food

Hard crabs, like these blue crabs, are used in Bill Smith's Crab Stew recipe.

Arts

Hard Crab Stew, No Longer Hard (Or Messy)

12:38pm July 09, 2013

by NPR Staff

Some of the greatest summer food experiences take you outside — from shucking corn and barbecuing to spitting watermelon seeds. Chef Bill Smith says his favorite summer memories took place at picnic tables over messy bowls of his grandmother's crab stew.

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An ancient wild barley sample recovered from Chogha Golan, Iran.

Farming Got Hip In Iran Some 12,000 Years Ago, Ancient Seeds Reveal

11:46am July 08, 2013

by Rhitu Chatterjee

Archaeologists had considered Iran unimportant in the history of farming – until now. Ancient seeds and farming tools uncovered in Iran reveal Stone Age people there were growing lentils, barley and other crops. The findings offer a snapshot of a time when humans first started experimenting with farming.

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Moscato Finds A Younger, Hipper — And Browner — Audience

10:28am July 03, 2013

by Sam Sanders

This sweet sparkling wine has been a hit with people of color ever since it started being name-checked in rap songs. The popularity has winemakers eager to reach this new group of customers

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Kyle Fronke inventories the wine in Kahn's Fine Wines and Spirits in Indianapolis last year. Only liquor stores in the state can sell cold beer, and on Sunday, practically all carry out alcohol sales are prohibited.

National

Guess Who's Fighting To Keep Indiana Dry On Sundays?

9:52am July 03, 2013

by Sara Wittmeyer

Indiana is the only state where you can't buy packaged beer, wine and liquor on Sundays and the only state that regulates alcohol sales based on temperature. Convenience stores want to change the laws, but the state's liquor stores — who would seem to have the most to gain — are fighting back.

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Punjabi Lamb Kebabs, like many tandoor dishes, can also be made on gas or charcoal grills.

Arts

Taking High-Heat Tandoor Techniques To The Backyard Grill

7:24am July 02, 2013

by NPR Staff

It's not easy to set up a tandoor oven in the backyard. But chef and writer Madhur Jaffrey says cooking at high heat does something magical to meat, which makes it worthwhile to adapt her tandoor recipes for gas or charcoal grills.

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For the sweetest, smoothest strawberry jam, author Kevin West suggests staying as far away as possible from what he calls "Pamela Anderson fruit": the big strawberries found in regular supermarkets. He prefers picking small, red berries from farm stands,

Books
Arts

Preserving The Season's Fruits With A Canning Evangelist

3:44pm June 29, 2013

by Jessica Naudziunas

Kevin West, author and blogger, takes NPR's Lynn Neary to a farmers market to choose the summer's best produce for canning. "You take this experience ... and you put it in the jar. And six months from now we will re-experience that moment," West says.

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Compost bins at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket in Brooklyn, N.Y. are part of a pilot program to get New Yorkers to recycle their food waste.

National

Composting On The Way Up In New York City High-Rises

10:45am June 28, 2013

by Joel Rose

This summer, New York City is expanding food waste recycling into more neighborhoods, with an eye toward eventually making the program mandatory. Officials are hoping the changes will help improve on the city's dismal recycling rate, which remains stuck at 15 percent.

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For octopus flesh to be tender enough to grill, it must be dried in the sun at least one full day.

Mastering A Sea Monster: From Greece, A Lesson In Grilling Octopus

3:09pm June 25, 2013

by Joanna Kakissis

The Greeks have been eating octopus since ancient times, but there's an art to grilling these tentacled sea creatures. An octopus has to be dried in the sun for at least a day first. Otherwise, the flesh just steams and turns into "a rubbery mass."

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Researchers at Rice University conducted lab studies using light-dark cycles to try to coax more beneficial compounds out of fruits and vegetables.

Health & Safety

How Circadian Rhythms Give Vegetables A Healthy Boost

4:56pm June 21, 2013

by Allison Aubrey

A study finds there may be a way to boost some of the beneficial compounds in plants by simulating the light-dark cycle after crops are harvested. Plants use circadian rhythms to help them judge when to turn on their chemical defenses.

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Science

Vegetables Respond to a Daily Clock, Even After Harvest

11:17am June 21, 2013

Vegetables plucked from grocery store shelves can be made to respond to patterns of light and darkness, according to a report in the journal Current Biology. Janet Braam and colleagues found that cabbages change their levels of phytonutrients throughout a daily cycle.

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