NPR's food blog gets wordy:
for the origins of "pie," look to the humble magpie. Though the
etymology of pie doesn't present one clear path, the possibilities are fascinating. English surnames point to pie and pye as a baked good in the 1300s, with
a Peter Piebakere in 1320 and Adam le Piemakere in 1332. Chaucer referred to "pye"
as both a baked good and a magpie (Google books). Or perhaps the fillings were like a magpie's collection of bits and bobs, similar to haggis. You know,
like the French "agace," or magpie (Gb), and similar to
chewets, those baked goods, or
another name for jackdaws (Gb),
relative of the magpie.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Nov 22, 2011 -
21 comments
19th-century newspaper ads for patented stomach cures and digestive aids [...] foregrounded mince pie as the K2 of digestive summits. But for every published warning on the dangers of mince, the newspapers published a poem, essay, or editorial praising it as a great symbol of American cultural heritage or a nostalgic reminder of mother love and better times bygone—or even, as the State of Columbia, South Carolina, asserted in 1901, a beneficial Darwinian instrument that had "thinned out the weak ones" among the pioneering generations.
So wrote Cliff Doerksen in his wonderful, James Beard award-winning article
Mince Pie: The Real American Pie. Doerksen not only gives the history of this once most American of foods, he also makes two mince pies from 19th Century recipes to see if they are indeed all that. This is but one of many great articles Doerksen wrote for The Chicago Reader in recent years (links to a selection below the cut). Sadly, Cliff Doerksen
passed at the age of 47 just before Christmas.
[more inside]
posted by Kattullus
on Dec 29, 2010 -
73 comments
Celebrity chef Beppe Bigazzi upset viewers and his host with his recipe for "
cat casserole", and has been suspended from the
program [Italian]. Inhabitants of Northern Italy, particularly those of Vicenza, are still nicknamed "
magnagati" ('cat eaters') as a derogatory term in Venetian. Taking a clue from the Aboriginal population, cooking feral cats has even been proposed in
Alice Springs, Australia, to curb the out-of-control feral population.
[more inside]
posted by atomicmedia
on Mar 9, 2010 -
98 comments
Button du Jour. A charming semi-daily imaginary vignette featuring food, fashion, music, and an exotic location -- all inspired by a beautiful button.
posted by ottereroticist
on Feb 1, 2010 -
6 comments
Beer Calculus is a freely available homebrewing recipe generator, which allows you to easily create, save and share your own beer recipe(s). The calculator includes hundreds of malt, hop and yeast varieties, adjuncts and other ingredients, different mash processes, and fermentation and storage variables, and can toggle between US and metric units. Also, if you associate your recipe with a
BJCP-recognized style, the calculator will give you guidance regarding your recipe's adherence to the style's
guidelines. Homebrewers, have at it!
posted by cog_nate
on Dec 4, 2009 -
26 comments
Happy Thanksgiving, MetaFilter! If you have friends from different parts of the U.S., you might have wondered why they consider certain dishes to be an essential part of a Thanksgiving feast, when you've never even thought of them as remotely Thanksgiving-related. Now you can see what dishes were popular searches on
allrecipes.com in various states thanks to
a series of infographics in the
New York Times.
posted by grouse
on Nov 26, 2009 -
70 comments
For your Halloween party this weekend, creep out your guests by serving them a
Meat Hand.
posted by zardoz
on Oct 28, 2009 -
46 comments
Friday Frivolity.
We use only the finest baby frogs, dew-picked and flown from Iraq, cleansed in the finest quality spring water, lightly killed, and then sealed in a succulent Swiss quintuple smooth treble cream milk chocolate envelope, and lovingly frosted with glucose. A r
ecipe for the infamous
Crunchy Frog. No frogs were killed in the making of this recipe.
(via Neatorama)
posted by caddis
on Jul 31, 2009 -
35 comments
Jack Keller's
winemaking site has not only the
basics of home winemaking in 5 parts [
12345], but also information on more
advanced topics, including
acidity,
blending, and
using a hydrometer. Equally interesting is his extensive collection of recipes for making wines out of things other than grapes, including
dandelions and other
edible flowers,
wild plants (including
nettles!),
cabbages and
beets,
tea and
coffee,
mint,
pomegranates, and
pumpkins. A complete list of recipes is
here, if you'd like to click through alphabetically, and a list of specially-requested recipes is
here (scroll down a bit).
posted by Upton O'Good
on Oct 28, 2007 -
11 comments
