dietribes

Article

Dietribes: Cabbage

• Cabbages are derived from the wild mustard plant of the Mediterranean region, and have been popular since ancient times. Cato the Elder praised the cabbage for its many medicinal uses. • Cabbages are highly nutritious, containing large amounts of Vitamin C, folate and fiber. That and its low calorie count is why some people use cabbage on weight-loss diets. • However, the cabbage is also known to have a certain undesirable gastric side effect. As Nicholas Culpeper said in A Complete... READ ON

Article

Dietribes: Apricots

• Apricots originated in China more than 4,000 years ago. The fruit made its way through the Persian Empire and through the Mediterranean where they became a staple. • Eventually, Spanish explorers introduced apricots to the New World, where they were planted in California. The first major production of the fruit in America was recorded in 1792 in San Francisco. • In Latin, apricot means "precious," a term bestowed because it ripens earlier than other summer fruits. Though similar to its... READ ON

Article

Dietribes: I Can Haz Cheeseburger

• Various dictionaries trace the first mention of the hamburger to 1889 as a "hamburg steak." Or was it 1884 in the Boston Journal? Maybe, according to an entry in ''American Gastronomy'' written by Louis Szathmary in 1974, the hamburger's opening performance came in 1836 on a Delmonico's menu. Regardless, it seems that this wholly American sandwich definitely originated somewhere in the states, though where that may have been, from Athens, TX to New Haven, CT, no one can exactly be sure. • As... READ ON

Article

Dietribes: Nuts for Cashews

• The cashew is a very unusual nut. The largest part of the fruit is the juicy, pear-shaped part called, naturally, the "apple," which is eaten raw or fermented to become alcohol (or juices, syrups and preserves). The nut itself grows at the lower end of the "apple." • In the Tupian languages of South America, it is known as "the nut that produces itself." • The cashew tree is in fact a native of South America, but the Portuguese introduced it to the East African and Indian parts of their... READ ON

Article

Dietribes: Don't Hold the Mayo, I Relish It!

• The origins of the word mayonnaise may be derived from mahonnaise, for the Spanish port of Mahon, where the French defeated the British in a 1756 naval battle. Others say it’s from the French verb manier, to mix or blend, or from the Old French moyeu (egg yolk). Regardless, it seems the French are always... READ ON

Article

Dietribes: A Pocket Full of Rye

• Rye is a hardy substance. It can grow in poor soils with less sun and at higher altitudes than wheat, and it can thrive through dampness and drought. The bread made from rye also lasts longer. And for some, it is a spiritual thing. • George Washington had a much-loved recipe for rye whiskey that combined rye, corn and malted barley (in 1799 it was the most profitable part of his plantation). In 2011, his distillery was reopened briefly to produce 600 bottles of the famous mixture at a price of... READ ON

Article

Dietribes: The Green Bean Caper

• A bean by any other name … would still be a bean. Green beans are also known as French Beans (if you're British), string beans or snap beans. • The Green beans we eat today are not, as many think, a native of North America but rather of Central and South America. Early varieties were especially stringy, with the fiber developing along the seam. Through the years, plant breeders have almost eliminated this trait making the beans, well, snappier! • Before the 1880s, Green beans had to be... READ ON

Article

Dietribes: Buena For Tuna

• The word "tuna" has not been around particularly long. It came into American lexicon from the Spanish-American derivation of the English "tunny," itself derived from the Latin "Thunnus." • Atlantic bluefins, an endangered species of tuna (almost all members of the family Scombridae are referred to as "tuna" even though there are over 50 species) are warm-blooded, a rare trait among... READ ON

Article

Dietribes: Vim and Vinegar

• Vinegar is, essentially, fermented fruit, though it can be made from anything containing sugar. "Typical retail varieties of vinegar include white distilled, cider, wine (white and red), rice, balsamic, malt and sugar cane. Other, more specialized types include banana, pineapple, raspberry, flavored and seasoned (e.g., garlic,... READ ON

Article

Dietribes: Parsing Down Parsley

• Parsley's popularity dates back to antiquity, where the herb was an integral part of life for both the Greeks and Romans. It was used in prized crowns for races, and given as a strengthening feed to Homeric chariot horses. • Though parsley was considered an "herb of life" at funerals, superstition dictated that it must never be transplanted or there would be a death in the... READ ON