Is Cooking Necessary?*

No, it’s not. That’s your immediate answer, isn’t it? After all, you’ve got more important things to do, don’t you? Or do you? You can live your life without cooking. You can go to your nearest grocery store and bypass all the technology and knowledge that took your ancestors centuries to refine. You can buy … More Is Cooking Necessary?*

Ats Jaar: Possible Origins of the Practice of Pickling in the Antebellum American South

A little prickle of recognition, a sense of déjà vu — that’s what happened when I turned to page 86 of A Colonial Plantation Cookbook: The Receipt Book of Harriott Pinckney Horry, 1770 (1984, edited by historian Richard J. Hooker*). There it was: “Ats Jaar, or Pucholilla.” My first thought was, “What is an Indian … More Ats Jaar: Possible Origins of the Practice of Pickling in the Antebellum American South

How Cooking Works: The Chemistry of the Matter

Having trouble keeping your red cabbage red and your green leafies green? Although cooking IS an art, wielding a well-honed knife and calculating the cooking time for a roast  require a certain basic understanding of the science side of the kitchen, too. Food science guru Shirley Corriher cooks up some lessons in this well-done video. … More How Cooking Works: The Chemistry of the Matter