Food writer and humorist Jess Thomson recounts her hilarious and daunting visit to the mecca of molecular gastronomy in the States: Grant Achatz’s Alinea.

Writer Chad Ward gives you all the details—gory and not—about what to look for in an excellent kitchen knife, how to buy it, and what to watch out for.

Janet Boileau, Portuguese food scholar, enjoys the food on Madeira, including wine-garlic pork sandwiches and limpets grilled with butter and garlic.

Janet Boileau and David Leite met photographer Nuno Correia for lunch at a Lisbon restaurant, where they get restaurant recommendations and travel tips.

David finds the fashion statement at Bica do Sapato restaurant in Lisbon to be an inspiration while cooking at home. A tip: the shirts run small.

A gift of Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book made Paulette Licitra examine her mother-daughter relationship, the role of a wife and women’s identity.

Novelist, essayist, and food writer James Sturz writes about the pleasures of flesh—both animal and human—and their sometimes disquieting similarity.

In this interview with with Anne E. McBride, Michael Pollan discusses the success of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” agribusiness, and how to eat better.

Food history editor Gary Allen tracks down the classic icebox cake. The recipe for the original icebox cake is on the Nabisco chocolate wafer box.

Grainy chocolate sorbet was one readers problem, so Gary Allen put on his food science hat and found out the the solution: chocolate syrup.