Rachel Laudan

Last week Onkel Bob posted a long response to my post, Bread first or beer first? A bad question. He made several interesting points but the most important point, to which he kept returning, was “How did agriculture start at all?” or “What prompted widespread fields?”
That’s an interesting question.  But in my opinion it is [...]

I’m shamelessly copying from Steve Sando, whom many of you know for his superlative beans, who is equally shamelessly copying from Diana Kennedy, whom many of you know for her cookbooks that record the recipes of late twentieth century Mexico.
I’m just tagging along on this one.  I would say that juice is the wrong word [...]

A slight tingle, a flinty taste, verging on sour.  What is this?  A moment of confusion.
I am taken back to English pubs in the west country before urbanization and gastropubs hit, when there was bread and cheddar and scrumpy.  Scrumpy, a local cider, alcoholic of course, actually very alcoholic sometimes, had that tingle that taste.
But [...]