A blog about food, history, data visualization, and more
Clean cookstoves displayed at an international meeting (Updated 10/24/16: fixed broken links, changed photo) If you were to list the top causes of death and sickness in the developing world, cooking would probably be in the top tier (I’d guess that lack of clean water is at the top). In villages and cities across the […]
Continuing post-Japan-trip blogging, a few photos and comments about seasonality and urban farming in Japan. Seasonality Although the Japanese can get any food at any time, seasonality still plays an important part in their food culture. I was there in October, which is apparently chestnut season, as advertisements for chestnut ice cream and other chestnut […]
(Updated, 12/24/16: fixed broken links) Real ramen — not the factory-produced product with instant noodles and a powdered flavoring packet, but fresh noodles and painstakingly prepared, flavorful broth — inspires strong feelings. It’s inspired two movies, the cult favorite Tampopo (which I found nearly unwatchable when I last viewed it) and the poorly written and overacted […]
Here’s something from the marketing time capsule. An old, empty bag of sugar appeared in the workshop at my office, on a workbench between bolts, wrenches and various pieces of metal tubing. I asked around, and found out that the bag came from a nearby parts supply store that uses surplus bags to package the […]
Air and Fire After a few years with barely any flying, I greatly expanded my carbon ‘fly print’ this year with a big trip to Southeast Asia. And so I’ve been thinking about my impact. When it comes to greening your travel, most lists (like this one at Gadling) suggest buying carbon offsets. I thought […]
If you’ve been thinking about using your bicycle to go shopping or to commute to work, but wondered how how you’ll carry everything, here’s something that works for me: the “grocery bag pannier.” These carrying devices, which attach to a standard rear rack, are the size of a standard paper grocery bag and have a […]
On December 21, 1968, three NASA astronauts in a small space capsule were propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere by a 363 foot tall, 3350 ton Saturn V rocket. It was the Apollo 8 mission, and it was ambitious: the astronauts would be the first humans to orbit the moon while also performing numerous tests of […]
In the days before I took Shuna Lydon’s caramel class a few months ago, I studied the sugar chapter in Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking so I could have a foundation that would help me absorb her teaching. I was surprised to learn that caramel is not only delicious and a culinary challenge, but […]
Wheat harvest at Eatwell Farm, June 2008 When nights are long and cold, I often crave mushroom-barley soup. Thick, richly flavored, nutritious and texturally interesting, yet relatively easy to make. Although barley is what I have used in the past, lately wheat berries have been my grain of choice. Wheat berries are the whole grain […]
If there weren’t already enough reasons to avoid eating grasshoppers and other insects, a story on the San Francisco Chronicle presents another: lead poisoning. California residents from the Mexican state of Oaxaca have been found to have high levels of lead in their blood, and one of the likely exposure pathways is consumption of grasshoppers […]