Audrey (Photo: Emily Dorio) Nashville, “Music City,” has long been a haven for musicians and songwriters, but these days my hometown is also experiencing a surge of culinary talent. A decade or two ago, finding handrolls made with fish from Tokyo or natural wine by the glass was a challenge. Now, we’re in business, with more options coming down the pike at a rapid pace. Born and raised in Nashville, I spent my childhood digging into plates of fried chicken with sides of squash casserole and turnip greens at Elliston Place Soda Shop, and meandering out to Highway 100 for a plate of biscuits ..read more

Michał Korkosz I once read that food scientists say tomatoes and strawberries are made of the same flavor components, so they can be used interchangeably in cooking. I respectfully disagree; however, these two fruits do go together perfectly. My modern take—combining strawberries with garlic and dill—may seem unusual, but the strawberries make a subtle complement to the tomato flavor. You can also replace the strawberries with watermelon, raspberries, cherries, apricots, or melon. Adapted from Polish’d: Modern Vegetarian Cooking from Global Poland © Michał Korkosz, 2023. Reprinted by permis ..read more

Courtesy Hotel Cafe Royal Modern London food was born in the kitchens of the city’s grandest hotels. When Auguste Escoffier, father of modern French cuisine, arrived at The Savoy in 1890 he set in motion a culinary transformation that, small stutters over the years aside (London’s post-war reputation for dismal grub was well-earned), continues to this day.  Much has changed since. Escoffier brought French culinary technique and hospitality to London, but today’s hotel food scene is far more cosmopolitan. Wagyu beef served shabu-shabu style in the shadow of Marble Arch; arroz de marisco ..read more

Dan Pashman It’s rare that you can pinpoint the time and place a pasta dish was invented—most of pasta history is the stuff of legend and folklore. But in the early 1960s, in the southern Italian region of Puglia, in the coastal city of Bari, at a restaurant called Al Sorso Preferito, spaghetti all’assassina—“assassin’s spaghetti”—was born. In August 2022, I go to Al Sorso Preferito, where I meet the 80-year-old chef Pietro Lonigro, one of the inventors of the dish. Chef Pietro tells me it happened by accident—and it didn’t exactly start with him. He began working at the restaurant at age 1 ..read more

Photo: Dan Liberti • Food Styling: Jillian Knox. Photo: Dan Liberti • Food Styling: Jillian Knox Hailing from Bari, Italy, spaghetti all’assassina is a relatively new entry into the pasta canon. It’s made by simmering spaghetti in spicy tomato sauce until the pasta is al dente and the sauce is mostly absorbed or evaporated and about as thick as tomato paste. It’s then fried until the pasta turns golden brown and crispy in some parts and charred and crunchy in others. This recipe from “The Sporkful” podcast creator and host Dan Pashman is inspired by the superlative spaghetti all’assassina a ..read more

Photo: Linda Xiao • Food Styling: Jason Schreiber • Prop Styling: Summer Moore. Photo: Linda Xiao • Food Styling: Jason Schreiber • Prop Styling: Summer Moore This sumptuous grilled sandwich—a crusty roll filled with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, and pickles—originated in Cuba but has caught on throughout the U.S. Also known as a Cubano, it’s a great way to use up leftover Pernil Asado con Mojo. Featured in “Classic Combination: Ham and Cheese” by Alexander Lobrano. Yield: Makes 1 sandwich Time: 15 minutes 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise One 8-in. Cuban roll, split lengthwise ¹ ..read more

Photo: Murray Hall • Food Styling: Jessie YuChen. Photo: Murray Hall • Food Styling: Jessie YuChen I first encountered salmorejo—gazpacho‘s thicker, more decadent cousin—in Madrid. The cool and creamy tomato soup transcended seasonality. It was topped with egg and jamón ibérico, which wept fatty tears over its surface. Salmorejo demands that you act as a Spaniard and mop up every drop with bread. Then, like an American, you order another bowl.  Yield: 8 Time: 1 hour 15 minutes 3 Tbsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste 8 plum tomatoes, halved and seeded 1 baguette (10 oz.), preferably ..read more

Photo: Linda Xiao • Food Styling: Jason Schreiber • Prop Styling: Summer Moore. Photo: Linda Xiao • Food Styling: Jason Schreiber • Prop Styling: Summer Moore While the Cubano sandwich has long been popular stateside, it’s far from the only Cuban food that deserves your attention. Heck, it’s not even the only Cuban sandwich that deserves your attention; exhibit A: the eggy, sugar-dusted medianoche (a Cubano-Monte Cristo hybrid). In this roundup of our best Cuban recipes, we bring you all of our test-kitchen favorites from over the years, from rich, saucy ropa vieja to crumbly guava cookies ..read more

Brian Klutch In Zaatari, the world’s largest Syrian refugee camp, the scents of roasting coffee, freshly baked khubz bread, and frying onions fill the air. As an ethnographer conducting research in the community of 83,000 on the Jordanian border, Karen E. Fisher has come to recognize these smells as an invitation to the community’s many gathering spaces. Even a simple breakfast here can be high art, an ornate assembly of home-cured olives, ful mudammas (cumin-scented fava bean stew), and tesqieh (chickpeas in garlicky yogurt). Since 2016, Fisher has worked with the women of the camp to gath ..read more

Arayes at K'Far (Photo: Colby Kingston) The continued popularity of stuffing ground beef into bread should surprise no one—hamburgers have captivated Americans for over a century. From an old-school McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with cheese to upgraded versions topped with truffles and Gruyere, Stateside menus feature the sandwich almost compulsorily. Yet, there’s always room for improvement, in this case with the arrival of arayes, a food item with roots spanning the Middle East that’s finding its way onto menus around the country, from San Francisco to Miami to Brooklyn.  Much like its ..read more