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The Brassica: Cabbage, Broccoli and Other Childhood Nemeses
There is probably no more feared food group than the plants that come from the Brassicaceae family. Also known as the cruciferous vegetables, this family, surely a practical joke played by God on children, includes the plants that bring us cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, mustard greens, arugula, turnips, kohlrabi, broccoli, cauliflower and many other childhood Continue reading
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A requiem for bacon
On October 26, 2015 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) broke my heart. I know this sounds dramatic and maybe even a little silly. International research agencies don’t go around breaking peoples’ hearts. How can I justify this outrageous statement? Well it was on this day that the IARC issued a press release Continue reading
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Starch and Gelatinisation in Everyday Cooking
I’m no historian but I think it would be fair to say that for most of history most humans relied primarily on starchy grains and vegetables to keep themselves and their families fed. Grasses like wheat, rice, oats and barley are easy to grow and the seeds, or grains, of these grasses are rich in Continue reading
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Quick bite: The secret life of vegetables
As Harold McGee points out in his book, On Food and Cooking, plants are essentially chemical factories. Plants are famously stationary and lacking any motive power must interact with the external world, for the most part, through a dazzling array of chemicals that they synthesise from basic chemical elements. The same plant will simultaneously produce Continue reading
The Science of Food 