A brief history of America’s favorite cookie. Before there was the Oreo, there was the Hydrox. Neither a cleaning product nor a …

This classic cocktail has a muddled history. “I’ve never tasted anything so cool and clean…. They make me feel civilized.” The liquor …

Imagine the three-way lovechild of a taco, a tostada, and a quesadilla. Tacos, tostadas, and quesadillas are all part of one crowded, …

A quick guide to the chemistry of alcohol-soluble flavors. Few pastas are as comforting as penne à la vodka, but have you …

The original machine is now in the Smithsonian. Most edible inventions are lost to history; we’ll never know for certain who flipped …

What you really feel when you feel the burn. The human tongue has 10,000 taste buds programmed to recognize five basic flavors: …

And why the good stuff costs so much. Few supermarket staples get as abused as balsamic vinegar, although the genuine article has …

It’s the Internet’s new favorite kitchen appliance. What if you could fry a whole chicken in less than a tablespoon of oil? …

How to pick the perfect rack for your barbecue. Because nothing is easy and simple in this oblique, uncaring universe, the USDA’s …

This Cantonese delicacy doesn’t have any liquor like its namesake, but it’s a vital component of modern Chinese cooking. In France, XO …

The muddled history of the unavoidable picnic dish. Macaroni, the pasta, may be Italian, but macaroni salad, and really all pasta salads, …

Where your slurpee juice really comes from. There is, in fact, a blue raspberry bush, also called Rubus leucodermis, or more commonly, …

It’s the country’s most over-the-top dog. New York may be the first city most Americans imagine when they think of hot dogs, …

How the essential drunk food of Quebec became a worldwide phenomenon. French fries plus sauce plus melted cheese isn’t rocket science, but …

Ditch the measuring cups and spoons. It’s time to improve all your baking with one simple step. Here’s an experiment to try …

And why they had to add pumpkin puree to it 12 years later. In 2015, Starbucks announced that after great controversy, it …

There’s nothing better than a beer carnival honoring the king’s marriage to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Munich’s Oktoberfest is the largest beer …

What started as a marketing move also makes scientific sense. Compared to the crammed sardine-can flights of today, the early days of …

The simple technique that brings big flavors to your food. Recipes in older cookbooks and bloggy shorthand often talk about deglazing—“deglaze with …

All about the Frenchiest cooking technique around. Depending on the course, confit could mean one of two different things, but you’ve most …

And why it’s closer to marshmallows than anything chocolate. Fudge is so old-school, so unapologetically unfashionable, that it’s rarely even discussed outside …