On a Sunday morning in late Fall, I arrive at a gathering. It’s the first day of the fourth season of the La Merenda Bean CSA. As I enter the house from the brisk of early autumn, the warmth of a few familiar faces and some new people greet me. There’s someone I met at one of last year’s pick-ups, and she’s sitting in the corner pouring over a book of recipes, presumably dreaming about what she’ll make with this year’s bean haul. I pour myself a cup of coffee, grab a plate of homemade breakfast treats, and wait my turn to have my beans measured out like precious gems on a jewel scale.

EATEN No. 21: Baked comes straight out of the oven with a batch of the hottest stories from baking history, from the colonial crumbs of bánh mì to the evolution of the communion wafer and the unending debates over how to properly weigh and measure your bake. (Autumn 2024)

Contributors include:

Adrian J.S. Hale on the Natufians and the origins of agriculture

Sanchia Lovell on the gilded life of Anontin Carême

Sharmistha Chaudhuri on Christmas cakes in India

Olga Koutseridi on the meat pies of Crimea