Every month, our MSG lectures take on the history and science behind some of your favorite foods. Up this month: barbecue.

Have you ever wondered where the tradition of slow cooking generous hunks of fatty meat came from? From its roots in Spanish barbacoa, to massive Southern meat pits and the modern day backyard cook out, we'll track the barbecue's history.

Then, Soma will tackle the fiercely regional world of barbecue, from the sauces of...

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Update! Hey guys, online tickets are sold out, but there *might* be a few available at the door tomorrow night in case you weren't able to grab one! 

Each month, Sarah and Soma take on a curious food topic and break down the history, science, and stories behind it. Up this month: cocktails. 

The cocktail is credited as one of America's greatest inventions. But where did it come from, and how did it evolve into the endless...

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Time for more Masters of Social Gastronomy recapping! Last month we covered sugar and artificial sweeteners.

In 1937 Michael Svaeda was working in a lab on drugs to control fever. While, you know, smoking a cigarette.

He put the cigarette down to do some Science, and when he picked it up... sweetness! While it might have been the first candy cigarette that actually featured tobacco, the important part was the compound he'd spilled: cyclamate.

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Time for more Masters of Social Gastronomy recapping! Last month we covered sugar and artificial sweeteners.

In terms of artificial sweeteners, saccharin has been around since the beginning of time. These days it hangs around in products like Brooklyn's very own Sweet 'N Low.

But back in 1879, we lacked any artificial sweeteners at all. And we didn't find them by looking for them, either.

Ira Remsen and Constantin Fahlberg were labmates,...

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Thanks to everyone who braved the beautiful weather to come out to last night's Masters of Social Gastronomy on sugar & sweeteners!

While Sarah will have you covered on NYC's sugar history, I thought I'd give you some further reading if your scientific curiosity was piqued. I'll be making follow-up posts on HFCS vs sugar and the hilarious history of artificial sweeteners, but figured you all might want to get a jump on it!

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