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Bryan Quoc Le, PhD
Bryan Quoc Le, PhD

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The Real Tastemakers Behind Artificial Flavors

And why strawberry flavoring doesn’t really taste like strawberries — When I get a chance to take my time grocery shopping, I sometimes like to peruse the aisles and read through the ingredient lists of my favorite food brands. At the beginning of the list are the usual suspects—water, sugar, flour, oils, etc. However, every so often, I’ll find an…

Food

6 min read

The Real Tastemakers Behind Artificial Flavors
The Real Tastemakers Behind Artificial Flavors

Pinned

Instant Ramen

Zen and the Search for Flavor A monk started to prepare his simple lunch of rice, vegetables, and broth. After meditating for hours, he grew hungry and wanted a delicious meal. He looked inside a wooden vat of fermenting miso made from soy beans and wheat that he had prepared…

Food

8 min read

Instant Ramen
Instant Ramen

Published in Heated

·Pinned

There’s Nothing ‘Vanilla’ About Vanilla

It may seem a bland, standard flavor, but its history is deliciously rich — According to legends of the indigenous Totonac people of Mexico, in a time before vanilla was cultivated, there once lived the beautiful princess Tzacopontziza of the Totonocopan kingdom. A young prince named Zkatan-Oxga saw her picking flowers for a temple offering one day. Overcome with passion, he whisked her away…

Science

6 min read

There’s Nothing ‘Vanilla’ About Vanilla
There’s Nothing ‘Vanilla’ About Vanilla

Dec 18, 2020

Food Science Question #151 — Vinegars

Foreword: I was thinking the other day that it might be fun to start a conversation about food science in the format of my first book, 150 Food Science Questions Answered. I’m going to start off with one of the questions and answers that didn’t make the final cut into…

Food

3 min read

Food Science Question #151 — Vinegars
Food Science Question #151 — Vinegars

May 31, 2020

What I Learned through My Three-Year Journey from Beginner to Published Author

I never expected to be a published author at this age. My goal list had me slated to achieve ‘Write a Book’ in five to ten years. I didn’t think I’d be ready to write a book at this time. That had a lot to do with all the projects…

Writing

8 min read

What I Learned through My Three-Year Journey from Beginner to Published Author
What I Learned through My Three-Year Journey from Beginner to Published Author

Apr 6, 2020

How to Make a Virus-Killing Copper Spray Using Pennies

You’ve probably been hearing lately that copper has the power to stop viruses. In the wake of COVID-19, articles and news reports published in the last few weeks by VICE, Fast Company, Insider, BBC, and Arirang News have all touted copper’s near-magical ability to destroy viruses on contact. …

Coronavirus

4 min read

How to Make a Virus-Killing Copper Spray Using Pennies
How to Make a Virus-Killing Copper Spray Using Pennies

Jan 9, 2020

Recycling Food for the Future

The environmental impact of food waste is staggering. 1.4 billion hectares of land, or 34% of the world’s total agricultural land, is used to grow food that’ll eventually end up in a landfill. Most of the food waste that’s disposed in a landfill decomposes anaerobically and generates the powerful greenhouse…

Food

11 min read

How Can We Recycle the World’s Food Supply? It Might Involve Leftovers.
How Can We Recycle the World’s Food Supply? It Might Involve Leftovers.

Nov 17, 2018

Food, Fire, and the Human Brain

You are what you eat, or so the old adage goes. But unlike other primates and animals, humans are the only animals who cook their food, which may have more to do with how we became humans in the first place. Richard Wrangham, Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology at…

Health

9 min read

Food, Fire, and the Human Brain
Food, Fire, and the Human Brain

Nov 12, 2018

On the Human Right to Healthy Food

The Origins of Modern Food Technology The overreaching aims of the modern food industry can be generalized as extending the shelf-life of foods using preservation techniques, enhancing the palatability of foods, providing adequate nutrients, and generating profits for both the company and shareholders. In order to reach these aims and…

Food

8 min read

On the Human Right to Healthy Food
On the Human Right to Healthy Food

Nov 5, 2018

Mustard — From Monasteries to Mad Money

I regularly drive down to one of adjacent towns near the west side of Madison whenever my wife and I are craving Chinese food. …

Food

8 min read

Mustard — From Monasteries to Mad Money
Mustard — From Monasteries to Mad Money
Bryan Quoc Le, PhD

Bryan Quoc Le, PhD

Author of 150 Food Science Questions Answered | amzn.com/1646118332 | bryanquocle.com

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