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Food, cooking and hospitality

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Akvavit

Akvavit (akevitt, aquavit) is a Scandinavian caraway- and dill-flavoured spirit, at least 37.5% vol, with Norwegian potato-based cask-aged PGI akevitt, Swedish fennel-requiring designation, Linie sea-ageing, and snaps traditions distinct from gin and genever.

Al Copeland

Al Copeland (Alvin Charles Copeland Sr., "Big Al") was the New Orleans restaurateur who founded Popeyes in 1972 as Chicken on the Run, bought Church's Chicken in 1989, lost both in a 1991 bankruptcy, and rebuilt Copeland's of New Orleans and Diversified Foods & Seasonings.

Al dente

Al dente, Italian for "to the tooth", describes pasta, rice, or vegetables cooked firm to the bite. Covers its Neapolitan nineteenth-century origins, measured texture, and lower glycemic effect than overcooked pasta.

Al pastor

Al pastor (tacos al pastor, tacos de trompo): Mexican taco of chile-achiote-marinated pork roasted on a vertical spit (trompo), descended from Lebanese shawarma via Puebla's tacos árabes, popularized in 1960s Mexico City, served with pineapple, onion, and cilantro.

Alain Ducasse

Alain Ducasse (born 1956, Landes, France) is a French chef and restaurateur, first to hold three Michelin stars at three restaurants simultaneously, founder of the Ducasse Paris group of 33 restaurants, École Ducasse, and Manufactures, and creator of Naturalness cuisine.

Albaik (البيك)

Albaik (البيك), also Al Baik, is a Saudi fast-food chain founded in Jeddah in 1974 by Shakour AbuGhazalah, known for broasted chicken with an 18-spice recipe, Hajj pilgrim service, and 140+ branches.

Albariño

Albariño, called Alvarinho in Portugal's Vinho Verde, is a white wine grape from northwest Iberia, centered on Rías Baixas, Spain; dry, high-acid, saline wines pair with seafood, with over 6,500 ha planted in Spain.

Albert CanCook

Albert CanCook (@albert_cancook), real name Albert Niazhvinski (Альберт Няжвінскі), is a Belarusian-American cooking YouTuber, born 1988 in Minsk, known for silent sub-minute Shorts, Big Mac 'Burgar' remixes, cartoon-food recreations, and the 2024 cookbook Albert Can Cook.

Albert Heijn

Albert Heijn, founded 1887 in Oostzaan, is the Netherlands' largest supermarket chain and Ahold Delhaize flagship, with 1,288 Dutch-Flemish stores, a 38.2% market share, and formats from AH to go to online delivery.

Albert Roux

Albert Roux (1935–2021), French-born British chef and restaurateur, co-founded Le Gavroche in London in 1967 with brother Michel, the first UK restaurant with three Michelin stars, and founded the Roux Scholarship.

Albertsons

Albertsons Companies (ACI), a Boise, Idaho-based American grocery retailer running 22 banners including Safeway, Vons, and Jewel-Osco across 35 states; formed via the 2013 Cerberus buyout and 2015 Safeway merger; its $24.6 billion Kroger merger was blocked and abandoned in December 2024.

Alchemist (restaurant)

Alchemist is Rasmus Munk's two-Michelin-star Copenhagen restaurant on Refshaleøen, opened July 4, 2019, serving about 50 'impressions' over six to seven hours under a planetarium dome; ranked fifth-best restaurant in the world in 2025.

Alcohol by volume

Alcohol by volume (ABV), also called alcoholic strength, is a standard measure of the alcohol in a beverage: liters of ethanol per 100 liters, measured at 20 °C.

Alcohol enema

Alcohol enema, also called butt chugging or boofing, is rectal administration of alcohol for rapid intoxication. Documented from ancient Maya ritual enemas to modern case reports of proctocolitis and fatal alcohol poisoning.

Alcohol in the Bible

Alcohol in the Bible: wine (yayin) and strong drink (shekar) in Hebrew scripture and the New Testament; celebrated in ritual, condemned in drunkenness, prohibited only for priests, Nazirites, and kings.

Alcohol law

Alcohol law: legislation and regulation of alcoholic beverages (also alcohol policy, alcohol control). Covers licensing, purchase ages, taxation, drink-driving limits, advertising restrictions; history from temperance to US Prohibition (1920-1933) and WHO SAFER framework.

Alcohol laws in Germany

Alcohol laws in Germany (Alkoholgesetzgebung): JuSchG minimum ages (16 for beer and wine, 18 for spirits), GastG licensing and sales bans, advertising limits under MStV and JMStV, alcohol taxation, and public health context.

Alcohol laws of Australia

Alcohol laws of Australia: the national and state/territory rules on alcohol. Key facts: drinking age 18, BAC limit 0.05, eight separate liquor licensing regimes, dual federal tax (excise plus 29% WET), harm minimisation framework.

Alcohol laws of India

Alcohol laws of India: state-level regulation under the Constitution's State List, with no national drinking age (18–25), prohibition in Gujarat, Bihar, Mizoram, Nagaland, parts of Manipur, and Lakshadweep, state excise licensing, and the Bihar 2016 ban's studied effects.

Alcohol laws of Missouri

Alcohol laws of Missouri, the Liquor Control Law (Chapter 311 RSMo), govern licensing, three-tier distribution, and sale of beverages above 0.5% ABV, administered by the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control since 1934.

Alcohol laws of New York

The alcohol laws of New York center on the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law and the State Liquor Authority: a license-state three-tier system with defined sale hours, a 21-year minimum age, local option dry towns, and a history from the 1709 excise tax through Prohibition repeal.

Alcohol laws of Pennsylvania

Alcohol laws of Pennsylvania: the 1951 Liquor Code and PLCB rules. A control state selling wine and spirits in state stores, licensing beer, with 192-ounce limits, Sunday permits, and about 675 partially dry municipalities.

Alcohol laws of Texas

Alcohol laws of Texas: the Alcoholic Beverage Code and TABC rules governing licensing, hours, and local option wet/dry elections. Liquor sales run 10 a.m.–9 p.m. except Sundays and holidays; 60 counties fully wet, 3 fully dry as of 2025.

Alcohol laws of Utah

Alcohol laws of Utah: state statutes and DABS rules making Utah a control state with state-run liquor stores, 5% ABV grocery beer cap, 0.05% DUI limit, 1.5 oz pour limits, and a 100% ID check law from January 1, 2026.

Alcohol licensing laws of the United Kingdom

UK alcohol licensing laws: the Licensing Act 2003 in England and Wales, separate Scottish and Northern Irish systems, licence types (premises, personal, club, TEN), mandatory conditions, fees, and density controls such as cumulative impact areas.

Alcohol prohibition in India

Alcohol prohibition in India: state-level bans on alcohol under Article 47. Dry states include Gujarat, Bihar, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Lakshadweep; Bihar's 2016 ban cut frequent drinking but shows underreporting and bootlegging.

Alcohol proof

Alcohol proof measures spirits strength: US proof equals twice the ABV (80 proof = 40%), British proof was about 1.75 times ABV (100 proof ≈ 57%), from the gunpowder test; Britain switched to ABV on January 1, 1980.

Alcohol server training

Alcohol server training, or responsible beverage service (RBS) training, teaches alcohol sellers and servers laws, ID checking, and refusal of service to underage or intoxicated patrons; mandated in 25 US states, with mixed effectiveness evidence.

Alcoholic beverage

Alcoholic beverage: drink containing ethanol (C2H5OH), made by fermentation of grains, fruits, or sugars, or by distillation for spirits such as whiskey, rum, and vodka. Beer, wine, and spirits dominate; IARC Group 1 carcinogen; 2.6 million deaths in 2019.

Alcoholic beverage control state

Alcoholic beverage control state (control state, ABC state): a U.S. state whose government monopolizes wholesale and sometimes retail alcohol sales, chiefly spirits, under post-21st Amendment authority. 17 such states exist, versus license states that merely permit private sellers.