Art Culinaire

3 weeks ago | tasteofhome.com | Melissa Gaman |Art Culinaire |Margaret Knoebel

Some people write off fruit salad as nothing more than a bowl of mixed fruit, but there is an art to blending the right combination of different sizes, shapes, flavors and textures to create the perfect bite of fruit salad. When I was younger, the ideal fruit salad was crafted by balling three different kinds of melon and tossing it with enough sugar to create a thick syrup.

3 weeks ago | tasteofhome.com | Melissa Gaman |Art Culinaire |Margaret Knoebel |Julie Andrews

When I moved to New York, my sandwich exposure boomed. I had party Italian subs at gatherings, omelet-filled bagels and huge pastrami sandwiches. There was a world of deli offerings in the Northeast, one key example being the hero, hoagie or grinder sandwich. Different regions have different names for food, and I had to learn that the hot Italian sandwich I loved to order should be called a grinder—at least in New York and its vicinity.

2 months ago | tasteofhome.com | Melissa Gaman |Art Culinaire |Jersey City

New Jersey has beautiful beaches, a rest stop named after Jon Bon Jovi, the most confusing highway signs in the country (in my opinion), and a serious and passionate diner culture. With more diners than any other state in America, New Jersey folks are always in the mood for a diner meal—and, luckily, many are open 24/7. Though you can stick to things like hamburgers, milkshakes or a slice of fresh cherry pie, you also have to order disco fries in a New Jersey diner.

Mar 6, 2025 | tasteofhome.com | Melissa Gaman |Art Culinaire |Cathy Trochelman

Of all the cookie ideas, the most fitting to represent New York City is a black and white cookies recipe. Though the cookie’s origins could be either from the early 1900s in upstate New York (called a half-moon cookie) or from 1902 in Glaser’s Bake Shop of New York City, it hardly matters now. This vanilla and chocolate iced cookie has reached icon status and is sold around the country, and even across the ocean, where they call the German dessert an Amerikaner.