Noodles Knows

I know it’s not the most creative and exciting topic, but the letter N really stumped me, and nutmeg was my best choice. Besides baking, most people have no other use for nutmeg; but I am here to tell you otherwise. Nutmeg is a pungent spice …

We’re all familiar with molasses and I’m sure we’ve all baked with it before; but, most people don’t even know what it is. I mean what is molasses really? Molasses is a thick, sweet syrup that is leftover from the process of refining cane sugar. …

Did you know that lentils were one of the first cultivated foods? Thousands of years ago lentils were harvested as a food staple in central Asia, and this tradition has withstood the test of time, as these ancient beans are just as, if not even …

Kefir. It might be a name you’ve heard once or twice lately – you may have seen it in the grocery store or read about it in a magazine. Yes, all the fine print and grandiose marketing text covering the bottle look and sound intimidating, …

What is crunchy and sweet and brown all over?………. Jicama (pronounced hih-ka-mah) may not look appetizing, but what lies beneath its dirt-laden, earthy facade is what makes this root vegetable stand out. Jicama grows underground like all other root vegetables and looks very similar to a …

Okay, I admit, I struggled to come up with a creative food topic that starts with the letter I. So, given that it’s still summer and it’s prime ice cream season, I figured I should pay a tribute to one of our favorite childhood treats. …

If you’ve ever had grits, polenta, or other foods made with cornmeal, you’ve eaten the very same maize corn that is used to make hominy. Hominy is a corn product made by soaking the kernels of maize corn (not the sweet corn we nibble off …

Most people are turned off by the very thought of cold soup. Bleh! Are we just too lazy to cook food properly anymore? Hardly! Some soups are meant to be eaten chilled; in fact they would taste pretty weird if they were hot. According to …

Can you guess what this is? I’ll give you three clues: it’s used in Italian cooking, it is not grown on plants, and it is not commonly found in grocery stores (and obviously it begins with the letter F).….Give up? The image to the right …

Edamame. Freshly steamed in their pods and served piping hot, flecked with small shards of sea salt – what a perfect aperitif to a traditional Japanese sushi meal. If you are a sushi lover, like me, you’ve most likely had edamame prepared this way at …