Apr 12, 2018
The Consuming Power of Hunger and Desire
“As a young woman, I was rarely in control of my body or my mind. I had hungers like snakes wildly contorting from my head.”
What “American Night” Meant to My Chinese American Family
Holding on to our cultural foods and customs was a labor of love, but labor nevertheless. American Night provided a little respite.
Mar 29, 2018
Say It with Noodles: On Learning to Speak the Language of Food
I have forgotten how to speak two languages. But I have learned this one.
Feb 27, 2018
When the Food You Rejected as a Kid Becomes Trendy
“FOE!” he had yelled, when really, phở is more graceful than that.
Jan 04, 2018
The Strangeness of Eating Fish
Herring in Ukraine to fried whiting on my street. Melville to Jewish legend. How easily we eat fish caught from depths we don’t understand.
Nov 30, 2017
The Struggle of “Eating Well” When You’re Poor
“Finding joy in food that comes from a bag or a box feels like a sin in a society that demonizes it.”
Oct 30, 2017
The Great British Baking Show and Being an Amateur
“To be an amateur is to let one’s leisure activities remain indifferent to the whims of capital.”
Jul 11, 2017
Cast-Iron Pans and Paying It Forward
“Hold a cast-iron skillet and you’ll feel the weight of this history through the handle.”
May 04, 2017
Making Menudo with My Abuela
“If food is like a language, then menudo is its own dialect in my family.”
Mar 08, 2017
Learning to Cook After Relearning to Eat
I’ve gotten better at eating since rehab, but I’ve yet to explore the pleasure of food; of preparing it and enjoying it.
Feb 06, 2017
The Taste of Grief: On Family Meals, Marriage, and Mourning
I want to be the bridge between his memory and her love for cooking.
Dec 13, 2016
The Meat Decision
“We eat meat and tell ourselves these bodies are just burger, ham, filets.”
Jul 07, 2016
C: Cherry (from the Book of Difficult Fruit)
“Half my neighbor’s sour cherry tree grew over our fence, which made that half ours by law no matter what she said.”
Apr 08, 2016
The Chosen Sheep
“It’s right, I think, to have death be a part of life; it’s the way it should be.”
Nov 25, 2015
The Mango King
“He showed us the realm of good-eating fruit, and we have come to protect this pleasure fiercely.”
Nov 18, 2015
Superhot
Level 1 is not hot (sorry, Sriracha). Level 2 (habanero, scotch bonnet) gets interesting. Then there is Level 3.
Oct 06, 2015
Limes and Quail
I keep reminding myself that I’ll go to Sicily for the history, not the limes. But why kid myself?
Sep 07, 2015
