Over the course of your career, you've written about a wide range of topics.

I have. I've written about weather modification in China. I've written about sports. I've

written about politics, media, and also food. And yet, after all your years and years of a

distinguished writing career of covering such a wide range of topics and a

wide range of impressive publications, there seems to you one piece that stands out above all the

rest, at least in terms of capturing the most public interest. Nothing I've written has had as sort of

a long-lasting effect as the piece I wrote for Slate about how long it takes to caramelize onions.

This is the Sporkful. It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. I'm Dan Pashman. Each week on our show,

we obsess about food to learn more about people. To get things rolling this week, we're going to jump

right into a story from Tom Skoka, who just heard at the top. Tom's been a journalist for about food to learn more about people. To get things rolling this week, we're going to jump right

into a story from Tom Skokka, who just heard at the top. Tom's been a journalist for decades.

He got his start at Alt Weekly's in Baltimore and D.C., then moved to New York where he worked

at scrappy, edgy websites like Gawker and The All. He's always been a bit of a rabble rouser.

He loves writing stories that call out big media when they get things wrong, usually in their coverage of politics or current events. But in the spring of 2012,

a different kind of story caught his eye. I can remember it pretty clearly. I was in my living

room reading The New York Times, and there was a recipe for scones with caramelized onions.

It was like savory scones.

Savory scones.

Savory scones.

And it said, put the onions in a pan and cook them for 10 or 15 minutes until they

were golden brown and caramelized.

Now, I should mention, Tom's not just an accomplished journalist.

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