Whaddya Think, Doctor Fink?

Churros. Who was first to savor these yummy treats? It’s a long, messy history with lots of versions. While many of us believe churros came from Mexico, its colorful story reaches way back in time. Churros are deep-fried dough. Food historians report that evidence of fried dough can be traced back to the ancient world, including Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Israelites in Canaan. Many of their recipes evolved into some of today’s favorite fried doughs, like fritters, funnel cake, doughnuts,

*Gelato is the common word in Italian for all types of ice cream. *One of the first gelato desserts was called fior di latte and served at the court of Catherine de Medici in the early 1500s. *Café Procopio was opened in 1686 by Procopio dei Coltelli, an Italian chef, and the man credited with inventing modern gelato. Many prominent people have dined there, including Voltaire, Robespierre, Napoleon, and Benjamin Franklin. It is still open today. *King Louis XIV (see

Close your eyes. Savor creamy frozen sweetness. It’s heavenly. Gelato. There are hundreds of flavors, gelaterias, and even prepackaged pints around the world. Think American with chocolate brownie or Italian with pistachio. Check out Israel’s salted caramel. Go classic with stracciatella (vanilla) laced with dark chocolate strands. Of course, there’s always the luscious basics – chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. There’s no limit to the joys of gelato. Gelato is made from milk, cream, sugar, fruit or other flavors mixed together

  *The word crêpe comes from the old French crespe which means crispy or wavy. *Sweet crepes often include chocolate, preserves, powdered or granulated sugar, maple syrup, whipped cream, fruit spreads, sliced fruit, or ice cream. *Common savory crepe fillings are cheese, ham and eggs, vegetables, mushrooms, and thinly-sliced meats. *Crepes can be made into cakes by stacking plain crepes and adding layers of fillings like fruits, frosting, chocolate, marshmallow, and jam. *A crepe cake uses 15-30 plain crepes.  

Crepes. The world loves these elegant “pancakes” that can be sweet or savory, street food, gourmet dining, or simply home-made. According to Pamela Vachon in Salon, “nearly every culture on Earth lays claim to some kind of pancake made from a liquid batter on a hot, flat surface.” The basic ingredients are flour, eggs, milk, salt, and butter. The batter is thin; the result is a more delicate pancake. The world developed many creative uses for crepes like French crêpes

*The name “sour dough” refers to its leavening properties not taste. It’s only sour if you want it to be baked that way. *Sourdough can be used for a lot more than bread like bagels, pancakes, rolls, cookies, muffins, cakes, cobblers, and fritters. *The Israelites used sourdough to make leavened bread. *Sourdough “mother” or starter can be dehydrated – it becomes a powder that lasts indefinitely. *Sourdough isn’t gluten free but is lower than regular gluten bread. *Carl T. Griffith’s

  The world was on fire. It was the morning of April 18, 1906. Northern California was hit with a massive earthquake. Devastating fires broke out in San Francisco – 80% of the city burned. Half of the city’s 400,000 residents were left homeless. Louise Boudin fled for her life. Louise was the wife of Isidore Boudin, a French immigrant and master baker. They arrived in San Francisco during the 1849 California gold rush. Hopeful prospectors, known as “forty-niners,” raced

*Humans can distinguish about 100,000 different flavors. *Taste buds on the tongue send messages to the brain about food flavors, what you like, and what you don’t like. *You need saliva. It carries chemicals to taste receptor cells on the tongue. *There are up to 10,000 taste buds in the mouth, mostly on the human tongue. *The tongue has 8 very flexible muscles. *There are five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (savory). *Sour counteracts sweetness and heat.

Imagine a gooey chocolate layer cake. How about vanilla ice cream dripping with hot fudge? Maybe a bowl of sweet red strawberries topped with whipped cream? Which would you choose for dessert – sweet carrot cake or bitter kale? Where does taste come from? Dr. Ainsley Hawthorn, author, sensory scholar, and cultural historian wrote in Psychology Today, “new research shows fetuses smile or frown in response to different tastes.” What? How can a preborn baby (fetus) taste anything? Primitive taste

  *The most expensive bowl of soup is called Budda Jumps Over the Wall. It starts with a chicken broth base and adds shark’s fin, abalone, Japanese flower mushrooms, sea cucumbers, dried scallops, Huan ham, pork, and ginseng. It costs as much as $400 a serving. *The largest bowl of soup ever made was a Guinness World Record. It was 8000 gallons, prepared by 45 chefs, during the Tarhana soup festival in 2024 in Turkey. *Cream of chicken soup is