Q: I was in Madrid recently and splurged on some memorable Ibérico ham. I was tempted to bring some back to the States, but since you can now buy it here I thought I’d avoid the risk of having it confiscated at customs. Which raised the question—if you can buy it in the U.S. now, why are they still throwing it away at the border? The ham dealer in Madrid told us it was because it’s not actually the same ham. Is that true?

Some day, I am confident that we will look back at this age of forbidden pork products as an American folly. Ibérico ham is truly the apex of cured pork products, and Spaniards have been eating ham made from wild pata negra pigs, cured in caves in the mountain air, literally since prehistoric times. But the USDA doesn’t take millennia of hale and hearty Spanish ham eaters at face value, and insists that imported meat products be processed in USDA approved facilities. (But ammonia-treated pink-slime burgers are totally A-OK. That’s logical.) Read on… »

Q: What does a sesame seed grow into? I don’t know–we never give them a chance. What the &!$@ is a sesame?! –Comedian Mitch Hedberg (RIP)

This Ask Spooning began not as a query from a curious reader, but a straight-up hysterical rant about sesame seeds by the dearly departed comedian Mitch Hedberg (**Rated R** for adult language and drug references: Sesame Seeds). Blank buns notwithstanding, it’s a good question: What IS a sesame? Obviously, like the poppy, sunflower, and pumpkin that give us tasty seeds, the sesame is some kind of flowering plant. But we’ve all seen poppies, sunflowers and pumpkins. Have you ever seen a sesame? Would you even know if you did? Read on… »

Welcome to the first installment of Ask Spooning, where experts answer your culinary queries…

Q: “I notice that edibles are a huge part of medical marijuana dispensaries. Where does this food come from? Is there a  regulatory system of some kind? The edibles also list dosage–how is that determined and maintained? Finally, I’ve heard of cannabis butter, but how are the other things made, like beverages and candy?” –Anonymous, Los Angeles

A: The process of getting to the bottom of this question lead me to discover that–perhaps unsurprisingly–folks in the marijuana trade are a little bit hard to pin down. Read on… »