The subjects of today’s blog are two animal-based “natural” food additives that have been around for hundreds of years–but people are only just realizing where they come from. I’m talking about cochineal red coloring, derived from bugs, and castoreum flavoring,… Read More
In the early sixteenth century, shortly after Columbus had arrived in Hispaniola and Spanish settlers had established huge plantain, banana, and (a bit later) sugar cane plantations on the island that is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic, a plague… Read More
Because America was at war with Germany in WWI, hamburgers (named after the German city of Hamburg) were renamed Salisbury steaks. Frankfurters were called “liberty sausages,” and dachshunds became “liberty dogs.”