When people ask who invented ketchup, they are often surprised to learn it wasn’t a modern company like Heinz. The true origin of ketchup isn’t American at all; it traces back centuries to ancient Asian fish brines. Our favorite red tomato condiment actually began as a pungent fermented sauce called ke-tsiap. This is the surprisingly … Read more
Scrapple is a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch sausage loaf made from pork, cornmeal, & spices. Discover its German panhas origins, and what’s inside it.
Although the word dram was originally used colloquially to mean a small quantity of anything, it eventually came to be used primarily to describe an amount of liquid of a drink, specifically the amount of liquid drunk all at once. For instance, you might have heard, “I’m dying of thirst, can you give me a … Read more
Allspice is the dried unripened fruit of an evergreen plant in the Myrtle family called Pimienta dioca. It is commonly called the pimento tree. The tree is indigenous to Central America and grows from Southern Mexico to Panama and throughout the Caribbean. Other names for the spice is Jamaican pepper, clove pepper, pimento, and English spice. Although dried allspice … Read more
Understanding the coleslaw origin requires a quick trip back to the late 1600s. Originally known as koolsla by Dutch settlers in New York, the dish literally translates to “cabbage salad.” While it’s now a staple of modern comfort food, the journey from Dutch “koolsla” to American “coleslaw” is full of fascinating etymological twists. Coleslaw Origin: … Read more
A sweetbread is not a sugared pastry, which is what you’d be justified in thinking. Usually, when people tell you what sweetbreads are, they get it wrong, or only half right. Many people believe sweetbreads are testicles or calves’ brains. Others believe sweetbreads are just a nice-sounding name for internal organs or offal. In this … Read more