Whaddya Think, Doctor Fink?

Politics and pancakes are running mates. The only one who has more names than politicians are pancakes. Think Johnnycakes, Flapjacks, and Slapjacks. Feast on hotcakes, silver dollars, and griddlecakes. There are allies like French crepes, Israeli latkes, Australian pikelets and rivals like Russian blini and Iranian khagineh. Pancakes and politics are mixed in the batter. Consider popular Pancakes and Politics events held throughout the U.S.  How about National Pancake Day or free pancake breakfasts sponsored by candidates running for election?

Mac ‘n cheese is a win-win. Bake it, cook it on the stovetop, or get it from a box. Feast on basic, gourmet, or potluck. Win for taste. Win for comfort. It’s a foodie chameleon. Whether in America, Canada, Israel, or anywhere around the world, everyone loves mac ‘n cheese. The magic is in the recipe – it shifts to fit individual, family, and cultural tastes. Most people believe that the American version came from foodie Thomas Jefferson after he

There’s a war going on that’s not breaking news. It’s between the Israelis, Greeks, and Palestinians. Add Coptics, Lebanese, and Jordanians in addition to the Middle East or Mediterranean advocates. They’re battling for the rights to falafel and politics has crept into the recipe. Israelis call falafel their “National Food.” Palestinians insist that the Israelis stole it from them. Lebanese claim it as their own. The bottom line – all falafel is not the same. Basic falafel is a ball

I remember mom taking me to the local market. It was an old store with stained wood floorboards, sagging shelves, and barrels filled with two types of pickles – new (half sour) and dill (sour). My job was using tongs to fish out the best dill in the barrel, garlicky pickle juice running deliciously down my arm. I was fishing into history. Pickles have an impressive story. Think Shakespeare, Columbus, Napoleon, Thomas Jefferson, and Cleopatra. Cleopatra? She swore that pickles

What cookie is over one hundred years old, has a National Day, socks, and a street named for it? According to author Catherine Gilbert Murdock, “Heaven is paved with Oreos.” Impressive for a cookie that began as a knock-off. In 1908, Sunshine Biscuits introduced the Hydrox sandwich cookie. It was a hit. Looming in the background was a group of bakery companies who formed the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco). Sound familiar? They introduced Barnum’s Animal Crackers in a small colorful

Peanut butter. You can gobble it like Presidents Jefferson, Carter, and Clinton, or consume enough (along with fellow Americans) to coat the floor of the Grand Canyon every year. Peanuts (and peanut butter) don’t grow on trees like pecans and almonds. They’re not even a nut. Peanuts are legumes like beans, lentils, and peas that grow in pods (peanut shells). The peanut bush is green, knee high, with tiny yellow flowers.  When the flowers wilt, the stem goes underground and

  Maybe buffalos don’t fly but their numbers are sky-high. Nearly 1.42 billion Buffalo wings are eaten on Super Bowl Sunday – a lot of wings for a critter that isn’t air-borne. So where do Buffalo wings come from?     It began with a mistake. The year was 1964. Teressa Belissimo ordered chicken parts for her small Buffalo, New York restaurant, Anchor Bar. Instead of chicken backs and necks that her husband used for the pub’s famous spaghetti sauce,

Happy New Year! Now it’s time to get down to serious business: donuts. What’s your pleasure? Glazed. Frosted. Jelly or cream? Ninety-six percent of Americans love donuts. The market is worth over sixteen billion dollars . . . and growing. In the U.S. alone there are over two hundred million donut consumers. That’s a lot of dunking. Where was it invented? Consider this: Japan has an-doughnut, Tunsia has gulgula,  Italy has zeppole.  Donuts are everywhere. The only way to trace its origin

  Wontons. Kreplach. Tortellini. Dumplings can be found in almost every country. According to CNN, a dumpling is “a pocket of dough filled with some form of savory or sweet stuffing.” That leaves a lot of room for cuisines, fillings, and spices. Legend says the first dumpling was created in China. It was a cold, harsh winter in the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). Zhang Zhongjing was a medical man who dabbled in pharmacology, medicine, and inventions. Zhang

The taco has a very humble beginning. Some believe it was around well before the sixteenth century Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico. According to Unocasa, “indigenous cultures viewed corn as the foundation of humanity or the seed of life.” They perfected the process of nixtamalizing – treating corn with lime and water, then drying, grounding, and producing flour. The nixtamalized corn was used for breads and tortillas. The infamous Montezuma was known to use corn tortillas to scoop out his food. Perhaps that made it easier