Restaurant names explained

July 31, 2014 by
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Some restaurant names are obvious--they are named for the owners, the type of food served, or their location. Others seem to be letter salad. But some are more mysterious: you know there is a reason behind them, but you may not know what it is.  Rachel Tepper of Yahoo! Food has found out the reasons behind the names of several… read more

Bigger isn’t always better

July 29, 2014 by
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Waistlines aren't the only things to have grown in the United States over the last few decades: our refrigerators have as well. Gawker's Dan Nosowitz makes the arguments for why we should consider downsizing our refrigerators. Nosowitz points out that on average, refrigerators in the U.S. are more than twice the size as refrigerators in Europe (22 cubic feet vs.… read more

Layers of lies

July 27, 2014 by
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Tom Scocca of Slate magazine is taking recipe writers to task. After reading countless recipes that assure you that you will get caramelized onions in as little as 10 minutes, Scocca finally snapped and tweeted an all-caps rant about it. He notes that even veteran cookbook authors make this claim: "Here's Madhur Jaffrey, from her otherwise reliable Indian Cooking, explaining… read more

31 ways to enjoy your morning cuppa

July 21, 2014 by
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Coffee is enjoyed (some might say required) by millions of people every day. It's interesting to see how different cultures have put their distinctive mark on this stimulating beverage. Food Republic shared an appealing infographic that lists 31 different coffee drinks from around the world. While the last such photo depiction published here stirred a bit of controversy, this graphic doesn't make any bold… read more

B-List cocktails make a comeback

July 19, 2014 by
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Many factors have spurred the renaissance of classic cocktails over the last few years. Recipes have gone viral on social media, hipsters have brought back fashions including cocktails, and distilleries have brushed the dust off old recipes and reissued classic spirits (and other distilleries have reimagined them). Most bartenders can now make a proper Manhattan and martini, but those cocktails… read more

Me and my cookbooks – Diana Henry

July 17, 2014 by
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We are back with another installment of the "Me and my cookbooks" series. Many EYB members have told us they enjoy meeting members and special guests through this feature. We'd love to introduce more people, so if you'd like to be featured, just email us at [email protected]. Today we highlight author and cookbook collector Diana Henry. Diana is no stranger to EYB Members;… read more

Five flavors to rule them all

July 14, 2014 by
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Baskin-Robbins, the world's largest chain of ice cream specialty shops, is known for its famous "31" logo, which suggests a different flavor of ice cream available for each day of the month. However, the chain may want to winnow its lengthy list of flavors, as this Parade magazine article explains. It provides a map of each state's most popular flavors of… read more

Little known treasures

July 13, 2014 by
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Some cookbooks become instant classics and profoundly influence generations of cooks. In the 1960s, Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking became a bestseller and improved the cooking skills of legions. More recently, Ottolenghi took the world by storm, expanding the range of countless cooks. These and other classics sit on thousands of EYB members' Bookshelves. But other great… read more

Life’s delicious messes

July 11, 2014 by
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Indexed blog Food52 posted that we should "give up on clean hands and clean shirts" because it's cherry season. Contemplating the delicious mess of cherry pitting got us to thinking about other ingredients and foods that made messes in the kitchen but are so good they're worth it. The first task that came to mind was seeding a pomegranate, another… read more

Andy Ricker’s top 10

July 6, 2014 by
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Pok Pok by Andy Ricker is a popular and highly-rated book among EYB members. Now Ricker's fans can learn more about the dishes that inspired his career in this First We Feast interview. A native of Vermont, Ricker started cooking at a young age. But it wasn't until he opened Pok Pok in Portland, Oregon that his popularity soared. He… read more

The power of three

July 5, 2014 by
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What flavors define a cuisine? Given the nearly endless array of possible herbs, spices and other flavoring agents, one might think it impossible to distill the essentials of a cuisine to only a handful of ingredients. But as FoodBeast reports, the folks at DataDial have attempted to do just that. They've created an infographic that lists the three essential "spices"… read more

Cast party

June 30, 2014 by
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Those of us who have a well-seasoned cast iron skillet likely use it frequently. There are many reasons to love a cast iron pan, which is good news for Lodge, the Tennessee company which is the last American cast iron cookware company. They've outlasted their U.S. competitors and have seen an increase in demand for their cookware that they can't… read more

Spuds slump

June 29, 2014 by
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Potatoes are losing popularity as other starches, such as rice, become more favored (and presumably as many people cut out carbs from their diets). The Guardian reports that potato sales in England are down "by more than 8% during the past year as shoppers opted for alternatives." It's interesting to note that this doesn't seem to reflect a conscious decision… read more

The science of food has never looked this good

June 27, 2014 by
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Have you ever wondered why chocolate is bad for dogs or how grapefruit interacts with drugs? Perhaps you thought the science behind these answers would be boring and complex. Andy Brunning, a chemistry teacher from the U.K., plans to change your mind. He has developed simple visual charts that provide these answers and more, as reported today by NPR. As you… read more

Healthy food porn?

June 22, 2014 by
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It seems that only yesterday Jamie Oliver was scooting around London on The Naked Chef. But now he's not just a TV chef or cookbook author (incidentally, at the top of the EYB Library), but sits at the heart of an empire with over 8,000 employees. His latest focus is on his YouTube channel, FoodTube. The Observer explores Oliver's ambitious… read more

Everything’s better with butter

June 21, 2014 by
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Butter is back. From gracing the cover of Time Magazine to starting new crazes (getting whipped into coffee), butter has returned to glory, overcoming its former reputation as one of the "bad fats." Now indexed magazine Food & Wine sings the praises of butter with five unexpected foods we should be buttering. The first item on Food & Wine's list… read more

The best place to store every type of flour

June 20, 2014 by
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Once upon a time, flour wasn't fancy. Maybe two or three types graced the shelves of small, neighborhood grocery stores. But now, you can find flours from every grain, nut, and legume imaginable. It's great to have this kind of variety, but it rasies the question: do different flours require different storage solutions? The answer is yes, and indexed blog… read more

What’s always in a food blogger’s fridge?

June 17, 2014 by
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Everyone has their own refrigerator staples - the items always on hand for a quick meal or snack when they're in a time squeeze. But did you ever wonder what people who write about food for a living always keep in their refrigerators? Wonder no more, because Good Housekeeping asked several popular food bloggers what they considered to be essential… read more

Hold the lettuce

June 16, 2014 by
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How many times have you packed a salad full of leafy greens in your lunchbox only to discover a soggy mess at lunchtime, or decide that you needed something more substantial to satisfy your hunger? Indexed blog Food52 reminds us that there is a "whole world of lettuce-less salads out there, and they're particularly exciting in spring. Crunchy, spear-able vegetables… read more

Sunday dinners

June 15, 2014 by
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As another Sunday comes to a close following a meal shared with friends, it reminds me of the importance of Sunday dinners to me and my family. I'm sure that I am not alone in this; Sunday has traditionally been an important day for family meals. Even in occupations like farming, where days of the week don't determine when the… read more

Distressing news about shrimp

June 10, 2014 by
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A couple of months ago we reported on high shrimp prices, but that seems inconsequential compared to today's report by The Guardian on the shrimp industry. The news was both shocking and appalling. An investigation by the paper found "that the world's largest prawn farmer, the Thailand-based Charoen Pokphand (CP) Foods, buys fishmeal, which it feeds to its farmed prawns,… read more

Food rivalries

June 8, 2014 by
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June 7 was National Doughnut Day in the U.S., with many bakeries offering free doughnuts to customers. This food "holiday" prompted Food & Wine magazine to discuss a long-standing debate: which is the better doughnut, yeasted or cake? The arguments pro and con were that yeast doughnuts "are airy and fluffy with a pleasant squish. They are so delicate that… read more

The rating game

June 7, 2014 by
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Yesterday's post about Nate Silver's quest to find the best burrito in the U.S., and through that process gain insight on how much we should rely on crowdsourced reviews, brings up the subject of trust. Many of us consult online reviews before purchasing household goods or (more to the point of this blog) making recipes. The question remains: how much… read more

Finding the best burrito just got serious

June 6, 2014 by
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Nate Silver, probably best known for accurately predicting the results of the 2012 U.S. presidential election, has turned the sights of his analytical website FiveThirtyEight to food. Burritos, to be precise. Yesterday the site announced the creation of a 64-restaurant "Burrito Bracket" to find the best burritos in the U.S.  The impetus for this competition traces to Silver's move to a Wicker… read more

Gin it up this summer

June 4, 2014 by
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Just as some foods are good matches for a particular season--hearty stews in winter, cool salads in summer--some liquors also feel right at certain times of the year. Warm weather calls for light, refreshing drinks, and gin fits the bill, as demonstrated in a recent Telegraph article highlighting unique gin cocktails perfect for summer sipping. The pretty City in Bloom, pictured above,… read more
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