Personal Essays

Our personal essays offer thoughtful perspectives on the roles that food, drink, cooking, and gathering over meals play in all of our lives.
A colorful and dense illustration of a festive cuban pig roast in Miami
A Vegetarian's Christmas Eve Pig Roast
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30 Rock Secrets: Liz Lemon’s Favorite Sandwich Is From Fiore’s in Hoboken, NJ
Illustration of a woman eating Bánh nậm surrounded by a flurry of Aunties making dumplings around here
What I Found in a Bag of Frozen Dumplings
Wrapping your yogurt in a towel and setting it in a turned-off oven with the light on can help keep it just warm enough.
An Ode to Dahi
An illustration depicting a mother and daughter kneading dough at the kitchen counter
Wisdom You Knead: What I Learned Baking With My Mother
pastillas de leche on a plate surrounded by candy in intricately cut wrappers, an art form known as pabalat
Mayela's Gift: Unwrapping Pastillas de Leche
Illustration of a hand holding a bitten-into peach
A Peach by Any Other Name Is Just as Gross: My Terrible Fear of Fruit
Overhead view of a table full of traditional Ramadan foods.
When Family is Far, Food Offers a Sense of Belonging During Ramadan
Close-up of njahi (Kenyan Black Beans)
The Njahi Wars: Behind Kenya's Controversial Black Bean
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The Case for Bad Coffee
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East, West, Then Backward: Falling for Groundnut Soup in Ghana
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I Grew Up Abroad. Do I Have a Cuisine?
Sasha Marx from Serious Eats standing in a kitchen with a pile of different packages of pastas on the counter in front of him.
Please, No: The Pasta Shapes We Won't Eat
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Knights, Horses, and...Hummus? An Evening at Medieval Times
A Benihana chef making an onion volcano on the grill.
Easy, Peasy, Japanese-y: Benihana and the Question of Cultural Appropriation
Whole chicken cut into parts. Clockwise from bottom left: Wings, gizzards, heart, oysters with skin flaps, legs, breast halves, rib cage, back and trim, wing tips and neck and tender tendons, tenders, chest cartilage.
Why I Only Buy Whole Chickens (and You Can, Too!)
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Butter Chicken: Even When It’s Bad, It’s Good!
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The 10-Minute Window for the Perfect McDonald’s Mash-Up
8 varieties of Cup Noodle instant ramen are displayed against a light blue background.
We Pit Cup Noodles Against Cup Noodle and the Difference Is Real
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Ina Is Queen, Even in Quarantine
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How My Relationship to Cooking Changed After Having a Baby
Illustration of a man with a prominent but blacked out nose inhaling aroma rising up from a variety of foods
Smell Loss and Its Impact on Enjoying Food
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What's Your Kitchen Kryptonite?
What's Your Heartbreak Food?
A bowl of shoyu ramen from Ramen Shack on a tabletop.
Saying Goodbye to the Most Exciting Ramen Restaurant in the Country
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Friday Night Meatballs: How to Change Your Life With Pasta
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All Praise the St. Louis Bagel and Its Infinite Potential
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Merry Black Day: Canoodling on Korea’s Anti-Valentine’s Holiday
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Why So Serious? Escaping Food Media's Uncanny Valley
Illustration of a pile of gnawed-on chicken wings in front of a child's messy hands and face
How I Got My Toddler Interested in Food and Cooking
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What Does Food Media Smell Like?: Diversity and the Beard Awards
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How Cooking Websites Are Failing People With Disabilities
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"Oh, @%#^": Our Most Embarrassing Kitchen Fails
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Authenticity? These Filipino Chefs Aren’t Concerned
Please Stop Ordering Iced Cappuccinos
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Sweet, Memory: On the Subtle Magic of the Cookie Jar
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Daniel's Favorite Recipes of 2019
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Sasha's Favorite Recipes of 2019
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Serious Eats Through the Years: Our Early Days, in Photos
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Drinking the Bottom Shelf: Gordon's London Dry Gin
Three large baskets with filled small red, green, and orange hot chiles.
6 Ways to Build Your Spicy Food Tolerance
A St. Louis pizza on a metal pan on a green table.
In Defense of St. Louis-Style Pizza
A plate of Asian dumplings in Shanghai.
Essential Shanghai Street Food: 14 Must-Eat Dishes
Rare, sliced steak with bagna cauda on a white plate.
Facing Gestational Diabetes as a Food Lover
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Cheese Confessionals: I Ate Casu Marzu, aka 'Maggot Cheese'
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A Hill of Beans, and How I Cooked Them
Bacon and eggs cook in a skillet over the flames of Calcifer (a fire demon).
Miyazaki’s Magical Food: An Ode to Anime’s Best Cooking Scenes
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BraveTart's Ultimate Guide to Sous Vide Desserts
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We Made the Portal Cake: No Lie, It's Delicious
Pouring a beer in a glass.
How to Become a Certified Cicerone
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Can Vegans Still Enjoy Pizza?
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America's Regional Hot Dog Styles
A white bowl filled to the brim with chocolate sprinkles.
Where Have All the Chocolate Sprinkles Gone?
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Doing the Chitlin Strut
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Obsessed: We Talk to Reddit's /u/Ramen_Lord
Garbanzos con Espinacas y Jengibre (Spanish Chickpea and Spinach Stew with Ginger)
Top 10 Tips For a First-Time Vegan
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Why Serious Bakers Have Mother Issues
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In Defense of Eating Alone