Portside

These seed savers are preserving and celebrating the enormous genetic diversity of collard greens. That enslaved Africans brought collard greens to the United States gives the project even more pathos.

Salt has an important and complicated history in Italy—it’s been the cause and casualty of endless wars. When Cervia became part of the Papal States, its salt became “Il Sale dei Papi, salt of the pope.”

What draws us to seek pleasure and solace in places often referred to as joints and shacks? Is this about time travel? Are they portals to a Southern past? Is it rooted in rooted in class difference, and a want to span that chasm?

One chef is raising the profile of Gullah/Geechee cuisine to help maintain the Nation’s cultural identity.

Tacos de Canasta are sold everywhere in Mexico, created primarily by the drift of population between town and country that defined Mexico City in the 20th century. They are not merely a way of celebrating Mexico’s singular culinary heritage, but also a way of staking a claim to part of that heritage

My childhood dinners were an international smorgasbord. The scents of these dishes beckoned me from my bedroom to the kitchen, where I’d watch my mother in the final stages of sprinkling garnish. Now, in my forties, I feel I owe it to my children, to the generations that follow, to fully and actively educate myself in my family’s food.

Jollof rice is a dish hugely popular in countries such as Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cameroon. Somehow, Mark Zuckerberg got into the fray about which country's recipe is best.

In the Levantine region of the Middle East, the Easter or Eid holidays are marked by a shortbread cookie called maamoul. Stuffed with date paste or chopped walnuts or pistachios, and dusted with powdered sugar, these buttery cookies are the perfect reward after a month of fasting during Ramadan or Lent.

Food is central to the Gullah way of life. The keepers of Black Southern coastal communities share their insights about retaining their culture in the face of significant change.

The flourishing of soul food’s sub-genres has been fun to watch (and eat), but it has also meant that fewer African-American chefs are embracing traditional soul food. Some side-step the cuisine in order to avoid being pigeon-holed as a “soul-food cooks,” while others follow their passions for other flavors.