Our next MSG lecture is on Tuesday, March 27, and it's going to be the most epic yet, as we take on the history and science of imitation ingredients. There'll even be a sample-heavy showdown where you get to definitively decide if there's any difference between artifical and natural flavorings. RSVP now!

As for the lectures, Sarah will explore the history of artificial food, starting with medieval feasts obsessed with disgusting foods like "meat pitchers." After a trip to the 19th century to explore the earliest artificial flavorings, we'll visit the "Poison Squad," a team of early 20th-century chemists who tested the safety of food additives by ingesting them in large quantities.

Soma will open up the science behind artificial flavorings, tracking the back-room work of flavor chemists. Find out what notebook paper has in common with vanilla ice cream, and uncover the secrets of Juicy Fruit gum. We'll bring it all back home by examining the NYC's very own maple-syrup-scent mystery, and Soma's attempts to recreate it in his kitchen. 

Then, during the Storytime interlude, natural and artificial flavors will square off.  Sarah and Soma will state the case for two sets of flavorings, and the audience will do a blind taste test to decide which ones reign supreme.

You have to be there. 
Tuesday, March 27, doors at 7pm, free
Public Assembly, 70 North 6th Street, Williamsburg

RSVP here.

What's MSG anyway? 

It's our new, free bar room food lecture series. Each month, Sarah Lohman of Four Pounds Flour and Jonathan Soma take on a topic, like strange meat or candy, and dissect it. And since you can't talk about food without samples, we do samples. Read way more about MSG, if you'd like. 

Keep me updated on this crazy stuff:

We've got a Tumblr or a Facebook page to make sure you never forget about MSG. You can also join our mailing list at the top of the page, where we shamelessly plug MSG each and every month.