Tag Archives: Food

Thanksgiving feasts will be on the tables of millions of Americans in less than a week, but for this Friday before said feast is completely on everyone’s mind, let’s talk about sandwiches.

Social media exercises frequently make the rounds regarding where people have traveled, so I read this article by Terry Ward for CNN about some of the world’s best sandwiches, and I thought this was just as interesting a score to tally… and far more mouth-watering.

Note that I’m scoring just by the sandwiches alone, not the sandwiches in the actual locale. Granted, it would be wonderful to experience a region’s signature sandwich in its natural habitat –I mean, the tramezzini paired with local wine in Venice sounds wonderful– but that’s for bucket lists.

Right now, my score stands at 11 with several of the rest to be sought out in the near future. Actually right right now, I’m going to get one of my favorite sandwiches not on this list for a late lunch…

Full confession: I wrote and scheduled the first version of this post in the depths of Summer, convinced that “Fall flavors” would be in stores before the end of August. I was not wrong.

“But why?” you may ask. “Why must the end of Summer be sullied with an impatient corporate lust for seasonal profits that ignore all seasonal boundaries?”

You know why.

Allecia Vermillion covers the intriguing origin story of the Pumpkin Spice Latte (aka PSL) for the magazine, Seattle Met. If you’re at all interested in the devilish details about “pumpkin spice” has become an seasonal omnipresence, enjoy (perhaps with an already available PSL).

Continuing my Friday theme of food posts, I switch from savory to sweet. This week, it’s Emily Mangini’s article for Serious Eats which goes into the history of Nutella. Okay, apart from a lot of hazelnuts, it might not be that nutty, but if you like food histories like A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage, you’ll find this a nice appetizer of an article.

A connection to last week and Sriracha does actually exist for me as, while I know I saw the distinctive Nutella containers growing up, I only really tried Nutella in earnest the same place I started regularly consuming Sriracha: Indonesia.

Look, after being introduced to Vegemite, I was more than happy to try some other spread on bread.

Look, I’ve been doing food posts for the past few Fridays, so I’m not going to stop now… certainly when I can share the story of Sriracha, which is a surprisingly American story.

Okay, maybe it’s surprising to me because I first noticed Sriracha when I was in Indonesia, which was sometimes next to homemade sambal on the table. I got so used to its omnipresence at Indonesian food stalls, the first time I saw Sriracha back in the States, I thought, “Oh, it’s that brand of sambal!”

Well, Brian Gray and Connie Lo over at Vice correct my misconceptions about Sriracha and give you quite the tale of Americana as well.

(And for the record, I have put Sriracha on meat pies, because that it both just and right).

Continuing the Friday food series and hinted at earlier this week, it’s time to talk about the McRib: McDonald’s occasional and much-coveted porcine menu item.

Unlike the Choco Taco, I have had a McRib within recent memory (though I think it was still in the Before Times). I have not used the online McRib Locator, though I know people who have that site permanently bookmarked on their browser. Now, I am somewhat interested in comparing which I like more: McRib or Choco Taco? Or is this the perfect cult food item meal?

In any case, NPR’s Peggy Lowe delves deep into the processed meat history about the origins of McRib in an article that may surprise you.

I still remember when I learned the ubiquitous soft drink Fanta was invented in Nazi Germany… and that was just one of the strange-but-true facts behind it. Statistically speaking, that moment of discovery is happening to one of you readers right now. But rather than have me blather on, delve into Matthew Blitz’ informative article for Atlas Obscura.