Get a gold medal for snacks

July 29, 2021 by
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This year's summer Olympics are unlike any other: first they were postponed for a year, then the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus meant that fans would not be able to attend in person. Athletes are contending not only with their competitors but also with heat, oddly quiet arenas and playing fields, and cardboard beds (which are much… read more

How cast iron pans are made

July 26, 2021 by
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Cast iron cookware has enjoyed renewed popularity of late, with people singing its praises in blogs and magazine articles, and crowd-sourced companies adding 21st century flair and technology to the time-honored craft. The technique of making cast iron is not a secret - it's right there in the name - but have you ever witnessed a foundry at work? It's… read more

Food news antipasto

July 25, 2021 by
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Millions of people watched famed chef Jacques Pépin's short cooking videos during the pandemic. Although I never much paid attention to the clothing he was wearing, Charlotte Reilly of Inside Hook took notice. She added him to her list of the 50 best dressed men over 50. Reilly says she was impressed by "how simply and timelessly Pépin is dressed"… read more

Everything you always wanted to know about vanilla

July 24, 2021 by
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Vanilla as an adjective is a synonym for boring, but as a flavoring extract it is anything but blah. Why the term 'vanilla' took on such a connotation is an interesting story in itself, but we're here to talk about the actual product, not its colloquial use. Over at Eater, Jamie Feldmar takes a deep dive into vanilla, explaining what… read more

Why you should add tahini to your pantry

July 23, 2021 by
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When I was growing up in a tiny town in the midst of the US Great Plains, I was not exposed to a wide variety of foods. It wasn't until I left home to attend college that I first experienced items most people would find ordinary, such as avocados, asparagus, and leeks, much less any foods from Asian, African, or… read more

Doing the can-can

July 21, 2021 by
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Just as the home gardening trend has continued this year, so has the demand for canning supplies. Last year's shortage of canning jar lids spilled over to 2021, and it is still difficult, if not impossible, to find jar lids in the US - at least if you want to buy US made lids. In late 2020, I scoured the… read more

Teatime at Grosvenor Square Cookbook Giveaway

July 19, 2021 by
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Enter our US giveaway to win one of two copies of Teatime at Grosvenor Square: An Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of Bridgerton - 75 Sinfully Delectable Recipes by Dahlia Clearwater. Teatime at Grosvenor Square brings you 75 recipes inspired by the opulent food of the Bridgerton series from macaron towers to fruit-topped trifles. Now you can create a spread of… read more

Food news antipasto

July 18, 2021 by
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The Anthony Bourdain documentary titled 'Roadrunner' was released in theaters on July 15 and is getting mixed reviews from critics. Helen Rosner likes it (but is disquieted by the artificial intelligence used to fabricate Bourdain's voice), while Sean Burns says it is more of a petty tell-all than a true portrait of the revered chef. The film explores Bourdain's life,… read more

Who invented the ice cream cone?

July 17, 2021 by
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When I was a kid, one of my favorite frozen treats was a sundae cone. The combination of crisp waffle cone, cold ice cream, and a tiny chocolate nub at the bottom, was nirvana. To this day, if I am offered one I will not pass it up, despite knowing its calorie, fat, and sugar counts (yowza). The origin story… read more

The cookbook that helped save a language

July 15, 2021 by
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Cookbooks are amazing things: they tell stories, share culinary touchstones for cultures, and provide us with instructions on how to make the most fabulous foods. One cookbook goes above and beyond, however. Gastro Obscura shares the story of Valentin Vodnik's 1799 volume, simply called The Cookbook, which helped to save an entire language. Vodnik was a priest on a mission… read more

Making the most of mango season

July 12, 2021 by
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Seeing a huge display of mangoes at the grocery store always puts a smile on my face. The tropical fruit gets a workout at my house, finding its way into everything from creamy lassi to piquant salsa. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area that a large selection mango varieties, head over to Saveur to find out… read more

Food news antipasto

July 11, 2021 by
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Reduce, reuse, recycle, eat? Scientists have recently developed a novel solution for disposing of waste plastic. They invented a process to convert discarded plastic bottles into vanilla flavoring using bio-engineered bacteria. The research was published in the journal Green Chemistry, and the scientists claim that the process generated no hazardous waste. My mornings always begin with a steaming cup of coffee. If… read more

Celebrate World Chocolate Day

July 7, 2021 by
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Today is World Chocolate Day, and we’re going to help you celebrate by providing you with several beloved chocolate recipes from the EYB Library. The day celebrates the anniversary of chocolate's arrival to Europe when (as the story goes) Conquistador Hernandez Cortes brought it to Spain on 7 July 1550. Whether that is the exact date or not, chocolate quickly became… read more

It might be time to clean out your condiment shelf

July 5, 2021 by
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Last year most of us eschewed large gatherings, which meant fewer occasions to use that tub of mayonnaise, jar of mustard, or bottle of ketchup. We might have these condiments and more left over from pre-pandemic times (I am among the guilty). Now that picnics, cookouts, and other celebrations are happening again, it's time to give your condiment shelf a… read more

Food news antipasto

July 4, 2021 by
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The #MeToo movement saw plenty of accusations of harassment in the culinary sphere, especially among back of the house staff. It seems that harassment isn't the only problem in restaurant kitchens; bullying and toxic work environments seems to be commonplace. The latest restaurateur to be put in the hot seat is Michelin-starred chef Tom Kitchin. Anonymous complaints have labeled his… read more

Finding hidden gems

July 1, 2021 by
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Vittles continues to publish some of the best food writing you can find anywhere. The most recent article that impressed me comes from former GBBO contestant and cookbook author Ruby Tandoh. When you grow up in an area that isn't renowned for its food - let alone many positive cultural attributes - it can be a challenge to acknowledge the… read more

Food news antipasto

June 27, 2021 by
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We begin this week's recap with sad news: influential chef Mark Peel has died at the age of 66 just days after being diagnosed with cancer. Peel worked at various restaurants including Wolfgang Puck's Spago. Along with his wife at the time Nancy Silverton, Peel opened the famed restaurant Campanile, which won a James Beard Foundation Award in 2001. Campanile… read more

Smaller menus, simpler food

June 26, 2021 by
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As restaurants scrambled to adapt to lockdowns, most of them switched from indoor dining to takeaway and also drastically reduced the menu options to accommodate the change. Now that they are reopening to indoor dining, many of the restaurants are keeping the shorter menus, says Grub Street's Rachel Sugar. Both independent eateries and large chains are reducing the number of… read more

Vent some steam with catharsis cookbooks

June 24, 2021 by
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Anyone who has ever pounded a chicken breast with a mallet or who has kneaded a loaf of dough knows that cooking can be a conduit for releasing negative emotions. Some cookbooks capitalize on this catharsis including 2020's Rage Baking: The Transformative Power of Flour, Butter, Sugar, and Women's Voices (which had a touch of controversy), but that's not the… read more

Food fests anchor recovery efforts

June 21, 2021 by
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Just as the restaurant industry was walloped during lockdowns, so too did the travel industry suffer. In regions where travel makes up a significant percentage of the local economy, the effects were nothing short of devastating. Now that lockdowns are unwinding, areas that rely heavily on tourism are looking to combine eating and traveling as a mechanism to jumpstart their… read more

Food news antipasto

June 20, 2021 by
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Delia Smith is Britain's bestselling cookery writer, whose books have sold over 21 million copies worldwide. Delia's first job as a cookery writer was for the Daily Mirror in 1969 - numerous phenomenal best sellers and television series followed including Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course in 1978 and Delia's Christmas, Summer & Winter Collections in the 1990s. The indefatigable Smith… read more

When you can’t let go

June 19, 2021 by
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With over 300 cookbooks at my fingertips, plus hundreds of magazines and the internet mere seconds away with its potential for millions of recipes, you might think that the three-ring binder I've been lugging around through several cross-country moves would no longer be necessary. You would be wrong - even though I reference it less often than I used to,… read more

Why I quit being a gadget pusher

June 17, 2021 by
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"You don't have an Instant Pot?" my friend asked me, incredulous. She assumed that because I love to cook I had all of the latest and greatest gadgets. "You have to get one," she implored, explaining all of the wonderful meals she had cooked in hers. I was skeptical of cheesecake made in a multi-cooker. I still am, even though… read more

Food news antipasto

June 13, 2021 by
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If you are like me and cannot have too much Jacques Pépin in your life, head over to to YouTube to see a charming interview with the iconic chef that aired last week on CBS This Morning. Jeff Glor sat down with Pépin at his home in Connecticut, where at age 85 he shows no signs of slowing down. The… read more

The secret’s in the sauce

June 12, 2021 by
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If you ask two people what the best barbecue sauce is, you are likely to get three (or more) answers, and/or start a fistfight. Barbecue sauces are as individualistic as fingerprints, with people hewing to certain types based on their regional cultures and their own tastebuds, and preferring different sauces for different meats as well. I am a South Carolina… read more
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