Best American series

"'Food and travel are natural companions,' writes guest editor Padma Lakshmi. From this pairing comes 'the possibility of seeing anew, of examining how we make and assign meaning.' The essays in this year's Best American Food and Travel Writing circle the world--from Dakar in Senegal, to Michoacán in south-central Mexico, to the Camino de Santiago in Spain--and deepen our understanding of our place in it. An ode to the American grilled cheese spurs the desire to find beauty in the smallest daily activities. An obsessive odyssey for the perfect Chinese food blossoms into a heart-wrenching search for a lost childhood. Bold and insightful, joyful and moving, this collection celebrates the experiences that connect us all." --

"New American," "fusion," and the endless, liberating challenge of describing American food right now (from Bon Appétit) / Navneet Alang -- Science of savoring (from Saveur) / Betsy Andrews -- Gay roots of (ugh) Friendsgiving (from Shifting the food narrative) / John Birdsall -- Orange is the new yolk (from Eater) / Marian Bull -- India's beef with beef (from The Baffler) / Sharanya Deepak -- Hungry jungle (from Outside magazine) / Melissa Johnson -- Notable sandwiches #75: grilled cheese (from The sword and the sandwich) / Talia Lavin -- My favorite restaurant served gas (from Bitter southerner) / Kiese Laymon -- Our daily ceeb (from Orion) / Jori Lewis -- Tell me why the watermelon grows (from Switchyard) / Jori Lewis -- Taste the feeling (from T: the New York Times style magazine) / Ligaya Mishan -- My Catalina (from 12th Street) / Karen Resta -- Forbidden fruit (from Harper's) / Alexander Sammon -- In the West Bank, Palestinians preserve grapes and tradition (from Eater) / Adam Sella -- Meet America's godmother of tofu (from Atlas obscura) / Mayukh Sen -- Butchering (from Emergence) / Jake Skeets -- From blackout to Bakhmut (from Cake zine) / Felicity Spector -- Titan submersible was "an accident waiting to happen" (from The New Yorker) / Ben Taub -- Unsafe passage (from The New Yorker) / Mosab Abu Toha -- Numinous strangers (from Harper's) / Lisa Wells -- How things disappear (from Everyday drinking) / Jason Wilson -- Eating badly (from Esquire) / C. Pam Zhang