Benjamin Kemper

Jan 8, 2025 | saveur.com | Benjamin Kemper

By Benjamin KemperPublished on January 8, 2025The scene is like something from Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels: In the golden glow of morning, a crowd gathers to board the huffing, gleaming train. Porters in starched white livery lead travelers to sleeping chambers outfitted with carved wood furniture and goose-down quilts. Then, with everyone snug in their cabins, a sharp whistle blows. The coach trundles off into the vast, scenic wilderness. Is it 1924 or 2024?

May 21, 2024 | saveur.com | Benjamin Kemper

This Moroccan-inspired take on the old-school appetizer is anything but bland. Serves6–8Cook55 minutesIngredients1½ cups (8 oz.) drained canned baby artichoke hearts (from one 14-oz. can, patted dry with paper towels)6 oz. feta, crumbled (1 cup)4 oz. (½ cup) cream cheese 4 oz. coarsely grated young Gouda (1 cup)3 oz. finely grated parmesan (1½ cups)1 cup chopped fresh herbs (such as cilantro or parsley)½ cup mayonnaise ½ cup sour cream2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice1 Tbsp.

Apr 19, 2024 | saveur.com | Benjamin Kemper

It takes a bit of practice and patience to properly “turn” an artichoke, but the task is well worth the effort. If it’s your first time working with the fresh, thistly vegetable, you may find the heaps of trimmed leaves excessive or wasteful, but rest assured, it’s all par for the course to reach those tender hearts. Cut artichokes begin to turn brown the moment they’re exposed to air; to prevent that, some cooks hold them in a bowl of lemon water while trimming.

Apr 17, 2024 | saveur.com | Benjamin Kemper

“Here is a great big old bad artichoke—and some people are terribly afraid of it.” That's how Julia Child opened her artichoke episode of “The French Chef,” which aired in 1964. Sixty years later, that statement rings as true as ever. And who could blame the fearful among us? Artichokes are prickly enough to draw blood, tough enough to dull a knife, full of what Julia calls “fuzzy hairy business,” and often expensive enough to make any budget-conscious cook balk.

Aug 16, 2023 | saveur.com | Benjamin Kemper

As a 15-year-old exchange student living in Madrid, I couldn’t imagine anything less thrilling than the words “green beans for dinner,” but there I was at my host mom’s table—a fork in one hand, a napkin wherein to spit in the other—bracing for another round of culinary culture shock. But despite the beans’ unsightly appearance—they seemed wholly devoid of chlorophyll—I was sold from the moment I caught a whiff of them, all garlic and pork and smoke.