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Food History

A Brief History of the Mason Jar

Around since 1858, the home canning classic is a sought after item for pandemic gardeners this summer

The chocolate factory in Olten, Switzerland, quickly fixed its ventilation problem and resumed production.

Last Week, This Swiss Town Was Briefly Showered in Cocoa Powder

A broken ventilation system at a Lindt factory spewed crushed cocoa nibs into the air

The newly discovered banana cultivation site

Cool Finds

Traces of 2,000-Year-Old Banana Farm Found in Australia

The discovery contradicts conceptions of early Indigenous peoples as exclusively hunter gatherers

Fannie Farmer oversees one of her students, Martha Hayes Ludden, at the Boston Cooking School in 1900.

How 12 Female Cookbook Authors Changed the Way We Eat

A new book examines the recipes of a dozen cooks who made groundbreaking contributions across the food industry

Archaeologists discovered a Roman coin and remnants of an ancient pub while renovating this extension of the Virgin Mary Assumption Church, known as Old Town Hall, in the Slovakian town of Spišské Vlachy.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Remnants of 18th-Century Pub in Slovakia

The team found a rare Roman coin, wall graffiti and ceramic fragments underneath the tiny village’s town hall

A former logging town, Leavenworth, Washington, received a facelift sometime in the early 1960s.

Ten American Towns That Feel Like Europe

You don’t have to travel far to get a taste of European culture right here in the United States

A "wine window" in Florence

Covid-19

Centuries-Old ‘Wine Windows’ Open for Business in Florence

A low-risk alternative to curbside pickup, the portals may have helped fight an outbreak of bubonic plague in the 1630s

Police discovered a total of 13 Roman amphorae and an 18th-century anchor inside a frozen seafood shop in Alicante, Spain.

Cool Finds

Police Confiscate Roman Amphorae Found Stashed in Spanish Seafood Shop

The store owner’s son allegedly discovered the 13 clay vessels on fishing trips and brought them back as decorations

Frans Snyders' Fruit Stall features a vast spread of produce from the 17th century.

Art Meets Science

Centuries-Old Paintings Help Researchers Track Food Evolution

Art inadvertently documents the domestication of carrots, wheat, watermelon and other culinary delights

Lynne Olver's personal library contains more than 2,300 food-related books.

You Could Help Curate This Ambitious Timeline of Food History

The family of Lynne Olver, the librarian who launched the online portal in 1999, needs help keeping her legacy alive

“For the elite, the nobility, everything did change radically—the administration of the country, legal frameworks, the organization of the landscape,” says study co-author Richard Madgwick. “But at a lower level, people adapted to the new normal rapidly.”

New Research

How Did the Norman Conquest Change English Cuisine?

After the invasion of 1066, pork and possibly chicken spiked in popularity

The third president evidently had a love of vanilla ice cream.

Make Thomas Jefferson’s Recipe for Ice Cream

The co-author of the Declaration of Independence also drafted a radical recipe

Bellini at Harry's Bar in Venice

Virtual Travel

Make These Eight Famous Cocktails From Bars Around the World

They might taste sweeter when you know the history behind them

Quaker Oats announced this week that it will retire the Aunt Jemima name and logo. "We recognize Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype," said a spokesperson in a statement.

Quaker Oats to Retire Aunt Jemima After Acknowledging Brand’s Origins as ‘Racial Stereotype’

The breakfast line’s rebranding arrives amid widespread protests against systemic racism and police brutality

Reptile vertebrae found at el-Wad Terrace Cave

15,000 Years Ago, Humans in Israel Ate Snakes and Lizards

Snacking on reptiles may have helped these prehistoric people adapt to living in more permanent settlements

Boxed Day-Glo orange mac and cheese like this is an invention of the past century.

How Boxed Mac and Cheese Became a Pantry Staple

Processed cheese solved the problem of the dairy product going bad, and it was incredibly convenient

This month's selections include The Beauty and the Terror, Feasting Wild and Splash.

Books of the Month

The Dangers of Space, Military Rivals and Other New Books to Read

These five recent releases may have been lost in the news cycle

Swiss researchers have developed a prototype of iridescent chocolate

Thanks to Physics, This Chocolate Is Iridescent—and Safe to Eat

One Twitter user and Swiss researchers have created chocolate that diffracts light like a prism

Kleicha are ready to be delivered in their gift boxes. Each year the family creates different packaging, which some recipients collect.

How to Make the Ancient Iraqi Cookie that Signals the End of Ramadan

Made with rosewater, nigella seed and stuffed with dates or nuts, the bite-size ‘kleicha’ evokes layers of meaning and memory

To detail the Picts' diet, researchers studied 137 skeletons buried under Portmahomack's old Tarbat Parish Church.

New Research

Why These Ancient Scottish Seafarers Didn’t Snack on Fish

New research suggests fish, which are widely celebrated in Pictish lore, were simply too special to eat

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