Pinboard (coldbrain)

Farming 101

coldbrain — 2026-04-14T18:28:30+00:00

Opens in full prepper register (Strait of Hormuz, fertiliser shocks, food prices coming for you in 6 to 18 months) and I nearly stopped reading. But once the doom clears, it turns into a genuinely useful primer on growing at home from seed: what to start indoors, what goes straight in the ground in April, why soil matters more than anything else, and the unromantic economics of a £3 tomato packet. I grow a fair bit from seed myself—herbs, tomatoes, courgettes, strawberries, even purple cauliflower this year—and there’s something to the argument that you get to enjoy more of nature’s lifecycle this way, rather than the garden-centre-to-windowsill-to-compost-bin shortcut. Worth it if you’re thinking about planting anything this year.

The Hunt for Dark Breakfast

coldbrain — 2026-04-05T06:00:05+00:00

“In the manifold of breakfast, are there empty subspaces? Might there be breakfasts that no one has ever had? With a theoretical model of breakfast, can we derive the existence of ‘dark breakfasts,’ breakfasts that we know must exist, but have never observed?”

How Veganism Got Cooked

coldbrain — 2026-03-13T18:35:19+00:00

Plant-based eating was supposed to be the future. Then meat came roaring back.

How an unappetizing shrub became dozens of different vegetables

coldbrain — 2026-03-11T19:18:08+00:00

How a single unappetizing shrub became dozens of different vegetables.

Bee Wilson · Artificial Cryosphere

coldbrain — 2026-02-23T16:44:40+00:00

63 Chinese Cuisines: the Complete Guide

coldbrain — 2026-02-08T12:18:15+00:00

Not one cuisine, not eight, but many more. Our best shot at a comprehensive-ish guide.

So much more than ‘Britain in the sun’

coldbrain — 2026-02-03T17:31:58+00:00

I called my recipe book Sabzi – vegetables. But the name was trademarked. And my legal ordeal began

coldbrain — 2026-01-01T09:54:08+00:00

Friday Night Meatballs: How to Change Your Life With Pasta

coldbrain — 2025-12-29T16:17:49+00:00

How the sandwich consumed Britain | The long read

coldbrain — 2025-12-05T16:09:17+00:00

The long read: The world-beating British sandwich industry is worth £8bn a year. It transformed the way we eat lunch, then did the same for breakfast – and now it’s coming for dinner

Why I hate Americans talking about tacos in London

coldbrain — 2025-09-21T14:36:07+00:00

From an American who makes tacos in London. Words by Chloe-Rose Crabtree

My Lunches with Judith Jones, the Queen of Cookbooks

coldbrain — 2025-08-05T17:34:02+00:00

In Search of Ragu

coldbrain — 2025-07-17T15:56:19+00:00

‘He treated us like idiots’: the crypto mogul and a bitter battle over Bedford’s football clubs

coldbrain — 2025-03-02T11:10:30+00:00

Online Tinned Seafood Delivery Company

coldbrain — 2025-03-01T11:54:29+00:00

Shop the widest range of tinned fish. Portuguese sardines, Cantabrian anchovies, Galician octopus + more. Subscriptions, hampers and other unique gift ideas.

The Rise Of Big Potato

coldbrain — 2025-01-05T10:16:40+00:00

Allegations of price collusions among the potato cartel reveal the new, sophisticated methods food corporations are using to keep prices high.

Masala chickpeas and biryani: Rukmini Iyer’s budget Indian recipes

coldbrain — 2024-12-31T14:39:50+00:00

Inside Greenland's Misunderstood Winter Delicacy

coldbrain — 2024-11-09T15:27:18+00:00

Allrecipes, America’s Most Unruly Cooking Web Site

coldbrain — 2024-10-13T06:33:46+00:00

The immensely popular crowdsourced recipe site has an aura of shambolic good will, something between a church cookbook and a fan-run Wiki.

The biweekly British vs American food debate

coldbrain — 2024-09-24T18:23:53+00:00

Why Americans should be banned from talking about food online, and why British people should stop taking the bait. Words by Niloufar Haidari

Dinners App

coldbrain — 2024-07-22T17:46:58+00:00

Deciding what's for dinner sucks. We feel that. Introducing the Dinners App. A fun, new way to find easy dinner recipes. The ultimate recipe app designed to simplify and bring fun to your dinner routine. Simply add your family members, everyone swipes right on their favorite recipes and voila, you

Pasta Guide

coldbrain — 2024-05-28T19:14:35+00:00

An incomplete and evolving guide to make pasta at home by Adriana Gallo.

Julia Child's Kitchen Notes

coldbrain — 2024-04-23T16:23:28+00:00

“Rushing from stove to typewriter like a mad hen...”

The Unending Quest To Build A Better Chicken

coldbrain — 2024-03-10T04:00:18+00:00

Maybe what we need is not just a new form of poultry farming but a complete revolution in how we relate to meat.

Inside the surprisingly secretive world of crisp flavours

coldbrain — 2024-01-14T21:49:05+00:00

What the Fetish for Orange Egg Yolks Tells Us About Ourselves - Eater

coldbrain — 2024-01-03T20:20:31+00:00

On how the so-called farm egg and its yolk became unlikely fetish objects

Bee Wilson · Mmmm, chicken nuggets: The Victorian Restaurant Scene

coldbrain — 2023-12-30T10:57:24+00:00

Mexican Groceries online, Recipes & more

coldbrain — 2023-12-28T15:48:11+00:00

Foolproof Pan Pizza Recipe

coldbrain — 2023-12-18T18:06:58+00:00

A pan pizza recipe for those who love a thick and crispy crust that's golden on the bottom, but puffy and soft under the layers of sauce and mozzarella.

Infinite Ellipses of Ritual and Flavor

coldbrain — 2023-12-03T13:56:14+00:00

An ode to beans, ‘an emblem for Mexicanness before Mexico existed,’ and the milpa from which they came.

No diet, no detox: how to relearn the art of eating

coldbrain — 2023-11-01T22:38:36+00:00

Our relationship with food has become disordered and obsessive, leading to anxieties around diet and a search for the perfect food. However, nutrients only count when a person picks up food and eats it. If we are going to change our diets, we first have to relearn the art of eating, which is a question of psychology as much as nutrition. The way you teach a child to eat well is through example, enthusiasm, and patient exposure to good food, and the first step to eating better is to recognize that our tastes and habits are not fixed but changeable.

How we lost our sensory connection with food – and how to restore it

coldbrain — 2023-08-30T08:31:37+00:00

Rice, Fat, Meat, Streets

coldbrain — 2023-07-15T14:57:59+00:00

Why does biryani mean so much to so many people on the Indian subcontinent? The answers may be found on the streets of one of the world’s food capitals: Karachi - A new story from the Indian sub-continent to the world, each week on FiftyTwo.in

Chow mein and chips: a brief history of the British Chinese takeaway

coldbrain — 2023-06-26T20:49:05+00:00

Citizens of former British colonies such as Malaysia and Hong Kong rented vacant fish and chip shops to start their Chinese takeaway businesses.

‘We need to break the junk food cycle’: how to fix Britain’s failing food system

coldbrain — 2023-06-17T13:56:41+00:00

The Movable Feast

coldbrain — 2023-04-21T19:43:13+00:00

Food media, archival repair, and what we expect from recipes

The Ten ‘Commandments’ of Sushi

coldbrain — 2023-04-03T20:35:01+00:00

Handing down the family secrets – one dish at a time

coldbrain — 2023-03-20T19:41:39+00:00

America Doesn’t Know Tofu—Asterisk

coldbrain — 2023-03-13T22:03:09+00:00

China has spent millenia exploring the culinary possibilities of soybean curds. The West has barely scratched the surface.

How the Sainsbury's Design Studio Packaged a Nation’s Dreams

coldbrain — 2023-03-08T22:27:40+00:00

The Sauce That Survived Italy's War on Pasta

coldbrain — 2023-02-04T20:42:23+00:00

The Futurists tried to abolish pasta and all they got was this delicious dish.

The Brand That Conquered America’s Kitchens Won a Legion of Obsessive Fans. Can They All Be Wrong?

coldbrain — 2023-01-30T21:10:57+00:00

The Radical Design of PizzaExpress

coldbrain — 2023-01-19T21:23:54+00:00

How one chain changed the way we eat. Words by Digby Warde-Aldam; Illustration by Sinjin Li

You Don’t Know How Bad the Pizza Box Is

coldbrain — 2023-01-14T12:04:14+00:00

The Instant Pot Understands The History Of Women's Labor In The Kitchen

coldbrain — 2023-01-07T07:05:42+00:00

The following is an excerpt from Women on Food: Charlotte Druckman and 115 Writers, Chefs, Critics, Television Stars, and Eaters, an anthology of essays, interviews, illustrations, and more that celebrate the women who make up the world of food. The…

Ping! How I learned to stop worrying and love the microwave

coldbrain — 2022-12-10T16:32:06+00:00

What it's like to be a food writer when you can taste everything you see

coldbrain — 2022-12-04T09:35:29+00:00

People with synesthesia experience stimulation in multiple senses: hearing color, feeling sounds—or tasting everything they see. For a food writer, that can lead to some fascinating revelations.

Why Food Photos on Instagram Are Looking Less Perfect - Eater

coldbrain — 2022-10-10T10:05:27+00:00

The Real Story of Curry

coldbrain — 2022-10-01T22:00:07+00:00

Globally beloved but difficult to define, curry is a testament to the creativity and resilience of the human spirit, drawing its spices and aromatics from a worldwide pantry.

San Francisco’s Famous Sourdough Was Once Really Gross

coldbrain — 2022-09-27T20:27:47+00:00

Gold miners made themselves sick on smelly, hard loaves.

How to make porchetta – recipe

coldbrain — 2022-09-21T11:20:27+00:00

The Curry Trap: How a Continent’s Worth of Food Got Mashed Into One Word

coldbrain — 2022-09-08T14:36:01+00:00

Relish

coldbrain — 2022-09-06T19:19:53+00:00

Hot. Sweet. Sour. Tangy. Food companies trying to turn tomato ketchup into an Indian condiment attempted every trick in their book. This is the story of how they succeeded â A new story from India to the world, each week on FiftyTwo.in

no. 49: cynical hometown flavor

coldbrain — 2022-09-03T17:02:02+00:00

An Eater Critic’s Night Out With a TikTok Food Influencer

coldbrain — 2022-09-01T04:54:19+00:00

The Recipe | Rebecca May Johnson | Granta

coldbrain — 2022-08-30T13:02:09+00:00

The Huitlacoche Farmer

coldbrain — 2022-08-29T21:29:50+00:00

Why there's no 'Dijon' in Dijon mustard

coldbrain — 2022-08-29T21:18:05+00:00

France is facing a widespread dearth of Dijon mustard, which news outlets wasted no time in attributing to the war in Ukraine. But the story is a whole lot spicier than that.

Innovation and the incinerated tongue: Notes on hot chicken, race, and culinary crossover

coldbrain — 2022-08-29T08:37:51+00:00

Unhealthy, Smelly, and Strange: Why Italians Avoided Tomatoes for Centuries ‹ Literary Hub

coldbrain — 2022-08-24T15:18:44+00:00

Chieftain of the leafy greens

coldbrain — 2022-08-22T05:33:06+00:00

Listen now (7 min) | The etymology of spinach

When Every Ketchup But One Went Extinct

coldbrain — 2022-08-22T05:24:31+00:00

The main casualty of the catsup war was flavor.

It’s Time to Put Actual Veggies Back Into Veggie Burgers

coldbrain — 2022-08-18T22:23:14+00:00

Foodicons - A global visual language for food.

coldbrain — 2022-07-20T09:51:43+00:00

The Delicious Origins of the Domesticated Blueberry

coldbrain — 2022-06-05T20:55:51+00:00

A tale of two seeds

coldbrain — 2022-06-05T20:51:59+00:00

Listen now (6 min) | The related etymology of caraway and cumin

Against pasta: remembering The Manifesto of Futurist Cooking

coldbrain — 2022-05-25T19:23:23+00:00

‘Crisis’ in Japan as wasabi ‘at risk of disappearing’

coldbrain — 2022-05-21T16:26:42+00:00

When my husband left me, I headed for the kitchen – here’s how comfort food can save the soul

coldbrain — 2022-05-21T16:17:39+00:00

On ‘Plant-Based’

coldbrain — 2022-05-17T13:32:47+00:00

It would be a useful phrase, if everyone could agree on what it means.