I’m about to encourage you to make your own mayonnaise. It’s easy.

Before you say, “Just as soon as I finish making the ketchup and mustard,” let me add that I made my own mayonnaise for the first time this evening, mostly because I couldn’t imagine how different it could possibly be from the mayo you buy in a jar.

And yes, fine, partly because a recipe called–ever so nonchalantly–for homemade mayonnaise, and I felt a little guilty.
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The winter winds are finally howling in New York, and I’m in mind of dark things…in a good way. I named this cake partly for the cathedral bundt pan I love best to make it in, but mostly because of the way the spices lurk wickedly within the velvety devil’s food. I’d be happy to curl up with a slice of this and read the more macabre tales from the Brothers Grimm to the strains of Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden,” but you needn’t get as carried away.
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Bagna cauda, which is Italian for “hot bath”, is a sauce of oil, butter, garlic, and anchovies that originated among peasants in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. It’s traditionally eaten out of a large communal pot, sopped up, fondue-like, with bread and raw vegetables.

In my childhood, bagna cauda was a mythical dish, the stuff of family legend. A big ceramic pot sat like a monument on my grandmother’s kitchen counter, a stack of alluring little red glass bowls resting beside it. I never saw this equipment in use, but I was told that it was for bagna cauda, and that someday we’d make it again. My grandmother, mother, and uncle would discuss this possibility and grow excited, then wistful, and the matter would always somehow be laid aside.
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George Shinas, a criminal judge in Victoria, Australia, produces The Guilty from the grapes of a single vineyard. It’s a full-bodied and beautifully balanced Shiraz, voluptuous with rich, ripe, dark fruits and a long cherry finish. Production of this wine is very limited; stock up for the seven months of sinful sipping ahead. Pair it with seared flesh (of steer, or lamb).

My hoard comes from Pasanella and Son in New York City, where it’s $24.99 per bottle. Starting February 1st, their wines may be purchased online. The Guilty can also be found online at Valley Wines and Spirits and elsewhere.

The Guilty Shiraz (Shinas Estate, 2004).

Sin is coming to Egg and Soldier. Before you point out that butter and booze already count as sinful (and I’d probably disagree), let me add that I have seven deadly sins in mind: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride.

I confess that the idea is largely inspired by Bravo’s reality show, Top Chef, to which I’m shamelessly addicted. In a recent episode, each of seven competing chefs was challenged to create a dish inspired by one of the cardinal sins. Under the circumstances (including time and budgetary constraints, and the expected interpersonal drama), most of the chefs performed admirably. But I couldn’t help feeling disappointed, and started thinking about what I might have done differently. Let’s face it: those deadly sins are alluring, and they stir the imagination in a way that their virtuous counterparts do not. Many of us even embrace them, or claim at least one as our own. (What’s my deadly sin? I’ll put it this way: I’m not a particularly wrathful person.)

So, starting in February, Egg and Soldier will devote month-long features to culinary topics evoking each of the Seven Deadlies in turn. We’ll begin with timely and beloved lust, and carry on with pride in March.

In the meantime, you can supplement your field research with further reading:

Imjadara–also known as mujadra, mujadara, mujeddra, and mdardarah, with many other variations–is a dish with ancient roots in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. I learned about imjadara several years ago from members of the Geha family, and it has since become one of my favorite dishes, especially for a long, cold night when I’m feeling a little winter-weary.
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You could see this as any of the following:
a) The end of all your New Year’s resolutions about productivity.
b) How you can cook more in 2007!
c) A comforting reminder that cooking is actually much easier than playing video games.

A copy of Cooking Mama for Nintendo DS (Nintendo’s handheld game console) was waiting for me in the mail last night from a friend who must think I deserve a night out of the kitchen.

In Cooking Mama, you can create up to 76 dishes–from miso soup to Salisbury Steak–under the auspices of Mama, who guides you through a series of mini-games in which you chop, peel, measure, mix, and cook your ingredients…with a time limit, of course. Crimp all your shrimp gyoza in the time allotted and you’re on your way to a gold medal. Spill spaghetti in the sink or burn the dumplings and watch flames shoot out of Mama’s eyes, accompanied by the caption “Don’t worry, Mama will fix it.”
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