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Why I cook: food and science series
I cook a lot. I cook because it’s cheaper, but mostly I cook because I am absurdly lactose-intolerant, with a generally fussy tummy. As a kid, cooking seemed like something girly and irrelevant; food...
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Food and science: when is food safe?
The milk we get at the store is pasteurized, and we all know that chicken must reach 165 F and pork must reach 145 F. What is the source of these numbers, and what is their purpose? Raw foods like meat...
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Food and science: sous vide or water bath cooking
In sous vide cooking, food is cooked in a water-bath at low temperatures (130-150 F) for longer times. Food cooked sous vide can be radically different in texture and taste than food cooked by more...
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Food and science: understanding and cheating lactose intolerance
A person is lactose intolerant when they no longer makes sufficient quantities of the enzyme lactase. Because the enzyme no longer breaks the lactose sugar down, bacteria in the large intestine do...
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Food and Science: Caramelization and the Maillard Reaction
When we cook food, we want it to be as flavorful as possible. Two types of chemical reactions contribute to browning; both of these reactions create hundreds or thousands of other molecules, which then...
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Food and science: Why are peppers hot?
Chili peppers, such as jalapeños and serranos and habañeros, are hot because they contain a chemical called capsaicin, which is an irritant to humans. Why capsaicin? If it is advantageous to plants to...
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Food and science: Our international food
The food we eat today may have been grown on the farm next door or in Chile or in Ethiopia. But thousands of years ago, their ancestors grew wild somewhere. The plants we eat originate from around the...
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The FODMAP Diet: An IBS diet based upon peer-reviewed science
I’m extremely lactose intolerant. What this means, biologically, is that I no longer produce enough lactase to process lactose sugar. Because I can’t process lactose in my small intestine, it moves on...
View ArticleTea for December
I love tea. Even in elementary school I began the day with tea; when I was little I drank herbal and eventually I transitioned to true-blue camellia sinensis. Today I drink about 3 liters of tea every...
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Tea for December: Week 1
It’s been an exciting week of teas. Someone said my project sounded like an advent calendar, so I decided I could make that work. I’ll continue to fill it out as the month proceeds. I’ve been posting...
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Tea for December: Week 2
The tea consumption continues! This weekend I went to the shop and got adventurous. It’s going to be a flavorful December! Some days I revisit an old stand-by, some days I try something brand new....
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