​Chances are, if you’re planning a trip to Mexico City, the most universal recommendation you’ll get is to have lunch at Contramar. Heed the call. The celebrated restaurant in the Roma Norte neighborhood is most famous for its whole red snapper painted in vibrant swaths of red chile and green parsley sauces, but the menu is filled with must-try seafood (like the impeccable tuna tostadas). The mastermind behind it, and several other decorated restaurants across the city, is chef Gabriela Cámara.. Cámara is one of the busiest chefs I know and she’s still tackling new projects, like Cantina Contramar in Las Vegas, so she cherishes time at home. In a kitchen warmed by sunlight streaming in from glass doors, you’ll find stacks of cookbooks, walls lined with her grandmother’s copper baking pans, and bowls overflowing with produce from her garden. Here, Cámara shares how she stays inspired and well-fed between shifts.. The range and griddle. Wolf 48″ Dual Fuel Range, 4 Burners and Infrared Dual Griddle. $19,450. Wolf. Once a week Cámara meal preps breakfasts by making a large pot of beans and a batch of tortillas on the infrared dual griddle built into her stove. For dinner, it’s a feast inspired by her Italian mother’s home cooking. Cámara cranks one burner to 20,000 BTU to quickly boil fresh pasta and lowers the next to a gentler 300 BTU to simmer sauces whipped up with leftover garden vegetables. She takes advantage of the spacious and precise convection oven when she’s entertaining a crowd. Her favorite dish to serve? A salt-covered baked fish (she recommends starting with a large fatty fillet or even a whole side). “It’s the foolproof method for baking fish without overcooking it,” she says.  

​At Bon Appétit, we usually avoid culinary jargon in our recipes because many terms signal several actions, not just one. Our language has to be accessible to our huge audience of home cooks. Sometimes culinary terms work their way into the mainstream, with our help. Macerate and blanch, for example, are two extremely useful words that we refuse to let go of. Our team hoped the word allium would catch on too, but I’m officially calling it quits. That’s why you won’t find the word allium in the 10 new spring recipes we just dropped, even though the story itself includes a lot of… alliums. It’s a funny word. Allium is the name of a group of vegetables including garlic, onions, chives, leeks, and others that are botanically related. Because of the myriad ways they influence flavor, in states ranging from raw to cooked (even burnt), they’re culinarily related too. For years my colleagues and I tried to push this narrative, to demonstrate these relationships, particularly in springtime when vegetables with subtle flavors can benefit from the grounding power and versatile impact of alliums. The word became insider speak that held real caché with food editors. Years ago, pitching a story about onions would get you nowhere, whereas an “allium primer” might buy you a feature in the April issue. But this year, as we worked on our lineup, we had to be honest with ourselves. It hasn’t caught on with home cooks. It just hasn’t! Sort of like brassica (a botanical category that includes cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts), which can sound equally esoteric to nonprofessionals. While a chef might use these words casually, it’s just not how normal people speak to each other or write shopping lists.

Still, the power of alliums is everywhere in our spring recipes. Browned onions flavor spiced chickpeas for the filling in Rebecca Firkser’s showstopping tachin. A bunch of chives blends into eggs for Inés Anguiano’s bright green frittata. Garlic chives are the superhero of Hana Asbrink’s shrimp stir-fry. Plump leeks nestle into cheesy shells in this baked pasta, another knockout from Rebecca. The breadth of these ingredients’ potential forms and uses is simply staggering. What could these vegetables all have in common that gives each such a transformative edge in divergent recipes? Well, there’s a name for that actually…

10 Vibrant New Recipes to Lure You Out of Hibernation. Make the first warm days of the year feel effortlessly delicious with a spring vegetable galette, a herby green frittata, and more.

Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes stories and well-seasoned opinions from Chris.  

​As you roam the verdant boulevards of Mexico City, you’ll find yourself unable to resist the enticing aroma of fresh masa on warm comales. Follow your nose toward any one of many small street stands, where vendors turn simple dough into antojitos.. These “little cravings”—folded quesadillas, filled tlacoyos, and delicately pinched sopes—are tempting, but the gordita, a stuffed pocket of crisped masa, generous and delightfully messy, stands alone. While other antojitos are shaped from plain masa, gordita dough boasts a little something extra. The masa is often mixed with chicharrón prensado, a flavor bomb made from bits of fried pork. The resulting dough has a hearty texture, crispy chunks, and a deeper, more savory flavor than its counterparts.. Once browned on a hot comal or fried in oil, these “little fatties” puff up into a pocket. They’re then sliced open and filled with nopales, onion, cilantro, queso fresco, and a splash of salsa. But that’s just the beginning. Gorditas are a blank canvas for a myriad of creative fillings: stringy quesillo, spiced chorizo, or even a whole fried egg.. What we know today as a casual street food is, in fact, part of a centuries-long culinary legacy. The Codex Borgia, one of the most important surviving Indigenous manuscripts, describes a society in which masa dishes shaped daily life. Among these dishes were round, stuffed patties we’d now recognize as a progenitor. When the Spaniards introduced pork into the Mexican diet in the early 16th century, the gordita transformed into its next iteration.. Today, they come in countless forms, from refined restaurant versions to extra-decadent street food. These eight spots show the impressive range of this beloved antojito.. Campeche & Medellín. The Peña Miramón family have made a name for themselves for their quiet mastery of masa. Watching them transform a ball of dough into tlacoyos, sopes, and quesadillas, each carefully cooked on a charcoal-fired comal, is reason enough to pay a visit. At their family-owned stand outside Medellín Market in the Roma neighborhood, you’ll find the gordita in its most classic form: blue corn masa mixed with bits of pork crackling, cooked until lightly crisp on the outside and soft within. It’s then sliced open and filled with the traditional fillings. But the final step, a choice between their red or green salsa, is up to you. The spice level changes every day, so start with a few drops, then build your way up if necessary.  

​Fish en papillote—fish (in this case, salmon) baked in parchment paper parcels—is a hands-off way to get tender, flaky fillets without fuss. The catch: While the texture is sublime, the flavor can be muted. This recipe keeps things simple but bold: Nestle skinless salmon fillets on a bed of thinly sliced fennel and asparagus, wrap in parchment on a sheet pan, and slide the whole thing into the oven. Right before serving, rip open the packets and douse the steamed salmon and vegetables with a punchy lemon-dill vinaigrette for a bright, spring-ready zing.. Do I need to oil the parchment? No, the steam plus a drizzle of oil over the fish prevents sticking.. Can I use frozen salmon? Yes, but thaw the fillets overnight in the fridge and pat dry first. Frozen fish will steam unevenly and release extra moisture, making the parcels soggy.. Can I use other fish? Any similarly sized fillets work: arctic char, trout, halibut, or whatever your fishmonger recommends. (No fishmonger? Check out the best places to buy seafood online.) If you can’t find skinless fillets, a thin spatula will easily separate the flesh from the skin after cooking—or eat it if you don’t mind flabby fish skin!. Can I swap the vegetables? Trade the fennel and asparagus for zucchini, bell peppers, leeks, green beans, or any quick-cooking vegetables you like. Just slice everything thin so it cooks evenly with the fish.. What should I serve with salmon in parchment? Crusty bread for sopping up the tangy vinaigrette, or spoon the contents of the parcel over pasta or mashed potatoes.  

​A tuna melt needs no improving, but for those looking to change up the diner classic at home, consider some adjustments. Chopped kimchi and soy sauce transform mellow tuna salad into far more exciting fare. (And when it comes to the fish itself, go for oil-packed tuna here; it‘s richer and silkier than water-packed.) Made open-faced and toasted under the broiler, multiple melts come together at once, so no one at the table has to wait for a sandwich. And while any bread will technically suffice, English muffins fit perfectly in hands—tuna melts are not a knife and fork situation. Serve with salad greens to round out the meal.. Fermented foods like kimchi pack a wallop when it comes to flavor, ideal for punching up weeknight dishes. Mother-in-Law’s, a widely accessible brand, offers a solid balance of heat and tang—and lasts in the fridge for months.