Category: Profiles

How a Formula 1 Engineer Created One of the World’s Most Coveted Pastries

This post contains products independently chosen (and loved) by our editors and writers. Food52 earns an affiliate commission on qualifying purchases of the products we link to.

As a young child growing up in Melbourne, Kate Reid spent many late ni…

This post contains products independently chosen (and loved) by our editors and writers. Food52 earns an affiliate commission on qualifying purchases of the products we link to.

As a young child growing up in Melbourne, Kate Reid spent many late nights with her father watching auto racing. Fascinated by the speed and adrenaline of the sport, she knew from an early age that she was destined for a career in aerodynamics. However, she never imagined that dream would ultimately lead to her pursuing the slow, methodical craft of croissant-making.

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How Maru Toledo Is Preserving Jalisco’s Forgotten Culinary History

When Maru Toledo asked a 100-year-old woman about a “turco de garbanz[o],” an old wedding dessert made with shreds of chicken, the elder shook her cane at the chef, less than half her age, demanding answers. “Where did you get that recipe from; how do …

When Maru Toledo asked a 100-year-old woman about a “turco de garbanz[o],” an old wedding dessert made with shreds of chicken, the elder shook her cane at the chef, less than half her age, demanding answers. “Where did you get that recipe from; how do you know it?”

Toledo, a culinary historian, explained her work: She researches the disappearing recipes of Jalisco, her home state, and had combed through old documents to piece together this specific one.

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For These Intrepid Gardeners, Every Seed Counts

You can Grow Your Own Way. All spring and summer, we’re playing in the vegetable garden; join us for step-by-step guides, highly recommended tools, backyard tours, juicy-ripe recipes, and then some. Let’s get our hands dirty.

“Badenjan Sesame” eggpl…

You can Grow Your Own Way. All spring and summer, we’re playing in the vegetable garden; join us for step-by-step guides, highly recommended tools, backyard tours, juicy-ripe recipes, and then some. Let’s get our hands dirty.

“Badenjan Sesame” eggplant from Kandahar; black Hungarian' hot pepper from Kiskenfelegyhaza, Hungary; tomato from Isfahan, Iran—combing through the seed catalog on the Experimental Farm Network website is like getting a crash course in genetic seed diversity. Since its inception in 2013, EFN has been on a mission to preserve and expand biodiversity in crops. Nathan Kleinman and Dusty Hinzco, who first met via the Occupy Wall Street movement, co-founded the nonprofit cooperative to facilitate collaboration in plant breeding. For them, seeds aren’t just a way to put food on the table, they support displaced communities, promote food justice, and ensure a better future for all.

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Meet Giusti, a 400-Year-Old Balsamic Vinegar Empire

For years, I swore off balsamic vinegar. I’d intentionally order Caprese salads with just olive oil or request that my mother-in-law cook her favorite shredded Brussels sprouts salad without her go-to balsamic vinegar. This was because what I knew to be balsamic vinegar—a watery, dark caramel-colored liquid with burning acidity—wasn’t actually balsamic vinegar at all. It turns out most things labeled balsamic vinegar in the United States are completely different from the complex, subtly sweet, subtly tangy, intensely flavored condiment that originated in Modena, Italy.

From Our Shop

Giusti 1 Medaglia d’Argento Balsamic Vinegar of Modena


$21

Giusti 2 Medaglie d’Oro Balsamic Vinegar of Modena


$30–$40


More Options

Giusti Extravecchio 25-Year Balsamic Vinegar of Modena


$200

How It’s Classified

The difference is this: in order for balsamic vinegar to be designated as “DOP,” aka Denominazione di Origine Protetta, it must be made from cooked grapes and nothing else. The grapes must mature naturally through a long and slow acetification process.

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For years, I swore off balsamic vinegar. I’d intentionally order Caprese salads with just olive oil or request that my mother-in-law cook her favorite shredded Brussels sprouts salad without her go-to balsamic vinegar. This was because what I knew to be balsamic vinegar—a watery, dark caramel-colored liquid with burning acidity—wasn’t actually balsamic vinegar at all. It turns out most things labeled balsamic vinegar in the United States are completely different from the complex, subtly sweet, subtly tangy, intensely flavored condiment that originated in Modena, Italy.

From Our Shop

Giusti 1 Medaglia d'Argento Balsamic Vinegar of Modena $21

Giusti 2 Medaglie d'Oro Balsamic Vinegar of Modena $30–$40

More Options

Giusti Extravecchio 25-Year Balsamic Vinegar of Modena $200

How It’s Classified

The difference is this: in order for balsamic vinegar to be designated as “DOP,” aka Denominazione di Origine Protetta, it must be made from cooked grapes and nothing else. The grapes must mature naturally through a long and slow acetification process.

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The Tastiest New Plant-Based Cheese Comes From Two Music Industry Vets

Ian Martin and Aaron Bullock each had successful careers in the music and entertainment industries for decades. The Beverly Hills-based duo were at the height of their careers, but there was something else calling their name: cheese. Specifically, thei…

Ian Martin and Aaron Bullock each had successful careers in the music and entertainment industries for decades. The Beverly Hills-based duo were at the height of their careers, but there was something else calling their name: cheese. Specifically, their goal was to offer a plant-based cheese alternative that actually tasted good; ideally, it would also be nutritious for the consumer.

“[When I first started experimenting with plant-based cheese], there weren’t a lot of options for something that tasted good and was good for you. Now we have a lot of options for non-dairy and plant-based foods,” says Martin. But none of them quite hit the mark. He began cooking vegan food for himself and his family and found that he wanted to serve even more people good food in its natural form.

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This Creole Chef Is Claiming a Spot in Your Spice Cabinet

For Jeremy Nagin, cooking is personal. The New Orleans-born, now Dallas-based chef and product developer has always had one foot in and one foot out of the food industry, but his passion for innovation always drew him back in. From working at McDonald’…

For Jeremy Nagin, cooking is personal. The New Orleans-born, now Dallas-based chef and product developer has always had one foot in and one foot out of the food industry, but his passion for innovation always drew him back in. From working at McDonald’s at just 15 years old to finding his way in the kitchens of Emeril's, Bourbon House, and Nick and Sam’s Steakhouse in Dallas, Nagin has finally found his footing. The product-driven food industry is largely white and generally ignores the importance of Creole cuisine in the broader scope of American home cooking. But Nagin is staking a claim with his newly launched company, Beaucoup Flavor.

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our line!

Five Two Ultimate Apron with Built-In Pot Holders $25–$60

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Five Two Wooden Spoons $25–$99

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Five Two Bamboo Double Sided Cutting Board $29–$119

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Beaucoup Flavor is a Black-owned spice mix company that offers three different Creole blends—St. Beaucoup, the brand’s signature flavor made with sea salt, garlic, and the Holy Trinity (onion, bell pepper, and tomato); 3:30 Sunday, which takes barbecue culture and mixes it with Nagin’s Creole roots; and Tu Sabes, a Tex-Mex-meets-Creole blend of French sea salt, chipotle, cayenne pepper, cumin, and cilantro. “How do you take an already rich culture and mesh it with another rich culture?” he asks, rhetorically.

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Ice Cream Can Tell Centuries of Black Stories—Just Ask Chef Lokelani Alabanza

Hearing the words, “Your ice cream reminds me of when we ate ice cream at my mother’s funeral” would wipe the smile from most cooks’ faces. But for Nashville ice cream maker Lokelani Alabanza, this reaction from a customer was the ultimate compliment. …

Hearing the words, “Your ice cream reminds me of when we ate ice cream at my mother’s funeral” would wipe the smile from most cooks’ faces. But for Nashville ice cream maker Lokelani Alabanza, this reaction from a customer was the ultimate compliment. Alabanza is a storyteller who mines Black history and cooking for inspiration, translating her discoveries into the language of sugar and ice, and triggering such profound emotions is the whole point.

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Hello everyone ! ?? Thank you for the outpouring of support. It’s taken a few days to process. I’m Lokelani Alabanza. ( Lokelani is the flower of Maui, Alabanza is praise in Spanish) It’s been a mouthful since childhood. They call me Loke for short. The past four years have been dedicated to the world of ice cream. It’s been an amazing and challenging experience. It’s truly unbelievable how much humans love ice cream. Love it! Throughout the past four years, I’ve managed to created over 300 flavors. The inspiration can come from anywhere, a color, history, a thought, smell, book, person , drive in the car. I have a deep fondness for nostalgia, it’s been the most potent ingredient that I use. Nostalgia and ice cream are a stunning combination. Food connects all of us. Don’t ever underestimate it’s power. Through ice cream I started a journey into its history. Stepping into a world that I didn’t even realize existed. Names that have been forgotten, legacies that created the path that I would one day walk down. Was it coincidence or perfectly timed, that I would learn the name of Sarah Estell. A black female entrepreneur who owned and operated an ice cream saloon in downtown Nashville in 1840. With this new knowledge gained, it’s brought me so much confidence. Recent changes in the past few months have led me to venture out on my own. I have a new project I’ve been working on @saturatedicecream. You’re always welcome whenever you’re in Nashville. Be well. Be safe. Let us always be good to one another. p.s. What’s your favorite flavor?

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The American Ingredient Dorie Greenspan Brought to Paris for 13 Years

In 1998, baking guru Dorie Greenspan was working with famed French pastry chef Pierre Hermé on his first cookbook to be published in English, Desserts by Pierre Hermé. Among the oh-so-French lemony crepes and pear-chocolate tarts, Hermé penned a recipe…

In 1998, baking guru Dorie Greenspan was working with famed French pastry chef Pierre Hermé on his first cookbook to be published in English, Desserts by Pierre Hermé. Among the oh-so-French lemony crepes and pear-chocolate tarts, Hermé penned a recipe for a chewy, streusel-topped almond cake with cherries and mousse featuring a tangy, decidedly American ingredient: cream cheese. He called it “Philadelphia almond cake,” because—for most French people to this day—cream cheese is synonymous with the well-known Kraft brand name.

“He knew about American cream cheese having traveled here, so he wanted to make something with it for the book,” Greenspan recalls to me in a recent interview.

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21 Stories About the Strongest Women We Know

Today is International Woman’s Day, and the food industry, like most others, is rife with various -isms that can make it especially difficult for women to succeed. As a female-founded media company, we’re committed to covering the stories of women who’…

Today is International Woman’s Day, and the food industry, like most others, is rife with various -isms that can make it especially difficult for women to succeed. As a female-founded media company, we’re committed to covering the stories of women who’ve succeeded in the culinary world, past and present.

For some of these women, history has been unkind to their memory—only now is the world rediscovering what they gave us. Others are highly visible, with names you’ve probably heard, yet their stories, too, are more textured than often recounted. In the coming years, we’ll continue working to tell these stories. There are still so many waiting to be heard. But here are some.

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The Brilliant Life of B. Smith, Culinary Icon & Entrepreneur

Earlier this week the trailblazing B. Smith, lifestyle entrepreneur, restaurant owner, TV personality, and former model died after a yearlong struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

The news of her departure arrived via Facebook, where her husband, Dan Gas…

Earlier this week the trailblazing B. Smith, lifestyle entrepreneur, restaurant owner, TV personality, and former model died after a yearlong struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

The news of her departure arrived via Facebook, where her husband, Dan Gasby, announced to her fans and friends her passing. “Heaven is shining even brighter now that it is graced with B.'s dazzling and unforgettable smile,” he wrote. Her full name was Barbara Elaine Smith.

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