GlobalGourmet.com was a culinary guide that brought together global recipes, tips, and international culinary practices. The founder of the website, Kate Heyhoe, is an American food writer and editor who has published several gourmet cookbooks.
In its early days, the website invited visitors to come and “celebrate the romance of foods, exotic spices, and international travel with the Global Gourmet.” It announced, “Here, we taste the world country by country” (Source).
Try to find GlobalGourmet.com today, and it becomes clear that the site is no longer publishing. We took the time to find out what happened.
In memory of a website established by a culinary enthusiast who claimed to have created “the web’s first food and cooking site,” we singled out 10 of the most influential articles published on GlobalGourmet.com.
The History of GlobalGourmet.com
In 1996, Heyhoe started Global Gourmet to share her experiences while living in Italy and traveling around the world. The site featured an online cookbook section designed for the home chef, with more than 200 international recipes.
To make life easy for visitors to the site, recipes were divided into sections, such as Appetizers, Egg Recipes, Seafood Recipes, and Vegetable Recipes.
GlobalGourmet.com also featured a Global Gourmet Today column that appeared every weekday. Users could search for international recipes, from as far as West Africa, the Middle East, and India, to Spain, Brazil, and the Caribbean.
The Ten Most Influential Articles on GlobalGourmet.com
Typically, the number of backlinks an article receives is an indication of the value it delivered. GlobalGourmet.com published hundreds of articles, but the following items attracted the most attention:
1. The Caribbean: The Beauty of Tropical Cuisine
The article describes the famous cuisine of the Caribbean Isles: summarized as tropical. This cuisine is influenced by what the writer, Mimi Rippee, calls the “incredible array of beautiful food that grows in an area best known for its beaches and warm, fragrant breezes”. (Source).
2. Culinary Sleuth: Scrapple
Global Gourmet’s in-house writer, Lynn Kerrigan, published a regular blog, which the website said was fit for “inquisitive cooks” called Culinary Sleuth. (Source).
This article about scrapple is a piece published on Culinary Sleuth, which also appears on Global Gourmet. Possibly proud of the fact that she knows something that many readers of the article don’t, Kerrigan declares, “Unless you live in the Middle Atlantic states, you may have never had the dubious pleasure of breakfasting on scrapple – a fried slice of pork-mush”. (Source).
Kerrigan also uses the opportunity to correct a misconception: even though this food is “often erroneously called Philadelphia Scrapple, it’s really a dish that originated in the Eastern Pennsylvania farmlands of German-born settlers – far from the city of Brotherly Love”. (Source).
3. Belgium Backgrounder: Europe’s Best-Kept Secret
This article is a summary of a book dubbed ‘Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook’ by Ruth Van Waerebeek, with Maria Robbins, published in 1996. It reports that fried potatoes are practically the national dish of Belgium.
The article writer says that people in Belgium will happily travel out of their way if it means their “family will enjoy a better loaf of bread, or a more tender bunch of asparagus.” This is because food is extremely important in this country.
“Not only do Belgians spend considerably more money on food than the average American, but they also devote a great deal more time and energy to discussing it, shopping for it, preparing it, and consuming it,” says the writer (Source).
4. A Cozy Night with Larousse: Good Reading, Fine Eating
In this article, Kate Heyhoe writes about the Larousse Gastronomique, a resource for chefs and food lovers. It included continental recipes, chef and food histories, essential ingredients information, and cookery terminologies. Larousse Gastronomique was first published in 1938.
5. The History of Olive Oil
“Homer called it ‘liquid gold.’ In ancient Greece, athletes ritually rubbed it all over their bodies. Its mystical glow illuminated history. Drops of it seeped into the bones of dead saints and martyrs through holes in their tombs,” says this piece that gives a glimpse into the history of the over 7,000-year-old olive oil (Source).
The article ends with links to more comprehensive information about olive oil, such as Olive Oil Basics, American Olive History, and Cookbook: Olive Oil From Tree to Table.
6. Black Fungus
“The frilly, brownish clumps of translucent tissue with a little imagination resemble the delicate curls of the human ear or billowing clouds,” says this article. The human ear part of the description may make consuming fungus hard to swallow. However, the writer says that wood fungus is popular in Chinese cuisine for its crunchy texture. (Source).
7. Little Known Facts about Oysters
This piece carries some interesting facts, such as, “While oysters have separate sexes, they may change sex one or more times during their life span.” It also explains how pearls end up inside oysters: they are produced when foreign materials are trapped inside the shell of the oyster.
Do you believe that oysters should only be eaten in the months ending with ‘r’ like October or November? The article writer, Ilene Polansky, says that this is a myth that probably started when oysters could not be transported in the summer because of a lack of refrigeration. (Source).
8. Everything you Always Wanted to Know About Ketchup (Catsup)
According to this piece, Henry J. Heinz, the man who brought ketchup to American dining rooms in the 1870s, was neither the inventor nor the first to bottle it. “Indonesian and Asian culture invented what we know today as ketchup,” it says.
The article then covers other topics, including the history of ketchup, the secret lives of ketchup lovers, and other exciting facts. (Source).
9. The Days of the Dead
“The dead are full of life,” Vera Cala observes in this article. Cala argues that the dead can be seen in statues, toys, and trinkets.
The article says that after Halloween, Mexico prepares for the “Days of the Dead.” This is a joyous family time on November 1 and 2, where “the souls of the departed return home to the land of the living.” It highlights the preparations which include cooking or purchasing candies, bread, statues, and other gifts. (Source).
10. Mustard: The History of a Condiment
In 1996, Michele Anna Jordan (the editor of The World Is a Kitchen: Cooking Your Way Through Culture) published a feature highlighting the history and background of mustard. It is now one of the most popular condiments (a substance applied to add flavor, like salt).
Jordan highlights the origins, the different types of mustard, and how they were prepared. The article also includes a cook’s online guide to mustard, and several mustard recipes.
What then Happened to GlobalGourmet.com?
GlobalGourmet.com seems to have stopped publishing, without comment, in 2016.