I was looking around for something to bake in honor of Thursday's class "The Story of Milk & Cookies," when I realized I knew nothing about cookies or their history. Shall we explore a bit?
Let's start with the basics: etymology. Our American English word "cookie" comes from the Dutch "koekje," meaning "small cake." Bonus points for knowing -je is one of the ways to form the diminuitive in Dutch.1
The reason we Americans say...
Candy’s been an obsession around the Brainery for a long, long time. While you’re marveling at the fact we still have teeth, check out the posts below so you can whip up some slightly dangerous/delicious candy at home.
Menthol Candy Cigarettes [recipe, how-to, burn potential: low]
Faux Altoids [recipe, how-to, cavity potential: high]
What’s the Deal with Xylitol? [failed experiments, learn from our mistakes, science]
Well, not exactly cuddles (or cuddles at all), but eating rabbit can certainly be the death of you.
Rabbit starvation - or the more exotic name mal de caribou - shows up when you eat too much lean meat and are, you know, trapped in a desert or the tundra or a similarly punishing environment. Your kidneys can't handle the high amounts of protein without supplemental fat/carbohydrates and you'll soon be pushing up daisies. It works the...
Starting very soon, Sarah Lohman, a historic gastronimist extraordinaire and one of our all-time favorite Brainery teachers, will be giving a series of lectures at the Brooklyn Historical Society. You should go to them! All the details are below.
Timeline of Taste, Thursday, September 1
In A Timeline of Taste Sarah Lohman will take you on a journey from 1800-1950, making a pit stop every fifty years to explore the tastes of a...
