Millennia ago, potatoes grew wild in the foothills of the Andes Mountains of Peru. They were cultivated around 3,000 B.C.E. by the Incas and discovered by Europeans when the Spanish conquistadors reached the shores of Montezuma’s empire (modern-day Mexico) in 1519.

Now a staple in many national cuisines, potatoes are the third most important food crop in the world (preceded by rice and wheat). Hundreds of different varieties are grown globally.

The different varieties range from the size of a grape to the size of a grapefruit. Potatoes come in many shapes, from round to oval to twisted. While most Americans have seen only white potatoes and sweet potatoes, there are varieties in a rainbow of colors: black, blue, brown, green, orange, pink, purple, yellow and the ubiquitous white potato.

Specialty markets often carry blue and purple varieties. Check farmers markets for the more unusual potato varieties.

For National Potato Month, try different varieties.

The Potato Glossary also has cooking, nutrition and potato storage information.
  

The premium bakery wants its products to arrive in peak condition—not to languish in steamy-hot delivery trucks.

Now that things cooling down a bit, you can treat yourself or your favorite friends and family to a mixed box of eight brownies. The assortment contains two each of:

 
Geoff & Drew’s also has some of the perkiest gift boxes we’ve seen, in your choice of blue, green, pink or yellow polka dots.

Brownie happiness is just a click away.

Owners’ manuals state that coffee can sit on the warmer for up to two hours. But we say don’t let it sit for more than 30 minutes—the standard observed by good restaurants and coffee shops.

If your coffee ends up with a scorched or burned flavor, the obvious answer is to make fewer cups. The industry measures “cups” in six ounce portions, so four cups fills two large mugs.

But if you like to hedge your bets and make a larger amount of coffee, here are other options:

 
Alternative Coffee Makers

 
Find everything you want to know about coffee in our Gourmet Coffee Section.
  

Celebrate with a chocolate milkshake.
Photo courtesy Cherry Marketing Institute.

The Random House Dictionary describes a milkshake as an American creation, “a frothy drink made of cold milk, flavoring, and usually ice cream, shaken together or blended in a mixer.” And it states that the first printed reference dates to 1885.

It’s easy to make one. The recipe is below.
 
 
MILKSHAKE HISTORY: ALCOHOL, NO ICE CREAM!

That original milkshake was not suitable for children or teetotalers. It was an alcoholic drink, a “…sturdy, healthful eggnog type of drink, with eggs, whiskey, etc., served as a tonic as well as a treat.”*

By 1900, the whiskey and eggs were out, and the term “milkshake” referred to “wholesome drinks made with chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla syrups.”*

Yet, the milkshake still contained no ice cream.

The modern milkshake was born in 1922, when an employee at a Chicago Walgreens, Ivar “Pop” Coulson, was inspired to add two scoops of ice cream to malted milk. Malted milk was a drink made by blending milk, chocolate syrup and malt (malt was invented in 1887—as a nutritional supplement for infants).

The malted milkshake shot to stardom nationwide. By the 1930s, soda fountains were known as “malt shops.” In 1937 two milkshake-worthy events occurred: A superior blender was invented by Fred Waring, and the flexible straw was invented by Joseph Friedman.

But not all milkshakes were malted milkshakes. Many people preferred their milkshakes malt-free.

By the late 1930s, the term “frosted” was being used to describe maltless milkshakes that blended ice cream and milk into one smooth drink, while a “float” had scoops of ice cream “floating” in milk.

Soda fountain owners also came up with their own names. In New England, milkshakes were variously called frappes (Massachusetts), velvets, frosteds, and cabinets (Rhode Island, referring to the freezer cabinet from which the ice cream was scooped). Someone in a drive-through restaurant in St. Louis invented the concrete, a milkshake so thick that it was handed out the order window upside down for a wow factor. (We’ve had a few, and would argue that the concrete is not really a milkshake, but ice cream that’s been blended with just enough milk to turn it into a malleable form. It needs to be eaten with a spoon: It’s so thick it can’t be drunk through a straw).

No one knows what the next milkshake evolution will be, but we recommend going back to the original. Hold the egg, but add some Godiva Chocolate Liqueur to celebrate National Chocolate Milkshake Day (or a shot of whiskey, perhaps).

Don’t like chocolate? Mark your calendar for June 21st, National Vanilla Milkshake Day.

_________________

*Source: Stuart Berg Flexner, Listening to America (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982) p. 178.
 
 
RECIPE: CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE

Ingredients Per Shake

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

2. POUR into a tall glass, garnish as desired, and serve. Whipped cream, a maraschino cherry, or other garnish is optional (and overkill).

FOOD TRIVIA

In the 1950s, a milkshake machine salesman named Ray Kroc bought and became the exclusive distributor of a speedier milkshake machine, the Multimixer. He inadvertently invented modern fast food with his vision of franchising the McDonald’s hamburger stand in San Bernardino, California—just so he could sell several Multimixers to each location!
 
 
FLOAT, MALTED, MILKSHAKE: THE DIFFERENCE

A float, also known as an ice cream soda, is a carbonated soft drink—cola, root beer, etc.—with one or more scoops of ice cream “floating” in it.

A milkshake, “shake” for short, is a blend of ice cream, milk, and flavoring. The scoop of ice cream is blended into the milk; you can’t see the ice cream.

A thick shake has multiple scoops of ice cream, which thicken the drink—“So thick,” advertised one soda fountain, “that the straw stands up straight.”

A malt, short for malted milk, is a milkshake with added malted milk powder. The powder is made from a mixture of malted barley, wheat flour, and evaporated whole milk. It was originally developed, in 1897, by a pharmacist, James Horlick. He intended it as a gruel—a nutritional supplement—for infants.

Soon enough, parents discovered how tasty it was…and the rest is history.
 
 

In the long stretch from midday luncheon to dinner at 8 p.m., the duchess felt peckish. One day she ordered some refreshments: a pot of tea and whatever was in the kitchen—biscuits, scones, a slice of cake. On subsequent days, she invited friends to stop by, and the custom of afternoon tea* was born (details).

When was the last time you had afternoon tea with friends? Less fuss than a brunch or dinner party, it can be an elaborate buffet of foods or as simple as a pot of tea and cookies.

We love finding special cookies, like Tea Aura’s leaf-shaped shortbread. The cookies are enhanced with finely-ground tea, similar to Biscottea, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.

Tea Aura cookies are available in Chocolate Mint Tea, Earl Grey Tea, Lavender Currant, Matcha Green Tea and Rooibos Chai Tea.

Pick a day and invite friends. If you work during tea time, plan something in the office. At THE NIBBLE, we have tea every day at 4:30.

Afternoon tea can be as simple as a cup of
tea and some charming cookies, like these
leaf-shaped shortbreads from TeaAura. Photo
by River Soma | THE NIBBLE.

A year of tea party ideas.
*Afternoon tea is often erroneously referred to as “high tea.” High tea is a working class supper—far from the elegance of afternoon tea.