In French, "jolie laide" means "pretty and ugly"; it's a way to describe something that is unconventionally beautiful. This homage to jolie laide foods will explore the idea that deliciousness can come where you least expect it, from misshapen fish meatballs to organ meat that only a zombie could love. Some consumers may fall for the illusion of perfection, but companies such as UglyRipe and Imperfect Produce have made a point of promoting flavor over façade. (Bruised tomatoes may not be the most slightly, but they make a great sauce!) We'll examine the notion of perfection of taste vs. perfec ..read more

How, exactly, you grow a gourd larger than a living room, and more importantly—why.  ..read more

After our episode about the vintage rotisserie machine that still has a cult following, we received an email from the son-in-law of the inventor, Leon Klinghoffer. Today’s episode is his story ..read more

One presidential term goes down in history as serving borderline inedible food to the thousands of guests who dined there. What was on the menu, who was responsible, and the revenge theory behind it all. This episode of Burnt Toast was produced by Gabrielle Lewis and Kenzi Wilbur. Thanks also to Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, the founders of Food52— and to Laura Mayer and Andy Bowers at Panoply.  Our ad and theme music is by Joshua Rule Dobson; All other music in this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions. Our logo is designed by Abbey Lossing.  Please let us know what you think of the ..read more

We talk to Professor Charles Spence about the science behind how what you hear when you eat affects the whole multi-sensory experience ..read more

This countertop rotisserie has a lively cult following for producing the juiciest, spit-roasted birds. Our reason to be suspicious? It was made in the 1950s. We put one to the test to find out if this machine *really* makes the best chicken ..read more

We ask—and then we try to change emoji history. Learn how an emoji gets made as we submit our pie emoji proposal to Unicode ..read more

We track down the composer of one of the catchiest jingles of all time—the jingle that opened new factories it was so popular—to learn its surprising origin story.  ..read more

We speak with Bee Wilson to follow the curious, contentious history of margarine back to its first invention. Turns out, we have Napoleon III to thank.  ..read more

The banana peel is so synonymous with slipperiness that we know how this joke ends right when it starts—why? And why a banana? We trace down the origins of the gag, and land in a surprising place ..read more