Free Republic

Growing up in the United States, “Chinese food” usually meant American Chinese food. You know it’s not the real deal, but those words still conjure images of white takeout boxes, egg rolls, and fortune cookies. And yet time-honored American Chinese classics such as General Tso’s Chicken would be unrecognizable to most people in mainland China. So where do these dishes actually come from? American Chinese food has deep roots in Cantonese cooking from China’s Guangdong province (formerly referred to as Canton). Before the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 effectively halted immigration to the US, immigrants from Guangdong arrived in droves...

Twelve bottles of Bordeaux wine spent 438 days aging at the International Space Station. (Image credit: Mission WISE) Red wine stored at the International Space Station for more than a year tasted a bit different than its terrestrial counterparts and, surprisingly, aged faster, too, a new study finds. Researchers shipped 12 bottles of Bordeaux wine to the space station on a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft in November 2019 — not to go with the astronauts' meals, but to study how microgravity, or weightlessness, affects wine as it ages. The wine remained in a sealed canister at the orbiting laboratory...

I was never falling-down drunk. I was never belligerent. I always got my work done. I was never unkempt. I was always clean, I was always shaved, I always performed at work. I was always kind and gracious in the dining room. But I lived in hell. When we opened Joe Beef in 2005, we were inspired by Martin Picard at Au Pied de Cochon, by these grandiose bistros of Paris, by seafood towers, by excess. We were two portly men who ate and drank well. I was and still am very insecure about anybody coming to the restaurant and...

Chick-fil-A is on fire. The fast-growing chicken-sandwich franchise is poised to become the third-largest fast-food chain in the country next year by sales, replacing Subway, according to Kalinowski Equity Research. Chick-fil-A would leapfrog past Taco Bell, Burger King and Wendy’s, the No. 4, 5 and 6 chains respectively, according to the firm.

Brooklyn BBQ is spreading to every corner of the world—Colombia, Spain, Panama, Sweden, England, and Japan—looking like it came straight out of Williamsburg. But why aren't these countries taking cues from Texas or Kansas City? After sitting down at the restaurant Pork in Barcelona, a long menu describing different preparations of pork is set before me. There is charcuterie made from Iberian pigs, various types of dry-aged sausages and chorizos, and slow cooked and grilled pork. Everything is sold by weight. There are also hanging Edison bulbs and the beer, brewed in conjunction with a cult brewer in Liverpool, is...

This was the year that brought us Salt Bae, Prosecco-flavoured everything and more vegan options than ever. But while those viral food trends are here to stay, other much weirder fads are bound to be consigned to history. Coffees in cones, cakes that look like raindrops, naturally pink chocolate and cloud eggs were just some of the zany foods that had spells in the spotlight in 2017, according to Twitter. But though they were all the rage on Instagram for a time, it's predicted that these foods certainly won't be on the table in 2018.

Blame Heston Blumenthal for turning every munchies-stricken yahoo in the world into a pioneering experimental foodie. Or blame the gourmet burger fad, threatening McDonald’s long-held position as global burger overlords, and forcing them to come up with ever-more elaborate ways to stand out from the competition. Last week, the never-knowingly-controversial McDonald’s UK Facebook page prompted howls of outrage when they asked followers to answer this question: which flavour milkshake would you prefer to dunk your fries in?

With good steak now costing more than $20 a pound, a grill out can bust the budget. So we decided to try out some new dollar store steaks that cost just $1 each, to see if they are the real thing or a case of "don't waste your money." What's a Dollar Store Cut of Steak?

Among the many things New Yorkers pride ourselves on is food: making it, selling it and consuming only the best, from single-slice pizza to four-star sushi. We have fish markets, Shake Shacks and, as of this year, 74 Michelin-starred restaurants. Yet most everything we eat is fraudulent. In his new book, “Real Food Fake Food,” author Larry Olmsted exposes the breadth of counterfeit foods we’re unknowingly eating. After reading it, you’ll want to be fed intravenously for the rest of your life.

If you're sipping your lunch, you probably have an iPhone. If you're enjoying pizza from Little Caesars, you're probably on Android. Consumer choices have always been about picking this or that, and the current either/or decision is between smartphone operating systems. Your choice when it comes to operating systems says a lot about you, including what you like to eat, according to data provided to CNBC by NPD Group's Checkout Tracking. IPhone users were much more likely to go for a liquid lunch, with soup and smoothies taking the top spots for iOS choices. Soup had an iPhone-to-Android index of...

In Romania, they have a saying: “The best vegetable is meat.” Actually, it might be an “old Alsatian saying,” or from some other primeval region, depending on how you Google. But joke like that at a dinner in Brooklyn — or anyplace, really, where identifying with the progressive vanguard has made eating a serious form of self-definition — and someone just might denounce you between forkfuls of heirloom greens. Mealtime, in these rooftop-gardened corners of the world, has become a theater for a kind of culture war. And that evangelist with the fork is hungry for combat, no matter which...

It finally feels like Spring here today,and my thoughts turned to the wonderful things that will soon spring from peoples' gardens. I thought I'd post a recipe for an old favorite that I recall from the 1970s and is difficult to find on store shelves nowadays: Green Goddess Dressing (This is a case where you really do taste the anchovies, so you may want to start with a smaller amount until you get the anchovy-level you like.) 2-oz. tin of anchovies, undrained 2 T chopped fresh chives 3 T tarragon vinegar 1 T fresh lemon juice 1 Cup sour cream...

December 27, 2014 KNEEPAD ALERT: FOODIE OBAMA IS HIPPEST PRESIDENT EVER! By John Hinderaker By any reasonable standard, the Obama administration has been a train wreck. But that doesn’t prevent our state media from fawning over him as though he were the reincarnation of George Washington. Here, it is CBS, telling us that Obama is a “foodie” who eats at the trendiest restaurants, is “far hipper” than other presidents; in particular, “so much cooler than President Bush.” Actually, if you watch to the end you will get a clue as to why President Bush generally chose not to dine out...

<p>Slices aren't an option at Whitney Aycock's Rockaway Beach pizza shop, as he will happily explain to anyone who orders one: “If you want a slice, go to Elegante’s. I don’t give a fig,” he told one customer late on a recent Friday night. Next in line was a pair of teenagers. One was eager to sample Aycock's handcrafted creations. The other was scared to try something new. She asked for plain. “Plain pizza?” Aycock asked, sounding offended. “What is ‘plain’ pizza?” After a playful yet testy exchange, both kids turned around without making an order and fled out the door. Aycock was fine with losing the sale if it helped him make his point.</p>

It’s called the Magic Restroom Cafe, but there is really no mystery here in what is being called America’s first bathroom-themed restaurant where patrons sit on toilets to dine... The Los Angeles Times reports that YoYo Li, a first-time restaurant owner from China, borrowed the idea from the Modern Toilet chain of eateries in China and Taiwan. Everything in the restaurant has a potty theme – the dishes, the menu items, the seating...

When I wrote in January that New York 'cue is now among the best in the country, I meant it. But the backlash was swift. And harsh. @Underexposure tweeted: ". . . pit masters and BBQ devotees across Texas, North Carolina, Kansas City & Memphis all roll their eyes in unison." Barbecue blogger Daniel Vaughn groused to the Houston Press, "They get a few joints with a decent brisket, and now NYC is a BBQ capital?" Even New Yorkers didn't believe me. Meat man Josh Ozersky snorted on Twitter, "What that dope doesn't know about barbecue could fill volumes." Ever...

Madison, WI — The International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association™ (IDDBA) has announced the speaker lineup for Dairy-Deli-Bake 2012. The event will be held June 10-12 in New Orleans, LA at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center. This year’s speakers include: Sarah Palin, Paula Deen, Terry Bradshaw, John Pinette, Jeremy Gutsche, Adrian Slywotzky, Jim Carroll, Jane Buckingham, Harold Lloyd, Steve Beekhuizen, Jack Li, and Carol Christison. The Heart of a Rogue Trailblazer In 2006, Sarah Palin became the youngest person and the first female to be elected as governor of Alaska. A short two years later, she was tapped to be the vice-presidential...

Eating a diet rich in spices, like turmeric and cinnamon, reduces the body's negative responses to eating high-fat meals, according to Penn State researchers. "Normally, when you eat a high-fat meal, you end up with high levels of triglycerides, a type of fat, in your blood," said Sheila West, associate professor of biobehavioral health, Penn State, who led the study. "If this happens too frequently, or if triglyceride levels are raised too much, your risk of heart disease is increased. We found that adding spices to a high-fat meal reduced triglyceride response by about 30 percent, compared to a similar...

Maybe a couple of years ago, I gave up on ever expecting any quality product from the big 3 pizza stores. Without exaggeration, I could get a much, much better product by simply picking up a frozen Tombstone pizza and baking it. (Pizza Inn is great though. They don't deliver here, but I gladly go and pick it up rather than order the crap the big 3 serves.) On to burgers. I used to love McDonalds and Burger King hamburgers. However, for some time, when I would eat them, they just didn't taste right. Especially McDonalds -- It's like I...

I am looking for recipes for a good cookout meat this Saturday. Anyone?