• National Pecan Torte Day

    Unlike a sponge cake, a torte relies on nuts for body instead of flour. In central Europe tortes are dense confections layered with buttercream and fruit, but in the American […]

  • National Sponge Cake Day

    A true sponge cake is more air than anything else. Unlike butter cakes, sponges rely on whipped eggs for their rise, creating a structure of tiny bubbles that results in […]

  • National Coconut Week

    The coconut is a study in versatility—simultaneously fruit, nut and seed, offering food, drink, fiber and fuel. National Coconut Week, observed during the last week of August, honors the tropical […]

  • National Cuban Sandwich Day

    The Cuban sandwich—pressed bread stuffed with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard—is a story of migration and cultural mingling. Its roots lie with the Taino people of the […]

  • National Peach Pie Day

    Pie is one of America’s most enduring desserts, and peach pie is arguably its summer queen. Peaches, with their fragrant flesh and rosy skins, reached North America via Spanish settlers […]

  • National Waffle Day

    The waffle has travelled an impressive journey from medieval pious fare to brunch favourite. Medieval Europeans cooked unleavened communion wafers in patterned irons, and by the 13th century artisans began […]

  • National Whiskey Sour Day

    A well‑made whiskey sour is a lesson in balance. The drink likely evolved from sailors’ grog—spirits mixed with citrus juice and sugar to ward off scurvy. By the mid‑19th century, […]

  • National Green Goddess Day

    Green Goddess dressing is a testament to how the theatre can influence cuisine. In the 1920s San Francisco’s Palace Hotel hosted the actor George Arliss, who was starring in the […]

  • National Banana Split Day

    On a summer afternoon in 1904, David Evans Strickler, a 23‑year‑old apprentice pharmacist at Tassel Pharmacy in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, decided to liven up the soda fountain menu. He split a […]

  • National Charcuterie Board Day

    Charcuterie is the craft of curing, smoking and preserving meat, a tradition that dates back to at least 15th‑century France. The word comes from ‘chair cuite’, meaning cooked flesh, and […]

  • National Cherry Popsicle Day

    The Popsicle owes its existence to an 11‑year‑old boy’s forgetfulness. In 1905, San Francisco resident Frank Epperson mixed powdered soda pop with water and left his cup, stirring stick and […]

  • National Banana Lovers Day

    Bananas are so ubiquitous in grocery stores that it’s easy to forget their exotic origins. The fruit likely originated in Southeast Asia, where wild bananas were first domesticated more than […]