Where the “Joys” AreEighteen cartons of “Joy...

Where the “Joys” Are

Eighteen cartons of “Joy of Cooking” documents--diaries, genealogies, family photos, certificates, correspondence and, of course, recipes--have been donated to the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College by the estate of Irma S. Rombauer and Marion R. Becker, the mother-daughter team that produced the most popular cookbook of the last two generations.

They’ll have good company. Other collections residing at the scholarly library include those of Julia Child, food historian Sophie Coe and the American Institute of Wine and Food.

Got Heartburn?

The California Milk Processors Board, the “Got Milk?” people, claim there’s scientific evidence that casein, the principal protein in milk, removes the hot chemical in chiles from the mouth, thus providing immediate relief. Hmm, since one touch of that hot chemical (actually, it’s five related chemicals known as capsaicinoids) causes pain nerves to send distress signals for six minutes, this is a little hard to believe. Still, with a mouth full of habaneros, you have to believe in something.

Meanwhile, Baylor College of Medicine reports that drinking milk to soothe heartburn might provide temporary relief but can actually worsen the problem. Heartburn is an upwelling of acidic gastric juices from the stomach into the esophagus, and yes, milk will wash the acid back down into the stomach. But down there it will cause more acid, and you’ll get another heartburn.

Not wanting to seem to hard on milk, the college also warns that peppermints are no cure for heartburn. They can neutralize the acid in the esophagus and stimulate salivation, which also helps clear acid from the esophagus, but it turns out that peppermints weaken the valve-like sphincter muscle at the base of the esophagus that serves as a lid on the stomach. Then, oops: heartburn.