Why do people bob for apples?
In all honesty, my experience with bobbing for apples is based on the Peanuts’ It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Ha…
Burning Questions
Burning Questions is The Takeout's column that satiates your food and drink curiosities.
What exactly is edible gold? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Once the provenance of European chocolatiers and elite Japanese sushi chefs, you’ll now find edible gold atop…
What is red velvet cake, really?
The combination of vivid red and pristine white icing is certainly striking inside a bakery case, but I’ve never been…
Does a little mold spoil the whole block of cheese?
I probably shouldn’t have been as surprised by this fact as I was: I came across an article that said you have to throw…
What’s the difference between jams, jellies, marmalades, preserves, and compotes?
You may think you’re a confident connoisseur, expertly navigating shelves of small-batch pickles, heirloom grains, and 2…
What is non-extra virgin olive oil, and when should I use it?
Most of us assume that extra virgin olive oil, or sometimes EVOO in recipe shorthand, is the good stuff. After all,…
How can you tell if blue cheese has gone bad?
Recently we published a story on whether or not you can still use ground beef that has turned brown (TL;DR: Probably,…
If my ground beef has turned brown, should I put it down?
As a Carol Brady-aspiring mom, I hardly ever leave the grocery store without at least a pound of lean ground beef…
How to judge a bottle of wine by its label
It happens so often—you’re on the way to a party and stop at the wine store, only to be flummoxed by the endless rows…
What's bologna? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Bologna gets a bad rap. Critics call it mystery meat, saying it’s full of leftover meat bits that you’d never want to…
What should be your go-to butter: salted or unsalted?
I think it was when Martha Stewart reached her pre-prison heyday that I started purchasing unsalted butter exclusively.…
Why do we give an apple to the teacher?
As far as anybody can tell, the origin of American schoolchildren giving an apple to the teacher cannot be traced to…
Why do we eat raw fish and beef, but not raw chicken?
Our staff discussions at The Takeout go to weird places sometimes. It doesn’t matter how the topic of eating raw…
What’s the best way to keep herbs fresh?
If you’re lucky enough to have the space and green thumb required to keep herb plants growing from spring to fall,…
What’s the best oil for different sauté needs?
Wander into any high-end gourmet store, or even a normal grocery store, and you can feel immediately overwhelmed by the…
How can you tell meat doneness without a thermometer?
You can purchase a meat thermometer for just a few dollars at the dollar store, or for a three-figure version from…
How much healthier is white-meat chicken than dark-meat?
Despite being less flavorful than pretty much any other type of poultry, boneless-skinless chicken breast has come to…
How low do USDA grades of beef go?
Prime, choice, and select are the USDA beef grades you’ve probably seen at your local supermarket. Beef that meets…