Skills News

Cilantro might be one of the most controversial herbs out there. For a certain percentage of the population (estimated to be somewhere between four and 14 percent), the leafy green makes everything it touches taste like soap. Why does it affect some people and not others? Turns out it’s genetic.

The markets are flush with gorgeous produce. Instagram feeds are exploding with colorful strawberries and asparagus and greens galore. Maybe some of your friends have started picking up their CSA boxes and you’re thinking: Hey! I want my piece of produce paradise every week. I should join a CSA! Well, I am sorry, but I’ve got some bad news for you. You’re probably too late. And there’s a good reason why you can’t join a CSA in the springtime.

Parents, we’re guessing you’ve all been there. You’ve finished feeding your kids, and now it’s time to make yourself something to eat. But those leftover bits and pieces from your child’s plate are just easier to eat, and somehow that becomes dinner. Dan Pashman, of WNYC’s The Sporkful, is ready to fess up to snacking on his kids leftovers from dinner, and he’s come up with a hierarchy of what’s okay to eat.

What is it that makes Indian food so delicious, so rich, so craveable? A few scientists from the Indian Institute for Technology in Jodhpur wondered the same thing, so they analyzed over 2,500 Indian recipes to decode the complex, delicious magic of Indian food. Interested in what they found out? It’s all about opposites attract!

In an about-face, a new study recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine says that kids exposed to peanuts as babies are significantly less likely to develop a peanut allergy when they’re older. The results are apparently so compelling, the study recommends an immediate change to infant feeding guidelines.

Think about what you ate for breakfast as a kid. If you grew up in the U.S., chances are you were eating cereal, toast, eggs, muffins, or something similar. What happens when you give American kids traditional breakfasts from countries like Korea, Finland, Poland, and Vietnam? Not only will you get a lot of questions, but you’ll also get some of the funniest facial expressions we’ve ever seen.

This isn’t hard-hitting food news, but we can’t pass up the chance to share a roundup of cooking infographics. The list of charts, graphs, and diagrams includes everything from which spices pair best with which foods to cooking times for your favorite cuts of meat. One of our favorites? Bon Appetit’s guide to boiling eggs: What’s the one chart or graphic you wish you had for your kitchen?

A few years ago there was a state of emergency in the beekeeping world. Bees were disappearing by the millions. Where were they going? Any why? Did colony collapse signal the end of agriculture as we know it? Now, you don’t hear so much about disappearing bees. What’s happening?

You probably are familiar with Manischewitz, that syrupy sweet wine. It’s not the most hip stuff, but its story is far more intriguing than you might expect. Modern Farmer has a look at the history of Manischewitz — and the story of how the biggest kosher company in the U.S. got started. Interesting fact right off the bat: the rabbi who started Manischewitz Wines was actually named Dov Behr Abramson (he bought the passport of a dead man to emigrate). Also?

Are one of the many people who go out of your way to avoid monosodium glutamate a.k.a. MSG? Turns out, not only is it nearly impossible to avoid, but it also is completely safe to eat. A new video by the American Chemical Society is attempting to dispel the MSG myth and explain where our misconceptions originated. MSG’s bad rap started in a letter written to the New England Journal of Medicine in the late 1960s in which the author attributed his symptoms after eating Chinese food to MSG.

I’m a big tea drinker and so when friends shared a post from Food Babe on what’s really in the tea that we drink, I was very interested. I took a look at the post and according to Food Babe and her sources, depending on the brand, there might be a lot of chemicals and pesticides not only in tea, but in the tea bags as well. Have you read about this? Do you pay attention to the ingredients in your tea?

July is just around the corner and for me that means just one thing: it’s the time when the local tomato production starts to get serious and the farmers’ markets starting running red (and yellow, and pink, and chocolate, and green stripe). Sure, there’s the occasional basket of cherry tomatoes the last few weeks of June and I guess they’re pretty good.  But when the dry-farmed Early Girls start showing up, that’s when then I know all is right in the world.

I read a very interesting article this morning in Modern Farmer. Apparently Greek yogurt’s ascendant popularity in recent years has created a not-so-insignificant problem: acid whey waste. Acid, or sour, whey — the liquid that runs off when you strain yogurt or cottage cheese — is a troublesome byproduct: it’s toxic to the natural environment, yet not easy to integrate back into the workings of a factory or farm. So what can big food companies do with the acid whey?

If you’ve been seeding your tomatoes before using them in your cooking, we have news for you: maybe you should stop. Or so says America’s Test Kitchen host Chris Kimball in his new book on the science of cooking. So what’s wrong with seeding tomatoes?

Have you ever been told that microwaving vegetables depletes their nutritional value? Anytime you cook a vegetable (regardless of the method) there is usually some nutrient loss, but the belief held by some is that microwaves destroy up to 90 percent of the nutrients in the food, whereas stovetop cooking can be as low as 10 percent. But is it true?

“Preheat oven to 350 degrees.” This may be one of the most common phrases in the cooking universe…and also one of the most misleading. If you fret over the accuracy of your oven’s internal temperature reading, you’re working too hard. Here’s why:In a nutshell, it’s impossible to control your oven temperature, so you should stop worrying about it altogether—or so writes Slate writer Brian Palmer.

Major storms tore through the eastern half of the United States on Friday, and millions of people went without electricity all weekend. Were you one of them? If so, do you have power back now, or are you getting cool and catching up with your blog reading at a cafe or the office? Between these freak storms and hurricane season, it seemed like a good time to reacquaint ourselves with basic fridge safety protocol. Here is what you should know, in case your fridge and freezer lose their juice.

The tomato genome has been decoded! Plant geneticists from 14 different countries spent the last nine years mapping the genetic makeup of the tomato, and have discovered that the tomato contains 31,760 genes – that’s 7,000 more genes than a human being! The tomato’s genome is actually closer to that of a potato. (The two plants share 92 percent of their DNA.) Why map the tomato genome at all?

In space, even cravings are different. Astronauts who might not necessarily like spicy foods on Earth develop a taste for hot sauce, and start craving sour and sweet tastes. Scientists have a few theories about why this happens.One factor might be that people lose their sense of smell in space, and with it much of their experience of flavor, as anyone with a stuffy nose can tell you.

Do you love eating super-spicy curry that no one else at the table can stomach? Or hate slimy okra even though the rest of your family loves it? According to scientists, there are five reasons why food tastes different to every individual, and not all of them involve our taste buds.We are all born with a love of sweet foods and a dislike of bitter flavors, but beyond that, the foods we love and the foods we hate can vary wildly.

Have you been following the news surrounding food dyes? Late last month the FDA decided against putting warning labels on foods that contain artificial coloring, saying there is not enough evidence it is harmful or causes hyperactivity in children, but we’re not so sure. Are the possible risks worth a more colorful diet?Supporters of artificial food coloring point out that colorless food is less visually appealing and can even taste less flavorful.

The Bloody Mary is more than just a tasty way to get a little hair of the dog. According to the American Chemical Society, it’s also one of the most complex cocktails out there. That’s why this group of chemists decided to spend months analyzing the drink, in the process coming up with some tips for making the best Bloody Mary.The most surprising tip? Use cheap vodka! (Read on to find out why.

These days, shoppers have the option of choosing heritage or heirloom foods. But what do these words mean and how do they affect you? You may be surprised to learn it isn’t just a frivolous fad; our food supply depends on them.Through the history of civilization, humans have raised a variety of livestock and agriculture. However, today’s large-scale industrial farming methods only use a few specialized breeds that have been developed to meet certain requirements.