Jerry James Stone

Let’s face it, the grilled cheese is already a super indulgent sandwich. There’s no need to pile on a bunch of sweet potato fries in between all of that melted cheddar and jack cheese. But I did it anyway. Oh, and I also added a fried egg. Just because I could. If you were to say this breakfast sandwich is over the top, I wouldn’t disagree. This is the kind of meal I make when I’m eating alone, where no one can judge me.

If you’ve ever made soup from scratch — any soup — you’re aware of how it always tastes better the next day. And waiting for lunch or dinner to roll around to partake is, well, just too hard. Which is why I often have homemade soup for breakfast. Outside of gazpacho, there are very few soups on top of which you can’t just toss a fried egg and enjoy. Posole is one of my favorites when it comes to eating soup for breakfast.

As an avid camper, some of my favorite dishes have made their way from the indoor kitchen to the great outdoors. Of course, there’s always a bit of adjustment when roughing it, but the spirit of the dishes remains the same. However, I cannot say that many camping foods have made their way back inside to the home kitchen — except for this recipe for breakfast baked potatoes.

I admit, as a food blogger, breakfast is usually about creative ways to use up the many leftovers I have created while blogging. Sometimes it doesn’t work. Like, how does one use up Thai noodles and homemade Pop-Tarts? But other times, I stumble across something wonderful, like pizza waffles! My freezer is always stuffed with homemade pizza dough.

Not quite ready to stop celebrating Cinco de Mayo? Well, look no further than these delicious salsa verde breakfast nachos! What I love about this breakfast dish is that it’s something you can easily enjoy on your own (if you’re ravenous) or simply share with a few friends. Not many breakfast options can do that. And because it’s nachos, it’s super easy to make.

Up until now, the discoveries showcased within this series have highlighted achievements made during the 19th century. Not by design, I promise you. All of these food science breakthroughs were hand-picked on merit alone, as is today’s: genetically modified crops. But genetically modified crops come with some baggage. Unlike canning, fermentation, or milk pasteurization, where we have a solid understanding of both the science and the result, GM crops are still in their infancy.

If there’s one food science breakthrough that stands apart from the rest, it’s pasteurization, milk pasteurization to be specific. Its very adoption changed the health of our nation. To put it another way, in New York during the 1850s, fewer than half of all children born lived to see their 5th birthday, with tainted milk being the biggest cause of illness.

Imagine summertime without ice cream, or an ice-cold lemonade. No chilled wine or cold beer can be found — anywhere. It’s horrible and downright post-apocalyptic, like something Tina Turner sings the theme song to. But a world quite similar to this existed, mere centuries ago. Refrigeration is not only responsible for what you eat, but probably also where you live, which is why it’s next on my list of the five all-time most important food science breakthroughs!

This week I’m talking through five of the greatest breakthroughs in food science, from fermentation to today’s topic: canning. Because seriously, when was the last time you considered Louis Pasteur, or how canned food was discovered? It’s been a while. These days we’re preoccupied by health fads, gluten-free eating, and vegan alternatives.

Science and food are natural buddies. Take the discovery of fire for example: it not only makes food super tasty, but cooked food is both safer, and easier to digest. Thanks to advancements in food science, we consume food in a way that would’ve been unheard a mere century or so ago. And modern life is not only made easier by these discoveries, it’s made possible by them.