The release of the new Star Wars trailer this week had me super nostalgic for my childhood love of all things Star Wars (OK, it extended into adulthood too — who am I kidding). It also made me think about all the great, uncelebrated food moments in Star Wars: What kind of food did Yoda snatch out of Luke’s hand on Dagobah? What did the cocktail menu at the Mos Eisley Cantina consist of? Do Wookies roast or braise — in milk, maybe — their hog-tied prey?

But today, we’re speculating on the most classic food moment in Star Wars: Aunt Beru’s kitchen — blue milk, future food processor, and all.

READ MORE »

Skylab astronaut food from 1970.

Science and food are natural buddies. From cooking food with fire, to genetically modified apples, the study of food has affected the way we eat and cook. Today we consume food in a way that would’ve been unheard of a mere century or so ago. And modern life is not only made easier by these discoveries, it’s made possible by them.

It’s tough to pick just a few of the great discoveries in food science, but here are our considered picks for the five that changed our lives the most.

1. 
   

   1. Fermentation Was Probably the First Great Moment in Food Science

   The 5 Greatest Breakthroughs in Food Science

2. 
   

   2. Pasteurization Is the Biggest Food Science Breakthrough We Never Think About

   The 5 Greatest Breakthroughs in Food Science

3. 
   

   3. How Canning Was Invented, and How It Changed the Way We Eat

   The 5 Greatest Breakthroughs in Food Science

4. 
   

   4. How Refrigeration Determined What We Eat and Where We Live

   The 5 Greatest Breakthroughs in Food Science

5. 
   

   5. Why GMOs Are the Biggest Food Science Breakthrough of Our Era

   The 5 Greatest Breakthroughs in Food Science

READ MORE »

From Apartment Therapy → 10 Beautiful and Unusual Kitchens

READ MORE »

It’s one thing to get a nice sear on a steak or to broil a chile or pepper if you’re going to remove the charred skin, but many chefs are now embracing charring food to the point that they actually serve ash!

Interesting, yes, but tasty? Hmm.

READ MORE »

If there’s one food science breakthrough that stands apart from the rest, it’s pasteurization, milk pasteurization to be specific. Its very adoption changed the health of our nation. To put it another way, in New York during the 1850s, fewer than half of all children born lived to see their 5th birthday, with tainted milk being the biggest cause of illness.

So let’s take a look at the story of how this taken-for-granted breakthrough came to happen, and the story weaves through not just Pasteur, but Macy’s department store.

READ MORE »

My husband, Tyler

My husband is a scientist — an MD/PhD, or physician-scientist, which means he’s spent the last 11 years in either a research lab or at the hospital. He’s smart, inquisitive, kind, and hard-working (and looks like a young Harrison Ford, but I digress).

He’s also an excellent cook, and over the years I’ve come to believe that the two are very much related. The same qualities and requirements that led him to a career in science are also what sparked his interest in cooking. His way of working in the kitchen, much like how he works in the lab, and the way he thinks about cooking have taught me a lot about how to be a better cook. Here’s what I’ve learned.

READ MORE »

I’m a fan of simple home cooking and tend to stick to tried-and-true cooking methods, but my interest was piqued when I read that you could cook salmon in a dishwasher.

Salmon? In a dishwasher? It sounded way too good to be true and, to be honest, a bit of a scary endeavor, but I gave it a whirl to see what this unconventional method of cooking was all about! Is this a genuine good tip? Seems hard to believe!

READ MORE »

Last weekend, I found proof that the best things in life really do come for free. And when I say “things,” I’m talking about cauliflower leaves. Bags and bags of cauliflower leaves, which usually get tossed away or given (to people like me) at no extra cost (usually for the compost). But secretly, they also have a place in your fridge and kitchen.

READ MORE »