Tucked away in the English county of Yorkshire is a small 9 square mile patch of land known colloquially as The Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle. As the name suggests, this area is famous for producing nearly all of the rhubarb consumed in Britain and, at one point, produced enough forced rhubarb to satisfy almost the entire world’s demand. Oddly, despite literal […]

Brexstacular asks: Why don’t drunk drivers get injured very often in wrecks? There are seemingly never ending news stories involving the mug shot of a drunk driver mostly unharmed after getting in an accident. Meanwhile, their victims are left fighting for their lives, or worse, already dead.  The perception from this is that somehow being drunk will protect you from […]

To many people adding one of the principal ingredients in antifreeze to wine sounds almost cartoonishly stupid and evil, which is probably why that exact scenario is the basis for an entire episode of The Simpsons. Nevertheless, for at least 7 years, many major wine makers in Austria decided to add this highly toxic poison to their wines, with a […]

Alex K. asks: Is it true that sommeliers can’t tell the difference between expensive and cheap wines? Having a seasoned tongue that can detect the subtle differences between different kinds of adult grape juice is a sure sign of class. In fact, the go-to Hollywood trope for showing that a character is refined is to give them a penchant for […]

In the world of food advertising there’s a concept known as “propping” which is industry jargon for making the food look as good as possible via sometimes rather, shall we say, unusual means. While proper lighting and setting are a given, a good food stylist, which is a thing by the way, will do much more than that. For example, […]

Sawmillturtle asks: Would you be willing to look into the origins of “one for me and one for my homies” while pouring some drink on the ground? To most people the idea of “pouring one out” in regards to the act of pouring a small amount of some manner of alcoholic beverage onto the ground in remembrance of one’s dead […]

Growing on tall shrubs with dense foliage, the small, red, mildly sweet berries known as miracle fruit seemingly magically can turn sour flavors sweet. The plant that produces the berries, Synsepalum Dulcificum, is native to West Africa, where the fruit was traditionally used to sweeten palm wine and make soured cornbread more palatable. Growing best in acidic soil in tropical […]

Today I found out turkey does not make you drowsy after you eat it. Now to be clear, turkey does contain tryptophan.  Tryptophan is an amino acid which the human body doesn’t naturally produce, but is essential to proper body function and, thus, must be acquired from food.  The reason tryptophan is tied to drowsiness is that it is used […]

The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Inside that textured green skin, it’s ripe with mystery. It’s an “evolutionary anachronism.” It’s not a vegetable, and not exactly your typical fruit. It’s an acquired taste that most Americans still resist. Meet the avocado. HAVING A BALL The avocado came from South America, so it’s not too surprising that […]

According to George Orwell, “tea is one of the main stays of civilization,” and like many of his countrymen, Orwell had rather strong opinions on the proper method of its preparation. Realizing one day in 1946 that the cookbooks of the age gave scant instruction in how to make tea, he decided to remedy that deficiency and published his personal […]