BritishNorth American
Butter Tart History: The Two-Line Barrie Recipe of 1900
The earliest printed butter tart recipe is a two-line filling in a 1900 hospital fundraiser cookbook from Barrie, Ontario. Everything before it is theory.
6 min read
The Stories Behind What the World Eats
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We write narrative nonfiction about food - the history, the conflict, the people. Recipes are part of the story, never the whole story.
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Histories, migrations, and the moments that made your favorite dishes.
JapaneseNorth AmericanWar & Famine
Why Is Spam So Popular in Hawaii? Start With the Fishing Ban
GIs brought the cans, but martial law kept Hawaii's Japanese fishermen ashore in 1941, and a plantation habit of rice with salty canned meat gave Spam somewhere to stay.
8 min read
MigrationLatin American
Argentine Pastry Names and the Anarchist Bakers
Bolas de fraile, vigilantes and cañoncitos are said to be jokes by anarchist bakers in 1888. The strike is documented. The joke itself is harder to prove.
6 min read
Ritual FoodsMigrationItalian
The Real Origin of the Feast of the Seven Fishes
The meatless Christmas Eve supper is southern Italian and in print by 1847. The name and the fixed seven are Italian American, and nobody has found them in print before 1983.
8 min read
North AmericanInventions
Who Invented the Brownie? The Palmer House Claim Tested
Chicago's Palmer House says it made the first brownie for the 1893 World's Fair. The printed record shows a molasses cake in 1896 and chocolate recipes after 1900.
6 min read
Trade RoutesFermentationKorean
When Did Kimchi Become Spicy? The Chili Arrived Late
Korea first wrote about the chili in 1614 and called it poisonous. Chili kimchi took another century and a half to fill the cookbooks, and red napa-cabbage kimchi is younger still.
8 min read
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Every story connects to a bigger picture.
💡
Accidental Inventions
Happy kitchen accidents
🎭
Cultural Identity
Food as who we are
🫙
Fermentation
Humanity's oldest technology
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Forgotten Recipes
Lost dishes worth reviving
🚢
Migration Stories
How food crosses borders
🌍
Origin Stories
Where dishes come from
🎉
Ritual Foods
Why we eat what we celebrate
🛒
Street Food
The world eats on its feet
⛵
Trade Routes
Food that traveled the world
⚔️
War & Famine
How conflict shapes food
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