Do You Know What Tomatoes Taste Like?

Apparently few of us do. 

Scientists have figured out why tomatoes have such little flavour. 

According to This New York Times article by Gina Kolata, about 70 years ago, tomato breeders stumbled upon tomatoes that were totally red, and then seeing a profit potential, bred tomatoes from that gene line. 

Unfortunately, the gene mutation that made tomatoes as red as can be also switched off many of the flavour genes. That's why store bought tomatoes often taste like flour. 

Great. Looks like we'll all be growing heirlooms soon.

Remember the LA Riots?

When four police officers where acquitted of the beating of Rodney G. King, LA descended into chaos. The beating was caught on video tape and fuelled debate on race and justice in the US.

It's fascinating to read this article, which not only has links to background on how it all started, who the main protagonists were and where they are now, but also looks at what happened to LA afterward and the setback it suffered as a metropolis.

It's one in a series of how the event changed the area and isn't the most important thing to take away from the riots 20 years on, but it's worth a read.

Riots really do leave a lasting mark, in this case one element was in the restaurant industry. The customers left and so did the multiplicity and multicultural melting pot of restaurants in LA, for a time.

I wonder what cultural mark the London riots have left?