In the 18th century, after the corn harvest, farmers would toss corn kernels, some fat and a little molasses into a cast iron pot. Voilà: the first kettle corn. (Today, special popcorn strains create big, fluffy kernels.)

By the 1840s, corn popping had become a popular recreational activity in the U.S. By the 1870s, popcorn was sold in grocery stores and at concession stands at circuses, carnivals and fairs. The first commercial popcorn machine was invented in 1885; by the early 1920s, popcorn machines turned out hot buttered corn at most movie theaters.

Here’s the history of popcorn.

Considered a humble food accessible to all, it now used by fine chefs as a garnish for both sweet and savory food.
 
 
THE HUMBLE SNACK BECOMES FANCY FARE

Recently we featured an elegant savory corn custard, made from fresh corn and garnished with popcorn.

While a popcorn garnish is not yet ubiquitous, it has long been a standard on cheese and beer soup. Here’s a recipe from Emeril Lagasse, who makes spicy popcorn for the garnish. But if you don’t have the time, plain popcorn works just fine.

Any thick soup—bean, lentil, vegetable—is ready to wear a popcorn garnish; as is a bowl of chili.
 
 
USE PLAIN OR FLAVORED POPCORN

A second level of fun in using a popcorn garnish: You can flavor the popcorn to complement the dish. Just a sample of popcorn flavors you can pair:

 
If there’s a flavor you want, just toss it with popcorn. Here are 50 ways to season plain popcorn.

You can also coat the popcorn in chocolate, or use purchased popcorn: chocolate-covered, chocolate-peppermint or maple for the holidays, and so forth.

WAYS TO USE A POPCORN GARNISH

Beverages: Hot chocolate, on a cocktail pick, on milkshakes

 
If you’re not yet convinced, here’s a simple way to try out popcorn garnishes:

The next time you roll down the supermarket snack aisle, check out the popcorn selection. Buy a savory (plain salted popcorn) and a sweet variety (caramel corn or kettle corn) and start using them as garnishes.
 
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*Leave off the butter and sugar, and season with spices or herbs, and you’ve got a fiber-filled, healthful snack.

If you shop at a club store, you may run across large cans of artichoke hearts or artichoke pieces, nicely priced. There are also occasional sales on regular formats (13.85 ounce cans). Grab them!

Should you grab marinated or plain? It’s a toss-up.

Canned artichokes, packed in water, are more bland out of the can, but fine for dips, soups and other recipes where you don’t want the vinaigrette that comes with marinated artichoke hearts.

Marinated artichoke hearts are marinated in white vinegar and cheaper oil: soybean, sunflower or lower-quality olive oil.

If your palate notices the difference, you’re better off marinating your own, adding salt and spices to taste. They’re best in antipastos, salads and on sandwiches.

If you score a jumbo size, what should you do with all that artichoke?

The good news is that artichokes are low in calories: a 14 ounce can has 165 calories. So use them wherever and whenever.

Here’s a starter list. A recipe for spinach artichoke dip (with a few calories) is below.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF ARTICHOKES
 
 
14 WAYS TO USE ARTICHOKE HEARTS

[2] Forget the dip and make an artichoke baked potato. Here’s the recipe (photo © Bonefish Grill).

[3] How about an artichoke galette: for brunch, lunch or a first course at dinner. Here’s the recipe (photo © DeLallo).

THE HISTORY OF SPINACH & ARTICHOKE DIP
 
Spinach and artichoke dip can be served hot or cold, in a bowl or in a hollowed-out bread bowl (use a round loaf), along with crackers, pita chips, toasts and crudités.

Spinach and artichoke dip is one of the most popular dips in the U.S., so it’s surprising that we can’t find information on its origin. If you know it, please let us know.

Our mom recalls that in the 1950s or 1960s, a recipe appeared on the containers of mayonnaise or sour cream, and possibly on packages of Knorr or Lipton dry soup mixes, both of which featured spinach dip with sour cream, mayonnaise and chopped water chestnuts. Such recipes were typically developed by home economists employed by food producers, to encourage popular new ways to use their products.

Mom’s recipe, transferred from the package to an index card, is below.

Some recipes include cream cheese, Parmesan or other cheese. We prefer the a less cheesy cold dip but do like grated Emmental or Gruyère cheese in the hot dip.
 

Ingredients

 
Plus

 
Preparation

1. DRAIN the spinach in a strainer and press with the back of a large spoon to press out the remaining water. Further blot with paper towels if needed.

2. COMBINE the spinach in a food processor with the sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice and optional zest and nutmeg; blend. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. ADD the artichokes and pulse a few times. For a cold dip, refrigerate spread in a tightly-capped container for several hours or overnight, to enable the flavors to blend.

4. FOR A HOT DIP: Preheat oven to 375°F. Blend in the grated cheese and fresh-ground black pepper. Place in an oven-proof dish, top with more grated cheese and bake at until golden brown, about 15–20 minutes.
 
 
MORE DIP RECIPES

It used to be that a cheeseburger was just a cheeseburger: a patty and a slice of cheese—usually American, Cheddar or Swiss—and maybe a garnish of pickles. Then some inspired person added a slice of bacon. And those were the options for decades.

But cheeseburgers have evolved into more complex creations with endless possibilities.

We’ve been slammed with pitches for creative cheeseburger ideas for National Cheeseburger Day, September 18th. We don’t even know that these ideas are out-of-the-box. We think they’re the new box.

Some of the ideas that have come our way:

A cheeseburger with pimento cheese from Gardenia Restaurant in New York City is delicious, but pretty simple compared to the other ideas we received.

AND THERE’S MORE!

Head to CheeseAndBurger.com for many more ideas.

Check out our master list of 40+ burger recipe ideas.

Who invented the burger, and who transformed it into a cheeseburger? Much of the credit is lost to history, although here’s what we do know about the history of the burger.

And if you’ve created a new cheeseburger recipe, let us know.

Grenache (gruh-NOSH) in French, Garnacha in Spanish, is easy to grow and thus one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. Because pure Grenache wines (monovarietals) tend to lack acid, tannin and rich color, the grape is often blended with other varietals. For red Grenache, these are chiefly:

 
There are also white Grenaches and rosé Grenaches. Noteworthy examples of the latter are Tavel from the Côtes du Rhône of France and the rosés of the Navarra region of Spain.

The high sugar levels of Grenache make it good for fortified wines, as well. It is used in most Australian fortified wines and in the Port-like red vins doux naturels of Roussillon, France such as Banyuls, Maury and Rasteau.

Today, narrow down your options and try a red Grenache or Garnacha. What should you try it with?

A glass of Grenache. It’s hard to tell Grenache by its color, since most are blended with other grapes. A Grenache blend with Syrah or Temperanillo, for example, will be much more purple than a 100% Grenache. Photo courtesy Semata.

Red Grenache is a versatile wine, even though—as with any wine—its flavors vary, depending on where the grapes are grown, the soil and microclimate characteristics and diverse winemaking styles among producers.

But red Grenache is generally spicy* with raspberry or strawberry notes. As the wine ages, leather and tar flavors can emerge.

Pair red Grenache with:

 
*In wine, “spicy” refers to flavors such as anise, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, ginger, mint, nutmeg and pepper. Some grapes—and the wines made from them—are naturally spicy: Grenache, Malbec, Petite Sirah, Syrah and Zinfandel. New oak barrels also impart spicy notes.

 
FOOD PAIRINGS WITH FORTIFIED GRENACHE

 
THE HISTORY OF GRENACHE

Garnacha most likely originated in the Aragon region of northern Spain. In the 12th century it spread to Catalonia and other regions under the Crown of Aragon.

When the Roussillon region was annexed by France, Garnacha became Grenache, and the grape was planted in Languedoc and the Southern Rhone region. The latter is the home of perhaps the world’s greatest grenache blend, the A.O.C.† Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

There is no Swiss product called “Swiss cheese,” just as there is no “French cheese,” “Italian cheese,” and so forth. It’s a generic reference, like “French wine” or “Italian wine.” (Yes, there is Swiss wine, but you have to go there to try it. Nearly all is drunk domestically, with less than 2% exported, mainly to Germany.)

Swiss cheese is the generic name used in the United States for several related varieties of cheese, originally made in Switzerland. Emmentaler is the cheese Americans think of as the generic Swiss cheese. While Americans believe that Swiss cheese has holes, properly known as eyes, not all kinds of Swiss cheese do.
 
 
THE TYPES OF SWISS CHEESE

There are 450 known Swiss cheeses, classified into five categories: extra-hard, hard, semi-hard, semi-soft and soft. Cow’s milk is used in 99% of the cheeses produced. Examples include:

 
We suggest assembling examples of the five different styles—or at least, examples of the hard cheeses—for an educational “This Is Swiss Cheese!” tasting party.

The Swiss cheese variety with the big eyes—the holes—is Emmental, also spelled Emmentaler, Emmenthal or Emmenthaler, and pronounced without the “h” (i.e., em-en-TAL, em-en-TAL-er).

You may want to pick some up for tomorrow, National Cheeseburger Day. But today, we’ll focus on the glories of Emmental.
 
 
EMMENTAL HISTORY

Flavorful and imposing in size, the Swiss consider Emmental to be the king of the Swiss cheeses. It takes its name from the valley of the river Emme, in the canton of Bern*, also the home of Bern, the capital city of Switzerland.

Emmental cheese production traces its origins to the 13th century. Emmentaler AOC is produced by some 200 dairies, from the fresh, raw milk of cows fed on valley grass. The milk accounts for the superior flavor of Emmenthal versus American reproductions:

The milk from American factory cheeses (as opposed to artisan cheeses) typically comes from feedlot cows, who don’t graze and are fed commercial feed. Their milk does not have the flavor of milk from cows who graze on grass. Swiss milk is also rBgh/rBst-free, and genetically modified ingredients and any additives are forbidden.

Around 12 liters (12.6 quarts) of milk are needed to produce one kilo (2.2 pounds) of cheese. The round wheels of cheese have a diameter of 80 to 100 centimeters (31-39 inches—that’s more than three feet wide!), and weigh in at 75 to 120 kg (163-265 pounds). Yes, they’re heavy lifting.
 
 
THE FLAVOR OF EMMENTAL

The taste and texture differentiate quality Emmental from rubbery American imitations.

 
 
WHAT ABOUT THOSE BIG EYES?

While other Swiss mountain cheeses have eyes, Emmental has the largest. The holes range from cherry size to walnut size.

The eyes develop from the bacteria used in the production of Emmentaler cheese: Streptococcus thermophilis, Lactobacillus and Propionibacter shermani.

In a late stage of cheese production, P. shermani consumes the lactic acid excreted by the other two bacteria, and releases carbon dioxide gas. This forms the bubbles that appear to be “holes” when the cheese is sliced. The cheese industry calls these holes or tunnels “eyes.” Swiss cheese without eyes is known as “blind.”

[1] Don’t call it “Swiss cheese.” It’s name is Emmental (photo © Emmental Tourismus).

[2] While different cheeses develop eyes (holes), Emmental is the style that develops large holes that make Americans think “Swiss cheese” (photo © iGourmet) .

[3] Emmental is made in huge wheels that require extra-long knives to slice (photo © Imgur).

[4] Emmental wheels weigh 163 to 265 pounds (photo © iGourmet).

[5] Smoked salmon quiche with Emmental cheese (photo © Mackenzie Ltd.

Emmentaler AOC is sold in different stages of maturity, for different culinary purposes and palates.

 
Be sure you are buying Swiss Emmental. Although it is an AOC cheese, originally, the denomination “Emmental” was not protected. Thus, there are French Emmentals, Bavarian Emmentals, even Finnish Emmentals.
 
 
HOW DID EMMENTAL BECOME “SWISS CHEESE” IN AMERICA?

The original starter culture for Emmental was brought from Switzerland to Wisconsin in the 1850s, by immigrant Swiss cheesemakers, who recreated the cheese from their homeland. The American version of Emmentaler became known as “Swiss” cheese by the locals—perhaps because “Swiss” was easier to say than “Emmental.”

*A canton is analogous to an American state. There are 26 cantons in Switzerland.

†Also called Alpine cheeses, the term “mountain cheeses” refers to large, firm wheels made in the Swiss mountains (the Alps). These wheels are well-aged and full-flavored, often sprinkled with holes (some quite small). Appenzeller, Emmental, Gruyère, Hoch Ybrig, Raclette (four different cheeses), Sbrinz, Stanser Fladä, Tête de Moine and Vacherin Fribourgeois are examples. Mountain cheeses are not restricted to Switzerland, but to any mountains. Here’s more about mountain cheese.