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. …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …