Food and Drink

Honey never truly spoils because its low moisture and acidity make it hostile to bacteria.

Ripe bananas release ethylene gas, which speeds up ripening in nearby fruit.

Coffee beans are the seeds of a fruit often called a cherry.

Dark chocolate contains more cocoa solids and less sugar than milk chocolate does.

Bread rises because yeast consumes sugars and releases carbon dioxide gas into the dough.

The holes in Swiss cheese form when bacteria release gas during the aging process.

Cinnamon comes from the inner bark of trees in the cinnamon family.

Red peppers are simply green peppers that were allowed to ripen fully on the plant.

Vanilla flavoring comes from the cured seed pods of a climbing orchid.

Salt raises the boiling point of water slightly, but the effect in a kitchen pot is tiny.

Ice cream feels cold because the melting process absorbs heat from the surrounding mouth tissue.

Carrots were not always orange, and the sweet common variety was developed by farmers over centuries.

Tomatoes are botanically fruits because they develop from a flower and contain seeds.

Nutmeg and mace come from different parts of the same tropical fruit.

Popcorn pops when trapped water inside the kernel turns to steam and bursts the hull.

Sourdough starter is a living culture of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria.

Black tea and green tea can come from the same plant, differing mainly in how the leaves are processed.

Espresso is brewed by forcing hot water through finely ground coffee under pressure.

Maple syrup is made by boiling the sap of sugar maple trees until it thickens.

Cranberries float because each berry contains tiny air pockets inside its flesh.

Onions make cooks cry because cutting them releases a volatile sulfur compound that irritates eyes.

The burning feeling from chili peppers comes from capsaicin, which is concentrated in the white pith.

Water expands when it freezes, which is why ice cubes float in a glass.

Pasta swells as it cooks because starch granules absorb water and soften.

Whipping cream traps air bubbles in a network of fat, turning liquid into foam.

Cheese is essentially milk that has been separated into curds and then aged.

Vinegar is produced when bacteria convert the alcohol in a liquid into acetic acid.

The crust of bread forms where surface moisture evaporates faster than the interior can replace it.

Cocoa powder is made by pressing much of the cocoa butter out of ground cacao beans.

Gelatin sets liquids by forming a loose protein network that traps water as it cools.

Baking soda needs an acid such as buttermilk or lemon juice to produce carbon dioxide bubbles.

Rice absorbs several times its own weight in water while cooking, which makes portions expand noticeably.

Pickling preserves food because the acidic brine discourages the growth of spoilage microbes.

Apples brown after cutting because exposed enzymes react with oxygen in the surrounding air.

The word salad ultimately traces back to a Latin term for salted vegetables.

Sugar caramelizes when heated past its melting point, producing hundreds of new flavor compounds.

Green apples taste tart mainly because they contain more acid and less sugar than ripe ones.

Coffee tastes more bitter as it sits on a hotplate because compounds keep changing with heat.

Turmeric gets its bright yellow color from a pigment called curcumin, which is also used as a dye.

Corn is technically a grain, though it is often eaten as a vegetable.

Peanuts grow underground, which is why they are legumes rather than tree nuts.

Mushrooms are fungi, and they are more closely related to animals than to plants.

Basil turns black in the refrigerator because its leaves are sensitive to cold temperatures.

Olive oil turns cloudy in the cold because natural waxes begin to solidify.

Cooking an egg changes its texture because heat makes the proteins bond into a firm network.

Potatoes are mostly water, which is why they lose weight when baked for a long time.

Black pepper is made by drying the unripe berries of a flowering vine.

Mustard gets its sharp heat from a reaction between enzymes and compounds inside the crushed seeds.

Bread staling is caused by starch molecules slowly recrystallizing, not simply by drying out.

Tomato sauce tastes richer after simmering because water evaporates and flavors become more concentrated.

Honey color and flavor vary widely depending on which flowers the bees visited.

Kitchen knives dull over time because the thin cutting edge bends and rolls with repeated use.