#food-culture

#food-culture

One day recently, my son had two long, back-to-back doctor appointments, which meant he was in the car and in waiting rooms for much of the afternoon. His lunch and snack would not have earned me a healthy-mom award: peanut-butter puffs, a grape-jelly Uncrustables sandwich, and a package of mixed-berry oat bites. All ultra-processed foods, the new boogeyman of public health.

If you're not the type of person who likes to go to a local grocery store when you're traveling, then you're seriously missing out. Grocery stores can offer so much learning about a place, what makes it special, and how people like to cook, eat, and drink. Not only will you walk away with some interesting and delicious items, but you'll also have maybe learned a thing or two about the local community.

"When did you become such an adventurous eater?" my mom often asks me, after I've squealed about some meal involving jamón ibérico or numbing spices. The answer is, I don't know, but I can think of moments throughout my life where food erupted as more than a mere meal: My cousin and his Ivy League rowing team hand-making pumpkin ravioli for me at Thanksgiving. Going to the pre-Amazon Whole Foods and giddily deciding to buy bison bacon for breakfast sandwiches assembled in a dorm kitchen.

Looking around the deafening dining room's banquettes full of overengineered outfits, lamenting the apparent extinction of the under-$10 glass of wine, Eren and I admitted to each other that neither one of us was into this. At all. The restaurant, the name of which I've forgotten, is long gone, but at that moment in time, it was marketed everywhere as cool. But cool, when it comes to dining out, is visceral, and this did not strike either of us as cool, just loud and overpriced.

Buzzwords tend to bloom like algae in the restaurant world: a rash of " coastal Italian" spreading across one corner of the map, an eruption of " all-day dining " blanketing whole cities. Reporting on the food industry sometimes feels like being a field scientist, watching for subtle shifts in the ecosystem. Aha, a new one is beginning to flourish. See right there - the corn tortillas elegantly sheeted with roast meats, the citrus-heavy cocktails, the neo-retro design. The conditions have been right for some time.

According to the World Population Review, each person in New Zealand eats, on average, 28.4 liters of ice cream per year. The U.S. ranked second at 20.8 liters per person, nearly 8 liters behind the Kiwis.

In Miami we expect a Cuban sandwich to have only five ingredients: sweet ham, mojo-roasted pork, dill pickles, tangy yellow mustard, and pungent Swiss cheese on Cuban bread.

Mukbang, meaning 'eating show,' originated in South Korea and became widely popular in the 2010s, attracting massive audiences to watch individuals consume large amounts of food.

The Eater Guide to Mexico City unpacks the sprawling city by breaking it down into seven chapters, delivering locally curated restaurant recommendations alongside histories and glossaries.

A French travel writer at the end of the 17th century declared, "Ah! What an excellent thing is an English pudding!" Prices of sugar became more accessible, leading to wider enjoyment of puddings.

When dining at a European restaurant, it's crucial to understand the difference between ordering à la carte and requesting a menu, as this can significantly affect your dining experience.

When we asked 18 of the UK's best chefs what they would take to a barbecue, they recommended everything from chilli-spiked watermelon salad and intensely flavoured Korean marinades to dry non-alcoholic aperitifs and beautiful tins of spiced salt.

"More than 110 artists are performing across eight stages spread out in Golden Gate Park, making this year's festival a significant musical event."

Señor Sisig used to be a food truck, and now has a brick-and-mortar in the Mission. The 'Filipino street food' spot has everything from tacos and nachos to loaded fries topped with pork, chicken, or tofu.

Venice Beach Club serves an approachable menu inspired by Italian summers, featuring pizza, burgers, steak frites, and crudo, alongside a range of drinks.

King of the Hill is back, and it continues its unique blend of humor and realism while exploring life in Texas suburbs, focusing heavily on food culture.

Many beginners tend to uproot the first mushroom they come across and then seek to identify it and see if it's poisonous or not. Don't do this. It's a much better approach to study just one or two of the most common edible mushrooms beforehand and then go out looking only for them.

Eater New York's debut on Substack allows for direct connection with readers who care about the current dining scene in New York. This new newsletter format fosters engagement between Eater and its audience.

The U.K. is known for its sandwiches, with the earl of Sandwich attributed to their invention. Packaged sandwiches in Britain were worth 8 billion pounds as of 2017.

Hello Kitty Cafe's opening attracted nearly 500 fans eager to enjoy its pastel-pink decor and a selection of themed pastries and drinks.

Pizza Pushers uses a focaccia base for its dough, resulting in the light and airy crust that Detroit style is known for. In addition to traditional toppings like pepperoni and sausage, the restaurant also offers pies with vodka cream sauce and pickled jalapeños. Even for city dwellers, it's worth a commute.

The original look of Olive Garden was a Tuscan-inspired Italian garden, complete with murals of the Italian countryside and features like table umbrellas and hanging plants.

Durian is widely popular in East and Southeast Asia, known for its distinctive flavor, texture, and health benefits, earning it the title "King of Fruits."

Founded by Josh Kim and Sam Hong in 2022, the pop-up started out as a total experiment after Kim and Hong grew bored by their corporate jobs. Kim was previously in client relations at OpenTable, and Hong worked at a tech company after leaving a management position at Copa Vida Coffee. They decided to cook burgers because it was easier to do than tacos, plus, Roy Choi had cornered the market on Korean-made tacos more than a decade prior.

Caviar, especially the highly sought-after Strottarga Bianco Caviar, ranges in price from $50 to over $100,000 and has distinct flavors depending on the sturgeon species.

When I did find the relish, the few shelves were wasting away at the very bottom of the aisle, below more desirable sauces and spreads.

Thick or thin, short or long, french fries are more than just a side they're the main character.

Rentier de cochon is a traditional Cajun soup, known as pig backbone stew, cherished for its rich flavor, tender pork, and the luxurious texture from melting bone marrow.

Raspados vendors in Los Angeles focus on concentrated flavor combinations using real fruit, which differentiates them from generic syrup slingers. Loyal customer bases are built through quality.