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Dry-toasting the barley adds a nutty taste and helps the barley retain its texture in this excellent meatless dish.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Nutmeg adds nice flavor to this soup.

Begin by offering crisp breadsticks with roasted red peppers, black olives and marinated artichoke hearts on a bed of arugula. Follow the stew with apple pie.

The decade saw the rise of a modern southwestern cuisine, and the rise of chilies, like the poblano that gives this soup a kick.

From coast to coast, diners in the eighties showed an insatiable appetite for crab cakes. Some chefs deep-fried them; others spiced them with Old Bay Seasoning. But the best crab cakes, like the ones here, let the sweet flavor of the crab predominate.

It's very important to use freshly shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano — preferably shredded with a Microplane — for these parmesan crisps (called frico). The consistency and volume of pregrated cheese is quite different and can result in cups that are heavy and chewy. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 40 min

Place mother-of-pearl caviar spoons in the crème fraîche and caviar bowls for spooning the toppings onto the potatoes. What to drink: Three-Olive Martinis and brut rosé Champagne.

This recipe calls for both "true" artichokes — known botanically as globe artichokes — and Jerusalem artichokes, which are actually an unrelated root vegetable (sometimes called Sun Chokes). In the soup, the Jerusalem artichokes enhance the flavor of the leafed variety. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 hr

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional sitting time.

It’s unclear just who the Louis of Crab Louis salad fame was; perhaps he was affiliated with the Olympic Club in Seattle, where opera star Enrico Caruso, who visited there in 1904, is said to have fallen in love with the crab salad. San Francisco also claims the dish, which reached its zenith there in the teens, as a specialty at Solari’s restaurant and at the St. Francis Hotel.

Oranges are prized on Cyprus. They're used with delicious results in this pork dish, reminiscent of the cuisine on the northern side of the island.

This is a great summer salad, perfect with all kinds of barbecue and grilled foods. It's also a wonderful way to brighten up a winter dinner of broiled chicken or beef.

It's very important to use small oysters — such as Kumamoto or Prince Edward Island — in this soup. The oysters themselves (not the shell) should be no more than 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. When we tested the recipe with larger ones, the flavor was much too briny.

Laura Trevino of Washington, D.C., writes: "This hearty chowder is the perfect thing for a chilly evening. Serve it with dark beer and crusty bread or oyster crackers."