Super bowl: the rise of bowl foods in America

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We are living through a fascinating moment in culinary history: the swift and relentless takeover of the [blank] bowl. These days, you can go an entire week of eating all of your meals in bowl form and never overlap once. Why are we bowl happy and how (or when) did adding the word bowl to everything from grain to breakfast become a thing? Haven’t people been putting food in bowls since there were bowls? Harry Wood, from America’s Test Kitchen podcast Proof, goes to the bottom of the bowl to get to the bottom of the mystery.

America's Test Kitchen also gave us three recipes for grain bowls for you to make at home: Farro Bowl with Vegetables and Sausage, Bulgur Bowl with Vegetables and Marinated Tofu, and Brown Rice Bowl with Vegetables and Salmon.

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Francis Lam

Francis Lam is the host of The Splendid Table. He is the former Eat columnist for The New York Times Magazine and is Vice President and Editor-in-Chief at Clarkson Potter. He graduated first in his class at the Culinary Institute of America and has written for numerous publications. Lam lives with his family in New York City.

America's Test Kitchen

The Splendid Table frequently visits with the test cooks at America’s Test Kitchen to discuss a wide range of topics including recipes, ingredients, techniques and kitchen equipment.