Food Archives - Matt Dursum

Diving Into the Ingredients That Make Us: Cassava

By wayfarersoliloquy | May 11, 2023May 11, 2023 by wayfarersoliloquy

Words by Matt Dursum Cassava, Yuca, Manioc, no matter what you call it, Manihot esculenta is one of the most important sources of carbohydrates in the world. It’s also delicious and versatile. Cassava is a tuber vegetable, similar to potatoes. Growing just below the soil surface, its tubers store nutrients and water for the plant to feed off during the next season’s regrowth. The plant itself, tall and lanky, produces edible leaves and can survive…

Inside the Flavors of Feijoada, Brazil’s National Dish

By wayfarersoliloquy | April 28, 2023April 29, 2023 by wayfarersoliloquy

Words by Matt Dursum Like many national dishes, Brazil’s Feijoada comes from humble roots. In this hearty stew, beans, spices, and various cuts of pork, sometimes including the scraps like pork knuckle and pork ear, are cooked down to perfection. Feijoada is divinely flavorful and reflects the complex and sometimes painful history and cultural diversity of Brazil. Almost immediately after arriving in Brazil, I treated myself to an endless helping of the rich bean stew.…

Food South America

The World of Yerba Mate

By wayfarersoliloquy | April 6, 2023April 6, 2023 by wayfarersoliloquy

Get out your gourd. Yerba Mate is the South American tea that deserves all its praise Words by Matt Dursum If you’ve traveled to South America, you’ve likely seen people of all ages walking around with gourds or egg-shaped ceramic cups with a straw and a large thermos of water. This is the omnipresent mate culture of South America, a tea drinking practice that puts other tea-obsessed places like England and Japan to shame. Yerba…

Food Ingredients

Diving Into the Ingredients That Make Us: Apples

By wayfarersoliloquy | March 10, 2023March 10, 2023 by wayfarersoliloquy

Words by Matt Dursum No matter where you buy produce in the world, you’re sure to find apples. The usual varieties like Golden Delicious, Macintosh, and Red Delicious are ubiquitous worldwide, but this is just the boring surface of the apple’s diversity. When scientists published the genome of the apple tree in 2010, it created quite a shock. The apple, as it turns out, has twice as many genes as us, 57,000 in all. This…

Food Ingredients

Diving Into the Ingredients That Make Us: The Chili Pepper

By wayfarersoliloquy | December 2, 2022December 2, 2022 by wayfarersoliloquy

There’s a fruit out there which causes excruciating pain upon contact, racing heartbeat, uncontrollable sweating and mucus, and ghastly intestinal distress. And, we eat it. Some of us with great joy. Of course, I’m talking about the chili pepper. It’s a polarizing ingredient, but without it, our food cultures wouldn’t be the same. The Tiny Fruit of Death Chili peppers, including sweet bell peppers, belong to the genus Capsicum. These seed bearing fruits are native…

Category: Food