What it’s like to live with a food nerd

February 14, 2020 by
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My husband often jokes that the only way to get me to make something twice is to tell me that the dish I made isn't very good. He is not altogether wrong in that opinion. As someone who is more than mildly obsessed with cooking and baking, I am so eager to try the next new thing that it can… read more

Over 25 years of quick tips

February 13, 2020 by
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Cook's Illustrated Magazine has been helping people understand the whys of cooking since 1993. Ever since the publication first appeared, a column called "Quick Tips" has been showcasing readers' tips for the ultimate kitchen hacks. Daniel Souza, Editor-in-chief of Cook's Ilustrated, sat down with The Splendid Table's Sally Swift to talk about the history these reader-provided tips. In case you… read more

How to pick the perfect melting cheese

February 12, 2020 by
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While most recipes in the EYB Library that call for cheese specify a particular variety, sometimes you will come across one that tells you to use your favorite "melting cheese". You might wonder which cheese is best suited for the purpose. The varieties that immediately come to mind are mozzarella and American cheese, both considered to be a "melting" cheese… read more

A treasure trove of rare and historical Mexican cookbooks is now available online

February 11, 2020 by
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The history of Mexican cuisine involves adaptation, conquest, and assimilation. One way to trace this story is through cookbooks. While not many exist from the earliest interactions between Europeans and Native Americans, a collection of cookbooks at University of Texas at San Antonio provides a rough timeline of the transformation from native dishes to the today's cuisine that combines American… read more

Unsung culinary heroes

February 10, 2020 by
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February is Black History Month here in the US, a celebration of African Americans who have contributed to the fabric of American society. In the culinary world, the focus tends to be on familiar names like Edna Lewis and George Washington Carver, but Nneka M. Okona of The Huffington Post is using this occasion to highlight people you may not… read more

Food news antipasto

February 9, 2020 by
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Have you ever thumbed through a supermarket tabloid while waiting in line at the cash register? If so, you've probably seen a headline that went something like "Stars: they're just like us," with photos of celebrities doing everyday tasks like grocery shopping or walking their dog. For some reason, a recent Epicurious article reminded me of those tabloid pieces. The… read more

Why recipe writers don’t need to worry about artificial intelligence

February 8, 2020 by
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Artificial intelligence (AI) is touted as a way to make things better and faster than humans can by harnessing the power of computers that process innumerable equations in the blink of an eye. It's been put to use in the fields of engineering, medicine, finance, and more. There are plenty of people worried that AI will put them out of… read more

The history of chopsticks

February 7, 2020 by
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Everyone knows that chopsticks are the traditional food eating implement of most Asian cuisines, but do you know where they started and why they became popular? That's a question posed by the Chinese Food & History blog of the University of Michigan's Chinese studies program. There, Q. Edward Yang explores the origin and function of chopsticks in Asian cuisine. Right… read more

A tale of two covers

February 6, 2020 by
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Have you ever noticed that the covers of the same cookbooks published in the US and the UK are frequently different? There are several reasons for this phenomenon, explains Charlotte Druckman in a recent Epicurious article for why this occurs so often. One of the examples discussed is Diana Henry's 2016 release Simple.  Says Henry, “The cover is the thing… read more

Extreme makeover: cast iron edition

February 5, 2020 by
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There are few household items durable enough to hand down from generation to generation, and among these tough goods cast iron cookware may be the most useful and appreciated hand-me-down. A well-seasoned pan is a thing of beauty, handling everything from high heat searing to baking the best cornbread you've ever eaten. If you aren't fortunate enough to receive Grandma's… read more

First pancake problems

February 4, 2020 by
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Breakfast for dinner is one of my favorite meals, and if I'm making it then chances are good that pancakes will appear on the menu. Both decadent and comforting, pancakes make any day feel like a special occasion. I have a favorite recipe, developed over the years, that always gets rave reviews. There is just one problem: the first pancake… read more

Something fishy going on

February 3, 2020 by
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You may have read an article or two of late that discusses fish fraud - it seems that a frighteningly large percentage of the fish you see on display in supermarkets is mislabeled. This makes cooking with fish a dicey proposition, especially so if your recipe calls for a specific variety with which you are not familiar. Finding a reputable… read more

Food news antipasto

February 2, 2020 by
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The Unicode Consortium, the group that approves all new emojis, has announced eight new food emojis set for release in March in Unicode Version 13.0. The new symbols are blueberries, an olive, a green bell pepper, flatbread, tamale, a Swiss fondue pot, teapot, and bubble tea. Not making the cut again this year: white wine. Sorry, Chardonnay lovers. Don't expect… read more

Over 8,000 video recipes in the EYB Library

February 1, 2020 by
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Video recipes are a growing trend in food media. Some people use them as a tutorial while others watch for entertainment. The videos can take the form of a mini-episode of a cooking show or focus on specific techniques or methods. Sometimes it’s easier to make something if you can watch how it’s done, as in the braiding technique for… read more

Valentine’s Day treats

January 31, 2020 by
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Every Valentine's Day, I get a box of chocolates from my sweetie, and I make him a special treat. It's nothing fancy, in fact, it is quite the opposite. Since I love to cook and bake, we eat a variety of foods from cuisines around the world. While my partner enjoys this bounty, there are some foods that he recalls… read more

2020 Art of Eating Prize long list announced

January 30, 2020 by
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The Art of Eating magazine first appeared in 1986 in the form of an eight-page black-and-white newsletter written by Edward Behr. After three decades in print, it transformed into a digital-only, advertising-free magazine with subscribers and contributors around the world. The magazine is about the best food and wine – what it is, how it is produced, and where to find it… read more

Changes for The Piglet cookbook competition

January 29, 2020 by
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After ten years of running The Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks, Food52's sometimes controversial cookbook competition, the site announced yesterday that they were making changes to the contest's format. In past years, the contest has pitted cookbooks head-to-head in a bracket style competition (think of college basketball's NCAA Sweet Sixteen competition). The photo below represents half of the competitors of last… read more

Is it really necessary to preheat the oven?

January 28, 2020 by
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Whether you are baking a cake, making a stew, or roasting vegetables, almost every recipe you find will begin with a simple instruction: preheat the oven to xxx degrees. But is this step really necessary? That's the question recently tackled by The Guardian's Kitchen Aide column. Some would argue that it is a waste of time and energy, but the… read more

More cookbooks, but less cooking

January 27, 2020 by
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It is always fun to stumble upon a good interview about cookbooks, and today I hit the jackpot. It's a conversation between food historian Kyle Cherek and radio host Bonnie North, and it covers everything from the first cookbook published in the U.S. to the latest trends of celebrity chef books. Cookbooks serve as cultural markers of the times, says… read more

Food news antipasto

January 26, 2020 by
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When you think of noodles, your line of thought might head straight to Italy, but you would be overlooking an even older noodle culture. Asian cuisine has featured noodles for centuries, and they can be made from more than just wheat and rice. Serious Eats has put together a comprehensive guide for choosing, storing, and cooking various types of Asian… read more

The meaning behind lunar New Year’s foods

January 25, 2020 by
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Today marks the beginning of a very special time for the Chinese and several other cultures, as it is the beginning of the lunar new year. This holiday, celebrated by 20% of the world's population, is honored differently in various countries, but food features prominently in all celebrations. Each of the foods traditionally eaten during this holiday has a meaning… read more

Picky eaters are born, not bred

January 25, 2020 by
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J J Goode has co-written several books in the EYB Library, including Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand (with Andy Ricker) and A Girl and Her Greens: Hearty Meals from the Garden (with April Bloomfield). Since he was a consummate food lover, Goode had visions of raising children who shared his broad… read more

Celebrate National Pie Day

January 23, 2020 by
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Well, I missed it - again. Today was National Pie Day, celebrated in several countries, and I forgot about it. That is because I believe the logical choice for the day is March 14, a dual pi(e) celebration. (Nerds unite!) I once wrote a persuasive argument that pie is better than cake, and I think that it still holds true… read more

The breath of the wok

January 22, 2020 by
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Wok cooking aficionados extol the virtues of the versatile cookware with a fervor matched only by perhaps the most dedicated cast iron enthusiasts. The wok's unique shape holds the key to how it can perform so well on different types of food. It's more than just the slope of the sides, however, as a recent San Francisco Chronicle article explains.… read more

Which country has the best food?

January 22, 2020 by
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In a world that lives for lists, it is inevitable that the question of which country has the best food will be asked. It's certain to be a point of national pride for some, and there are arguments to be made for any number of countries to be at the top. The question was recently posed at the rating site… read more
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