Delmonico's was the first American restaurant to have a printed menu, the first to offer a separate wine list, the first to have tablecloths, the first to offer a private dining room and the first to provide an orchestra for background music.

No wonder the carrot is the second most popular vegetable in the world after the potato—not bad for a plant which, according to the Oxford Companion to Food, “had an unpromising origin.” It is, after all, merely a refined version of a common weed—Queen Anne’s lace.

No wonder the carrot is the second most popular vegetable in the world after the potato—not bad for a plant which, according to the Oxford Companion to Food, “had an unpromising origin.” It is, after all, merely a refined version of a common weed—Queen Anne’s lace.

A mug cake is a single serving of cake made by quickly stirring up batter in a mug and nuking it in the microwave. It apparently came to widespread public attention in a YouTube video back in 2009.

Red velvet cake was all the rage years ago, but its popularity has faded since the 1970s amid safety concerns about the red food coloring in use back then to tint the cake.Perhaps it's time to bring red velvet cake back.

Red velvet cake was all the rage years ago, but its popularity has faded since the 1970s amid safety concerns about the red food coloring in use back then to tint the cake.Perhaps it's time to bring red velvet cake back.

In the culinary world one letter can make a big difference. Take, for example, the distinction between macaroon and macaron. Though identical words except for one extra letter "o," the confections they refer to couldn't be more dissimilar.

In the culinary world one letter can make a big difference. Take, for example, the distinction between macaroon and macaron. Though identical words except for one extra letter "o," the confections they refer to couldn't be more dissimilar.

Where would you find the most authentic Chicken Kiev? Probably Ukraine. The definitive Peking Duck? Certainly Beijing. The perfect Swedish Meatballs? Obviously Sweden. Or maybe Ikea. And where would you go to find the ultimate Greek yogurt? That’s not so easy a question to answer.

Though watercress has been an English tradition at high tea and even in school lunches for years and years, the truth is, relatively speaking, the Brits are newcomers to the plant.