Tang

Fresh goat cheese is a taste-bud tease. Its spunky tang makes everyday dishes taste like creations from a three-star restaurant. Toss it with hot pasta and veggies. Sprinkle it on pizza. Smear it on garlic toast.Formed into logs, pyramids and pillows. Plain or coated with ash, spices, dried herbs or edible flowers. Perfect discs wrapped in chestnut or grape leaves, then bundled into neat packages with raffia. With all its shapes, sizes and flavor enhancers, goat cheese is never humdrum.Also known as chevre (pronounced SHEHV)

There's a stretch of Charles Street in the Midtown Belvedere neighborhood that, because it's close to the University of Baltimore, and not so far from the Maryland Institute College of Art, seems to attract reliable delis and pizza places, mainstays like Oriole Pizza, Viccino's and Jay's. A few months back, Kabob Place joined them, moving into the corner spot where a Subway used to be. It's a clean and cool spot, just below ground level. Customers come in and order their food at the counter, and hang around until it gets packed into containers.

Got tamarind? If your response is "Got what?" you're not alone - at least in this country, where tamarind is still relatively unknown. In large parts of the world, particularly India and Latin America, tamarind is a taste treasure, and tamarind tea or tamarind water is considered an indispensable beverage for getting through hot weather. I suspect it will increasingly be showing up on American menus as adventurous chefs seek out tantalizing new flavors. One such chef is Diane Bukatman, who five years ago transplanted her For the Love of Food catering business and cooking classes to Reisterstown from New York.

One of the biggest pop music tours of the summer -- Rage Against the Machine with the Wu-Tang Clan -- got under way last week, but don't feel bad if you didn't hear about it. It didn't end up on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, like the Lilith Fair did, nor was it a lead item on MTV's "The Week in Rock," like Lollapalooza was.For that matter, it's hard to find Rage or Wu-Tang's music on the radio. But they've come to expect that. Because what Rage Against the Machine and the Wu-Tang Clan represent is the hard edge of pop music's underground -- Rage representing the rebel strain in rock, Wu-Tang offering the alternative side of rap.Obviously, there's an audience for each.

This year's Rock the Bells tour arrives at Merriweather with a twist. In addition to the show's usual multigenerational mix of hip-hop, this year's headlining acts are performing their most acclaimed albums in their entirety. It's a concept more familiar to fans of rock and roll, but, hey, hip-hop has its classics too. Here are three must-own rap records — all released in November of 1993 — you'll hear Sunday. "Doggystyle" He was Snoop Doggy Dogg when this, his solo debut, was released and further defined the West Coast G-funk style.

“The Other Side of ... ” asks local musicians to share their more personal sides. Jenn Wasner, whose band Wye Oak will play a homecoming show at 2640 Space Saturday ($12, missiontix.com ), kicks off b’s new feature: Last movie I saw: I honestly can’t remember. Wait ... I think it might be “Pootie Tang.” Yeah, I think it was. Wow. Last album I loved: Life of Love by Callers, who we happen to be on tour with right now. Last book I read: “Just Kids” by Patti Smith Last TV show I obsessed over: It’s been awhile.

Now that the temperatures are rising and bulbs are blooming, I am abandoning robust winter dishes for lighter ones, and, in particular, I have been adding cool, refreshing desserts to my repertoire.Among my new creations, delectable lime pistachio bars have become a personal favorite. I love lemon bars and decided to try a variation of these celebrated confections.They can be doubled or tripled easily and prepared a day ahead, so they are ideal for parties.Lime Pistachio BarsMakes 16 barsfor the crust:nonstick vegetable cooking spray1 cup flour2 tablespoons confectioners sugar8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small chunksfor the filling and topping:2 large eggs3/4 cup sugar2 tablespoons flour1/4 teaspoon baking powder4 teaspoons lime zest (grated color portion of rind)

BEIJING -- At first glance, it seemed like a terrific formula: a Chinese folk tale filled with adventure, Disney's masterful animation and tens of millions of Chinese children raised on Western movies.But instead of cashing in at the box office, Walt Disney's "Mulan" has bombed in her ancestral homeland."Mulan," which has grossed about $300 million worldwide, is the legendary story of a brave young Chinese woman who joins the army during the Sui Dynasty (589-618 A.D.) in place of her sick, elderly father.

Shin Chon Garden is popular to the point of overflowing. Even on a drizzly weeknight, the tables at this Ellicott City restaurant are full of diners. A friend, arriving a few minutes before I did, texted: "place smells AMAZING. " When Andrew Zimmern, the host of the long-running Travel Channel show "Bizarre Foods," came to Shin Chon Garden last summer, he told the world, via Twitter, that Shin Chon "is one of top ten Korean BBQ experiences in America. A must for anyone who loves food.

Compare Yelawolf to Eminem and you could miss the point. Sure, both are white rappers with chips on their shoulders and working-class backgrounds, but it's Yelawolf's power with the pen and his tenacity on the microphone that should be drawing the comparisons. Yelawolf, the 31-year-old Alabamian born Michael Wayne Atha, can rap circles around many of his peers, all while confidently projecting a poor-boy-from-the-sticks swagger. Eminem took notice after a producer showed him Yela's video for "Pop the Trunk," a standout from last year's "Trunk Muzik" mixtape.