The Caviar Con By David Gauvey Herbert Feature When caviar-crazed Eastern Europeans flocked to Warsaw, Missouri to poach eggs from a vulnerable species of fish, federal agents went undercover and spent two years to build case against them.
Before You Eat or Drink Anything, Ask An Expert By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight Now tat certified taste experts specialize in a range of foods, from hot sauce to honey, is taste becoming too codified?
The Burrito That Brought Enlightenment By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight One Tucsonan writes a love letter to the 24-hour Mexican food joint that shaped his youth.
Longreads Best of 2018: Food Writing By Longreads Reading List We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in food writing.
Bagels are the Best Ring-Shaped Breakfast Food and I Will Brook No Other Opinion By Michelle Weber Highlight I love bagels, but not as as much as Lloyd Squires loves bagels.
Bread, Disrupted By Michelle Weber Highlight Bread: it was so terrible, right? Thank goodness the tech industry finally iterated on it so we can make a decent piece of toast after 6,000 years.
Consider Who Can Afford the Oyster By Michelle Weber Highlight If the personal is political, then food is political — and food writing should be, too.
How the U.S. Systematically Puts Black Farmers Out of Business By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight How America stacks the deck against black farmers.
A Burger Made of Money By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight Portland’s most successful restauranteur doesn’t care about your fancy, fresh-picked, locally sourced garden ingredients. He cooks for $$$.
I’ll Have an Open-Face Nacho Sandwich With Extra Pork Fat and a Side of Mop Water, Please By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight Investigating the benefits of menu hacking and customer re-personalization.
Pair These Wines With Armageddon and Veal By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight A California cult had more success producing award-winning wine than sustaining their religion, so why are thousands of bottles gathering dust in a storeroom?
The Life-Changing Magic of Getting In Line at 5AM By Michelle Weber Highlight Japan is committed to waiting: its language includes the phrase gyouretsu no dekiru mise: “restaurants that have very long lines.”
A Thereness Beneath the Thereness: A Jonathan Gold Reading List By Matt Giles Reading List Until his passing in late July, Jonathan Gold celebrated food for decades in publications such as LA Weekly and The Los Angeles Times.
The Unbearable Blandness of Water By Michelle Weber Highlight Water companies go to impressive lengths to distinguish their tasteless product from their competitors’ tasteless product.
Arizona’s Aquifers Are a Laboratory of Our Dry Future By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight After large corporate farmers started growing nuts in one southeastern Arizona, local residents’ wells started going dry. The situation is only getting worse.
Searching for Caravaggio in the Kitchen By Michelle Weber Highlight Is food nourishment, or art, or both?
Defined by Want By Michelle Weber Highlight Three meals a day don’t erase the scars of a childhood marked by hunger, violence, and loneliness.
Some Like It Hot By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight The history of the chili pepper is entwined with the history of Chinese Communism and the fiery temperament of the Sichuanese people, but why?
Eating Alone By Longreads Feature We’re eating alone more often than in any previous generation. But why should a meal on our own be uninspired? Why shouldn’t the French saying “life is too short to drink bad wine” still apply?
The Little Franchise That Couldn’t By Michelle Weber Highlight Ollie Gleichenhaus cooked up a mean hamburger. How come Americans are eating Big Macs and Whoppers instead of Ollieburgers?
Just Try It, You’ll Like It, It’s Good for You By Michelle Weber Highlight Remember when you could only buy milk that came from cows and goats, rather than nuts and seeds? We live in a post-dairy world now, and soy milk started it all.
Cheese and Macaroni Do Not a Mac and Cheese Make By Ben Huberman Highlight On the complex history and triumphant ubiquity of America’s most comforting staple.
Farming A Warming Planet: An Interview Nathanael Johnson By Aaron Gilbreath Commentary How California farmers are planning ahead for climate change while balancing their immediate economic concerns.
Farming a Warming Planet By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight Even if rising sea levels flood many coastal cities, California farmers plan to grow food for a living. So what will the future California grow?
‘Choose Marriage or Education’ By Aaron Gilbreath Feature As a teenager, Madhur Anand’s mother takes heed of her father’s final words and becomes a teacher.
Feeding Our Kids, In Fatness and in Health By Michelle Weber Highlight If struggling parents feed their kids KFC, is it nutritional neglect or love?
A Family’s Pear Pie Tradition Binds Them Together By Danielle Jackson Highlight A woman makes sand-pear pie with her grandmother and remembers a family ritual.
Great News Everyone, We’ll Never Have Shared Food Experiences Ever Again By Michelle Weber Highlight To every man and woman their own Dorito.
Forgetting the Madeleine By Frances Leech Feature A pastry chef reflects on taste, memory, and literature’s most famous confection.
