The tortilla is a type of unleavened flatbread that is highly iconic in Mexican cuisine. While wheat tortillas can be found today, tortillas are still traditionally made from maize meal. Although the exact origins of the tortilla cannot be pinpointed, it is highly suggested that the tortilla originated from the Mesoamerican culture of maize (1). To...

Cooking oil is a common food ingredient and an essential component in frying as a heat transfer medium. There are different types of oils available to consumers, each coming from different sources. These oils comprise a mixture of fatty acid molecules such as triacylglycerols and diacylglycerols. Aside from frying, oils are also used for salad dressings...

Applesauce is a culinary sauce that primarily uses apples as the main ingredient. A flexible dish, applesauce can be used as a sweet sauce for desserts as well as a savory side dish for meat. Although preparing sauces from apples can be dated back to medieval Europe, the term ‘applesauce’ is credited to a cookbook authored by Eliza Smith back in 1769...

Ring Pops are fruit-flavored candies that come in these wearable plastic rings. Invented back in the 1970s, Ring Pops were first created by a man named Frank Richards – an engineer who worked at the Topps Company, an American company known today for its baseball card collectibles. Anecdotally, the idea behind Ring Pops was to get children to stop sucking...

Root beer is a North American beverage primarily made of sassafras roots (Sassafras albidum). Despite its name, root beer is traditionally non-alcoholic, caffeine-free, and carbonated. Scholars cannot pinpoint the exact origins of root beer, but a popular suggestion is that root beer came as a result of 19th-century pharmacists attempting to discover...

Taffy is an American candy made from boiled sugar and other common ingredients. Gaining popularity in the 19th century, taffy is commonly considered to be the American version of the British toffee. However, the two are distinctly different since toffee is made from caramelized sugar or molasses. Historically, taffy gained popularity as a highly enjoyed...