If you shop in the fall in Middle East markets like Yekta, you are liable to discover some unfamiliar pears with blushing skins. Buy them if you do, they're juicier and keep longer than Conference and Bosc. Look out for the miniature Seckle pears for poaching and roasting.

Once Kaz Okochi completed the fine arts course in Oklahoma he had come from Japan to the U.S. to take up, he headed home to enroll in the prestigious Tsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka. When he told its career counselor he'd like to cook in America, the counselor suggested he focus on becoming a sushi chef.