The elderberry is a dark purple berry of the European or “black elder” tree (Sambucus nigra), the North American elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), as well as the red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa). These shrubs or woody plants are found in Europe, North America, Western Asia, and North Africa. The berries are very nutritious but are often quite acidic. […]
Why Don’t We Eat the Green Tops of Carrots?
Most of us buy our carrots in bags with the green tops removed. Carrots with the greens still intact are not as widely available as carrots with the greens removed. However, you may sometimes find them available. Are carrot greens edible. Yes! They are perfectly edible. Carrot greens are eaten in many countries but not […]
Why Does the First Pancake Always Turn Out So Bad?
Many people consider the first pancake a sacrificial pancake. Even famous chef Jacques Pepin said “the first pancake is for the dog.” Different people have different criteria for what makes the first pancake “ruined.” For me, and for many folks, its that the first pancake develops an uneven and overbrowned crust when they want their […]
How do Artificial Sweeteners Trick Our Taste Buds into Thinking They’re Sugar?
The science of taste is confusing. We think of certain foods as having certain tastes. By extension, we think those foods represent those tastes. But our taste buds do not react to foods, they react to food compounds. To explain further, here is my informal answer to a related Quora question: “How do artificial sweeteners […]
Are Leftover Onions Bad For You? Will They Give You Food Poisoning?
How often do you use half of an onion and store the other half in a plastic bag inside the refrigerator? You may have heard the claim that leftover cut onions are a particular hazard and cause of food poisoning. This claim states that cut onions are somehow a magnet for bacteria and that you […]
Why the Fridge Test For Olive Oil Doesn’t Work
The “fridge test for olive” oil is when you put a bottle of olive oil in the refrigerator to see if it turns solid or “freezes.” This widely touted method is supposed to tell you whether the olive oil is a high-quality pure olive oil. If the olive oil turns solid in the bottle when […]
Are Bay Leaves Useless In Cooking?
How many times have you put a bay leaf into a stew or soup and wondered what the heck it was doing? Can you even taste it? What’s the purpose? You can detect the flavor that most herbs add to food. You know the flavor of mint, oregano, basil, rosemary, sage, or thyme. Or, at […]
McDonald’s Worm Burger Controversy
When I was a kid, maybe around the time I was reading How to Eat Fried Worms, there was an urban legend circulating: McDonald’s hamburgers were made with ground worms, meaning, of course, earthworms. Circulating since at least 1978, the rumor originally started about Wendy’s but was switched to McDonald’s, since the chain was so […]
Is the 5-Second Rule For Food True?
The 5-second rule of food is a cultural belief that if you drop food on the floor, as long as you pick it up within 5 seconds it is safe to eat. The reason people believe this is because bacteria need time to transfer to food so as long as the food is not on […]
Can You Get Bird Flu From Eating Eggs?
The current eggs shortage in the United States is due to a large outbreak of Avian Influenza Virus or “Bird Flu” (H5N1) among the nations laying hen population. In December 2024, the average price of eggs was already high at $4.15. The price of eggs is expected to increase greatly this year, if you can […]