Friday food porn: Happy Carrot Cake Day!

According to the arbiters of such holidays, today is National Carrot Cake Day. The example shown, redolent with nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon, moistened with crushed pineapple and coated with cream-cheese frosting and roasted walnuts, comes from Benny’s Chop House in River North ($8.99).

Eat this! Glucose, an essential sugar

What it is: A type of sugar, also called dextrose and grape sugar, glucose is a source of carbohydrates that helps to provide energy to the human body. Glucose is less sweet than the other common cooking sugars, sucrose and fructose, and less soluble in water. It produces a thinner solution. Where it comes from:Commonly [...]

Friday food porn: Love that liver!

Foie gras torchon coated with malt and garnished with curry-apple butter, lemon and mache, $14 at Acadia in the South Loop.

Taste Peru’s national drink free in Bucktown

Saturday, Feb. 4, is Pisco Sour Day, and from 9:30 to 11 p.m., Rio’s D’Sudamerica in Bucktown will be pouring samples of Peru’s frothy national drink, made from its native grape brandy, along with several piscos from different producers. Along with the traditional pisco sour, Rio’s will offer its new passionfruit pisco sour, mixed with [...]

Friday food porn: Ay, ay, ayu!

Ayu, a Japanese river fish also known as sweetfish, is skewered, lightly battered and deep-fried tempura-style at Lure Izakaya Pub in Chinatown, $7.

Eat this! Five rib-sticking recipes for Chicago winter

Brr … it’s real winter out. This is the weather for hearty, rib-sticking fare, and we’ve got it for you. Check out these recipes from local restaurants. Ethiopian Diamond, Edgewater and Rogers Park: Doro tibs wat, spicy Ethiopian chicken. Ristorante al Teatro, Pilsen: Timballo Siciliano, Sicilian molded pasta. Duke’s Alehouse and Kitchen, Crystal Lake: Pan-seared [...]

Gung hay fat choy! 8 Chicago Asian New Year celebrations

Get ready for the Year of the Dragon! With dragon parades and lion dances, clashing cymbals and banging drums, firecrackers and a plethora of traditional foods, the Asian Lunar New Year explodes into Chicago this week with a variety of events at restaurants and around town. 2012 also marks the 100th anniversary of Chicago’s Chinatown. [...]

Happy anniversary, Coco Pazzo!

It’s been 20 years since Jack Weiss brought the Tuscan-focused Coco Pazzo to River North. Anniversary celebrations include a Italian Wine Week, Jan. 23–27, featuring free samples of six different Italian wines with lunch and 20 percent off all bottles anytime. On Feb. 2, Coco Pazzo’s 20th-anniversary gala benefit salutes Italian opera, food and wine. [...]

Raise a can to Chicago beer, past and present

Tokio Pub in Schaumburg salutes Chicago’s beery history at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 30, with a four-course dinner devoted to canned beer.

Eat this! Braised beef short ribs, satisfying winter fare

At Carnivale in River West, Chef David Dworshak braises shortribs in a sauce flavored with allspice, habanero and tamarind.