Go for the gold: Eid Mubarak!

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Melina Hammer for The New York Times

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Eid Mubarak!

Sam Sifton

Good morning. The robins are back on the ground now, bob-bob-bobbin’ around for worms and grubs, basically solo instead of packed tight up high in the trees, a sure sign of true spring. Folks with outdoor access are firing up their grills, everyone’s cooking asparagus, the hothouse tomatoes at the market are fat and blood-red. All I want to eat is sautéed pea shoots with ginger and garlic, or with oyster sauce, or with XO sauce.

But that’s just me. It’s Eid al-Fitr this evening, the end of Ramadan and a celebration of the breaking of the fast. We’ve got loads of recipes for that and, if you don’t have your feast planned already, you’ll find much to delight, including these lovely lamb shanks with pomegranate and saffron and a spectacular namoura, Lebanese semolina cake soaked in syrup (above).

Looking beyond Eid, you might consider kimchi tuna salad for dinner with a bowl of rice. Or black pepper shrimp, an Indo-Chinese stir-fry with a haunting, gravy-like sauce.

I really like this green goddess salmon with potatoes and snap peas this time of year, and these roasted artichokes with anchovy mayonnaise. These mushroom shawarma pitas are outrageous. And whatever you make for dinner, it’d be nice to have peanut butter cookies for dessert.

There are thousands and thousands more recipes to consider waiting for you on New York Times Cooking. Go browse our culinary Nordstrom and see what you find. (Yes, you need a subscription to do that. Subscriptions are what make this whole thing possible. Please consider subscribing today!)

But remember: You don’t always need a recipe to make delicious food. Sometimes all you need is a prompt. I’ll give you one now: chirashi sushi. Get yourself some high-grade tuna or wild salmon or a nice piece of fluke. Combine some rice vinegar with a little sugar and salt, whisking to dissolve the solids. Make sushi rice and, when it’s done, fluff it well with a fork, and season it to taste with the vinegar mixture. Allow it to cool to just above room temperature. Then use your sharpest knife to slice the fish into slabs against the grain. Serve it elegantly scattered over the rice, with some sliced avocado, sliced cucumber, sliced scallions, a sprinkle of sesame seeds, some soy sauce and, if you have them, wasabi and pickled ginger on the side.

Remember, too, that we are here for you if anything goes sideways while you’re cooking or using our technology. Just write cookingcare@nytimes.com. Someone will get back to you. And if you want to escalate matters, feel free to write me directly: foodeditor@nytimes.com. I read every letter sent.

Now, it’s nothing to do with baking quick bread or putting up jam, and I’m undoubtedly the 30th person to tell you, but if you haven’t yet gotten on the “Mare of Easttown” train, you ought to. It’s really enjoyable to watch Kate Winslet work.

Definitely read Jiayang Fan in The New Yorker, on the Disgusting Food Museum, in Malmo, Sweden. It’s a smart meditation on the nature of what qualifies as “disgusting” food and who gets to label it as such.

Here’s DJ Dips, featuring Badal Talwan, “Kithe.”

Finally, I spent some time with Rachael Ray the other day, cooking a meatball salad on “The Rachael Ray Show” and hawking “The New York Times Cooking No-Recipe Recipes” cookbook. Check that out and I’ll be back on Friday.