Charlotte, North Carolina, is a vibrant and growing city with a rich culinary history. From soul food to Ethiopian cuisine, Southern to Caribbean, Charlotte's minority-owned restaurants have become staples on the food scene with a diverse range of flavors and dining experiences. Leah & Louise is a popular spot in Charlotte's Camp North End
For years, beer and cheese—staples on snack trays everywhere—flirted with each other, but it wasn’t until the 1930s, at a restaurant in the tiny town of Winchester, Kentucky, that they got together to form a palate-pleasing power couple: beer cheese.
Mustard lovers: Head to Middleton, Wisconsin. More than 6,000 varieties of mustard are showcased at the National Mustard Museum in this town just outside Madison. Admission is free, though the destination is open only five days a week during the coronavirus pandemic (face coverings are required; capacity is limited). Enter and you’ll encounter shelves groaning with mustards from all 50 states and more than 70 countries, along with displays of antique mustard pots, tins and jars, plus vintage posters and advertisements.
As soon you step off the plane in Miami International Airport www.miami-airport.com, you immediately detect you’re somewhere different: An enticing, aromatic scent fills the air. Follow your nose through the terminal, and you’ll find at least one Cuban food stand stacked with hot pastries and a barista dispensing strong cups of coffee. Whether arriving or departing, I can never resist buying a bag of picadillo empanadas (hand pies) and a cortadito (espresso with steamed milk).
It could be said that food is our most important love language. “Mother Nature isn’t just a circle of life, it’s a circle of love—and one to be most revered,” says Sylvia Ganier, who works diligently on her organic farm in Nashville, Tennessee. Cultivating food is labor-intensive work with a low monetary yield; it’s ultimately a labor of love.
Thanksgiving may look different this year at most homes, but the real VIP at your holiday table can continue tradition: the Thanksgiving turkey. Each November an estimated 46 million turkeys are consumed around Thanksgiving, according to the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. To learn more about turkeys, we headed straight to farmers who raise heritage breeds and are serving up insights along with some recipes here.
Leave it to New Orleans, Louisiana to figure out how to party during a pandemic. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival draws upwards of 475,000 music lovers to the city the each year from the last weekend in April through the first weekend in May for seven days of music, art and food. The festival, which draws obsessed fans from all corners of the globe, took place every year for 50 years. Until 2020, which would have been its 51st.
In my home kitchen I aim to make as much as possible from scratch, but coronavirus has expanded my definition of the word “possible.” With more time at home, I’ve had time to experiment with even basic ingredients that I previously bought at the grocery store. I recently received a copy of Welcome to Buttermilk Kitchen, the new cookbook by Chef Suzanne Vizethann, whose Buttermilk Kitchen brunch and lunch restaurant is wildly popular in Atlanta, Georgia. Thumbing through the cookbook, I was impressed. It presents easy-to-follow recipes and delves deep into upscale basics of Southern cuisine, including mayonnaise, pickles, infused salts, biscuits, fried chicken, and other Southern favorites.
Feeling the summer heat? Cool down with a refreshing glass of sparkling water mixed with some Tait Farm Raspberry Shrub. Shrubs—concentrated syrups that combine fruit, sugar, and vinegar—are resurging in popularity. Typically added to water or spirits, they’re turning up at trendy bars in creative cocktails as well as interesting non-alcoholic alternatives. Shrubs were first popular in England in the 17th and 18th centuries; it was a common way to preserve fruits before refrigeration. The term "shrub" is a variant of the word "shurb" from the Arabic word "sharāb" which means "to drink." Early colonists brought the beverage to America, to places like City Tavern in Philadelphia, where Tait Farm Raspberry Shrub offers a sip of history on its Colonial drinks menu.
Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Caroline Randall Williams is an award-winning poet, cookbook author, and activist to name a few of the Harvard graduate’s credentials. She’s taught in two of the poorest states in the Union—Mississippi and West Virginia—and recently garnered national attention for her New York Times op-ed, “You want a Confederate Monument? My body is a Confederate Monument.” She also comes from a long line of Black women who weighed over 200 pounds and refuses to follow suit.
