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Posts in food history, food science

Manchup: Cape Verde’s National Dish is a Savory Mix
Post | Gary Allen on 09.14.09 | No Comment
Manchup: Cape Verde’s National Dish is a Savory Mix

LC reader Mary Cannon wrote in, asking if we had a recipe for manchup. A quick search of the Web told me that manchup is a dish from the Cape Verde Islands, but nothing more. …

Craig Claiborne and the Invention of Food Journalism
Post | David Leite on 07.02.09 | 3 Comments
Craig Claiborne and the Invention of Food Journalism

On June 11th, I had the pleasure and honor of being on a panel at The New School with some esteemed colleagues—John T. Edge, Anne Mendelson, Betty Fussell, and Molly O’Neill—to talk about one of …

The Uncommon Origins of the Common Fork
Post | Chad Ward on 05.06.09 | One Comment
The Uncommon Origins of the Common Fork

When we pick up a dinner fork we rarely think about how or why it came to be. Using it is as natural as using our own hands. But the fork is a relative newcomer …

Seeing Red Over the Origins of Red Velvet Cake
Post | Gary Allen on 10.17.06 | No Comment
Seeing Red Over the Origins of Red Velvet Cake

After heading down countless dead-end alleys and hitting walls in her search for the history of Red Velvet Cake, frustrated reader Cathy Nolan turned to us.
While no one know exactly when and where Red Velvet …

A Hunt for the Classic Icebox Cake Leaves a Cold Trail
Post | Gary Allen on 09.15.06 | No Comment
A Hunt for the Classic Icebox Cake Leaves a Cold Trail

Recently I’ve read a bunch of materials about icebox cakes but haven’t found anything too convincing, and plenty that’s contradictory! So I just thought I’d ask to see if your research has ever turned up …

The Search for Silky Sorbet Doesn’t Go Smoothly
Post | Gary Allen on 08.30.06 | No Comment
The Search for Silky Sorbet Doesn’t Go Smoothly

I’ve been trying to make chocolate sorbet and have been having problems with its texture. First, I tried making it with cocoa powder, water, and sugar. The result was grainy no matter how many times …

Conundrum Over Raw Cream
Post | Gary Allen on 08.10.06 | No Comment
Conundrum Over Raw Cream

I have recently gotten into making ice cream and other cream-based desserts and foods. In efforts to use the finest ingredients, I have been doing a lot of research on creams. I want to find …

Pacific Rim in the Center of the Plate
Post | Gary Allen on 07.06.06 | No Comment
Pacific Rim in the Center of the Plate

Recently, reader Janet B. wrote us looking for a brief history of Pacific Rim cuisine. She wanted to know where it began and who’s credited with originating it. Brief is, of course, a very subjective …

A Spoonful of Molasses Makes the Sugar Turn Brown
Post | Gary Allen on 10.06.04 | No Comment
A Spoonful of Molasses Makes the Sugar Turn Brown

Recently, a reader opened a new package of brown sugar and found it to be hard as a rock. In a bind, he had to grate the chunk, which failed to provide the fluffy texture …

Caesar’s Last Salad: The Foods of Ancient Rome
Post | Gary Allen on 03.15.00 | No Comment
Caesar’s Last Salad: The Foods of Ancient Rome

On the fifteenth of March, 44 B.C., Julius Caesar was stabbed to death — not, as Shakespeare tells us, in the Forum, but in what is known today as the Piazza l’Argentina, a block of …

Dining Through the Decades: 100 Years of American Food
Post | David Leite on 12.16.99 | 4 Comments
Dining Through the Decades: 100 Years of American Food

A century ago someone, much like yourself, was seated at a kitchen table, much like yours, perusing a morning paper, much like this one. The big difference? The meal. While you may be lapping up …