THE NIBBLE webzine of food adventures

06/15/2026

National Lobster Day is celebrated on two different days: June 15th September 25th (see the *footnote for why there are two).

Below:

> The history of lobster, from trash seafood to cash crop.

> Lobster-producing regions.

> Other foods that went from common to coveted.

> The year’s lobster holidays.

> Why are lobsters boiled alive?

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> 30+ lobster recipes for every meal of the day.

> The interesting anatomy and biology of a lobster.

> The different types of seafood: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 60+ fish and seafood holidays.



THE HISTORY OF LOBSTER

Today, lobster is one of the most prized and expensive foods in the world. Yet for much of North American history, it was considered a low-status food, fed to enslaved laborers, prisoners, servants, orphans, and the poor. The transformation of lobster from a disparaged crustacean to a symbol of luxury is one of the most remarkable reversals in culinary history.

For National Lobster Day, the history of lobster and why they're boiled alive. Plus trivia and more lobster holidays from THE NIBBLE webzine of food adventures.

06/13/2026

Kings Family Distillery of Indiana took home the gold in the rye category at the 2026 The International Wine & Spirit Competition, for its Cask Strength 10 Year Old Rye Whiskey photo: The Nibble).

Jack Daniel’s is known for making the world's best-selling American whiskey, Old No. 7 Black Label Tennessee Whiskey. But they also make rye—three different expressions of it! (photo: The Nibble)

A celebrity bottling: Sir Davis American Rye Whisky from Beyonce Knowles-Carter (photo: The Nibble).

A field of rye (photo © Markus Spiske | Unsplash).

The rye berries (grains) are ready to harvest and milled into a coarse meal to combined with hot water in the mash tun, eventually to be distilled into rye whiskey (photo © Natasha Arefyeva | Unsplash).

The Glencairn whiskey glass is a special shape that concentrates the spirit’s aromas while diffusing harsh alcohol vapors.

Raise a glass for National Rye Day: The top cocktails and brands, plus the year's 100+ cocktail and spirit holidays. From THE NIBBLE webzine of food adventures.

06/07/2026

Looks like a burger. Grills like a burger. Satisfies like a burger.⁠ And it is a burger—a tuna burger!
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Even better, it’s a box of conveniently frozen tuna burgers from Safe Catch, guaranteed to be mercury-free.
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Have you spotted them at Sam’s Club yet?

We received a box to try from Safe Catch, and had some mighty good lunches preparing them different ways. Our favorite recipe is done Hawaiian-style.

Prefer a cheeseburger to teriyaki mayo and a grilled pineapple ring?

Sharp Cheddar is the bold choice for a tuna burger, while Provolone, Havarti, or Swiss are milder cheeses. All are good melters.

Below:

> Hawaiian tuna burger recipe.

> Mom’s simple cucumber salad recipe and variations.

> About Safe Catch seafood.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> Safe Catch portobello tuna burger recipe.

> The different types of brioche.

> The year’s 11+ burger holidays.

> The year’s 60+ fish and seafood holidays.

> America’s favorite burger toppings.

> The history of the hamburger.

How about a Hawaiian tuna burger from Safe Catch with a side of mom's cucumber salad? Recipes from THE NIBBLE webzine of food. BYO sweet potato fries.

06/06/2026

The first most popular use for ketchup: French fries and other fried potatoes—tots, hash browns, etc. (photo © Striphouse | Las Vegas).

In second place, the burger. A plain burger is just fine, but we’ve added some excitement with this sautéed mushroom-Gruyère cheeseburger and sweet potato fries (photo © Good Eggs).

Coming in third: eggs, scrambled or any other style, including omelets. See the rest of the “Top 10” below (photo: The Nibble).

While onion rings didn’t make it onto the list, we’re using our editorial powers to fold them into the French fries group (photo: The Nibble).


Happy National Ketchup Day! June 5th is an unofficial holiday. It’s hard to overstate the grip this sweet, tangy, umami-packed condiment has on the American palate.

It’s estimated that roughly 97% of U.S. households keep ketchup in the kitchen. When it comes to how they actually use it, the applications range from the universally accepted classics to a few highly debated anomalies.

For National Ketchup Day, how Asian fish sauce became American tomato ketchup, the top U.S. brands, and noteworthy small batch ketchups waiting for you to try.

06/02/2026

Have you ever made sheet pan waffles? Baked in the oven instead of fried in a skillet, you not only save time and effort flipping pancakes on the stove top, but you can refrigerate or freeze them for easy reheating.

September 26th is National Pancake Day and the last week of February is National Pancake Week. But why wait until then to see how easy it is to make this recipe?

Below:

> About sheet pan pancakes.

> The history of sheet pan pancakes.

> The recipe.

> Different mix-ins, both sweet and savory.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The different types of pancakes and waffles: a photo glossary.

> The history of pancakes.

> The year’s 18 pancake, waffle, French toast, and crêpe holidays.

> The year’s 116 breakfast holidays.

> More pancake recipes.

If you like pancakes but not the pouring and flipping at the stove, sheet pan pancakes are the better way. Plus they can be refrigerated or frozen, then heated.

05/30/2026

Our latest version of Cobb Salad has a Thai influence. The recipe follows (photo: The Nibble).

Add peanut butter to Asian-style sesame dressing for peanut dressing. The recipe follows (photo: The Nibble).

Pick up a rotisserie chicken (Freepik photo).

Crunchy snow peas are always a treat. We’re happy to have recipe that uses them (photo: The Nibble).


Before National Salad Month (May) draws to a close, we want to give a shout-out to one of our favorites: the Cobb Salad (photo #5).

It’s one of our favorites, and it happened to be an impromptu pull-together using ingredients in the kitchen of the Brown Derby restaurant (the story).

The original combined iceberg lettuce, romaine, avocado, bacon, watercress, chicken breast, a hard-boiled egg, tomatoes, chives, blue cheese, and the “original” French dressing—i.e., a Dijon vinaigrette. See the *footnote for the sad evolution of “French” dressing.

This yummy Thai Cobb Salad recipe updates the original with a few Asian ingredients and a peanut sauce dressing. From THE NIBBLE webzine of food adventures.

05/27/2026

It was tough deciding what to make for National Cherry Dessert Day (May 26th). But in the end, this cherry tiramisu recipe was calling our name.

If your taste buds prefer something less creamy, check out the 25 other cherry recipes .

Below:

> Cherry tiramisu recipe.

> More cherry dessert recipes.

> The different types of cherry liqueur.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of tiramisu.

> The history of cherries.

> The two species of cherries: sweet cherries and sour (tart) cherries.

> The year’s 15+ cherry holidays.

> What is mascarpone?

> Cordial, eau-de-vie, liqueur, and schnaps: the difference.


RECIPE: CHERRY TIRAMISU

Plan to make the recipe the night before, to allow the flavors to meld. Note that if you have a glass or ceramic baking dish (photo #7 below), it looks better at the table than a metal baking pan.

We use Kirsch, a cherry fruit brandy‡ that’s a staple for cheese fondues and cherry desserts.

05/26/2026

Sugar-free tomato tang on everything from burgers to omelets (photos #1 #2, #3, and #5 © G. Hughes Sauces | Industries Lassonde Inc.).

We gave bottles to certain friends for the holidays.

America’s #1 favorite ketchup food.

While there’s already ketchup in most barbecue sauces, some people like to dip their ribs in ketchup (photo © Easy Buy 4U | iStock Photo).

G. Hughes’ sugar-free ketchup’s Nutrition Facts label, commonly referred to as the nutrition panel, nutrition label, or nutrition box.


America will consumes a lot of ketchup over Memorial Day Weekend, so we deemed it appropriate to spotlight the sugar-free ketchup we’ve been using for a couple of years: G Hughes Sugar Free Ketchup.

Why sugar-free? We’re not keto, nor diabetic, nor dieting, nor in any other mode where one might want ketchup made with sucralose (the zero-calorie sweetener branded as Splenda*.

G. Hughes Sugar Free Ketchup has just 5 calories per tablespoon and a vinegar tang. If you like to slather on ketchup but want to cut back on sugar, go for it!

05/11/2026

By now, the global Dubai chocolate craze that began in 2023 has resulted in many copycats of the original layered chocolate bar, plus a porting of the flavors to brownies, cakes, cheesecakes, cookies, croissants, iced coffee, pancakes, pistachio butter cups, and dozens more (see the ††footnote). There are even Dubai chocolate beers!

The marvelous chocolate bar sought by so many is filled with chopped pistachio nuts, tahini (sesame paste) mixed with pistachio cream, and knafeh, a crispy, flaky, traditional Middle Eastern pastry made from shredded phyllo dough* (photo #20).

Chocolate combined with pistachio isn’t a new idea, but the crunchy nature of the knafeh and tahini-pistachio cream filling have created something unique and wonderful.

We acknowledge that we’ve never had the original Dubai chocolate created by Sarah Hamouda (photo #6), a British-Egyptian entrepreneur living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

05/05/2026

Candied orange peel is so easy to make—and so delicious (all photos: The Nibble).

We made a double batch: one with minced candied orange peel, and one with the peel plus mini chocolate chips. Here’s the basic, buttery shortbread recipe.

Elevate your Old Fashioned: Instead of a regular orange peel garnish, treat your Old Fashioned (and yourself) with candied orange peel. The peel recipe is below; here’s the Old Fashioned recipe.

You can slice the peel as finely as you like (photo: The Nibble).


May 4th is National Orange Peel Day, a holiday many people wouldn’t even think twice about. But lemon peel—and its fellow peels, grapefruit, lime, and orange—are so much more than a discarded twist on a Negroni.

Below:

> Recipe for candied lemon, lime, grapefruit, or orange peel.

> Different ways to serve candied citrus peel, both sweet and savory.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The year’s 45+ citrus holidays.

> The year’s 13 orange and mandarin holidays.

> The history of oranges.

For National Candied Orange Peel Day, make this delicious, easy recipe and see all the ways to use it. You can use any citrus peel: lemon, lime, or grapefruit