He prioritizes flavor over flair without sacrificing either, sourcing basic and familiar tastes from nature.
The "Turkish hummus" (nohut ezme), baba ghanouj (patlican salad) and cacik, a yogurt cucumber salad made with rich, thick, mild (not sour) yogurt and cucumber, are familiar tastes.
But what I really craved were the familiar tastes of summer, like the tomatoes that Wickham's Fruit Farm grows out on the east end of Long Island, about an hour's drive from my house.
The marquees around Times Square had come to resemble the nearby windows of those big, candy-theme stores (devoted to the contemplation and purchase of M&Ms and Hershey's Kisses), promising familiar tastes, empty calories and a sugar rush delivered by reliable brand names.
Hewing to tradition, some type of fish is always on the Friday menu and, in deference to their regulars, even the exotic-sounding dishes incorporate familiar tastes — for example, the base of the very mildly spiced chicken curry is a packaged sauce mix widely used in Ireland.
Adobo will be devoured in the America of easy answers and familiar tastes.
