Blog topic
Food & Cooking articles
Why bread rises, what the Maillard reaction does to a steak, how cheese and chocolate are made, why onions make you cry and why salt makes food taste better. This is chemistry and biology you can check at the stove tonight.
29 explainers, newest first. Each one ends with real questions from the unit that teaches it, so you can read the explanation and then check whether it stuck.
These are the readable companion to the Food & Cooking track, which holds 18 units and 2,062 practice questions. If you are starting the subject rather than looking something up, the study guide is the better place to begin.
How the Potato Changed the World: From Andean Tuber to Half of Europe's Dinner
The potato was domesticated in the Andes, feared in Europe for two centuries, then fed the industrial age. Why it was distrusted, and the famine it caused.
October 19, 20268 min readHow Is Pasta Made? Durum, Dies and Why the Shape Matters
Dried pasta is two ingredients, hard wheat and water, pressed through a die and dried slowly; fresh pasta adds egg. Why durum, and what the shapes are for.
October 16, 20268 min readHow Is Beer Brewed? Malt, Hops, Yeast and Time
Beer is water in which the sugars of malted grain have been fermented by yeast and flavoured with hops. The ingredients, and why ale and lager differ.
October 14, 20268 min readHow Does Pickling Preserve Food? Salt, Acid and the Microbes on Your Side
Pickling keeps food by making it too acidic for the microbes that spoil it, with vinegar or by letting bacteria make the acid. The two methods, and the science.
October 12, 20268 min readWhy Does Popcorn Pop? A Pressure Vessel the Size of a Seed
A popcorn kernel is a sealed shell around a starchy core. What happens at 180 degrees, why only one kind of corn does it, and why some kernels refuse to pop.
October 9, 20267 min readWhy Does Cheese Melt, and Why Do Some Cheeses Refuse To?
Cheese melts when its protein net loosens and its fat liquefies. Why mozzarella stretches, why aged cheddar splits, why halloumi holds its shape.
October 7, 20267 min readWhy Do Apples Turn Brown? The Enzyme Behind Cut Fruit and How to Stop It
A cut apple browns because an enzyme meets oxygen and turns the fruit's own chemicals into pigment. Which fruits do it, and what lemon juice actually does.
October 6, 20267 min readWhat Is Gluten and Why Does Dough Stretch?
Gluten is a network of two wheat proteins that forms when flour meets water. How kneading builds it, why it traps gas, and when to hold it back.
October 4, 20267 min readHow Is Wine Made? From Grape to Bottle
Wine is grape juice whose sugar yeast has turned to alcohol. How red differs from white, what skins, barrel and year add, and why some wines age well.
October 1, 20269 min readHow Is Ice Cream Made? Why It Stays Soft in a Freezer That Turns Water to Stone
Ice cream is a frozen foam of tiny ice crystals, fat, sugar syrup and air. How it is made, why the crystals must stay small, and what churning does.
September 29, 20268 min readWhy Eggs Turn Solid When You Cook Them
Heat unfolds the proteins in an egg and tangles them into a solid mesh. The temperatures at which white and yolk set, and what that means for cooking.
September 9, 20267 min readWhy Does Bread Rise?
How yeast, gluten and trapped gas turn a dense lump of dough into a light loaf, explained step by step.
August 28, 202610 min readWhat Is the Maillard Reaction?
The browning that gives roast meat, bread crust and coffee their flavour, and how to make it work in your kitchen.
August 28, 202610 min readHow Is Cheese Made?
From milk to curds to ageing, the four steps behind every cheese and what makes cheddar different from brie.
August 28, 202610 min readWhy Do Onions Make You Cry?
The chemical defence released when you cut one, and which of the popular tricks for stopping it actually work.
August 28, 20269 min readWhat Is Fermentation in Food?
How microbes preserve and transform ingredients, the main types, and why fermented foods taste the way they do.
August 28, 202610 min readHow Does Yeast Work?
What this single celled fungus actually does in dough and drinks, why temperature matters, and how to tell if yours is still alive.
August 28, 20269 min readWhy Does Salt Make Food Taste Better?
Why does salt make food taste better? It does more than add saltiness. Here is how salt suppresses bitterness, boosts aroma and changes texture.
August 28, 20269 min readWhat Are the Five Basic Tastes?
Sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami, what each one detects, and why taste and flavour are not the same thing.
August 28, 20268 min readHow Is Chocolate Made?
From cacao pod to bar, including fermentation, roasting and conching, and why good chocolate melts at body temperature.
August 28, 20269 min readWhy Does Coffee Taste Bitter?
The compounds responsible, why over extraction makes it worse, and how grind, time and temperature control the result.
August 28, 20269 min readWhat Does Baking Soda Do in Baking?
How it makes things rise, why it needs acid, and the difference between baking soda and baking powder.
August 28, 20269 min readWhy Do We Rest Meat After Cooking?
What actually happens to the juices and the temperature, and how long different cuts really need.
August 28, 20269 min readWhat Makes Chillies Hot?
The molecule that tricks your heat receptors, why water does not help, and how the Scoville scale actually works.
August 28, 20269 min readWhat Is Emulsification in Cooking?
How oil and water are forced to mix in mayonnaise and vinaigrette, and why sauces split and how to rescue them.
August 28, 20269 min readWhy Does Food Go Off?
The microbes and chemical reactions behind spoilage, why some foods last for years, and what preservation methods actually do.
August 28, 202610 min readWhat Is the Difference Between Herbs and Spices?
Which part of the plant each comes from, why spices drove global trade, and when to add each one.
August 28, 20269 min readWhy Do We Cook Food?
What heat does to nutrients and safety, the theory that cooking shaped human evolution, and why raw is not always better.
August 28, 202610 min readWhy Does Bread Go Stale?
Why does bread go stale? It is not simply drying out. Here is what starch retrogradation does, and why the fridge makes bread stale faster.
August 28, 20269 min read