food history

A view of Canton (Guangzhou), on the Pearl River in China, circa 1840. Canton was already a great trading port when the American ship Empress of China arrived in 1784 to fill up its hold with tea.

How A Taste For Chinese Tea Minted America's First Millionaires

8:18pm October 06, 2015

by Nina Martyris

China and its trade practices are often blamed for U.S. economic woes. But once upon a time, it was the tea trade with China that created American magnates — with some catastrophic consequences.

Originating in Mexico City, suadero tacos have gone from a food of the poor to a widely adored filling. These tacos are made from a variety of meats, including suadero, a cut from the lower parts of a cow. The meat is cooked in a griddle-like device calle

'Tacopedia': A Mouth-Watering Tour Of Mexico's Taco Culture

4:38pm October 01, 2015

by Tove Danovich

From the smoked marlin tacos of Baja California to the fried flower tacos of Chiapas, Mexico is home to endless interpretations of this essential dish. A new tome documents this vibrant taco cuisine.

Make mine a venti: An example of a drinking vessel from the Grasshopper Pueblo archaeological site in central Arizona. Researchers tested shards of similar vessels found at various sites in the American Southwest and found evidence that people in the regi

1,000 Years Ago, Caffeinated Drinks Had Native Americans Buzzing

3:32pm September 08, 2015

by Murray Carpenter

People in the American Southwest and Mexican Northwest were drinking cacao and tea-like yaupon in places where neither grew. That suggests an extensive trade network to deliver a caffeine fix.

This dish — mussels smoked in pine needles and pine ash butter — was inspired by a 1605 recipe that the explorer Samuel de Champlain made for his men while traveling through Canada. It's one of many historically inspired items on the menu at the Toron

Canada's Historical Fare Reimagined For The Modern Diner

11:59pm August 15, 2015

by Suzanne Cope

A restaurant in Toronto dives deep into centuries-old recipes to re-imagine what native Canadian cuisine means. It's part of a movement among chefs exploring heritage and identity through food.

Tea a dangerous habit? Women have long made a ritual of drinking the brew, but in 19th century Ireland, moral reformers tried to talk them out of it.

World News

Why Letting Women Take Tea Breaks Was Once Considered Dangerous

2:15pm August 12, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

Reformers of the 19th century warned that taking a tea break would steer Irish peasant women to thoughts of revolutionary feminism.

The U.S. military's need for longer-lasting rations led to the invention of many modern processed foods.

Cheetos, Canned Foods, Deli Meat: How The U.S. Army Shapes Our Diet

11:40am August 03, 2015

by Nadia Whitehead

Many of the processed foods that we eat — and the way they're made — were invented not for us, but for soldiers, says the author of the new book Combat-Ready Kitchen.

An illustration from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain, published in 1897. Between the 1860s and 1920, when Prohibition went into effect, American bartending came into its own.

The Golden Age Of Cocktails: When Americans Learned To Love Mixed Drinks

2:16pm July 30, 2015

by Nadia Whitehead

The Manhattan, the daiquiri, the martini. These classic cocktails were all born between the 1860s and Prohibition, an era when American bartending got inventive — and theatrical.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

How An 11-Year-Old Boy Invented The Popsicle

4:35pm July 24, 2015

by Shelby Pope

The beloved ice pops were born of a young boy's tinkering with sugary soda powder and water on a cold night. But the end of this tale for Frank Epperson was not as sweet as his treat.

Lee Perry-Gal measures chicken long bones at the zooarchaeology lab, Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa.

The Ancient City Where People Decided To Eat Chickens

1:51pm July 23, 2015

by Dan Charles

Chicken bones unearthed in Israel may mark a turning point in human cuisine: They could be the earliest evidence of people raising chickens for food, rather than cockfighting or use in ceremonies.

Queue Listen Now

Waiter carriers pass food to passengers on a train stopping in Gordonsville, Va., in this undated photo. After the Civil War, local African-American women found a route to financial freedom by selling their famous fried chicken and other home-made goods

Arts

'The Fried Chicken Capital': Where Racial Progress Began Along The Rails

12:01pm July 13, 2015

by Maria Godoy

Fried chicken is a racially fraught food. But for African-American women in Gordonsville, Va., the dish became a route to financial independence after the Civil War.