Food History & Tradition Archive

23 February

Guayusa, the ritual and sacred plant of Amazonia

By Hafida Mazoud The Amazon tropical rainforest continues to amaze us with its wonders, most notably an indigenous plant known as Guayusa, which is gaining popularity in the United States and Europe, particularly among those seeking natural energy-boosting...

Amazon tropical rainforest, Guayusa, tea leaves Food History & Tradition, Food Trends Leave a Comment

10 November

Clostridium botulinum: from sausage-poisoning to home-processing hazard

By Allison Howell Clostridium botulinum might not compete with Salmonella or e. Coli for the most common cause of foodborne illness, but it might just be one of the deadliest. Botulism is most often caused by a toxin...

Clostridium botulinum, germination, home processing, home-canning, sausage, sporulation Food History & Tradition, Food Safety & Processing Leave a Comment

27 October

The buzz on edible insects

By Cassandra Maya Insects have a bad reputation. Some sting, some ruin our foods, and some even emerge from the depths of the ground every 17 years to scream from the trees. So why are top scientists now...

edible insects, protein, sustainability Food History & Tradition, Food Trends Leave a Comment

20 October

Brunost – A Delicious Valorization of Whey – Part 1

By Karin Cho As a volunteer at my university’s micro-creamery, I’ve helped make cheddar cheese and cheese curds. If you have made cheese from scratch, you know how little cheese is produced from a lot of milk. In...

Brunost, cheese, valorization, whey Food History & Tradition Leave a Comment

01 September

Pursuit of Sweetness: A History of Table Sugar (Sucrose)

By Hafida Mazoud When I offered my friend a hot drink, I inquired whether they preferred it with or without sugar. The response was, “I eliminated added sugars from my diet because it is unnecessary and consuming less...

carbohydrates, genetics, sucrose, sugar, sweeteners Education & Experiments, Food History & Tradition 1 Comment

18 November

Slicing into Charcuteries

By Alexander J. Taylor and Jacob Webster-Jones In today’s social media climate, one of my favorite wind down activities is to browse the popular subreddit of /r/Food. If you haven’t had a chance to scroll through this website, I...

/r/food, charcuterie, charcuterie board, cheese, deli, fermented meat, pickled food, pork Food History & Tradition, Food Trends Leave a Comment

28 October

What is Cinnamon?

By Jacob Webster-Jones Before the 16th century the origins of cinnamon were unknown to the European countries, it was known as a luxurious spice with medicinal properties that they could only get from trade on the silk road. In...

cassia, ceylon, cinnamaldehyde, cinnamon, coumarin, eugenol, flavor, insulin, medicinal Education & Experiments, Food Chemistry, Food History & Tradition, Food Safety & Processing, Health & Nutrition Leave a Comment

05 August

Culturing Koji at Home

By: Karin Cho Koji is a beloved fungus in Japanese cuisine because of its role in producing sake, miso, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and many more umami-packed ingredients. Koji belongs to the Aspergillus genus, but unlike some of its...

amazake, cheese cloth, Culture, fungus, incubator, koji, koji kin, rice, shiokoji Fermentation, Food History & Tradition, Food Industry, Food Microbiology, Food Safety & Processing, Food Technology, Food Trends Leave a Comment

20 May

Order Tomato Juice on Your Next Flight

By Abbey Thiel Originally posted on Heated by Medium x Mark Bittman. Tomato juice is one of the most popular drinks served by flight attendants, yet how often do you see someone drinking the red beverage with two feet...

airplane food, flavor, flights, Taste, tomato juice, umami Food Chemistry, Food History & Tradition, Food Industry, Food Technology, Product Development, Sensory & Consumer Science Leave a Comment

11 March

The Rise and Fall of Bananas

By: Amanda Sia “You drive me bananas!” When I first started learning English in elementary school, this was one of the English idioms that really stuck out to me because it included a fruit. Other fruit-related phrases and idioms...

bananas, blue java, cavendish, fall, gros michel, musa velutina, panama disease, rise, tr4, tropical fruit Education & Experiments, Food History & Tradition, Food Industry, Food Safety & Processing, Food Technology, Health & Nutrition 2 Comments

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