Last week, at our maple syrup class, we were perplexed by a very important question. Why did all the real maple syrup bottles have these tiny, useless handles?
You know the type:
The infamous tiny handle. courtesy Brett L.
So, why go through the trouble of having these little handles when a smooth bottle would do the job just fine?
The internet's favorite answer is that the handles are a remnant from when m...
I was researching botulism and tetanus, as you do, when I came across this neat anecdote about the U.S.'s attempt to use botulism as a biological weapon during WWII. This is shortened from the original, to just the interesting bits:
During World War II, the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) developed a plan for Chinese prostitutes to assassinate high-ranking Japanese officers with whom they sometimes consorted...
Masters of Social Gastronomy (MSG) is a monthly lecture series all about the history and science behind some of your favorite foods. This month: gelatinous edibles of all sorts.
Sarah will discuss the origins of gelatinous desserts, starting long ago when jiggly delights were made with drippings from beef stew or extracts from the swimbladders of sturgeon. Then we'll take on that modern wonder: Jel...
If we can bum a favor off you all, we'd really appreciate your vote in the Mission Small Business contest. It's a chance to win $250,000 to help grow the Brainery, and I think we can all agree that 250K, even after taxes, would be pretty awesome.
But! We need 250 votes to become a finalist so the panel will just even glance at our application, and that's where all of you lovely folks come in.
Voting is super...
We're excited to present our Masters of Social Gastronomy lectures in podcast form. Hooray!
The first two are up now, and we'll add new ones each month. That way, if something pesky like "work" or "not living in New York City" keeps you away from our live events, you'll be able to enjoy them in the comfort of your home. Awesome? Awesome.
Podcasts that currently exist:
Candy!
Sarah talks about the ancient ori...
Grandmothers the world round (or at least mine) know that apple cider vinegar is a cure-all that gives eternal life. I remember shots of it being consumed in the kitchen from an early age, but I never could get past that stong smell and develop a taste for straight-up vinegar.
Luckily for me, there's an easy way to make vinegar taste awesome: by turning it into a drinking vinegar, also known as a shrub. (For...
On Wednesday night, we got a crash course in how our bodies recognize harmful invaders and fend them off. Neat, right? Our immune systems are well-trained armies that can spot foreign bacteria and viruses -- and even remember them for later.
Class reminded me of one of my favorite stories of where a word comes from: the history of the word vaccine.
Back in the day, lots of people died from the disfiguring diease&n...
A couple weeks back, we teamed up with the awesome folks at Babeland to host a mini-workshop at their Park Slope location, complete with cocktails and some private shopping. There was such a huge response that we're doing it again, this coming Friday, June 8th.
All you need to do is RSVP here, show up, and say hi to us when you're there. Sound good?
So, our lovely email newsletters keep getting stuck in spam, but we have TONS of new classes, a full list of which is handily provided below. Some of them are even coming up soon, like next week soon, and you don't want the Brainery to be sad and empty, right?
Math & ScienceConfused Climates, Wacky Weather, & Exasperated Experts: A Global Warming Primer - Wednesday, June 6Grains & Grapes: The...
A few years back, I lived near a prolific mulberry tree along the Prospect Expressway, and ever since, I've been a bit obsessed with picking them, mostly because I love the idea of getting berries for free. (Take that, $8/quart Greenmarket strawberries!)
But free doesn't mean anything if the food doesn't taste any good, and lucky us, mulberries taste really really good. And as long as you don't mind investing...
