When I moved to Harlem more than 10 years ago, you could count on one hand the number of restaurants and banks on 125th Street and surroundings and still have fingers left over. Now, I can sample Senegalese, Jamaican, Cuban, French, American, Italian, Ethiopian, Chinese, and some new fusion foods without having to take a subway downtown. Oh, and now I have my pick of several branches of the major...

I can’t remember a time in my adult life when I’ve eaten more ice cream, sorbet and gelato. A pint or more of sorbet or ice cream is on my shopping list every week. I tell myself I’ll only need a pint but if I don’t pace myself, I can eat all of it in one sitting. Last weekend, I was in the Bronx where my friend and I had...

When I saw yesterday’s Daily Post prompt, Describe a Perfect Meal, I thought immediately of a dinner I was invited to several years ago. The details of the menu have receded from my memory. What remains now, more than 15 years later, is the memory of the afternoon. It was at the home of friends, a couple, who I have great affection for. He had been a diplomat and linguist...

I was at the nail salon a few years ago when I discovered this recipe for Broccoli Grape Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette in a magazine. I figured since it had two things I love, broccoli and grapes, it would be worth trying out. I was also intrigued by the combination or broccoli and grapes and wrote the ingredients in my notebook.  The next time I had family and friends over,...

Jerk is both a style of cooking and the mix of spices used to make jerk. It is a very popular way of cooking in Jamaica that has grown from chicken to pork, fish, sausage, tofu, lobster, etc. My earliest memories of jerk was of a man who used to sell jerk chicken door-to-door on his bicycle. Back then, making jerk was an elaborate affair – it was always slow-cooked...

Solange, my almost-mother-in-law, used to make coq au vin (chicken in wine) quite often. Stylish, beautiful, generous and funny, she was a stay-at-home mom, long before the term came into vogue, to eight children. Her home was inviting and warm and almost always full of people. Mom had a habit of “spicing up” everything she made — it just wasn’t done until she added her own flavors and seasoned it...

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had steak. Once when I saw Ella Fitzgerald in concert in Toronto, and the other at Le Relais de l’Entrecôte in Paris. I wouldn’t have known about Le Relais de l’Entrecôte but for my friend, Karen, who’d been working in Paris for a few months before I arrived. Karen and I had tried to meet for dinner in New York...

When I was growing up in Jamaica, certain foods were associated with certain religious holidays, days of the week, etc. For example, rice and peas were reserved for Sundays and special occasions, like weddings, parties, etc., rum cake at Christmas, and Easter bun for, you guessed it, Easter. Now, the Easter bun can be found in most grocery stores at any time during the year, rice and peas has become an...