Cutlery: Spoon, Fork, Knife

Which Came First, the Spoon, Fork, or Knife?

The spoon predates the knife and the fork. It exists in every age and culture in a wide variety of shapes.
Delmonico's dinner, 1906

The Evolution of the New York Restaurant Scene

In colonial America, restaurants as we know them today were virtually unheard of.
Bosch Strawberry, from "Garden of Earthly Delights"

500 Years of Hell With Hieronymus Bosch

Hieronymus Bosch died 500 years ago, but we can't take our eyes off of his paintings.
Hastings Muskogee Hatchery 1911

When Refrigeration Was Controversial

What the ordinary egg has to do with your refrigerator.
Turkish delight

Why Was Turkish Delight C.S. Lewis’s Guilty Pleasure?

Austerity during WWII was hardly the time for pounds of exotic candy. Yet The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe prominently features Turkish delight.
Tang ad

There’s Class Inside That Glass of Tang

A scholar examines kitschy American foods as an entree into a conversation about class in the United States.
Image of ice in sparkling water

The Irish Were Way Ahead of the Soda Water Trend

Soda water is a popular beverage now, but it was once considered a cure, among other things.
Egg Cream

The Egg Cream Mob

What's in an egg cream? No eggs. No cream. And a dose of mafia history.
Bacon in a cast iron pan

The Reason You Don’t Have to Grocery Shop Every Day

Food preservatives are a major part of how we live now. But who invented them?
A woman reads the nutrition label of a canister of oatmeal

How Much Will New Nutrition Labels Help Fight Obesity?

Nutrition labels are changing for the first time since they were introduced two decades ago.