Peter Smith

 

Peter Smith is a writer specializing in stories about food, science and technology.

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The World’s Most Expensive Vegetable

Long before hops cones were used to make beer bitter, hops shoots were eaten as a spring green

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Colonel Curmudgeon and KFC’s Mascot Problem

Colonel Sanders thought the quality of his chicken had "slipped mightily" and the whole culture of fast food appeared to disgust him

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Where Are All the Ramps Going?

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How the Titanic Tragedy Reshaped the Fishing Industry

Alarmed by the sinking of the ocean liner, a radio pioneer devised a way to detect icebergs—and then submarines, reefs and schools of fish

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Where Did Katniss Get Its Name?

The tuber that gave its name to the heroine of the Hunger Games books has its roots in an era when European explorers met native Americans

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Fiddlehead Ferns: How Dangerous is the First Taste of Spring?

The French botanist named 6,700 species in a manic quest for fame. But did his taste for wild foods do him in?

Does what you are hearing affect how you taste?

What Does Sweetness Sound Like?

Lab experiments show that we associate different sounds with different flavors, and that sounds influence how foods taste

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Making Noise and Selling Ice Cream

Put the bumpy, sour, off-key sound of a mobile ice cream vendor on repeat and play it loud, and you've got an infectious earworm

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The Sound of Success, Mobile Food Truck Edition

What does a folk song have to do with food trucks, Good Humor bars and the Beach Boys?

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S-O-F-T Double E, Mister Softee

A one-man band of an adman recorded an infectious three-minute earworm that will disrupt your sanity this summer

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Meet Food “Information Artist” Douglas Gayeton

The images convey invisible or purposely obfuscated ideas related to food, explained by the experts themselves

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A Brief History of Bitters

The author of a new book on bitters explains how they went from medicine to cocktail ingredient

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Pfizer’s Recipe for Pig Testicle Tacos

Corporate cookbooks occupy a unique place in the kitchen, and they exhibit corporate America's attempt to establish societal norms

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What Shredded Wheat Did for the Navy

The inventor of one of the first ready-to-eat breakfast cereals was also an accidental historian

Carleton E. Watkins, “Interior Chinese Restaurant, S.F.,” (ca. 1880)

Was Chop Suey the Greatest Culinary Joke Ever Played?

Have you heard the one about the crowd of hungry miners looking for a meal in Chinatown?

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Underwood’s Deviled Ham: The Oldest Trademark Still in Use

The 1870 trademark was for "Deviled Entremets"—"Intended for Sandwiches, Luncheons, and Traveler's Repasts"

Black Lobster and the Birth of Canning

The canning innovation left another lasting impression: Foods are safe only when sterilized

That’s Disgusting

While disgust originally protected us from potential poisons, it eventually gave rise to culturally defining flavors and odors, all tied to local microbes

Diagram of Grado ship relic

How a Ship Full of Fish Helped Recreate an Ancient Fish Sauce

A 2,000-year-old shipwreck held ceramic vessels full of fish sauce, as well as a giant tank for transporting live fish

Fish Sauce, Ketchup and the Rewilding of Our Food

Fermented fish sauce has been a culinary staple since at least the 7th century B.C. What makes this seemingly disgusting condiment so popular?

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