A Short History of Swizzle Sticks

Questioning "Culinary Luddism"

A self-proclaimed "Culinary Luddite" warns against the impetus toward nostalgia in the movement against industrial food.

Great Moments in Menu Design: Washington's Blue Day Inn

Awesome design for a menu, from Washington's Blue Day Inn, 20 miles outside of Seattle, date not identified. From the digital Menu Collection at the University of Washington.

I Love the '80s: Tuna Tartare

A short history of tuna tartare and the the Japanese-born, French-trained chef who created the dish one momentous day in 1984.

"Eggs Used as Garnish," Miami News, April 8, 1936

"Katherine Hepburn likes to use grated eggs as a garnish for mixed green salad. She grates the whites first, then dusts the yokes [sic] over the top."

The Last Supper and the Roots of "Portion Distortion"

According to Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab and author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, super-sizing has a history that dates well beyond the confines of the modern fast food industry.

Analyzing 52 different renderings of the Last Supper painted between the years 1000 and 2000, Wansink and his brother Craig, a biblical scholar, found that the portion sizes of the meals depicted in these works has increased over time. Their findings are published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Obesity.

Dharma Wine Hatch Discovered in Israel

 
You may have hard the news that archaeologists have discovered a 1,400-year-old wine press in Southern Israel -- 25 miles south of Jerusalem -- an area which was once part of the Byzantine Empire. According to the scientists, the exceptionally large size of the press -- measuring 21 feet by 54 feet -- suggests that it was used to produce wine for export to Egypt, or Europe.

But, could these archeologists have the story all wrong?

To any "Lost" devotee, the unique octagonal shape of the press and its proximity to Egypt and Tunisia will bring to mind the work of the Dharma Initiative. Above is an artist's rendering of a possible Dharma logo for this intriguing wine-making hatch.

Is this where Dharma Merlot was produced? Is Desmond down there in that hole uncorking a bottle every 108 minutes? Could this be the key to unlocking the mysteries of "Lost"?

Namaste.

Who Drank Milk First?

According to New Scientist, a new study published in the journal PLoS Computational Biology has traced Europe's earliest adult milk-drinkers to modern day northwest Hungary and southwest Slovakia.

The research team tracked selection for the gene for lactose tolerance to a tribe of cattle herders located between the central Balkans and Central Europe 7,500 years ago. They posit that lactose tolerance likely spread geographically in association with the dissemination of the Linearbandkeramik, a Neolithic farming culture (the illustration above shows the early (dark green) and late phase (light green) spread of the Linearbandkeramk culture across Europe).

The findings trump the more common understanding that sun-deprived Scandinavians were the first among Europeans to drink milk, as a form of dietary compensation for a lack of Vitamin D.

Image: PLoS Computational Biology.

Scottish Chef Seeks DOP Status for Tikka Masala

A Glasgow chef claiming to to have invented chicken tikka masala is seeking "Protected Designation of Origin" status for the dish from European Union.

More on Bagelgate, or What Would Rebecca Rubin Eat?

The LA Weekly food blog Squid Ink has more details on the historical mystery that is bagelgate.

Squid Ink blogger Jessica Ritz contacted the American Girl headquarters to get more information about the composition of Jewish American Girl doll Rebecca Rubin's school lunch. She turned up this new piece of information from a company spokesperson:

So, it's not American cheese as we may have suspected. And though cheddar cheese seems a little more palatable than Kraft singles (just a little), we still have questions.