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Michael Pollan on His 25-Year Fight With the Food Industry

Zoe Williams The Guardian
“It was the tobacco companies, under pressure from the government over smoking, that bought the food industry. So it’s a similar playbook, except now they know to burn the internal memos saying: ‘We know this food is unhealthy.’”

food

Do You Know How Tomatoes Taste?

Ethan Freedman Ambrook Research
Scientists are trying to bring flavor back to the tomatoes sold in grocery stores. But how should they taste, exactly?

food

An MSG Convert Visits the High Church of Umami

Helen Rosner The New Yorker
Ajinomoto produces umami at its panda-themed headquarters Monosodium glutamate is a compound molecule in which glutamate is the amino acid responsible for the mysterious deepening of flavor. Its once-vilified reputation has been ascribed to illogic, superstition and even racism.

food

Shh! These Quiet Food Videos Will Get Your Senses Tingling

Clare Leschin-Hoar The Salt
A whole new genre of food videos, focusing on specific intense sounds like crinkling, chopping, sautéing and stirring, is becoming popular. These eating sounds trigger pleasing tingling sensations in the brains of viewers who experience ASMR, which stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.

food

Was It Something I Hate? the Science of Food Preferences

Nadia Berenstein Cook's Science
In his new book, Einstein’s Beets: An Examination of Food Phobias, the distinguished writer and scholar, Alexander Theroux, discusses some of the current scientific and psychological research into food preferences and aversions

food

Is 3D Printing the Next Frontier in Food and Nutrition?

Kristin Sargianis Cook's Science
3D printing has started to make its way into the culinary world and a handful of chefs are experimenting with printing beautiful, edible designs, but are we ready for this technology? Is 3D printing poised to revolutionize the way we eat?

food

Hot Stuff: Spicy Foods and the Compelling Chemistry of Chemesthesis

Paul Adams Cook's Science
There are at least 200 compounds contributing to the flavor of chiles and they all have a different effect. Capsaicin is the most common, first to be discovered, and hottest of the capsaicinoid family, but every chile contains a somewhat different mix of capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, nordihydrocapsaicin, homodihydrocapsaicin, nornordihydrocapsaicin, and quite a few others.

food

Eggs: Now What?

Harvard T. H. Chan Nutrition Source/Staff Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Given their history, “are eggs healthy?” has become a frequently asked nutrition question. To answer this, it’s important to look at eggs not only on their own, but in context of the entire diet, especially when compared to foods they may replace (and vice-versa).

food

My Dinners With Harold

Daniel Duane California Sunday Magazine
Daniel Duane examines how a shy Ph.D. in English literature revolutionized the science of cooking and became revered in the most famous kitchens in the world.
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