Food and Drink Atlas
Things this atlas does not know. Each entry is a question that specialists
have posed and not settled, recorded with what would actually resolve it and which
expertise the answer needs.
These are kept deliberately, rather than quietly omitted. An atlas that shows
only what it is sure of implies a confidence it has not earned, and the gaps are often where
the interesting work is. Several sit exactly where two fields fail to meet: identifying the
hyssop of the Hebrew Bible needs a botanist and a philologist of Biblical Hebrew, and neither
one settles it alone.
Grouped by the shape of the gap rather than its subject: what sort of thing is unresolved.
Showing 21 to 40 of 54 open questions, page 2 of 3.
dating 34
When something happened, where the sources disagree or are silent.
Agnolotti
When and where did agnolotti take shape as a distinct stuffed pasta in Piedmont?
Open Agnolotti
Why It Is Open The only origin account Wikipedia gives is a legend that the name comes from a cook called Angiolino, or "Angelot", from Montferrat, said to be the inventor of the recipe; no date or period is attached to this legend and the article gives no other historical dating for when agnolotti took shape.
What Would Settle It A food-history source establishing when stuffed pasta of this square-folded Piedmont form was first made or documented, independent of the undated Angiolino naming legend.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Agnolotti (Wikipedia), Lead section.
Acquacotta
In what period did acquacotta take shape as a distinct bread-and-broth soup in the Maremma?
Open Acquacotta
Why It Is Open Wikipedia dates acquacotta's origin only to "ancient history" with no specific period, era or century given anywhere in the article; the dish is described as ancient peasant food from the Maremma with no citable starting point.
What Would Settle It A food-history or archaeological source giving a specific period, century or documented early reference for when acquacotta as a bread-and-broth soup first took shape in the Maremma.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Acquacotta (Wikipedia), Lead section.
Akki rotti
When did akki rotti take shape as a distinct Karnataka rice-flour flatbread?
Open Akki rotti
Why It Is Open Wikipedia's article on akki rotti gives no historical dating at all: no period, century or documented early reference for when the dish, or either of its two named regional versions, first appeared.
What Would Settle It A food-history source establishing when rice-flour flatbread preparation in Karnataka, or its Kodagu bhakri-style variant, took shape as the dish known as akki rotti today.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Akki rotti (Wikipedia), Lead section.
Varenyky
When did varenyky take shape as a distinct Ukrainian dumpling?
Open Varenyky
Why It Is Open Wikipedia states only that varenyky have been documented in Ukrainian culinary traditions for centuries and appear in folklore, ritual and literature, with no year, century or specific historical account of when the dish took its present form.
What Would Settle It A food-history source dating varenyky's emergence as a distinct filled-dumpling dish in Ukrainian cuisine, rather than only describing its long-standing presence.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Varenyky (Wikipedia), History.
Brik
When and where did brik take shape beyond its at-least-500-year floor?
Open Brik
Why It Is Open Wikipedia gives only a floor for brik, dating it back at least 500 years, and says its origins are otherwise hard to trace directly; no more specific date, place or inventor is given anywhere in the article.
What Would Settle It A food-history source narrowing brik's origin beyond the 500-year floor, and identifying where among the wider borek/bourek/burek/malsouka family it specifically arose.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Brik (Wikipedia), Regional variants and preparation.
Char Kway Teow
When did char kway teow emerge among Teochew hawkers in Maritime Southeast Asia?
Open Char Kway Teow
Why It Is Open Wikipedia describes char kway teow as originally sold by fishermen, farmers and cockle-gatherers as evening hawker food, and notes its later 20th-century popularization, but gives no year or period for when the dish itself first took shape.
What Would Settle It A food-history source dating when char kway teow emerged as a distinct hawker dish among Teochew and Hokkien communities, rather than only its later, better-documented 20th-century spread.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Char Kway Teow (Wikipedia), History and etymology.
Shiro
When did shiro take shape as a distinct Ethiopian and Eritrean chickpea stew?
Open Shiro
Why It Is Open Wikipedia's article on shiro carries no History section and gives no year, century or historical account anywhere in the text for when the dish emerged; only its region, ingredients and preparation are described.
What Would Settle It A food-history source establishing when shiro took shape as a distinct chickpea or broad-bean stew in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Shiro (Wikipedia), Lead section.
Samsa
When did samsa take shape as a distinct Central Asian pastry?
Open Samsa
Why It Is Open Wikipedia's article on samsa gives its place of origin as Central Asia but carries no History or Etymology section and names no year, century or historical period for when the pastry emerged.
What Would Settle It A food-history source establishing when samsa took shape as a distinct stuffed pastry across Central Asian cuisines.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Samsa (Wikipedia), Whole article.
Yakitori
When did yakitori take shape as a distinct Japanese grilled-skewer dish?
Open Yakitori
Why It Is Open Wikipedia's article on yakitori has no History section and gives no year, century or historical period anywhere in the text for when the dish emerged; only preparation, seasoning and sales are described.
What Would Settle It A food-history source establishing when yakitori took shape as a distinct grilled skewered-chicken dish in Japanese cuisine.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Yakitori (Wikipedia), Whole article.
Bandeja Paisa
When did bandeja paisa take shape as a distinct Antioquia plate?
Open Bandeja Paisa
Why It Is Open The source states there are no references in the food writing about bandeja paisa before 1950 and that it is probably an interpretation of local restaurants of simpler peasant dishes, without naming when it actually took shape as the composed plate now recognized.
What Would Settle It A food-history source establishing when bandeja paisa took shape as the combined plate now served in Antioquia and the Paisa region, prior to its first documented reference around 1950.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Bandeja Paisa (Wikipedia), Whole article.
Laghman
When and in what period did laghman take shape as a distinct Uyghur dish, apart from its Chinese lamian source?
Open Laghman
Why It Is Open The source names laghman as a likely loanword from Chinese lamian and an adaptation of Northern Chinese noodle dishes, but gives no century, dynasty or decade for when the Uyghur dish diverged from its Chinese source.
What Would Settle It A dated food-history source on Uyghur or Central Asian cuisine naming an approximate period for laghman's emergence as a distinct dish.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Laghman (food) (Wikipedia), Lead section.
Banku
In what period did banku take shape as a distinct Ga-Dangme dish?
Open Banku
Why It Is Open The source traces banku's name to the Dangbe phrase "ba mi ku" and describes its ingredients and preparation, but gives no century or period for when the dish itself originated among the Ga-Dangme.
What Would Settle It A dated food-history or linguistic source on Ga-Dangme or Ghanaian cuisine naming an approximate period for banku's origin.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Banku (Wikipedia), Etymology section.
Attieke
In what period did attieke take shape as a distinct dish among the lagoon peoples of southern Cote d'Ivoire?
Open Attieke
Why It Is Open The source names the lagoon peoples (Ebrie, Adjoukrou, Alladjan, Abidji, Avikam, Ahizi, Attie) and the Nzema as attieke's origin communities and describes its preparation, but gives no century or period for when the dish itself originated; its December 2024 UNESCO recognition marks a modern heritage milestone, not an origin date.
What Would Settle It A dated food-history or ethnographic source on Ivorian or lagoon-peoples cuisine naming an approximate period for attieke's origin.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Acheke (Attieke) (Wikipedia), Lead section.
Poke
How far back does poke's practice of seasoning cut raw reef fish extend within the pre-contact Native Hawaiian period?
Open Poke
Why It Is Open The source places poke's origin in the pre-contact period, before Captain Cook's 1778 arrival, as a longstanding Native Hawaiian fishing practice, but gives no earlier bound or approximate century within that pre-contact era.
What Would Settle It An archaeological or ethnohistorical source on ancient Hawaiian food practices naming an approximate century within the pre-contact period for the origin of raw-fish poke preparation.
Expertise Needed food history
Question posed in
Poke (dish) (Wikipedia), History, Pre-contact period section.
origins 17
Where something came from, and whether its origin story holds up.
Hummus
Which country or people first prepared hummus as it is known today?
Open Hummus
Why It Is Open Multiple eastern Mediterranean countries and communities (Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt among them) claim hummus as a national dish, but the documentary record does not fix a single point of origin; the earliest known written recipes are 13th-century Syrian and 14th-century Cairene.
What Would Settle It A written recipe or reliable archaeological attestation predating the 13th-century Syrian and 14th-century Cairene cookbook records, tied unambiguously to one people or place, would settle the question; none has yet been found.
Expertise Needed Culinary history
Question posed in
Hummus (Wikipedia), Origin and history.
Mole Poblano
Which Puebla convent, nun or friar first prepared mole poblano?
Open Mole Poblano
Why It Is Open Several colonial-era convent-kitchen legends compete for credit, naming different convents, nuns, friars and even different visiting dignitaries (an archbishop in some versions, the viceroy Juan de Palafox y Mendoza in others); food historians hold there is not enough evidence to prefer one account over the others.
What Would Settle It A contemporary 17th- or 18th-century convent record or eyewitness account naming one specific convent, nun or friar as the dish's inventor, rather than the anecdotal accounts collected long after the fact, would settle which legend, if any, is accurate.
Expertise Needed Culinary history / colonial Mexican archival research
Question posed in
Mole Poblano (Wikipedia), History.
Biryani
Did biryani originate in the Mughal royal kitchens under Akbar, or did it reach the Deccan earlier via Persian-influenced travelers?
Open Biryani
Why It Is Open Historian Lizzie Collingham credits the Mughal royal kitchens under Akbar (r. 1556-1605) with developing the modern biryani from Persian pilau and Hindustani rice cookery; other historians hold that biryani reached South Asia's Deccan region earlier, via Persian-influenced soldier-statesmen and pilgrims, predating the Mughal era.
What Would Settle It Textual or archaeological evidence confidently dated to before Akbar's reign (1556), describing a layered rice-and-meat dish recognizably like biryani in the Deccan, or a reliable absence of any such evidence, would settle which theory better fits the record.
Expertise Needed Culinary history / South Asian history
Question posed in
Biryani (Wikipedia), Analysis.
Baklava
Which culinary tradition, Byzantine and Greek, Arabic, or Central Asian Turkic, is baklava's true ancestor?
Open Baklava
Why It Is Open Food historians propose three competing root traditions for baklava: the Byzantine and Greek placenta cake and koptoplakous, the medieval Arabic confection lauzinaj, and the Central Asian Turkic tradition of layered breads. A recognizably Turkish form is generally placed in the Ottoman court kitchens of Topkapi Palace, but which, if any, of the three earlier traditions is its true ancestor is unsettled.
What Would Settle It A securely dated medieval recipe or description linking one of the three candidate traditions unambiguously and exclusively to the layered, syrup-soaked form recognizable as baklava today, or ruling the others out, would settle the question; historians currently weigh three plausible ancestors rather than one confirmed line.
Expertise Needed Culinary history / Ottoman and Byzantine studies
Question posed in
Baklava (Wikipedia), History.
Kombucha
Where and when did kombucha originate?
Open Kombucha
Why It Is Open Kombucha may have originated in the Bohai Sea region of China, but the history is not well documented. Popular legends locating its invention at the Qin dynasty imperial court, or crediting a Korean physician who supposedly brought it to Japan, are not supported by evidence and are treated by historians as apocryphal.
What Would Settle It A securely dated pre-19th-century written or archaeological record describing the fermented tea culture in China, or elsewhere, rather than the undocumented Bohai Sea attribution and the debunked Qin dynasty and Korea-to-Japan legends, would fix where and when kombucha began.
Expertise Needed Culinary history / food fermentation history
Question posed in
Kombucha (Wikipedia), History.
Pina Colada
Which bartender and establishment actually invented the pina colada?
Open Pina Colada
Why It Is Open Three competing accounts claim credit: the Caribe Hilton Hotel says Ramon 'Monchito' Marrero created it in 1954; a Spaniard named Ricardo Garcia also claims to have invented it in 1953 while working at the same hotel; and the Barrachina restaurant credits bartender Ramon Portas Mingot with creating it in 1963. No single account is universally accepted.
What Would Settle It A contemporary receipt, menu, newspaper mention or other primary record from 1953 to 1963 naming the drink at one specific San Juan establishment, rather than the competing later-recounted claims, would settle which bartender's account is accurate.
Expertise Needed Culinary history / hospitality-industry archival research
Question posed in
Pina Colada (Wikipedia), Creation.