Nothing is quite as satisfying in salad as a kiwi, that tart-sweet, fuzzy-skinned fruit from the faraway land of… wait for it… California. That’s right. More often than not, the exotic kiwifruit at your local SoCal market is grown in the San Joaquin...
Have you ever tightened a nut with pliers? It sort of works until the nut strips. Reach for a wrench instead. The modern wrench emerged in the 1800s, alongside the rise of machine manufacturing and standardized hardware. Before that, blacksmiths and craftsmen often...
The wild ancestor of the cherry tomato originated in the coastal regions of Peru and Ecuador. These tiny, berry-sized fruits were tough and adaptable. Over centuries, wild tomatoes were domesticated and cultivated across Central and South America. Spanish explorers...
What does a dentist use to pull a tooth? Not a hacksaw, and not a hammer, but a pair of piers. Pliers are among humanity’s oldest hand tools. Historians trace their development to around 3.000 BCE in the Near East. The earliest pliers were made to handle hot...
The ginger plant (Zingiber officinale) has been cultivated in Southeast Asia for over 3,000 years. It was one of the first spices exported to Europe through trade, prized for its flavor and medicinal uses. Candied ginger was a popular sweet in Europe from the 13th to...
