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Leah Chase
Leah Chase (1923-2019), the "Queen of Creole Cuisine," chef-owner of Dooky Chase's Restaurant in New Orleans, civil rights meeting place, inspiration for Disney's Princess Tiana, 2016 James Beard Lifetime Achievement winner.
Leavening agent
Leavening agent: substances that generate gas (air, steam, CO2, ammonia) to raise doughs and batters, in three forms: biological (yeast, sourdough), chemical (baking soda, baking powder, phosphates), and physical (air, steam).
Lebanese cuisine
Lebanese cuisine, part of Levantine cooking, is defined by shared mezze (15-30 small plates), kibbeh as national dish, lemon and olive oil flavors, mouneh preservation, and 20th-century diaspora spread.
Lebkuchen
Lebkuchen, German spiced honey-gingerbread, traditionally from Nuremberg; Nürnberger Lebkuchen (Lebküchner documented 1395, guild 1643) holds EU PGI status since 1996, with Elisenlebkuchen capped at 10% flour and at least 25% nuts.
Lefse
Lefse is a Norwegian soft flatbread, best known in its potato form (potetlefse) made of riced potato, flour, butter, and cream, cooked on a griddle (takke). Distinct from crisp flatbrød, it has many regional varieties and is a Norwegian-American holiday staple.
Legal drinking age
Legal drinking age: minimum age to buy or drink alcohol. US MLDA is 21 via the 1984 highway-funding act; global default purchase age is 18; higher ages reduce youth crashes and drinking.
Lemon & Paeroa
Lemon & Paeroa (L&P) is a New Zealand lemon soft drink created in 1907 from Paeroa mineral spring water and lemon, later made by Grey & Menzies, Innes Tartan, and now Coca-Cola in Auckland, famed for its giant Paeroa bottle statue.
Lemonade
Lemonade is a drink of lemon juice, sugar, and water (or, in Britain, a carbonated lemon soda). Records go to 10th-12th century Egypt (qatarmizat), Paris limonadiers 1676, US temperance era, and pink circus lemonade.
Leopold Cafe
Leopold Cafe, founded 1871 on Colaba Causeway, Mumbai, by Irani Zoroastrian immigrants and named after Belgium's King Leopold; first target of the 26/11 2008 attacks, reopened within five days, bullet marks preserved.
Les Deux Magots
Les Deux Magots is a historic literary café-restaurant at 6 place Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris, named for two Chinese statues from its predecessor novelty shop. Founded 1884, owned by the Boulay-Mathivat family since 1914, home of the Prix des Deux Magots (1933, first winner Raymond Queneau) and haunt of Sartre, Beauvoir, and Hemingway.
Let them eat cake
"Let them eat cake" (Qu'ils mangent de la brioche) is a saying misattributed to Marie Antoinette; it appears in Rousseau's Confessions (written 1765, published 1782) as an unnamed princess's remark, with the first attribution to the queen appearing only in 1843.
Let's Eat Dinner Together (같이 먹고 싶다할 때 없다)
Let's Eat Dinner Together (한끼줍쇼) was a JTBC Korean reality variety show (2016–2020, 164 episodes) in which hosts Kang Ho-dong and Lee Kyung-kyu knocked unannounced on doors to share dinner with ordinary families; rebooted in 2025 as One Meal Show.
Levantine cuisine
Levantine cuisine (المطبخ الشامي, Shami cuisine), the shared food tradition of Bilad al-Sham, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine: mezze, olive oil, chickpeas, tahini, za'atar, sumac, kibbe, hummus, falafel, and shawarma, shaped by Ottoman rule and diaspora.
Liam Charles
Liam Charles, British baker and TV presenter nicknamed Cake Boy, was the youngest 2017 Great British Bake Off contestant at 19, finishing fifth; now hosts Bake Off: The Professionals, judges Junior Bake Off, and wrote Cheeky Treats and Second Helpings.
Licor 43
Licor 43 (Cuarenta y Tres) is a Spanish vanilla-citrus liqueur, 31% ABV, made in Cartagena since 1946 by the Zamora family from 43 secret ingredients; famous for the Carajillo 43 espresso cocktail.
Lidia Bastianich
Lidia Bastianich (Lidia Giuliana Matticchio Bastianich, born 1947, Pula, Istria) is an Italian-American chef, Emmy-winning PBS host, cookbook author, and Eataly founder who opened Felidia in 1981 and hosted PBS cooking series since 1998.
Lidl
Lidl is a German limited-assortment discount supermarket chain of the Schwarz Group, headquartered in Neckarsulm, with about 12,900 stores in 32 countries. First store 1973 in Ludwigshafen; major private-label, low-price grocer in the UK, Spain, and US.
Liège waffle
Liège waffle (gaufre de Liège): dense Belgian street-food waffle from Liège, Wallonia, made of yeasted brioche dough with caramelizing pearl sugar, baked in a 24-hole iron, eaten plain by hand, distinct from the lighter Brussels waffle.
Life Savers
Life Savers is an American brand of ring-shaped hard candy, gummies, and mints, introduced in 1912 by Clarence A. Crane and now owned by Mars.
Lillet
Lillet, known as Kina Lillet until its 1986 relaunch, is a French aromatized wine aperitif, or quinquina, made in Podensac in the Graves region south of Bordeaux.
Limburger
Limburger: semi-soft washed-rind cow's milk cheese from the historical Duchy of Limburg, also called Herve in Belgium. Famous pungent rind aroma from Brevibacterium linens and related smear bacteria; mild creamy interior; 30-40% milk fat; only US maker is Chalet Cheese, Wisconsin.
Limoncello
Limoncello: Italian lemon liqueur from Campania (Sorrento, Amalfi, Capri), made by steeping lemon peel in alcohol and sugar syrup; about 30% sugar and alcohol, trademarked commercially in 1988, served frozen as a digestif.
Lindt
Lindt, brand of Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, Swiss premium chocolate maker founded 1845 in Zurich; known for conching (1879), Lindor, Gold Bunny, Excellence; CHF 5.92bn sales in 2025.
Lipton
Lipton is a global tea brand founded by Sir Thomas Lipton in Glasgow in 1871, known for Yellow Label black tea sold in over 100 countries. Packaged tea is owned by LIPTON Teas and Infusions (CVC Capital Partners, since 2022); iced tea sits in the PepsiCo-Unilever Pepsi Lipton joint venture.
Liqueur
Liqueur: sweetened, flavoured distilled spirit (also called cordial in the US), 15-40% ABV typically, EU minimum 15% vol and 100 g/L sugar; includes herbal, fruit, bitter, and cream types.
Liquid Death
Liquid Death (Supplying Demand, Inc.) is a Los Angeles canned-beverage brand founded by Mike Cessario, selling mountain water, sparkling water, iced tea, and energy drinks in beer-style aluminum cans under "Murder Your Thirst" heavy metal branding, reaching a $1.4 billion valuation and 133,000+ retail doors.
Liquid smoke
Liquid smoke, or smoke condensate, is a water-soluble wood-smoke flavouring invented by Ernest H. Wright in 1895, refined to remove tar and PAHs, used industrially and in home cooking.
Liquor
Liquor, also called spirits or hard liquor, is distilled alcohol: whisky, vodka, rum, gin, brandy, tequila. Covers distillation, history, categories, US and China markets, regulation, and health effects.
Liquor store
Liquor store: a retail shop selling packaged alcohol for off-premise consumption, an off-premise alcohol outlet. Covers US licensing, control versus license states, outlet density research, and privatization cases.
Liquorice (confectionery)
Liquorice (confectionery): sweets flavoured with Glycyrrhiza glabra root extract, born in Pontefract in the 1760s when George Dunhill added sugar; includes allsorts, Pontefract cakes, Dutch drop, salmiak styles, and glycyrrhizin blood-pressure risks.