If this post were a horror movie the title would be appropriately ominous. Since it's about food I guess the right word is "hint."
Chopsticks were invented about 4000 years ago in China, and spread to nearby Japan, Korea and Vietnam without too much trouble. I'd like to think it's thanks to 筷子 translating to "quick little bamboo fellows" but if you'd prefer to think it's thanks to utility that's fine as well.
While Chinese missionaries...
I was excited to learn that two of my favorite things, New York City and gum, have a bit of shared history. Here's the short version:
In 1869, General Santa Anna, eleven-time former President of Mexico, was exiled in Staten Island, staying with Thomas Adams, a former photographer he had met decades before.
Santa Anna thought chicle could be mixed with rubber to make cheaper tires and suggested it to Adams as a business...
We've all read Brooklyn Based's excellently thorough guides to coffices--coffee shops that are particularly good for working--but maybe you like something a little stronger with your free wifi.
I know I do, so here's a short list of my favorite bars for working all around Brooklyn, or at least the parts of Brooklyn where I spend all my time. Of course, more research is needed, so look out for updates and suggest your favorites...
I've been on a fermenting rice kick recently (which you'll only see the results of when the experiments are all done), and this morning came across Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture. Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture follows the adventures of Tadayasu Sawaki, a first-year college student at an agricultural university.
What a boring dude, right? Totally wrong! He can see microorganisms. Whether it's food poisoning, sake brewing, or...
The other night, I was sitting in on Tim's Beekeeping 101 class when he mentioned that prior to 1622 or so, there weren't any honey bees in North America. Yeah, that's right.
Europeans brought them upon emigrating, and though they hit the East Coast early, it took over 200 years for them to get all the way to California. One colonist, John Eliot, even says that Native Americans referred to honeybees as the "white man's fly."
The...
