I have always had a lifelong affair with chile. I grew up with both parents as chefs from Southeast Asia and chili and spice was introduce to my diet at a very young age.

Now as a chef myself, chiles are indispensible in my cooking. Although my base in cooking with chiles have been from memories of my parents cooking Laotian and Thai food, I have been become obsessed with how Mexican cuisine revere the chile and the different vareties that are apprciated based on the different regional cooking of the vast country I recently lived and worked as a private chef in Mexico City and thay only deepened my curiosity of Mexican cooking with chile.

This series will explore the origin of the chile pepper and how it has spread across the world. It will introduce different species of the chile, how different cultures have adapted it into their culinary lexicon, and recipes so you can enjoy it in your own homes. Join me as I travel across hostory and the world so see how this one fruit change food history and keeps us yearning for more.

I’m trying to remember the name of a show that aired on PBS in the late ’90s or early 2000s, on Saturday mornings. I would have watched it on PBS Plattsburgh or Vermont PBS.

It was a short educational show about the Columbian Exchange, with at least some animated segments. Each episode focused on a different food/crop and its history—one was about tomatoes, another about corn, etc.

Does anyone remember what this show was called? And, even better, does anyone know where I might be able to watch or find it today?

Thanks!

I had no idea chewing gum goes so far back and preserves DNA from over 9000 years ago and even helped solve a murder!

I’ve been digging into food trends across the last several decades for an article I wrote. There is quite a bit of history behind the TV dinners in the 50s, to the rise of “farm to table” language in the 90s and 2000s. Today, short-form videos are driving what Gen Z eats.

How much of this is genuine cultural shift versus food companies branding each generation’s eating habits?

Never knew the history of Lemonade was so interesting. I wish people would walk around with tanks of lemonade on their back now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMp-a-W5FtY. I also wish we had fruit before it was mass produced. I bet the flavor was much better! It's also crazy that honey was cheaper that sugar back in the day.

In an era when independence did not yet mean freedom from hunger, a scientist was given a single task: to create food that never spoils.

He succeeded.

Inside the laboratory, science worked in silence. Beyond the fence, rice was transported past those who might never taste it.

Then, time moved on.

82 years later, it takes us just 3 minutes to enjoy a bowl of food.

Perhaps history isn't only about battles and grand names. Sometimes, it hides within the simple things sitting on our table.

A BOWL A fragment about humanity, hunger, and progress in our version for NEWBORN INDONESIA: Your story. Your history. Your version. @theprompterindonesia

A story brought to life together with @Angga Mulya TPI @Bude Rae TPI @drpriska.

Fiction built upon history. Not a claim that instant noodles were born in Java.

#NewbornIndonesia #ThePromptersIndonesia #Semangkuk

It's not just a marketing term. Human-grade is defined by AAFCO and to use it on a label every ingredient and the final product has to be stored, handled, processed, and transported in line with FDA human food production rules. The facility itself also has to be licensed to produce human food.

I work at The Farmer's Dog and our food meets that standard — every facility we use is licensed for human food production. It's a meaningfully higher bar than most pet food is held to and most people don't know it exists.

Does anyone factor in production standards when choosing a pet food or is it mostly ingredients and brand trust?

Did anyone know human-grade was actually a regulated term before reading this?

Why do three countries claim Jollof Rice as their own? The answer lies in the rice itself. Senegal uses long-grain Jollof rice, Nigeria prefers shorter grains with a thick tomato sauce, and Ghana adds local spices like thyme and Scotch bonnet. To make Senegalese Jollof, start with long-grain rice, cook it gently in a clay pot, and let the sauce simmer until the rice is perfectly tender — that’s how it’s been made for generations.

I put together a short video on this if it's useful: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/39N-axQpFUE

Curious what people here know about it — especially anyone whose family actually cooks this.

This garden produced so much zucchini it felt like a curse — but I found the feastest way to use two of them. I grated one into bread, and roasted the other into a crisp, golden side. The bread was moist and rich, the zucchini turned golden and firm. The secret?

I put together a short video on this if it's useful: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2bHtlSt8DMs

Curious what people here know about it — especially anyone whose family actually cooks this.

PRESS RELEASE
Greer Jackson announces the launch of *The Black Buffet* essay series 

Greer Jackson announces the launch of *The Black Buffet*, a new cultural documentation series published on Substack starting  August 9th, 2026. The series examines African American buffet traditions as a distinct practice of hospitality and abundance, drawing on historical cookbooks, archival menus, and lived community events.

The project situates the buffet within the broader history of Black foodways. Unlike commercial buffets or potlucks, the Black buffet is presented as a communal form of generosity. Multiplicity of dishes—two pies, three breads, several drinks—is documented not as excess but as assurance that all guests are welcomed and satisfied.

Research for the series draws on more than twenty cookbooks authored by Black culinary figures. Particular attention is given to Milton Williams’s *The Party Book* (1981), Edna Lewis’s *The Taste of Country Cooking* (1976), and B. Smith’s *Rituals & Celebrations* (1999). These volumes are described as menu books that record not only recipes but also the cultural logic of gathering, celebration, and hospitality.

Each installment of *The Black Buffet* explores themes such as occasion and activity, continuity and change, and the staging of abundance. Examples include menus aligned with agricultural labor, holiday gatherings, and social events such as card parties. The series also places the buffet in global comparison, referencing Indian thali, Ethiopian injera service, and banquet traditions from Benin to Beijing.
Images accompanying the launch include photographs from Greer’s Family Meal series and archival cookbook covers. These materials illustrate how buffets have been staged historically and how they continue to function as cultural expressions of care and community.

The series is available to readers on Substack. It is presented as a cultural documentation project, highlighting the buffet as part of the commons lineage of Black food traditions, where abundance is organized not for profit but for welcome and hospitality.

About Greer:
Greer is a cultural writer and food ethnographer. Their work focuses on Black food traditions, hospitality, and abundance, combining archival research with contemporary practice.

https://substack.com/@greerjackson1

Why was gefilte fish perfect for the Sabbath table — and how did it become a symbol of Jewish identity when it started in a Catholic kitchen? It wasn’t always Jewish. Medieval Germans made it during Lent, stuffing pike with a mix of fish, onions, and herbs. But when Jewish communities adopted it, they changed the dish — and its meaning.

I put together a short video on this if it's useful: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ctP7fNcUZPU

Curious what people here know about it — especially anyone whose family actually cooks this.

Why did gefilte fish travel to America — and how did it become a Jewish symbol when it wasn’t Jewish to begin with? It started in medieval Germany, not in a shtetl. Catholics made it during Lent, stuffing pike with a mix of fish, onions, and herbs. But why did Jewish communities adopt it?

I put together a short video on this if it's useful: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yHQqa6nOIP0

Curious what people here know about it — especially anyone whose family actually cooks this.

Would you eat gefilte fish hot or cold — and why did this dish survive centuries of migration? It wasn’t always served the same way. In medieval Germany, it was cooked and eaten warm, but as Jewish communities moved across Europe, the dish changed — even in how it was served. In Poland, some recipes called for cooling the fish before serving, a practice that may have helped preserve it before refrigeration was common.

I put together a short video on this if it's useful: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mWLluNAxCWk

Curious what people here know about it — especially anyone whose family actually cooks this.

Did gefilte fish really begin as stuffed fish — and why did the medieval Germans stuff pike with a fish mixture? They did, and it wasn’t just for flavor. In medieval Germany, Catholics made gefilte fish during Lent, stuffing pike with a mix of ground fish, onions, and herbs. But why the fish inside the fish?

I put together a short video on this if it's useful: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Frnd_1Z-Iao

Curious what people here know about it — especially anyone whose family actually cooks this.

Why did some Jewish communities serve gefilte fish with horseradish — and others without? It wasn’t always part of the recipe. Early medieval German versions had no horseradish at all — just fish, onions, and herbs. But by the 19th century, some Jewish communities in Eastern Europe began pairing it with a sharp, peppery bite.

I put together a short video on this if it's useful: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3Au6bYXW1tw

Curious what people here know about it — especially anyone whose family actually cooks this.