Food
Botany, chemistry and history are hiding on your everyday plate.
32 articles
Why does eating pineapple make your tongue tingle?
Sweet, tangy and delicious, yet bite after bite your tongue starts to prickle and sting. Behind that feeling lies a slightly alarming reason unique to pineapple.
How long have people been eating natto?
Those sticky, stringy beans are a Japanese breakfast staple. Ask where they came from, and famous warriors and saints start turning up. How far can we trust them?
Is the wasabi at conveyor-belt sushi the real thing?
The packet beside your plate, the pot on the counter: that nose-tingling kick may not come from a Japanese mountain stream. The ingredients list holds a surprise.
Is the famous story of how potato chips were invented true?
A fussy customer and an irritated cook: the birth of the potato chip comes with a story you can’t resist retelling. But leaf through old cookbooks, and things get complicated.
Is it true that the specks on a strawberry aren’t seeds?
That glossy red on top of a strawberry shortcake. Through a botanist’s eyes, the part we eat as the “flesh” of the fruit turns out to be something rather unexpected.
Is it true that honey never spoils?
A jar of honey forgotten for years at the back of the cupboard often seems surprisingly fine. The secret of its staying power lies in the bees’ handiwork.
Was sushi originally a way to preserve fish?
Fresh fish, vinegared rice, a single piece shaped by a chef’s hands. Hard to imagine today, but sushi over a thousand years ago was a completely different dish.
Was chocolate originally a drink?
The crisp snap of a chocolate bar breaking in two. Measured against humanity’s long relationship with cacao, that familiar form is a very recent arrival.
Where did ramen come from?
Ever heard that the first person in Japan to eat ramen was a famous feudal lord? In recent years, records have turned up that go back even further.
Why are chili peppers hot?
Eat a fiery dish and the sweat pours out as your mouth seems to burn. Yet nothing is actually heating up. A little mix-up is happening on your tongue.
Why does cutting onions make you cry?
Nothing sad has happened, yet the tears keep rolling at the cutting board. Researchers at a Japanese food company played a big part in working out why.
Did tempura come from Portugal?
Tempura is a star of Japanese cuisine, yet its name sounds oddly un-Japanese. Its roots lead to Portuguese ships and a misunderstanding about a shogun’s death.
Why doesn’t ice cream in Japan have a best-before date?
Pick up a tub of ice cream from the freezer and search the lid and the bottom: there’s no date anywhere. Did the maker simply forget?
Is a tomato a vegetable or a fruit?
It stars in salads, yet some varieties are sold as “fruit tomatoes.” The question of what this red globe really is once went all the way to a national supreme court.
Is spaghetti Napolitan an Italian dish?
Sweet, red spaghetti stir-fried with ketchup. Its name points to the Italian port city of Naples, but try ordering it there and you will be met with puzzled looks.
Why does popcorn pop?
Little kernels leaping out of the pan with a pop. Ordinary corn won’t do this. Inside each kernel lies something like a pressure cooker, and an unexpected “leg.”
Who was the Caesar in Caesar salad?
Romaine, grated cheese and croutons. Is the “Caesar” behind this familiar salad really the great Roman general? The story leads to an unexpected border town.
When did curry arrive in Japan?
Curry rice is a favorite of Japanese kids and adults alike. But Japan’s very first published recipe lists an ingredient you would never expect.
Why is the sour umeboshi called an “alkaline food”?
Japan’s pickled plums are sour enough to make you pucker, yet they’ve long been held up as a model “alkaline food.” The reason involves setting food on fire.
Did goats really discover coffee?
Goats eat some red berries and start to dance: the world’s favorite coffee origin story. Follow it back and you find a late record and people praying all night.
Why is milk white?
Milk poured into a glass is a dazzling white. Yet search the milk from top to bottom, and you won’t find a single “white pigment” responsible for it.
Was the croissant born in France?
Few things say “Paris morning” like this crescent pastry. Trace its family tree, though, and you meet a legendary siege of Vienna and a former officer’s bakery.
What does the “short” in shortcake mean?
In Japan, the strawberry cake is a fixture of birthdays and Christmas. But is the “short” in its name about size? A dictionary turns up an unexpected answer.
Was carbonara really a charcoal burners’ dish?
Egg, cheese and black pepper: Rome’s famous pasta carries a name that means “charcoal burner.” Follow that name back, and some unexpected people and times come into view.
How long has soy sauce been around in Japan?
Sashimi, simmered dishes, rice with raw egg: none would be the same without it. Its story leads to a legendary Zen monk and the Dutch ships that took it abroad.
Was imitation crab invented in Japan?
Imitation crab turns up in salads, sushi rolls and lunch boxes everywhere. Its story began with a failed attempt to make an entirely different food.
Why does Swiss cheese have holes?
The cartoon mouse always clutches a wedge full of holes. But who made them? The answer involves a tiny ingredient that went overlooked for almost a century.
Where does the name “mayonnaise” come from?
Mayonnaise goes on everything from salads to okonomiyaki. Trace its name and you reach the story of a war, or so it is said. But the tale is not quite that simple.
What does the “shoku” in Japanese “shokupan” mean?
All bread is for eating, so why is only Japan’s square white loaf called “eating bread”? A name seen at breakfast tables every day turns out to be surprisingly hard to explain.
Do all shaved ice syrups taste the same?
Strawberry, melon, lemon: the syrups lined up at a summer festival stall. That moment of agonizing over which one to choose is said to hide a little trick.
Were fortune cookies born in Japan?
The folded cookie with a fortune inside arrives at the end of countless Chinese-American meals. It is often taken for a traditional Chinese sweet, yet you rarely see it in China. So where did it come from?
Did ketchup start out as fish sauce?
It goes on fries, burgers and Japanese omelet rice alike. But follow the name of this red sauce back far enough and you reach a condiment that looks nothing like tomatoes.