Rachel Laudan

Now grinding seeds is always hard so it’s no wonder that Beatrice resorted to the coffee grinder, especially because she was working with a pestle and mortar, which, even if it is used to shear, is not as effective as a grindstone. Even if you have a grindstone, though, even if you know how to [...]

Chocolate is an oddity. It’s one of the few native American foodstuffs to make it immediately to the Old World. And now, when anyone who has any pride in their foodie credentials praises the fresh and natural, chocolate, one of the most elaborately processed and industrialized foods around, is given a pass and allowed into [...]

“Foie gras belongs to the protected cultural and gastronomical heritage of France”, according to French law (French rural code L654-27-1). Hmm.  Go read Michaela DeSoucey’s article on gastronationalism in the prestigious American Sociological Review, an article that uses all the technical tools of sociology to get to the politics underlying this preemptive claim. Here’s her [...]