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Blog Post

Cyclamate, an Artificial Sweetener for the Rest of the World

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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Blog Post

The Quick and Dirty Guide to Saccharin

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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Blog Post

Must-Reads on HFCS, Sugar and Sweeteners

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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Event

The Masters of Social Gastronomy Meet Their Sweet Tooth: April 30

Come on down to Public Assembly in Williamsburg on Tuesday, April 30, for our monthly Masters of Social Gastronomy lecture. This month we're talking about sugar and artificial sweeteners.

What'll we cover?

Brooklyn's had a long relationship with sugar, from Williamsburg's Domino Sugar factory to the Navy Yard's love child Sweet n' Low. We'll follow sugar's path from sticky brown foodstuff to pinnacle of modern science.

But is giving in to our...

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How-To

Let's Make: Spicy Cinnamon [Bodega] Candy

Super lazy and hate reading? Skip to the recipe.

Okay, so we now know what the story is with Atomic Fireballs. So let's make some.

Every single (every! single!) recipe for spicy cinnamon candy looks something like this. The important ingredient is cinnamon oil, which you can totally buy from Amazon. On the other hand, we all have stores 30 seconds away with ground cinnamon, so let's hamfist our way into some candy using only things from around...

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