A South You Never Ate

Fall brings warm soups, apple pies, and, of course, pumpkin spice lattes. It certainly wasn’t on the original Thanksgiving table, but it’s definitely a fall tradition these days. Senior producer, Allison Quantz and her daughter Evelyn try out a pumpkin spice recipe from our friends at the Virginia Tech food science department.

Along with the craft beer renaissance has been a resurgence of hard cider. Greg Hansard says cider has been in a fixture on Virginia tables and farms for more than four hundred years.

The distinctive foodways of the Eastern Shore of Virginia bring together influences from Indigenous peoples, European migrants, enslaved and free West Africans, and more recent newcomers. We dine at folklorist Bernard Herman’s table to learn about the flavors of local ingredients and the stories of cooks who have prepared them.

Some food safety tips from Melissa Wright for the big feast.

Sure, stuffing and sweet potato casserole are delicious–but how much do you think about the science behind those dishes? Kenneth Pestka unpacks the physics of celery, carrots, marshmallows, and other classic Thanksgiving ingredients.

At this point, everybody knows that turkey has a special chemical called tryptophan that makes you extra sleepy after a big Thanksgiving meal. Right? Except, Doug Young says that’s a total myth.