The Van de Ven’s rooster

The handsome rooster here? He posed for this picture.

It sounds far-fetched, I know, but as I watched with camera poised as he and his lady friends strutted by, the rooster stopped to…

Creamed chicken and cornmeal porridge (Ciulama de pui si mămăligă)

I’m trying not to take offence.

I realize that the dish my mother’s people are famous for is commonly referred to as “gruel” (a cornmeal gruel, in fact,…

Curried chicken chowder

Chowder. It’s not quite soup and not quite stew. So what is it?

Enter the Oxford Companion to Food, which tells me that in fact, chowder is thought to be named after the…