By: Alice,
on 1/5/2016
Professor Sidney Mintz passed away on 26 December 2015, at the age of 93. “Sid” as he was affectionately called by his acquaintances, taught for two decades at Yale University and went on to found the Anthropology Department at Johns Hopkins. His best-known work, Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History, was published in 1985.
The post In memoriam: Sidney Mintz appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Connie Ngo,
on 8/14/2015
When trying to gauge someone's personality, a few well-phrased questions are sometimes all it takes to light the fire of passions within someone. We had the pleasure of speaking with Darra Goldstein, Editor-in-Chief of The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, and asked her a number of questions that reveal what "bakes her cake."
The post Neuroscience, Botticelli, and marizpan: Darra Goldstein on sugar and sweets appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Connie Ngo,
on 7/31/2015
Is the "sweet tooth" real? The answer may surprise you. Humans vary in their preference towards sweet things; some of us dislike them while others may as well be addicted. But for those of us who have a tendency towards sweetness, why do we like what we like? We are hardly limited by type; our preference spans across both food and drinks, including candy, desserts, fruits, sodas, and even alcoholic beverages.
The post Why do we prefer eating sweet things? appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Connie Ngo,
on 7/23/2015
Fried dough has been enjoyed for centuries in various forms, from the celebratory zeppole of St. Joseph’s Day to the doughnuts the Salvation Army distributed to soldiers during World War I. So important were doughnuts for boosting troop morale that when World War II came around, the Red Cross followed closely behind the US Army as it advanced across Europe, offering doughnuts from trucks specially outfitted with vats for deep-frying.
The post Down the doughnut hole: fried dough in art appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Connie Ngo,
on 7/17/2015
Sugar has had an important hand in many facets of history, not all of it fun and games (but certainly not all of it dreary, either). Did you know fudge played a huge part in American women's college education? or that slavery in sugar plantations was rampant? We asked Darra Goldstein a number of questions on sugar and its history, unearthing the good, the bad, and everything in between.
The post Darra Goldstein on the history of sugar appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Connie Ngo,
on 7/10/2015
Though many of us are familiar with the use of fresh fruits in desserts, flavorings in candy, and other ubiquitous ingredients, a great deal are unusual. They're unusual in the sense that they're "not commonly occurring," or that we believe them to be so. With that, here are five ingredients you might find, but not expect, in your next dessert.
The post Five unusual ingredients in sweets appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Connie Ngo,
on 7/2/2015
Jonathan Green, an expert lexicographer and contributor to The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, gives us the rundown of the sweet terms and phrases that have been re-imagined and incorporated into slang.
The post Going sour: sweet words in slang appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Connie Ngo,
on 6/26/2015
How much do you know about all things sweet? Are you an obsessive "Top-tier Sugar Scholar"? Or are you a dabbling "Sugar Novice"? No matter your level of scholarship, if sweetness and obscure facts are your game, we have just the perfect quiz for you.
The post Are you a sugar scholar? appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Connie Ngo,
on 6/19/2015
No matter where in the world you go, pastries are a universal treat. From Turkish baklava to Italian cannolis, French croissants to American cherry pie, these morsels of sweetness are a culinary tradition that knows no borders. Whether you're boarding an overseas flight or hanging around the neighborhood, we've hand-picked several pastry shops from the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets to add to your personal itinerary.
The post Sweetness around the world appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Connie Ngo,
on 6/11/2015
What do Russians poets eat? When does food heritage become international politics? How has sugar been used as medicine? Darra Goldstein, the editor-in-chief to The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, shares her insights on how a three-year project transformed into the lively compendium of all things sweet. She takes us through the process of what it was like to oversee 265 contributors and over 600 entries, and the journey she took to get where she is today.
The post Darra Goldstein on food scholarship appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Connie Ngo,
on 6/4/2015
Silent-screen star ZaSu Pitts is usually remembered for her extraordinary name, her huge eyes, and her fluttering fingers, but not many know that she also put her nimble fingers to confectionery use, crafting elegant candies that were famous on Hollywood sets.
The post ZaSu Pitts, the little-known confectioner appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Connie Ngo,
on 5/29/2015
Have you ever tried vinarterta? How about gugelhupf? Whether these are familiar or completely foreign to you, this list of sweets are a must for everyone with a sweet tooth. All the sweets, cakes, desserts, and treats on this list come from The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, so give them a go and try one, some, or all!
The post The 12 sweets you need to know about (and try) appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Connie Ngo,
on 5/19/2015
Incorporating the idea of sweetness in songs is nothing new to the music industry. Ubiquitous terms like "sugar" and "honey" are used in ways of both endearment and condescension, love and disdain. Among the (probably) hundreds of songs about sweets, Aaron Gilbreath, essayist and journalist from Portland, Oregon, curated a list of 50 songs, which is included in The Oxford Companion of Sugar and Sweets.
The post A sugar & sweets music mixtape appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Connie Ngo,
on 5/18/2015
From its journey to Europe from the New World at the beginning of the sixteenth century to its modern-day iteration as we know it, chocolate climbed its way into the hearts and homes of people all over the world. In its long and fruitful evolution through time, we've pulled together a timeline of chocolate's history from Europeans first encounter with the substance with the Aztecs through the Heirloom Cacao Initiative in 2014.
The post The history of chocolate [infographic] appeared first on OUPblog.
By: SoniaT,
on 2/5/2015
Hey everyone! After a long hiatus, we’re excited to announce the re-launch of The Oxford Comment, a podcast originally created by OUP’s very own Lauren Appelwick and Michelle Rafferty in September 2010. From the drinking habits of the Founding Fathers to Cab Calloway, we’ve talked to people about every hot-button issue under the sun.
In this month’s episode, Max Sinsheimer, a Trade & Reference Editor at the New York office, chats with a few contributors to The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets discuss their work on the historical, chemical, technical, social, cultural, and linguistic aspects of sweetness.
Headline image credit: Cream puffs. CC0 via Pixabay.
The post The Oxford Comment – Episode 19 – Sugar and Sweets appeared first on OUPblog.
