From Smithsonian, during Prohibition, an odd alliance of special interests argued beer was vital medicine; after two centuries, Mount Vernon's whiskey distillery returns; in the heart of the Lone Star state, wineries are giving Texans reason to toast; and port, Portugal's famous fortified wine, is undergoing a personality change, shedding its snobbish image and defending its turf. From Slate, a look at how San Sebastian became a magnet for foodies. From Inkling, an article on the pros and cons of sushi: Bursting with happy fats and squirming with paralyzing pathogens, sushi has a little something for everyone. A review of Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant: Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone; The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry: Love, Laughter and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn; The Amateur Gourmet: How to Shop, Chop, and Table-Hop Like a Pro (Almost) by Adam D. Roberts; A Late Dinner: Discovering the Food of Spain by Paul Richardson; and Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking by Ferran Adria. A review of Food: The History of Taste; and The President's Table: Two Hundred Years of Dining and Diplomacy by Barry H. Landau. A review of Niloufer Ichaporia King's My Bombay Kitchen; Lidia Bastianich's Lidia's Italy; and Gail Monaghan's Lost Desserts: Delicious Indulgences of the Past.