"Food is our common ground, a universal experience.”
James Beard (1903-1985)
Long before the frozen pizza, tofu stir fry or Angus steak hits the dinner table, How It’s Made reminds us that this food has already had a long lifespan that includes everything from curing and cutting to packaging and peeling. It’s all about process.
Mama Mia! How It’s Made Goes Italian
- Find answers to your pasta questions, such as “What’s al dente mean?”
- Get the squeeze on cheese, from its historical roots and different types to the intricacies of cheesemaking.
- Get the skinny on how bread is made, including choosing right type for tonight’s dinner or breakfast tomorrow.
- And last – but certainly not least – don’t leave yourself asking “red or white?” while at the store. Instead, be sure to brush up on your wine basics with an informative article from HowStuffWorks.
Sweet Tooth Time
- Chocolate: From dark, trendy boxes at Valentine’s Day to a 50-cent bar needed with that afternoon coffee during work, it can be a food group all its own. But there’s a whole process to chocolate making that is as rich as the sweet itself. Get more about how cocoa beans are roasted and chocolate is made.
- Jelly Beans: Jelly Bellies to be exact. These are the real deal, boasting flavors such as buttered popcorn, jalepeno, peanut butter and margarita. Can’t make it for a factory tour in Pleasant Prarie, Wisonsin or Fairfield, Calif.? Tune in to How It’s Made.
- Ice Cream: Vanilla or chocolate? Chock-full of candy? On a cone? These are just some of the ways we consume more than 1 billion gallons of the stuff each year. Find out How It’s Made and what the history and business has been like over the years. Also, get the answer to that burning question: What causes an ice cream headache?
- Snack Cakes: Hostess churns out 500 million Twinkies a year. Despite the rumors around this treat’s ingredients and shelf life, how are they still a lunchbox favorite?
Mmmm…Breakfast
- Coffee is part of today’s lifestyle – not just a beverage. So how do all those amazing beans get roasted to perfection? And what about the machines that make the brew so darn good?
- If Homer Simpson had his say, we’d start each day with a balanced breakfast of deep fried doughnuts. How It’s Made and HowStuffWorks.com take you down the assembly line of glazed goodness to see How Krispy Kreme Works.
- Of course, many of us are a bit more diet-conscious than Homer. Our suggestion: Get your egg facts here and scramble to your heart’s delight. On the side: Doesn’t a toasted bagel sound good?
Cookin’ Out
- Most of us don’t want to know what hot dogs are really made of, but watching them get sorted, packaged and ready for our grill, well, that’s another story – that’s pretty cool. (Just try not to think about it when you put it on your bun.)
- Beer is another story. Tip a pint while watching How It’s Made to see how the barley and malt end up in your favorite bottle, then get more info on brewing, fermentation, kegging and even homebrewing at HowStuffWorks.com.
- So what are we missing at our cookout? Potato chips? Find out where this crispy concoction started, what they used to be called and how they get from the assembly line into a bag in your local grocery.
- For a no-grill alternative, try peanut butter and jelly – both of which have an interesting story to tell between the bread.
Related Food Articles:
12 Facts About Pizza
How Salt Works
Questions About Cooking With Butter
Cooking Oil Questions
How do vegetarians get enough protein?
Learn more: Entertainment | Sports and Vehicles
