Beer, Not Bread, was Man’s Motivation for Cultivating Cereals

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Archaeologists working in Israel recently uncovered 13,000-year-old evidence of ancient beer. The discovery predates the previously-accepted origin of brewing by around six thousand years, and supports a 60-year-old hypothesis that mankind may have domesticated cereals for beer production, not bread.

The research team, led by Stanford University professor of Chinese archaeology Li Liu, uncovered brewing tools used by the ancient Natufian people at a graveyard site near Haifa, Stanford News reports. The tools, including stone mortars, contained evidence of beer brewing in collected residue samples.

What Is Chinola? And Why It’s Everywhere All of a Sudden?

Americans have a newfound passion for passion fruit. Between 2015 and 2017, the dark, seedy berry saw a 15 percent increase on menus, according to global market research firm Mintel’s 2018 U.S. Flavor Trends report. There have long been liqueurs that deliver the sweet, acidic flavor of passion fruit, such as Giffard and Passoã, but the newest kid on the block, Chinola, has made an immediate and juicy splash.

Produced in the small, agricultural town of Majagual, Dominican Republic, Chinola is a partnership between Michael Krychowecky, Andrew Merinoff and Robert Pallone, along with Bar Lab, the hospitality consultancy behind tropical bar Broken Shaker, which has locations in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and New York City. The tall bottle, with a label illustrated by tropical elements, is filled with the bright, orange liqueur that’s shelf-stable without the use of additives or preservatives. This is somewhat rare in world of fruit liqueurs, which sees its share of hypersweet high-fructose-corn-syrup-laden products.

What Exactly Is a Maraschino Cherry?

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The maraschino cherry is the star atop the cocktail Christmas tree. It’s an exclamation point on a beautiful mixed drink, a prize at the bottom of your aperitif, the goody when you’ve gulped down your glass.

For more than a century, drinkers have come to expect the cerise cutie stirred into their Manhattans, skewered onto tiny swords for daiquiris, or plopped atop their Tequila Sunrise. For as dainty and darling as the drink garnishes may be, however, the modern maraschino cherry is more science than nature. In fact, you might could call it a fruity Frankenstein.

Maraschino cherries were born out of necessity. European orchardists needed a way to preserve their precious marasca cherry harvests, which were prone to mush and rot as soon as they were plucked from the limbs of the trees. In the 18th century, cherry growers began bathing their crop in maraschino liqueur, which is made from the cherry’s fruit, pits, leaves, and stems. This helped the fruit last longer and also made it a treat that could transport easily.

By the late 19th century, the preserved cherries found their way to the U.S., where they were used in some hoity-toity foods of the day, like ice cream sundaes, custards, even salads. Soon, however, enterprising bartenders discovered the secret of the preserved cherry and began using them as a way to garnish glasses without having to stock as much fresh fruit.