds of opportunities to their customers to close this month in the most profitable way.

Stating that I wish is one of the sine qua non for İskilip, the educator Sabri Çiçekci said that this should be considered as a food culture.

Expressing that İskilip has a very rich and different food culture, Çiçekci said, “İskilip’s meals are cooked for a very long time. For example, our famous dolphin takes 12-13 hours. We wish from morning until evening. The baklava, which will come after this, is cooked again from evening to morning. İskilip Keskeği is unlike many of the food types in Anatolia and the district. In many provinces and districts in our region, there is keskek production. But we wish it was very different, ”he said.

Do you think of turning the white part in the watermelon rind into a delicious meal? What about making desserts with increasing syrup? Here are ingenious dishes that prevent food waste. Watermelon peel meal, must ring, barren from dried stale bread, leftover dough and cheese tirit, bone broth papara… These were some of the meals at this project’s “Have Your Soul’s Lunch”. This is an Istanbul based international food conference that speaks about the food issues. The third conference was held on October 21 at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum, and this time the subject of “extinction” was discussed. Like last year, the main sponsor of the conference this year was Grundig. During the day, impressive speakers shared their projects and stories in the hall, where approximately 300 people gathered. They inspired to protect and preserve the environment, culture and food. The garden of the museum near the Bosphorus was transformed into a very different dining area for that day. A container with a kitchen was placed at the entrance, seating areas were prepared from pallets. Dishes from Turkey’s seven regions associated with women who are not professional chefs cook food world, but it was. While they were conductors, successful professional chefs and culinary students of Istanbul became volunteer apprentices for them. Preparations started a day ago.

One of the projects that has attracted attention to food waste in recent years is the Food for Soul project of Italian chef Massimo Bottura. The restaurant leg of the project called Refettorio, in which hundreds of chefs and volunteers have been involved since 2015, was opened in London this summer after Milan and Rio. America is next, then Germany. The project does not just focus on food waste, it also includes a restaurant designed to feed the homeless and make them feel good.
The book of the first Refettorio in Milan, “Bread is Gold” has been published in recent weeks. The theme of Expo Milan in 2015 was “Feeding the Planet and Energy for Life”. Refettorio Ambrosiano, which opened during the Expo, still serves the homeless, but two years ago it hosted a different chef every week during the Expo. Among the guest chefs were legends such as Alain Ducasse, Alex Atala, Rene Redzepi and Mauro Colagreco. Each of them designed brand new dishes with the ingredients left over from the stands at Expo that day.

While the socca is baking, blend the feta in a food processor or blender, or with a hand mixer, until smooth-ish. Add your cream cheese, yogurt, mascarpone, whatever you pick to help make the whole thing into a sort of fluffy, creamy sauce. Season with what you like – I love thyme, olive oil, and a little black pepper.4 crusty sourdough rolls, or a baguette cut into 4 sections
Provolone cheese slices

Roasted Mushrooms

4 portobello mushroom caps, sliced into thin strips
2–3 tablespoons olive oil
1–2 teaspoons Montreal steak seasoning (or just a sprinkle of salt and pepper)
Caramelized Onions and Au Jus

2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon Worcestershire (omit for vegetarian / vegan)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups beef or vegetable broth
salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar to taste
Horseradish Aioli

1/2 cup mayo
1 teaspoon horseradish
1 clove garlic, grated
pinch of salt
French Dip Essentials

4 crusty sourdough rolls, or a baguette cut into 4 sections
Provolone cheese slices

Check the rice: After 15 minutes, check the skillet. If the rice is tender and the skillet is dry, then the dish is ready to serve. If the rice isn’t quite done and the skillet is dry, add another 1/2 cup of broth, re-cover the skillet, and continue to simmer for a few minutes. If the rice is cooked but there is still some stock in the skillet, uncover the pan and let the extra stock cook off for a few minutes.

When the rice seems just about done, add the frozen peas to the skillet. They will thaw quickly!

Serve! Garnish finished chicken and rice skillet with parsley.

Reheating leftovers: Leftovers keep great in the fridge for up to five days. Reheat in the microwave in 30-second bursts on high or in a skillet over medium-low heat with a splash of water. You can also freeze the chicken and rice for up to three months.

Do you think of turning the white part in the watermelon rind into a delicious meal? What about making desserts with increasing syrup? Here are ingenious dishes that prevent food waste. Watermelon peel meal, must ring, barren from dried stale bread, leftover dough and cheese tirit, bone broth papara… These were some of the meals at this project’s “Have Your Soul’s Lunch”. This is an Istanbul based international food conference that speaks about the food issues. The third conference was held on October 21 at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum, and this time the subject of “extinction” was discussed. Like last year, the main sponsor of the conference this year was Grundig. During the day, impressive speakers shared their projects and stories in the hall, where approximately 300 people gathered. They inspired to protect and preserve the environment, culture and food. The garden of the museum near the Bosphorus was transformed into a very different dining area for that day. A container with a kitchen was placed at the entrance, seating areas were prepared from pallets. Dishes from Turkey’s seven regions associated with women who are not professional chefs cook food world, but it was. While they were conductors, successful professional chefs and culinary students of Istanbul became volunteer apprentices for them. Preparations started a day ago.

One of the projects that has attracted attention to food waste in recent years is the Food for Soul project of Italian chef Massimo Bottura. The restaurant leg of the project called Refettorio, in which hundreds of chefs and volunteers have been involved since 2015, was opened in London this summer after Milan and Rio. America is next, then Germany. The project does not just focus on food waste, it also includes a restaurant designed to feed the homeless and make them feel good.
The book of the first Refettorio in Milan, “Bread is Gold” has been published in recent weeks. The theme of Expo Milan in 2015 was “Feeding the Planet and Energy for Life”. Refettorio Ambrosiano, which opened during the Expo, still serves the homeless, but two years ago it hosted a different chef every week during the Expo. Among the guest chefs were legends such as Alain Ducasse, Alex Atala, Rene Redzepi and Mauro Colagreco. Each of them designed brand new dishes with the ingredients left over from the stands at Expo that day.

Germany-based industrial kitchenware company GGM Gastro International will reach a new shipment circle of thousand kilometers with its office in Istanbul. Industrial kitchen products that meet the quality and work safety criteria as well as facilitate the food and food preparation process, assume an important task for the gastronomy world. In this field, Germany-based GGM Gastro International opened its new office in Istanbul.

SHIPMENT TO 127 COUNTRIES

Companies of Turkey, industrial kitchen utensils, which are manufactured in China and Europe, the concept properly packed in Germany Ochtrup town center delivers. The products are stored in the headquarters of GGM Gastro in Ochtrup. Industrial kitchenware and spare parts products are shipped from the central warehouse to Europe and 127 countries within hours.

A thousand kilometers in diameter from the center of the border with the Netherlands deliver products within 24 hours of the company, opened its new office in Turkey. The company aims to reach the second thousand kilometer fast service area with its headquarters in Istanbul.

The company also focused on promotion and did a different study. The first company engaged in the catering industry GGM Gastro trim the aircraft, it has increased the visibility of the brand in both European cities in Turkey with Onur Air aircraft.

DESIGN AND CULTURAL ADVANTAGE

Manuel Elma, partner of GGM Gastro, said that the basis of their success is planned work, quality criteria and design. Dutch Marcus Inan, one of the partners of the company with 300 employees from more than 20 countries, emphasized that the multinational structure of the human resources contributes positively to the company’s global operations.