During the Edo Period (1603-1868) of Japan, sushi was between two and four times larger than it is today.
David McCowan
ddmccowan
David McCowan is a contributor to The Takeout and a physicist at The University of Chicago. He loves food history and talking spirits, cocktails, beer, and wine.
You would too, David. Read more
Visual artists rarely get their due. Photographs and illustrations on the internet are treated as in service to the…
That title alone deserves a high five. Read more
I used to think I didn’t like asparagus, but it turned out to be—as these aversions often are—a textural problem.…
Ghee and clarified butter are a secret ingredient. They’re butter, but better. They’re richer, stronger, more…
I know Canada is a mostly forgotten footnote in world history, but I feel like this article should at least mention Canada’s weird history with margarine. Before Newfoundland was officially part of the country, margarine was an illegal substance in Canada. But Newfoundland is a big frozen rock unfriendly to dairy… Read more
And after the war. My mother was born on Pearl Harbor day and she and her siblings had a ritual of tossing the margarine bag around until the dye was blended in. Read more
The worst thing about margarine is its name.
The spelling is absurd; there is no justification for a soft G before an A. The letter G can be pronounced with its soft sound only before the vowels E, I, or Y. So the word should be either “margiarine” or “margerine”.
This is the English word that I hate most. Read more
Wisconsin takes their butter extremely seriously. It was only last year that you could sell Kerrygold butter in the state again, given the hoops one has to jump through. WI has a law (dated 1953) requiring all butters to be rated on various measures — including flavor, body and color — by the federal government or… Read more
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So I’ll go a bit more into hydrogenation:
All fats come in a form called “triglycerides.” These molecules have a glycerol backbone and 3 fatty acid chains. Fatty acid chains are long molecules that are essentially big carbon chains. Now, if every carbon on this chain has the maximum possible number of hydrogen atoms…
Margarine was also a big deal in Jewish culture, such that it’s still widely used by non-SK Jews and considered to have a nostalgic quality that coconut or even real butter can’t equal.
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The Pang name has been dishonored. Last week, upon reading about this curious state fair food item “deep fried…
Standing in the checkout line, I realized I had forgotten to get butter. I dispatched Mrs Lizardo to get it while I emptied the cart. She came back with margarine. How long should I hold it against her? Note: it has already been more than 20 years.
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Yeah, I think McCowan might be in the pockets of Big Spoiled Meat. Read more
I mean, you’re still gonna die. Happy Tuesday! Read more