Good Eats

(Newser) - If you want white truffle shavings sprinkled over your Thanksgiving leftovers, the biggest specimen found in Italy this year is up for auction tomorrow. You'll need some big bucks—and perhaps the moxie to outbid David and Victoria Beckham. The delectable fungus weighs about 2½ pounds and is expected to spark a bidding war, ANSA reports. More »

(Newser) - Thanksgiving food has undergone massive genetic changes in the centuries since the Pilgrims first prepared the feast, resulting in turkeys more than twice as big and corn six times as sweet. But human taste buds have evolved, too, meaning we don’t necessarily appreciate our new and improved fare any more than our ancestors did, writes Alexis Madrigal for Wired. More »

(Newser) - Mark Twain’s Thanksgiving looked nothing like the meal you’re having tomorrow—or, for that matter, like the one the Pilgrims had with the Wampanoag. The difference? Those bygone American tables would have been filled with wild game, Andrew Beahrs writes in the New York Times . Twain wrote with relish of frogs, woodcock, and canvasback ducks, all taken from corners of the American wilderness. More »

(Newser) - McDonald's is trying to harness mom power to help shake its unhealthy image, reports the Washington Post . The burger joint has recruited six mothers to serve as "quality correspondents" and is giving them unprecedented access to the company's operations in the hope they will share their favorable findings about the chain's quality control and the healthy side of its menu. More »

(Newser) - Being awarded 3 stars from the Michelin Guide was once the highest honor for any chef, but non plus, reports Gourmet . Changing tastes and fancy-food fatigue have now pushed three of France’s biggest culinary kings to close their doors—by choice. "Running a three-star restaurant is an honor, but it brings on terrible stress. It is passionate but exhausting," says Olivier Roellinger, who is closing his famed La Maison du Bricourt. More »