casserole and paella

  With casserole we casually refer to the food and the dish with same name. The food takes the name…

cook and pumpkin

To cook is ultimately about the act of ripening food. The Latin source coquere meant to prepare food, ripen, digest, even…

cheese and dough

The French cheese is fromage and the Italian, formaggio. Both come from Latin forma to shape or mold. It also…

custard and croutons

The crust the best part of custards like creme brûlée. Latin crusta for rind or shell  gives us both words. Early French…

egg and aubergine

The root of our egg is, well, a chicken or at least a bird. The Indo-European was oyyo and gives…

things that swell

tuber tomato belly thigh breast brisket poppy calf pudding pine fat pupusa  

Nahuatl language

It’s fantastic to discover that tomatoes, chili, avocado, chocolate and cocoa all come from a language you’ve never heard of.…

potato and banana

The potato from Peru was one of the most important foods the Europeans brought back from their early Europe adventures. It…

salt and pasta

Salt is sprinkled everywhere in food names. Before the fridge was invented, salt was the key to stop food from…