Coconut Milk

Pelaccio flips the kebab script by cubing luxurious cuts of steak and marinating them in coconut milk, garlic, and chiles. Try this with tri-tip, top sirloin cap steak, or rib eye; just make sure a strip of fat is still intact; you'll use it to thread onto the skewers.

"Nobody thinks to cook cucumbers, but I treat them as I would any vegetable"

Three kindred spirits—pitmaster Robbie Richter, Jori, and I—came up with this profound merging of Southeast Asia and the American South. So profound that it could be both mascot and metaphor for Fatty 'Cue. LISTEN
Hours of southern soul while you drink southern beer and dream of southern girls—that is, if you don't have one of your own. DRINK
Lone Star. We're smoking brisket here, and that's Texas style.

Rich with chocolate and studded with bits of toasted almonds with a faint coconut flavor, this heavenly dessert is a special finish to a holiday meal. Because the leavening comes from aeration, it is essential that the ingredients be at room temperature before assembling the batter.

The best, most interesting ceviches in the world come from Peru, specifically Lima. Peru is blessed with three completely different geographies—coastal, Amazonian, and highland, with a different ecosystem—and cuisine—for each. Peruvian chefs create ceviches using exotic fish from the coast, potatoes and corn from the highlands, and wonderful tropical flavors and ingredients like hearts of palm from the Amazon region. Typical of a ceviche, the snapper in this taco filling is cooked not with heat, but by chemical action of the acid in the citrus juices. True red snapper, one of the great fishes of the world, is very expensive and rare, distinguished by its large head and red flesh. Most fish that is sold as snapper is actually rock cod or some other rockfish and does not have the subtlety of the genuine article. If you can’t get true snapper (you can tell only by seeing the whole fish, with its bright red and pale yellow markings), striped sea bass or halibut will work well. Candied ginger makes a nice garnish.

After Mexican cuisine, Thai is the one that I consider the most expressive. I find its freshness, sharp chile accents, and cool citrus flavors habit-forming, so much so that I travel to Thailand at least four times a year. One of the most distinctive of Thai flavors is that of kaffir lime. It resembles a large key lime with deep green, warty skin and leaves that have a marvelous, haunting perfume unmatched by those of any other lime or lemon. In this filling, I use the leaf to perfume the coconut sauce that cooks the shrimp. The fruit only grows in tropical climates and the lime itself is very hard to find here, but its fresh or frozen leaves are sold at all Asian markets that stock a lot of Thai ingredients. For this filling, the leaves should be minced very finely (remove the rib) or, preferably, ground to a fine powder in a spice mill, as its flavor is so strong that any large bits of leaf will dominate every mouthful.

Soft shell crabs are blue crabs that have shed their hard shells. But they are soft for only a very short amount of time; in another six to eight hours, if left in the water, their hard shells re-form. Their season is also brief, depending on the region. In the cold waters of the Chesapeake Bay (shared by Maryland and Virginia)—the most famous region for blue crabs—they are available only in the spring; those from the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico may be harvested for longer periods but in much smaller numbers. In parts of Asia, where there is a high demand, crabs have become available year-round.

Another pure product, this sorbetto consists of nothing but coconut milk and sweeteners. My favorite way to eat it is alongside Chocolate Sorbetto (facing page), or with Hot Fudge Sauce (page 316) and toasted almonds, so it’s like the frozen dessert version of an Almond Joy candy bar.

Freshly shaved coconut makes a lovely garnish; you could also sprinkle some shredded packaged coconut over the top.

Drain the noodles well before coating with sauce.

We serve this creamy rice dish with grilled skewered shrimp and a spicy lime dipping sauce.

This island staple is also known as “Jamaican coat of arms.” Some people add chiles to make it spicy, but we like it mild and slightly sweet to complement the heat of jerk chicken. For this dish, there’s no need to soak the kidney beans before cooking.

This lovely vegetable curry uses traditional Indian spices and coconut milk. It is best made in a clay pot in a wood-fired oven or cooker. If you don’t have or don’t care for coconut milk, replace it with whole-milk yogurt. The finished dish will be less sweet but still very good. Serve it with rice to accompany chicken or fish.