Category Archives: Uncategorized

Rootstock Archaeology

IMAGE: Katie Holten, Photograph of an excavated Cox’s Pippen tree re-erected in a shed in East Malling (Original photograph (1952) courtesy of David Johnson, East Malling Research, UK), 2005. On Christmas Day, artist Katie Holten posted this stunning image of an excavated Cox’s Orange Pippen tree, originally taken at East Malling Research in 1952. The […]

Honey Fences

Gratuitous cute elephant photograph by Brian Snelson. Edible Geography readers have perhaps heard of “pollinator pathways,” an initiative to thread together isolated pockets of green space into nectar-filled corridors, in order to give butterflies and bees easier passage across otherwise unfriendly urban expanses of concrete and asphalt. A recent article in British Airways’ High Life […]

Smog Meringues

The concept of terroir will be familiar to most Edible Geography readers; recently, we also explored the idea of “merroir,” or tasting place in sea salt. But what about aeroir—the atmospheric taste of place? IMAGE: A London-style Peasouper Smog Meringue. Photo by the Center for Genomic Gastronomy. This afternoon, the Center for Genomic Gastronomy and […]

The Twenty-Four Hour Loaf

In the opening episode of the BBC’s new three-part series, “Inside the Factory: How Our Favourite Foods Are Made,” we spend an hour watching a loaf of supermarket sliced white get made. There is a short diversion into the history of bread-making (including Victorian-era DIY tests for alum adulteration) and a brief interlude in an […]

Improbable Salt

The illicit thrill of carrying vials of expensive white powder around town is just part of the charm of owning your own Improbable Salt. I am no salt expert (yes, there is such a profession: meet salt sommelier Sommai Wooniem) but, astonishingly, the salt from a Hawaiian-French improbable ocean tastes distinctly different to that of […]

Supply Chain Seasoning

Salt is essential. Globally, humans eat an average of 10 grams a day and we each contain roughly 250 grams, without which we would die. IMAGE: Photograph courtesy Ryan Dewey. As Mark Kurlansky explains in his book, Salt, the extraction of salt has inspired many of the world’s most ambitious public works projects, while the […]

Gastropod: Savour Flavour

Why does grape candy taste so fake? What on earth is blue raspberry, anyway? And what is the difference between natural and artificial, at least when it comes to flavour? Join us as we taste the rainbow on this episode of Gastropod, from artificial flavouring’s public debut at the 1851 Crystal Palace exhibition, to the […]

Pear Bulb

IMAGE: “Die Glühbirne,” 2015, from “The Light Inside,” photograph by Radu Zaciu. German slang for light bulb is “die Glühbirne,” or “the glow pear.” As Romanian photograph Radu Zaciu explained to Petapixel, his latest series, “The Light Inside,” was originally inspired by this word play. IMAGE: Photograher Radu Zaciu preparing a cauliflower; photograph via Petapixel. […]

Holy Radish Water, Scientists!

IMAGE: Bottles of holy water (available at the Sacramentals Foundation of Omaha, Nebraska) and a radish. In a paper published in the journal Psychological Reports in 1979, Sandra Lenington measured the mean growth of 12 radish seeds watered with holy water against that of 12 radish seeds watered with tap water. It was not, Lenington […]

100 Shades of French Fry

For just two days this weekend, a gallery on New York’s Lower East Side hosted a pop-up French fry exhibition. IMAGE: A French fry on the Bowery. All photos in this post by Nicola Twilley. It was a PR stunt put together by craft condiment contender Sir Kensington, but, as someone who has never successfully […]