The history behind fish and chips
Fish and chips is inarguably the definitive national dish of the United Kingdom. How this dish, which features a New World ingredient, became the emblematic meal is explained in a new book by Panikos Panayi. As The…
Antipasto
In defense of dessert
Restaurant dessert menus have been on the decline for some time. Perhaps we can blame the trend on people cutting back on carbs or the demonizing of sugar. Or perhaps it is a by-product of the growing practice of…
Fusion isn't just for food anymore
When you think of alcohol, it's usually in terms of individual spirits: vodka, bourbon, tequila, or rum, for example. The latest trend in the cocktail world combines these distinctive spirits with each other, or with…
Of baking and bartering
Baking bread can be cathartic. So it was for Malin Elmlid, who started making her own sourdough in 2007 as an escape from her day job. She quickly became enamored with breadmaking and pursued the hobby passionately,…
Goodbye, free bread basket
The familiar restaurant scenario where the waiter brings you a basket of bread to nibble while you are perusing the menu is fading into oblivion (at least in the U.S.), according to this Yahoo! Food article. The recent…
Alta Editions Kickstarter features a "pioneering digital cookbook"
Alta Editions, publisher of award-winning digital cookbooks like Laurent Gras: My Provence and The Journey, was launched a couple years back as a project inside a large mobile content company. Earlier this year, the…
Stamp of approval
The U.S. Postal Service is honoring five influential chefs in a new series of postage stamps. The Celebrity Chefs series recognizes icons like teacher and author James Beard, whose stamp is now available for pre-order…
Storage wars
Nothing says summer like fresh tomatoes. And apparently nothing stirs up debate like how to store them. Alton Brown is adamant: never, ever store your fresh tomatoes in the refrigerator. Over at Serious Eats, Daniel…
Groundbreaking women in food and drink
The number of women helming food-related companies and otherwise influencing the food industry has been growing steadily over the past few decades. Fortune magazine (in partnership with Food & Wine) takes a fascinating…
Complaint etiquette
We've all seen the horror stories on social media: a customer's rant that makes us cringe in embarrassment. So what should you do when a restaurant meal (or other service) doesn't meet one's expectations? The Guardian…
How well are cookbook recipes tested?
Purchasing a new cookbook makes some of us almost giddy. We open the book and pore over it like it's a novel, marking recipes that we can't wait to try. Sometimes those recipes are pure perfection, but other times we…
Culinary cult items
People who are serious about cooking spend serious money on their cooking gadgets. Many folks believe that a $300 USD blender or a $600 USD mixer are worth the price for the performance they deliver. But how much are…