Why We Toast: Uncorking A New Year's Tradition

A happy-looking 1930s couple toasts.

The act of toasting feels natural: You lift your arms in affirmation and drink in honor of an occasion or a loved one.

It's what millions will do this week as they ring in the New Year, but why? Like shaking hands or saluting, toasting is a habit with incredibly foggy beginnings, so we here at The Salt decided to dig into it, for the sake of science.

"There's a thin line between history and folklore," says historian Paul Dickson. He should know. He wrote a book about toasting called Toasts: Over 1,500 of the Best Toasts, Sentiments, Blessings and Graces. "But toasting definitely goes back to the ancient world."

Ulysses drank to the health of Achilles in The Odyssey, he says. And in Rome, drinking to someone's health was so important that the Senate demanded that all diners drink to their emperor, Augustus, before every meal.

Almost every culture the Hebrews, Egyptians, Persians, Saxons, Huns had a pledging of honor with a glass, Dickson says.

But it wasn't always called a toast. The term didn't come about until the late 17th century. In the same way you throw a lime in tequila, it was customary to plop a piece of toast or crouton in a drink, Dickson says. Think of it as an early form of a cocktail snack.

"It may have been a flavoring device," he says. "The practice was common, and virtually anything found floating in a drink was referred to as toast."

Origins Of The 'Clink'

And the clinking of glasses? Dickson says that toasting flair didn't popularize until the early days of Christianity.

Many believed the bell-like noise would drive off the devil which was most dangerous in times of drinking and reveling. But that's just one theory.

Another legend contends that by adding the clink, toasters could get the greatest pleasure from a drink, Dickson says. Before the clink, toasts only satisfied four of the five senses.

And there's a third theory.

Though Dickson's research can't confirm or deny this one, many believe the clinking of glasses began as a way for nobles to avoid being poisoned. The tale goes that the clank would slosh liquid from one drink to the other, reassuring the guest that his or her drink was safe and untouched.

The Road To The American Toast

Regardless of the reason, many in those early days drank to health, hospitality and honor. But every culture practiced different customs some a bit strange. The Irish tended to recite blessings, whereas young Englishmen in the 17th century toasted sour drinks to profess their love.

"The practice called for men to show their affection for a woman by stabbing themselves in the arm, mixing their blood in their wine, and drinking to the lady in question," Dickson explains.

In Scotland, it was customary to drink sparingly during the meal and then bring in a large punch bowl filled with whiskey, hot water and sugar after dinner. The drinking sometimes lasted eight to 10 hours, Dickson says.

And as for early Americans they adopted the tradition of toasting quite readily. But their ritual was largely directed to America as a patriotic gesture. They toasted to the new republic and the experiment of democracy.

Author Interviews

'Inventing Wine': The History Of A Very Vintage Beverage

"After the [Revolutionary] War, no official dinner or celebration was complete without 13 toasts, one for each state," writes Dickson. "For many years, the 13 toasts were obligatory at local Fourth of July celebrations."

Today, the ritual of toasting seems more popular than ever, perhaps a product of movies and cultural references, Dickson says.

Toasts have also evolved into something of a verbal souvenir: "It's something you take home with you as sort of a remembrance of that time."

We'll certainly do that on Monday night.

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Green Grapes And Red Underwear: A Spanish New Year's Eve

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Ringing in the New Year in Spain requires eating a dozen grapes and wearing a very specific kind of undergarment.

Ringing in the New Year in Spain requires eating a dozen grapes and wearing a very specific kind of undergarment.

If the thought of watching the ball drop in Times Square again is already making you yawn, consider perking your New Year's Eve celebration with this tradition from Spain: As midnight nears on Nochevieja, or "old night," the last day of the year, the entire country gathers in front of television screens or in town squares, clutching a small bowl of green grapes and wearing red underwear. More on the underwear later.

The camera of the main national TV channel focuses on the clock tower of the 18th-century Real Casa de Correos in Madrid's Puerta del Sol while a pair of announcers in formal wear, high above the thousands of revelers packed into the chilly plaza below, quickly repeat instructions one last time. After the bells ring out four times in quick succession "Wait, wait, ignore those!" there is a slight pause and then begins a series of 12 chimes one for each month.

At that first dong, Spaniards from Barcelona to Bilbao to Cadiz pop a grape into their mouths. There is little time to chew and swallow, much less savor, because about two seconds later there is a second dong and a second grape gets popped into the mouth. And on through 12 dongs and las doce uvas de la suerte ("the 12 lucky grapes").

If you eat all 12 by the end of the final bell's toll and that doesn't mean finishing with a half-chewed mouthful then you will have good luck in el ao nuevo (the new year).

This popular tradition is a century or so old, though its exact origins remain debatable. One oft-repeated story says that growers in Alicante had a bumper 1909 harvest and found a creative way to sell off their surplus.

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The traditional variety of grape consumed at the start of the new year is called Aledo. The grapes mature late are not harvested until November and December.

The traditional variety of grape consumed at the start of the new year is called Aledo. The grapes mature late are not harvested until November and December.

Recently, though, old newspaper articles have been republished that show the tradition began decades earlier, in the 1880s. These stories tell of bourgeoisie in Madrid copying the French tradition of having grapes and champagne on the last day of the year. Before long this custom had been adopted by certain madrileos who went to Puerta del Sol to see the bells chime at the turning of the year and, most likely in an ironic or mocking manner, to eat grapes like the upper class.

About 80 percent of the "lucky grapes" come from the valley of Vinalop in central Alicante, on Spain's Mediterranean coast. Fleshy, deliciously sweet, and pale, almost whitish-green in color, they are a traditional Spanish variety called Aledo that, maturing late, are not harvested until November and December.

But these are no ordinary grapes. Protected by Denominacin de Origen (designation of origin, or D.O.) status, budding clusters are wrapped in paper bags in June and July and kept covered as they ripen. This was first done in the late 19th century to protect them from a plague of cochylis vine moths. Growers found it also conserved the flavor, aroma and color of the grapes, and slowed their maturation.

According to the regulatory office for D.O., Uva de Mesa Embolsada Vinalop, bagging the grapes also means that "they form a peel that's much finer by not having to fend off the aggressions of the rain, the sun or the wind."

When I went to Barcelona's iconic La Boqueria market to buy my grapes for this year's festivities, Maria, the seasoned stall owner of Frutas y Verduras E. Lafuente, told me that "having such a fine skin also makes them quicker to eat. There's less to swallow."

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Supermarkets sell small tins of 12 seeded and peeled grapes.

Supermarkets sell small tins of 12 seeded and peeled grapes.

And, with the bells impatiently tolling, that small detail makes a difference. It is no easy task eating grapes so quickly, especially when each has three or four seeds. (Seedless grapes are a rarity here, though some painstakingly remove the seeds beforehand. Ever more extreme or modern are the small tins of 12 seeded and peeled grapes now sold in supermarkets.) The only way to finish all 12 is to not chew, just take a solid bite and then swallow, pips and all.

Such a strategy is easier to plan than to execute, especially by grape number six or seven when, in my experience, the giggles kick in. After 15 years living in Spain, I have learned that the only way to finish all 12 is by concentrating on the chimes and ignoring the rest of the surrounding commotion.

If scoffing grapes at midnight isn't strange enough, convention says you must do so while wearing red ropa interior, or underwear a bra, a sock, a garter, whatever. And stranger yet the undergarment should be given to you by someone else.

Maria, the stall owner, reminded me not to forget a third traditional lucky charm to accompany red underwear and grapes: drop a gold ring into my celebratory glass of cava (local champagne-style bubbly from Catalunya). "Just don't swallow it!" That would, no doubt, be a harbinger of bad luck.

The Salt

What The World Eats For A Better, Luckier 2012

When the 12 dongs finish and the last of the grapes has been swallowed, there are cheek kisses, toasts with glasses of cava, and pieces of turrn (almond and honey nougat from Alicante) passed around as the most expensive commercials of the year play on TV and phone lines jam with the crush of well-wishing calls.

In this year of acute economic hardship in Spain, many will hope that eating the grapes brings better luck in 2013, and try particularly hard to finish them all before the last chime fades to silence and the new year begins.

Jeff Koehler is the author of Morocco: A Culinary Journey With Recipes. His next cookbook, on Spain, will be published in 2013. Visit www.jeff-koehler.com or follow @koehlercooks.

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Don't Fear That Expired Food

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The expiration date on foods like orange juice and even milk aren't indicators of when those products will go bad.

The expiration date on foods like orange juice and even milk aren't indicators of when those products will go bad.

Now that the Christmas feast is over, you may be looking at all the extra food you made, or the food that you brought home from the store that never even got opened.

And you may be wondering: How long can I keep this? What if it's past its expiration date? Who even comes up with those dates on food, anyway, and what do they mean?

Here's the short answer: Those "sell by" dates are there to protect the reputation of the food. They have very little to do with food safety. If you're worried whether food is still OK to eat, just smell it.

One of the places that knows most about the shelf life of food is a scientific establishment in Livermore, Calif., called the National Food Lab. At the NFL, they put food on shelves for days, or weeks, or even years, to see how it holds up.

Sometimes, they'll try to accelerate the process with 90-degree heat and high humidity.

And then, from time to time, they'll take some of the food whether it's bagged salad greens, breakfast cereal, or fruit juice off the shelf and place it in front of a highly trained panel of experts who check the taste and smell and texture.

"You would think that everybody can taste and smell food, but some of us are much better at it than others," says Jena Roberts, vice president for business development at the NFL. The lab has 40 of these food tasters on staff. "They are the most fit people in the group," says Roberts. "Because they don't eat the food. They expectorate it. Which is a fancy college word for spit it in a cup."

The experts give the food grades, in numbers. The numbers go down as the food gets older. Bread gets stale. Salad dressings can start to taste rancid.

John Ruff, president of the Institute of Food Technologists in Chicago, says the companies that sell this food take a look at those grades and decide where they will draw the line, to protect the reputation of their products.

"If the product was designed, let's say, to be a 7 when it was fresh, you may choose that at 6.2, it's gotten to the point where [you] don't want it to be on the market anymore," he says.

"If it's 6.0, would most people still find it reasonably good? Absolutely," he says. "But companies want people to taste their products as best they can at the optimum, because that's how they maintain their business and their market shares."

This is all organized and carried out by food companies; there's no federal law that requires dates on any food except for infant formula, although some states do require sell-by dates on milk or meat.

Still, these dates don't really tell you anything about whether food is safe.

According to Ruff, most products are safe to eat long after their expiration date. In fact, even meat or milk that's clearly starting to spoil is not necessarily dangerous. "Very often, you won't eat it because of the smell, and you probably won't like the taste, but in a lot of cases, it's unlikely to cause you illness," he says.

That's because it's not the food that sat on the shelf too long that makes you sick, Ruff says. It's the food that got contaminated with salmonella or listeria bacteria, or disease-causing strains of E. coli. And that food might not smell bad as it might have arrived in the store only yesterday.

"In 40 years, in eight countries, if I think of major product recalls and food poisoning outbreaks, I can't think of [one] that was driven by a shelf-life issue," Ruff says.

Canned food, in particular, can stay safe for a really long time. In 1974, scientists at the National Food Processors Association in Washington, D.C., got their hands on several old cans of food.

Janet Dudek, now semi-retired and living in Vienna, Va., was among the scientists who analyzed this old food. Her assignment was a can of corn, vintage 1934, that was found in someone's basement in California.

When they opened the can, Dudek says, the contents looked and smelled pretty much like ordinary canned corn. Analysis showed that it had most of the usual complement of nutrients although there were lower levels of a few, such as vitamin C.

Results were similar for century-old canned oysters, tomatoes and red peppers in cans recovered from a sunken steamboat, buried in river silt near Omaha, Neb.

Dudek says, as far as she knows, nobody actually tasted this food. That just wasn't done, she says. But they probably could have. "It would have been safe to eat if the can itself maintained its integrity," she says.

When food in supermarkets passes its sell-by date, though, it gets swept off the shelves. Often, it's donated to food banks. Sometimes it's auctioned off.

But if you discover such food in your pantry at home, there's really no reason to throw it out. Ruff says you should just sniff the meat and milk. If it smells funny, go ahead and toss it.

But for most foods, don't worry. "As a consumer, I've certainly opened packages of food that were five years old."

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Smartphone Apps Offer Few Shortcuts For Those With Food Allergies

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The iTube platform, left, uses colorimetric assays and a smartphone-based digital reader to detect potential food allergen. A screen capture of the iTube App appears on the right.

The iTube platform, left, uses colorimetric assays and a smartphone-based digital reader to detect potential food allergen. A screen capture of the iTube App appears on the right.

Managing food allergies can be a pain, requiring lots of sleuthing of ingredients in restaurants and supermarkets. But people with potentially lethal allergies to nuts and other foods don't have much choice.

Dozens of smartphone apps offer to make that task easier. Doctors say, though, the apps now on the market just aren't reliable enough.

We here at The Salt got to thinking about food allergy apps when we ran across Aydogan Ozcan's new smartphone-based food chemistry lab. The iTube uses a standard cellphone camera to analyze a food's chemical composition. A user need only pop a chunk of food into one of the two wee test tubes attached to the phone, wait 20 minutes, and presto! laboratory results, in parts per million.

Ozcan, a professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, specializes in re-engineering cell phones into tools. He invented, for example, an inexpensive microscope that could be used to test blood for malaria parasites or the HIV virus.

He envisions the iTube as a tool for schools, restaurants and, of course, parents of children with food allergies. Users of the minilab could upload their results to a personal database or share the results with people around the world to create a crowdsourced food allergy database.

Ozcan recently tested the iTube prototype with store-bought cookies and found that his device accurately identified the presence of peanuts. The results are published online in the journal Lab on a Chip.

Charmed as we are by this invention, we realized that when talking about life-threatening illnesses it would be good to talk to a doctor. So we called up Scott Sicherer, a researcher at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. He is not charmed at all by the profusion of food allergy apps out there.

"I definitely have concerns and skepticism and warnings for my patients who use any of these things," he told The Salt. "As far as I know, they are not accurate enough to rely on," he said, speaking about food apps in general. He has not tested Ozcan's iTube device.

Food allergy apps on the market fall into three categories: food journals, to track foods eaten and symptoms; databases of food ingredients; and bar code scanners that can be used to determine food ingredients.

The food journals seem like they'd be harmless, since all the data comes from the person using them. But Sicherer says they could lead people to self-diagnose an allergy that isn't there and put themselves on needlessly restrictive diets. "Talk to a doctor" about symptoms, he says. "Don't try to diagnose yourself. That's where people get themselves into trouble."

A scan of available iPhone and Android food database apps reveals lukewarm reviews, with people noting inconsistency between the apps and actual product labels. Given how often food manufacturers change products and ingredients, it seems like maintaining an accurate, comprehensive database for an app would be difficult at best. Sicherer says: "When you're talking about your health and safety, you might not want to rely on that."

How about the bar code readers? They've been very successful for companies, such as Weight Watchers, that offer them to help people identify the calorie, fat, and fiber content in packaged foods.

But Sicherer dumps cold water on the notion of relying on these kinds of apps for finding potential allergens. "There's a big difference if you're deciding if something's going to send you into [life-threatening] anaphylaxis, or if the calories are higher or lower. The margin of error is different."

Unfortunately, Sicherer says, the most reliable and simplest thing to do to avoid food allergens is still to "read the label carefully, [and] ask questions in a restaurant."

Ozcan's lab on a phone looks like it could take care of the inaccuracy problem. But the prototype requires users to undertake a mini chemistry experiment. They would have to grind up the food, mix it in a test tube with hot water and a solvent, and then mix it with a series of testing liquids. That process takes about 20 minutes.

Imagine buying a brownie in a coffee shop and then going through that 20-minute drill. Suddenly asking the server "Does this have nuts in it?" seems like not such an ordeal.

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Going Vegan Doesn't Mean Missing Out On Favorites

In the first of a two-part series on veganism, Renee Montagne talks to health and wellness expert Kathy Freston about the benefits and challenges of being vegan. Vegans enjoy a plant-based diet and don't eat meat, fish or dairy. Freston says as a vegan you can still have comfort food, it's just a healthier version of what you used to eat.

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Hospital Bids Bye-Bye To Big Macs, Others May Follow Suit

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Visitors to one Kansas City hospital will no longer be able to buy a Big Mac on the premises.

Visitors to one Kansas City hospital will no longer be able to buy a Big Mac on the premises.

The McDonald's at the Truman Medical Centers' main campus in Kansas City, Mo., has closed, ending an epic, two-decade stint inside the hospital and making it the fifth health facility in the past few years to give the Big Mac the boot.

Earlier this year, hospital CEO John Bluford told The Salt that the presence of the McDonald's located just feet from a revamped cafeteria touting low-calorie-food options and reduced sodium, fat and sugar in its meals was sending an "inconsistent message."

The relationship between hospitals and fast-food chains is a complicated one. Decades ago, McDonald's restaurants popped up in hospitals from New York to Iowa to California, with leases for as long as 30 years. Hospitals found the long-term agreements financially appetizing. And many patients, visitors and staff have appreciated the availability of an inexpensive, familiar shake or burger.

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A sign outside an entrance at the Truman Medical Centers' main campus in Kansas City, Mo., announces the closure of the McDonald's located on-site.

A sign outside an entrance at the Truman Medical Centers' main campus in Kansas City, Mo., announces the closure of the McDonald's located on-site.

The leases, though, have made it difficult for places like the Cleveland Clinic, a national leader in wellness, to oust their McDonald's.

Truman wouldn't disclose details of its deal, but the McDonald's lease ended early. "This was a mutually agreed upon decision between two businesses," Bluford said in a statement to hospital staff at the end of October.

So are other hospitals losing their taste for McDonald's, too?

Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago (formerly Children's Memorial Hospital) moved into a new facility this spring but didn't take along the McDonald's that was on its old campus for 15 years. Julie Pesch, a Lurie spokesperson, says the hospital just didn't have enough space for the restaurant.

"We chose McDonald's many years ago as a special treat for sick kids going through difficult treatments," Pesch says. But, "everything needs to be in moderation. We were not trying to break our lease with the McDonald's."

Similarly, Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, Ky., has no plans to keep its McDonald's once the lease expires in four years. McDonald's has been present since the hospital's opening in 1986, but the facility would prefer to use the space to create its own cafeteria. It currently relies on one at a sister hospital across the street.

The Salt

Fast Food Chains In Cafeterias Put Hospitals In A Bind KCUR

Big Macs aren't the only food item on their way out of these medical centers. Children's Mercy Hospital, located just a few blocks from Truman in Kansas City, doesn't have a McDonald's, but it will soon be removing all regular soda and sugared beverages from its campuses. The move follows a slew of wellness efforts across the country, in part aimed at improving hospital food options.

"The obesity epidemic among children and adults is doing a lot of driving of the changes at hospitals," says Persis Sosiak, director of public health and research at the Cleveland Clinic. "I think a lot of systems are starting to evaluate what they view as wellness."

Children's Mercy says it drew inspiration for its beverage policy from a new national initiative, "Hospital Healthy Food Commitment." The program asks hospitals to make changes in nine areas by 2015, ranging from offering at least one wellness meal a day on cafeteria and patient menus to getting rid of all fried foods. More than 150 hospitals are already onboard.

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Cheap Bubbly Or Expensive Sparkling Wine? Look To The Bubbles For Clues

The bubbles in champagne tickle the tongue and transfer wonderful aromas to the nose.

There's nothing like the distinctive "pop" of the uncorking of a bottle of bubbly to create a sense of celebration. Whether it's Dom Perignon or a $10 sparkling wine, bubbles add pizazz.

Sparkling-wine lovers sometimes point to the glittering streams of tiny bubbles as an important attribute. Why? Well, tiny bubbles are a sign of age, explains French chemist Gerard Liger-Belair, author of Uncorked: The Science of Champagne.

"Old champagnes always show tiny bubbles, mainly because they have aged several years and lost a significant amount of dissolved CO₂, the gas that produces the bubbles," Liger-Belair told us in an email.

And what else can the bubbles tell you? Well, if the streams of bubbles remain down to the last sip, this can be a clue as to how it was produced.

If you listen to my story, you'll hear a tour with Fred Frank, third-generation winemaker at Chateau Frank, part of Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars in the Finger Lakes region of New York state. Frank uses the traditional Champagne method to produce his sparkling wines. It's a labor- and time-intensive process whereby each bottle goes through a second fermentation in the bottle. "The benefit of this method is higher-quality sparkling wine," Frank says.

And one way that the sparkling wine produced in this method can distinguish itself in the flute is that the train of bubbles keeps streaming and streaming, down to the last sip.

So what's the science behind this? Liger-Belair said that by using the Champagne method, "the [bubble-producing] CO₂ produced by yeast cannot escape into the atmosphere, and is kept mainly dissolved into [the] Champagne."

Battle Of The Bubbly

On the left a 2005 Chateau Frank and on the right a midpriced bottle of California bubbly. The Chateau Frank bubbles were noticeably tinier.

Credit: NPR staff

This is a sharp contrast to some cheap sparkling wines, where the CO₂ is sometimes injected into the wine, similar to the process used to create carbonated soft drinks. "This produces big bubbles that dissipate quickly in the glass," he says.

In full disclosure, we compared the bubble streams of a bottle of 2005 Chateau Frank and a midpriced bottle of California bubbly. While the Chateau Frank bubbles were noticeably tinier, both produced multiple streams of bubbles that lasted a long while.

But here's one tip if you want to preserve the effervescence in every flute of bubbly: Pay attention to how you pour.

The traditional way is to pour Champagne straight down into the flute. But Liger-Belair says you may be losing thousands of bubbles this way.

In a study published in The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, Liger-Belair and some colleagues found that pouring champagne down the side of a tilted glass, similar to the way beer is poured, preserved about 25 percent more carbon dioxide.

This technique has not taken off in France, where Liger-Belair says no one wants to liken Champagne to beer. But scientifically, it's clear. If you want more bubbles to tickle the tongue and transfer those wonderful aromas to your nose try the tilted pour.

This time sequence illustrates a comparison of champagne being poured in the traditional method (left) and like beer (right) as seen with an infrared video camera.

And while we're on the subject of French traditions, I should point out that if you listen to my story you'll hear about the kerfuffle over the use of the term Champagne.

The French are keen to point out that the term Champagne should only be used on the bottles of sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region of France. Champagne producers have launched a campaign in the U.S. to raise awareness of this issue.

In deference to this, Frank, a few years back, took the word Champagne off his label. Instead he references the Champagne method. And he says he's proud to promote his bottles of bubbly as sparkling wine from the Finger Lakes.

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The 'Queen Of Tarts' On What's For Dinner This Season

Weekend Edition Sunday guest host Linda Wertheimer speaks with English chef Tamasin Day Lewis also known as the "Queen of Tarts" about her own choices for a seasonal table, including a wide array of tarts.

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On Your Plate In 2013, Expect Kimchi And Good-For-You Greens

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Commentator Bonny Wolf expects Asian cuisine like kimchi fried rice to become even more popular in 2013.

Commentator Bonny Wolf expects Asian cuisine like kimchi fried rice to become even more popular in 2013.

Weekend Edition food commentator Bonny Wolf offers her predictions of what we'll eat in the new year.

Asia is the new Europe. It's been gradual: from pan-Asian, Asian fusion and Asian-inspired to just deciding among Vietnamese, Korean, Tibetan and Burmese for dinner.

Should we have the simple food of the Thai plateau or the hot, salty, sour foods of southern Thailand?

The new flavors of the year won't come from the kitchens of chefs trained at Le Cordon Bleu. More likely, they'll trickle up from Asian street foods. Chipotle has opened ShopHouse, with a menu inspired by street food from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hanoi.

Even comfort foods are becoming Asian: Vietnamese pho, Korean kimchi fried rice and Chinese hot pots.

Speaking of kimchi, we'll see a lot more fermented food. Last year, we canned. This year, we ferment. Think sauerkraut. Or if you're under 30, kombucha, which for you old folks is fermented tea. Fermented foods produce probiotics, good bacteria.

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Good-for-you foods remain big. Vegetables are now entrees as well as ice creams. I'm going to go out on a limb, though, and say Brussels sprouts may have peaked. Where do they have left to go? They've been paired with every ingredient known to modern cooks. They've gone from "Eww ... Brussels sprouts" to being the most popular kid in vegetable school. They've been baked, breaded, roasted and shredded.

We'll see more dark, leafy greens, beet tops, collards and probably even more varieties of kale. And expect more seaweed. It, too, contributes to long life. As a member of the baby boom, I can say this: We really want to hang on.

Veganism is getting even bigger, but so is nose-to-tail.

Farm-to-table now includes farm-to-bar. Mixologists (a.k.a. bartenders) have their own gardens or shop at farmers markets for produce to add to cocktails. Also watch for more smoked drinks with smoked ice cubes, of course and barrel-aged cocktails. Like everything else, they'll be more savory than sweet.

And if you want just to be left alone to eat whatever unhip food you want, consider adding a little soy sauce.

Bonny Wolf is managing editor of American Food Roots.

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Chef Jack Bishop on 'The Science of Good Cooking'

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What's the secret to making a fluffy omelet or the perfect pie dough? Jack Bishop, chef and editorial director at America's Test Kitchen, stops by to debunk cooking myths and highlight some of the surprising finds from the show's new cookbook, The Science of Good Cooking.

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'Test Kitchen' Chefs Talk The Science Of Savory : NPR For the new Cook's illustrated book The Science of Good Cooking, Bishop and Lancaster tested principles they assumed were true and as Bishop tells ... Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking: Nathan Myhrvold ... Reviews "This book will change the way we understand the kitchen." --Ferran Adri "A fascinating overview of the techniques of modern gastronomy." --Heston ... Dallas Restaurants, Dallas Food, News, and Reviews by D Magazine ... FT33 and Chef Matt McCallister will welcome Chef Randy Rucker of Houston, for a guest chef dinner and a one-of-a-kind dining experience. Rucker, winner of the 2011 ... Science and Cooking - Download free content from Harvard ... Description This public lecture series discusses concepts from the physical sciences that underpin both everyday cooking and haute cuisine. 2012 Public Lecture Series Harvard School of Engineering and ... Much to the delight of Science & Cooking veterans, Michael Brenner, Glover Professor of Applied Mathematics and Applied Physics and Harvard College Professor, returns ... Food Network - Easy Recipes, Healthy Eating Ideas and Chef Recipe ... Love Food Network shows, chefs and recipes? Find the best recipe ideas, videos, healthy eating advice, party ideas and cooking techniques from top chefs, shows and ... 'Test Kitchen' Chefs Talk The Science Of Savory WBUR & NPR You might think that Bridget Lancaster and Jack Bishop two of the culinary talents behind the public television shows America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country ... Slate Magazine - Politics, Business, Technology, and the Arts ... Why Do Chemical Weapons Cross the Line When Assad Has Already Killed 40,000? Washington Has a Sneaky Plan for Deficit Reduction. And It Just Might Work! My Doggy Ate My Homework by Dave Crawley : The Poetry Foundation My doggy ate my homework. / He chewed it up, I said. / But when I offered my excuse / My teacher shook her head. Recipe Center: Recipes for Professional Chefs & Home Cooks ... Chef2Chef's recipe center features thousands of delicious recipes for professional chefs and home cooks. Browse recipes by ingredient, cuisine, course, and more.

One Lunch Lady's Cafeteria Conversion

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Kathy Del Tonto (far right) participates in a class that teaches school cafeteria workers how to prepare meals from scratch.

Kathy Del Tonto (far right) participates in a class that teaches school cafeteria workers how to prepare meals from scratch.

Kathy Del Tonto started cooking school food 30 years ago in the Montrose school district at the foot of Colorado's San Juan Mountains. Back then, the cafeteria workers made everything from scratch.

"My first kitchen that I managed was a little country school out south of town, and we made our own ketchup and everything," she says.

But times changed. Families started eating more fast food, and processing companies started offering schools fast-food kinds of choices. The companies would take the food that the U.S. Department of Agriculture gives to schools, turn it into chicken nuggets and other processed items kids want, and then send it to cafeterias for less than cooking it on site would cost.

Del Tonto went along with it. "By doing processed food you can cut your labor because you don't have to do the hard cooking, or you're just reheating and that kind of thing," she explains.

Increasingly, though, the movement to reduce childhood obesity by improving what kids eat in school has changed the game. It means schools are now required to serve more fresh fruits and vegetables. And there's a movement within the movement that promotes the retro notion of cooking meals from scratch. And that takes a change in the hearts and minds of those behind the lunch line.

Mike Shethar, a chef from Boulder, Colo., wants Del Tonto and all other cafeteria workers onboard. He says with a little training, food staff can cook the food on site.

"I ask them if they cook chicken at home and they're like, 'Of course I cook chicken at home,' and I say, 'Is it difficult?' 'No, I do it all the time,' " says Shethar. "And so I think about transferring the love you give your food at home why shouldn't it be in the schools?"

Despite the rap that it's more expensive to cook, Shethar believes it can be done for the same price as having the food processors do it. Shethar travels around Colorado with a group called LiveWell Colorado, which teaches districts like Del Tonto's how to switch to more healthful food. Think of it as a boot camp for the lunch lady set.

At first, Del Tonto was not pleased.

"I didn't like somebody coming in and telling me I was doing it wrong. We were giving kids what they loved. We had huge lunch counts; they were happy. Nobody was complaining," she says.

That was two years ago. Del Tonto was in charge of food for all 11 schools in her district, and she had them serving processed foods almost exclusively.

But by the end of the school food training, she was a changed woman.

"When I sat there in that classroom and knew the obesity rate had increased 30 percent, when I saw photos of kids and knowing that that generation doesn't have the life expectancy that their parents [have] as a mom, that's a shock-and-awe moment," she says. "I remember thinking in my head, if it's not me, who's it gonna be that's going to take that on? And if not now, when?"

Two years later, Del Tonto's schools have switched from mostly processed foods to making 95 percent of what kids eat from scratch.

But it wasn't easy. It required training staff members, educating them about healthful eating, and lots of repetition to get the kids to make the more healthful choices.

Those challenges, and others, are more than most schools want to take on, says Joe Pawlak, a school food industry analyst. It takes money, new equipment and retraining cafeteria staff. Del Tonto's school had financial help.

Del Tonto remains committed to serving nearly all meals in her schools cooked from scratch. She says lunch ladies feel better serving things they've made themselves.

"Just knowing the love and the care we put in that food, hoping that it makes a difference for some of those kids."

This story is a partnership between NPR, Colorado Public Radio and Kaiser Health News.

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Get The Most Bang From Your Bubbly

In time for New Year's Eve, Science Friday examines the chemical reactions that transpire in fluted glassware. Ira Flatow and Richard Zare, a chemist at Stanford University, pore over the science of bubbles from how to keep that open champagne fizzy (forget the cork) to why beer tastes better from a glass rather than a bottle.

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'Consider the Fork' Chronicles Evolution of Eating

Did you know that the human overbite may have evolved after people began using forks and knives? In Consider the Fork, author Bee Wilson traces how kitchen toolsfrom knives to pots to gas stoveshave changed over time, and how they have influenced what, and how, we eat.

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An Evolutionary Whodunit: How Did Humans Develop Lactose Tolerance?

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Thousands of years ago, a mutation in the human genome allowed many adults to digest lactose and drink milk.

Thousands of years ago, a mutation in the human genome allowed many adults to digest lactose and drink milk.

Got milk? Ancient European farmers who made cheese thousands of years ago certainly had it. But at that time, they lacked a genetic mutation that would have allowed them to digest raw milk's dominant sugar, lactose, after childhood.

Today, however, 35 percent of the global population mostly people with European ancestry can digest lactose in adulthood without a hitch.

So, how did we transition from milk-a-phobics to milk-a-holics? "The first and most correct answer is, we don't know," says Mark Thomas, an evolutionary geneticist at University College London in the UK.

Most babies can digest milk without getting an upset stomach thanks to an enzyme called lactase. Up until several thousand years ago, that enzyme turned off once a person grew into adulthood meaning most adults were lactose intolerant (or "lactase non-persistent" as scientists call it).

But now that doesn't happen for most people of Northern and Central European descent and in certain African and Middle Eastern populations. This development of lactose tolerance took only about 20,000 years the evolutionary equivalent of a hot minute but it would have required extremely strong selective pressure.

"Something happened when we started drinking milk that reduced mortality," says Loren Cordain, an exercise physiologist at Colorado State University and an expert on Paleolithic nutrition. That something, though, is a bit of a mystery.

The Clues

Milk, no surprise, is pretty nutritious. It's got protein, a bunch of micronutrients, lots of calcium, and plenty of carbohydrates. For the ancient Neolithic farmer, it was like a superfood, says Thomas.

The Salt

Archaeologists Find Ancient Evidence Of Cheese-Making

Even lactose-intolerant adults could have benefited from milk. Chemical evidence from ancient pots shows that these long-ago farmers learned to process the milk into cheese or yogurt, which removes some of the lactose.

But around 8,000 years ago in what's now Turkey just when humans were starting to milk newly domesticated cows, goats, and sheep mutations near the gene that produces the lactase enzyme started becoming more frequent. And around the same time, adult lactose tolerance developed. The mutation responsible for that may be between 2,000 and 20,000 years old; estimates vary.

But in order for that new trait to have persisted over many generations, something unique must have given milk drinkers an evolutionary edge.

A Tale of Famine and Deadly Diarrhea

Thomas thinks a combination of two reasons may explain the persistence of the lactase mutation in Northern Europe.

First, the farmers that settled there came from the Fertile Crescent, and they brought crops native to that region like wheat and barley. But with Northern Europe's shorter growing season, these crops were more likely to fail, causing famine.

Additionally, the colder Northern European climate lent itself to natural refrigeration. "If you're a farmer in Southern Europe, and you milk a cow in the morning and you leave the milk out, it will be yogurt by noon. But if you do the same thing in Germany, it'll still be milk," says Thomas. A healthy lactose-intolerant person who drank that still-fresh milk would get a bad case of diarrhea. "But if you're malnourished, then you'll die," Thomas says.

In times of famine, milk drinking probably increased. And the very people who shouldn't have been consuming high-lactose dairy products the hungry and malnourished would be the ones more likely to drink fresh milk. So, with milk's deadly effects for the lactose intolerant, individuals with the lactase mutation would have been more likely to survive and pass on that gene.

The combination of famine and longer processing time for milk is "kind of like a double whammy," says Thomas, who has yet to publish his theory. Under his scenario, the lactose tolerant wouldn't always have had an evolutionary advantage, but for short periods of time, having that genetic mutation would have helped. "Over a long run it's modest, but over short periods of time, it's extremely high selection" for the lactose tolerant, says Thomas.

Scientists may never discover the reason why adult lactose tolerance evolved so quickly. Other researchers have suggested that fresh milk provided a more pure fluid alternative to contaminated water sources in arid environments, that milk fat gave people a fertility advantage, or that milk drinking might have been associated with social prestige. Cordain argues that milk gave humans an advantage against malaria in Africa and Southern Europe, and rickets in Northern Europe.

"Whatever constellation of factors was involved, they're going to be different in different regions," says Thomas. "But, the selection pressure might have been equally strong in East Africa and Northern Europe, for example."

It's hard to tell how prevalent lactose tolerance has been over time. But so far scientists have found evidence of adult lactase persistence in ancient skeletons in Northern Europe, Scandinavia, southern France, and elsewhere. Thomas and his colleague Oddn Sverrisdttir of Uppsala University in Sweden recently discovered lactase persistence in Spanish remains from about 5,000 years ago and hope to publish their research next year.

Thomas thinks that as genetic and archaeological technology continues to develop, modern science may someday reveal the culprit. But, it might take a while because the research like our genes is still evolving.

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Tamari Greens, Miso Yams: Chef Gives Vegans Multicultural Flavor

The Inspired Vegan

Seasonal Ingredients, Creative Recipes, Mouthwatering Menus

by Bryant Terry

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Veganism has long been thought of as a bland, fringe diet typically associated with hippies or trend-setting Hollywood types. But chef Bryant Terry is trying to chip away at that stereotype.

In his 2009 book, Vegan Soul Kitchen, Terry took the meat and dairy out of a food tradition generally known for its pork, fried chicken, buttermilk biscuits and egg custard pies. His latest book, The Inspired Vegan, delivers instructions for getting the most out of a vegan meal, along with a soundtrack to listen to while you're doing it. He joins NPR's Renee Montagne to discuss his style of vegan fusion cooking and to share some decidedly delicious vegan recipes for the holidays.

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Interview Highlights

On the historical origins of vegan soul food

"Obviously, when people hear vegan and soul food, they think that it's oxymoronic how diametrically opposed can those things be? But for me, my goal with the book was really helping to refocus people's attentions on the origins of African-American cuisine. And when we move past the kind of comfort foods and looked at the kind of daily diet that many African-Americans in generations past would enjoy, it is replete with these nutrient-dense leafy greens collards, mustards, turnips, dandelion greens, legumes such as butter beans and black-eyed peas. These are the nutrient-rich foods that any dietitian or nutritionist would say we all should be eating. So I really wanted to help paint a more diverse and complex picture of African-American cuisine."

On the budding Afro-Asian food genre

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Bryant Terry is a chef, food justice activist and author who lives in Oakland, Calif.

Bryant Terry is a chef, food justice activist and author who lives in Oakland, Calif.

"This Candied Sweet Potatoes recipe is one of the dishes that is part of this emerging kind of food genre that my wife and I have been cultivating, which is Afro-Asian cuisine. My wife is Chinese-American and we like to bring together our different cultural food ways. So this candied sweet potato is kind of a staple dish in African-American cuisine, especially during the holidays, and I decided to kind of give it an Asian twist by adding tamari and miso, which are two staples in Japanese cooking."

On his family's diet

"When my wife and I met she was actually a vegan, and then she got pregnant. We often joke that she turned into a cavewoman because she started eating all types of she was eating everything, chicken and beef. And my wife continues to eat chicken and some eggs and fish, so, you know, it's a compromise. Our daughter does have a mostly plant-based diet, but she eats eggs and sometimes she has fish maybe a couple times a week. So, you know, we think this is the best diet for her, and at a certain point, she'll be able to make the decision about what kind of diet she wants to continue having."

On the African-American tradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Year's

"The lore is that the black-eyed peas actually represent copper or pennies. And so along with that, one typically will have a green dish such as collards, mustards, turnips, chard, kale or cabbage, and the leafy green dish actually represents money. And then with that, one might have some cornbread, which represents gold. You eat it on New Year's, and it's supposed to usher in a very prosperous and abundant year."

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Black-Eyed Peas in Garlic-Ginger-Braised Mustard Greens

4-6 servings

Black-Eyed Peas

1 cup dried black-eyed peas, sorted, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed
1 (3-inch) piece kombu
Coarse sea salt

Mustard Greens

Coarse sea salt
1 pounds mustard greens, ribs removed and composted, leaves coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
cup finely chopped red onion
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup Vegetable Stock
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 tablespoons tamari sauce, or more to taste
Quick-Pickled Mustard Greens

Making the black-eyed peas

In a medium-size saucepan over high heat, combine the black-eyed peas with the kombu and enough water to cover them by 4 inches. Bring to a boil. Skim off any foam, lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered, just until tender, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Add teaspoon of sea salt for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Drain the beans in a colander, reserving 2 cups of cooking liquid. Set the beans and liquid aside.

Making the mustard greens

In a medium-size saucepan over high heat, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Add the greens and boil, uncovered, for 3 to 5 minutes, until softened. Drain in a colander, and set aside.

In a large saut pan or a medium-size saucepan over medium heat, combine the olive oil, onion, ginger, red pepper flakes, and teaspoon salt, and saut, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until softened, 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the reserved greens and stir to incorporate.

Stir in the vegetable stock, the reserved black-eyed peas, and the reserved bean liquid. Raise the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens are tender, 30-45 minutes. Stir in the sesame seeds, season with tamari sauce to taste, and serve along with a whopping dollop of Quick-Pickled Mustard Greens to add some heat and tang.

Excerpted from The Inspired Vegan by Bryant Terry. Copyright 2012 by Bryant Terry. Excerpted by permission of Da Capo Lifelong Books.

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Enlarge image i

Molasses, Miso, and Maple Candied Sweet Potatoes

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Soundtrack: "Revolution" by Nina Simone from Protest Anthology

Book: Conversations in Maine: Exploring our Nation's Future by James Boggs and Grace Lee Boggs

2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes or garnet yams, peeled and cut into 1/2inch rounds
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 (2-inch) cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon tamari or shoyu
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 heaping tablespoon white or yellow miso
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
6 tablespoons filtered water

Preheat the oven to 425F.

In a large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil.

Spread the sweet potatoes on a parchment-lined or well-greased baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 50 minutes, turning over with a fork after 25 minutes.

Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and lower the heat to 375F.

Place the cinnamon stick at the bottom of a 2-quart baking dish, and add the sweet potatoes in layers. Set aside.

In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the molasses, tamari, maple syrup, miso, orange juice, lemon juice, lemon zest, water, and the remaining tablespoon of sesame oil. Pour over the sweet potatoes.

Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, thoroughly basting the sweet potatoes every 10 minutes.

Excerpted from The Inspired Vegan by Bryant Terry. Copyright 2012 by Bryant Terry. Excerpted by permission of Da Capo Lifelong Books.

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