Tamale Wraps

On their cable shows “Too Hot Tamales” and “Tamales World Tour,” Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger have always worn colorful chef’s jackets made to their own specifications: taper-fit brushed cotton, double-breasted and with cloth-covered buttons. In response to hundreds of requests, the jackets have been made available to the public in two colors, lavender and cayenne, in sizes from XS to XL.

Spice Jackets, $69, from Border Grill, (310) 451-1655.

The Real Chasen’s Chili

There’s no more fabled food in L.A. than the chili that Chasen’s Restaurant started making in 1936. (Richard Burton had it flown to the set of “Cleopatra” when he was wooing Elizabeth Taylor.) It’s now available outside the restaurant, and a very flavorful chili it is, meaty (more than 50% beef chuck and pork shoulder) and with a decided cumin flavor. In fact, it’s so strongly flavored, it’s probably better as an ingredient--in chili mac, as a burger topping or burrito filling and so on--than by itself.

Chasen’s Chili, $9.90 per pound fresh at Gelson’s Fresh Deli section, or $13.89 per 2-pound frozen package at Costco.

Dishy Cheese

We all know the rind of a Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is worth throwing into a dish as it cooks. Here’s a rind that is a dish--a bowl that looks exactly like half a Parmigiano rind.

Parmigiano-Reggiano bowl, $20, from HomeChef, Pasadena.

Table Stretchwares

Designer Sandy Chilewich, who introduced colors to Lycra-blend stockings and tights in the ‘80s, is working on household products now. Her Raybowls, consisting of metal frames with stretched fabric covers, echo the futuristic stretched-fabric lounging chairs of the ‘60s; in fact, they look like something the Jetsons would have around the house.

Raybowls, $32 to $50, from the MOCA stores, Los Angeles and Santa Monica.