"In between surviving multiple point-blank-range assassination attempts and a failed kidnapping in which he emerged alive from the burning wreckage of a battleship his own air force had just bombed, Pibulsongkram decided that
Thailand needed noodles that would advance the country’s industry and economy."
posted by moonmilk
on Feb 23, 2013 -
35 comments
The five scholars explored the question, “What is the meaning of food?” and debated its role in ethnic and religious tensions. They also examined the possibility that “food, which is something that all of us share, albeit in different ways, can be used to bring people together instead of differentiating between us.” According to Goldstein, one of the most important ideas to come out of the group was that food is a social process rather than a commodity and thus is central to multicultural understanding: “[Food] has to do with how we live and it’s not just an object that we ingest.”
Food: History & Culture in the West [PDF], was a 2010 UC Berkley Symposium exploring multiple links between food and culture:
[more inside]
posted by byanyothername
on Jan 7, 2013 -
14 comments
"New Englanders learn quickly to dismiss the chowder where tomato ruins its gorgeous broth, where references to New York tarnish its name...However, few know how such distinctions came about in the first place, what processes were involved that resulted in one person's disgust of another's beloved creation, and why, to this day, do we stand by such convictions?" The
New England Chowder Compendium, from the
McIntosh Cookery Collection at the UMass Amherst library.
[more inside]
posted by Miko
on Dec 4, 2012 -
92 comments
We know
the Obamas planted a vegetable garden in 2009, bringing back the tradition of a
White House Vegetable Garden (
7:44 YT video), and
Barack has home-brewed beer. The White House then
released the recipes for their honey ale and honey porter, but what of the other White House recipes?
Here are some modern Thanksgiving recipes, but what about the rest of the year?
Our White House provides
a glimpse into past White House kitchens, menus, and recipes, but that's still too thin.
More than 50 White House recipes? Still not enough! OK, how about the complete
White House Cookbook from 1887 (on Archive.org, also on
Project Gutenberg and
Google books).
Vintage Recipes has kindly provided a
tidied up table of contents and recipes for quicker browsing, but be warned,
the techniques are dated, and
some of the household tips are a bit questionable. More on
presidential gastronomy, previously.
posted by filthy light thief
on Sep 27, 2012 -
18 comments
You can tell how strongly a man or woman yearns for freedom by counting the condiments in his or her refrigerator. -
Tom Nealon's series on the secret history of condiments.
posted by nickrussell
on Sep 8, 2010 -
38 comments
The Language of Food is a blog with only four entries, but each one is an excellent, well-researched essay on, yes, food and language:
ketchup,
entrée,
dessert, and
ceviche. The author, Dan Jurafsky, teaches a parallel course at Stanford, the syllabus for which you can peruse
here.
via (mefi's own) honestengine.blogspot.com
posted by Rumple
on Aug 14, 2010 -
10 comments
According to legend, Einstein was eating chocolate when he came upon the theory of relativity. These sites are all about chocolate and candy in general.
Chocolate Obsession.
Hyperbole? Maybe. Just a little. Ok, a lot. Chocolate does have a lot to offer, though. It is a one of a kind food characterized by a truly unique and intense flavor. The idea of
Jim's Chocolate Mission came after a discussion with friends about the greatest chocolate bar. Was is the Wispa? Galaxy? Clark?
The Chocolate Review is most likely to review English chocolate because that's where they're from, but they also do imports.
[more inside]
posted by netbros
on Feb 8, 2009 -
39 comments
Top Events USA lists their top 20 events across the USA, the top 10 events and festivals for each of the United States, and lists of the best annual events and festivals by category or theme.
[more inside]
posted by netbros
on Jan 10, 2009 -
7 comments
King of Fruits, Tempter of Adam, Prize of Paris: It's
apple-picking time. The apple's
origins reach into prehistory. Thanks to tremendous
genetic variance in each new generation, humans have cultivated a
dizzying number of
named varieties, as many as
17,000, of which
7500 are available as growth stock. In the past,
different apples were prized for particular strengths:
cider pressing,
storage,
cooking,
drying, or eating out of hand. Despite this bounty,
just 15 shelf-stable, shiny,
easy-to-pick varieties account for 90% of apple sales today. But
heirloom apple growers are
working to preserve the old flavors of the
Roxbury Russet, the
Westfield Seek-No-Further, the
Fallawater, the
Limbertwig, the
King Luscious...
posted by Miko
on Oct 2, 2007 -
58 comments
The story of
Fred Harvey and the
Harvey Girls is the story of
the civilization of the American West. From
1896 to 1945,
Harvey House Restaurants and Hotels along the route of the
Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe represented
first-rate food served in
clean, stylish surroundings at reasonable cost. His corps of
well-trained waitresses, wearing their
distinctive uniforms and bound by a code of
hard work and
good conduct, provided both adventure and
independence to generations of
young women. Today, all that is left of the Harvey empire is the
remembrances of former employees,
beautiful buildings which
dot the southwest, some
vintage recipes, a
1946 Judy Garland film, and (possibly) the enduring term
"Blue-Plate Special".
posted by anastasiav
on Oct 1, 2003 -
8 comments
The Year In Pizza is a review of the happenings in one of the worst years ever for the pizza industry; what's touching, and quirky about this corporate industry wrap up is the inclusion of brief memorials for pizza murder victims, those workers slain by hungry robbers for whatever little cash they had on them. It's hard to imagine a "year in printing & bindery" review listing all the victims of industrial press manglings.
posted by jonson
on Jan 6, 2003 -
34 comments
Thanksgiving Bill of Fare - "If you will boile chickens, young turkeys, peahens, or any house fowl daintily, you shall, after you have trimmed them, drawn them, trussed them, and washed them, fill their bellies as full of parsley as they can hold; then boil them with salt and water only till they be enough." When sated with peahens and house fowl you might have enjoyed a taste of
Pumpion Pie. Early
colonial cuisine probably borrowed heavily from the
New Booke of Cookerie from London and were no doubt greatly influenced by
native recipes and cooking customs.
posted by madamjujujive
on Nov 28, 2002 -
7 comments
An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook of the 13th Century. Because you never know when you'll need to make Marrow Without Marrow (Which No One Will Suspect), forget how to grease your Chicken Called Madhûna, or need to rustle up something for the in-laws (A Dish Praised in Springtime for Those with Fulness and Those with Burning Blood).
posted by obiwanwasabi
on Apr 15, 2002 -
16 comments
The Food Timeline: Want to know when people first started eating watermelon? This site claims to tell you (roughly). I've no idea how accurate their dates are but this is a grand place to surf foodstuffs. (Also links to some ancient, ancient recipes that sound mouth-watering.)
posted by realjanetkagan
on Jan 19, 2002 -
14 comments
While Americans celebrate history by eating (I have two cookouts to attend tonight), take a look at
history you can eat. The Garden State Heirloom Seed Society is trying to make sure we don't lose the thousands of varieties of vegetables and fruit developed over the years.
posted by ewagoner
on Jul 4, 2001 -
1 comment
