Portal:Food

Title page of the first edition, 1682

Compendium ferculorum, albo Zebranie potraw (A Collection of Dishes) is a cookbook by Stanisław Czerniecki. First put in print in 1682, it is the earliest known cookery book published originally in Polish. Czerniecki wrote it in his capacity as head chef at the court of the house of Lubomirski and dedicated it to Princess Helena Tekla Lubomirska. The book contains more than 300 recipes, divided into three chapters of about 100 recipes each.

The chapters are devoted, respectively, to meat, fish and other dishes, and each concludes with a "master chef's secret". Czerniecki's cooking style, as is evident in his book, was typical for the luxuriant Polish Baroque cuisine, which still had a largely medieval outlook, but was gradually succumbing to novel culinary ideas coming from France. It was characterized by generous use of vinegar, sugar and exotic spices, as well as preference for spectacle over thrift. (Full article...)

Prince's hot chicken

Hot chicken (or Nashville hot chicken) is a type of fried chicken that is a local specialty of Nashville, Tennessee, in the United States. In its typical preparation, it is a portion of breast, thigh or wing that has been marinated in a water-based blend of seasoning, floured, fried and finally covered in a paste or sauce that has been spiced with cayenne pepper. This method of preparation originates within African American communities in the Southern United States. A richly pigmented seasoning paste gives the fried chicken its reddish hue. Spice blends, preparation methods and heat intensity vary from recipe to recipe or depending on the chef.

It is served atop slices of white bread with pickle chips. It is both the application of a spicy paste and the presentation that differentiates it from similar dishes, such as Buffalo wings. It can be viewed in similar context to other foods that have been tweaked to be unique in a regional way, such as the slugburger or the Mississippi Delta tamale. (Full article...)

Cornish cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with Cornwall and the Cornish people. It has been heavily influenced by the geography of the county as well as its social history.

Cornwall being a peninsula surrounded by historically well-stocked seas, with a significant fishing industry, has meant that fish dishes form a major part of the historical and modern recipes in Cornwall. The iconic dish of Cornwall, the pasty, has its roots in another historical industry within the county, this being mining. (Full article...)

Mustard seeds are the small round seeds of various mustard plants. The seeds are usually about 1 to 2 millimetres (1⁄32 to 3⁄32 in) in diameter and may be colored from yellowish white to black. They are an important spice in many regional foods and may come from one of three different plants: black mustard (Brassica nigra), brown mustard (B. juncea), or white mustard (Sinapis alba).

Grinding and mixing the seeds with water, vinegar or other liquids creates the yellow condiment known as mustard. (Full article...)

Skillet cornbread

Cornbread is a quick bread made with cornmeal, associated with the cuisine of the Southern United States, with origins in Native American cuisine. It is an example of batter bread. Dumplings and pancakes made with finely ground cornmeal are staple foods of the Hopi people in Arizona. The Hidatsa people of the Upper Midwest call baked cornbread naktsi, while the Choctaw people of the Southeast call it bvnaha. The Cherokee and Seneca tribes enrich the basic batter, adding chestnuts, sunflower seeds, apples, or berries, and sometimes combine it with beans or potatoes. Modern versions of cornbread are usually leavened by baking powder. (Full article...)

Sweet Cornbread is a variant of the Skillet Cornbread made throughout the Southern United States.

Frontispiece from Modern Cookery for Private Families, Acton's best known work

Eliza Acton (17 April 1799 – 13 February 1859) was an English food writer and poet who produced one of Britain's first cookery books aimed at the domestic reader, Modern Cookery for Private Families. The book introduced the now-universal practice of listing ingredients and giving suggested cooking times for each recipe. It included the first recipes in English for Brussels sprouts and for spaghetti. It also contains the first recipe for what Acton called "Christmas pudding"; the dish was normally called plum pudding, recipes for which had appeared previously, although Acton was the first to put the name and recipe together.

Acton was born in 1799 in Sussex. She was raised in Suffolk where she ran a girls' boarding school before spending time in France. On her return to England in 1826 she published a collection of poetry and released her cookery book in 1845, aimed at middle class families. Written in an engaging prose, the book was well received by reviewers. It was reprinted within the year and several editions followed until 1918, when Longman, the book's publisher, took the decision not to reprint. In 1857 Acton published The English Bread-Book for Domestic Use, a more academic and studious work than Modern Cookery. The work consisted of a history of bread-making in England, a study of European methods of baking and numerous recipes. (Full article...)

Haddon Norman Salt (born 18 October 1928) is a British–American businessman, best known for founding the fast food chain H. Salt Esq. Fish & Chips and for acting as that company's brand ambassador, spokesman, and symbol. Salt followed his father and grandfather's careers, becoming a master fish cook and purveyor of fish and chips.

"I came over not simply to start a restaurant, but to introduce America to fish and chips, as grandiose as that dream sounds now". When Salt arrived in America in 1964, Britons ate an average of 100 pounds of fish per year, while Americans ate only 10 pounds per year. Salt said, "The way some of it is handled, I can see why".

Salt opened his first fish and chips shop in California in 1965. His business was acquired by the Kentucky Fried Chicken corporation in 1969. The sale made Salt the third largest stockholder in KFC, at the time the world's largest fast-food company.

KFC was not successful in the large-scale expansion of the H. Salt Esq. chain and sold the brand and business in 1972. Salt explained the brand's failure, saying "They started lowering the standards of the quality of the fish, and so the [sales] volumes of the restaurants went down and people stopped buying franchises, so that was the end of it. And it didn't grow anymore."

Salt left the company in 1972. (Full article...)

• ... that the Indianapolis Community Food Access Coalition was created to resolve food deserts in the city of Indianapolis?
• ... that a British supermarket uses barriers to prevent shoppers grabbing food with yellow discount stickers out of the hands of staff?
• ... that a New York pop-up restaurant opened by Louisa Shafia served stews and rice dishes described in a review as a "Persian-tapas gateway into the ancient cuisine"?
• ... that the Korean stew budae-jjigae commonly includes baked beans, Spam, corn, and American cheese?
• ... that staff at the vegan food brand VFC interact with internet trolls on social media platforms to grow their online brand?
• ... that Ice Spice is Princess Diana?