NEW MERCH,
SERVED FRESH
In celebration of the bright and beautiful cover of our Spring Food Issue, our persimmon ‘Not A Tomato’ cap and green bean mug pair perfectly with an issue that explores what may look—and taste—simple but never is.
Magazine
Issue 128, Spring 2025
Through fresh reporting, in-depth profiles, and daring personal essays, our Spring Issue explores the people, industries, and tastes that build and challenge our ideas about Southern food. Contributors include James Beard Award–winner Mayukh Sen, who profiles Lena Richard, the first Black woman to host a televised cooking show in America; E. M. Tran, who chronicles the intersection of Vietnamese culture and Mardi Gras traditions through the Krewe of Mung Beans; and Ravi Howard, who offers a neighborhood profile of Down the Bay as a point on a global food chain in the context of the early twentieth century banana trade. The issue also features recipes celebrating St. Lucian chef Nina Compton’s culinary journey, new poetry from Angela Ball and Sean Hill, a special report by Jordan Blumetti, and more.
THE FOOD ISSUE
IN THE STREETS WITH THE KREWE OF MUNG BEANS
Redefining the spirit of New Orleans
By E. M. Tran
“PEACH,” “THE CORRECT SEASON,”
& “ABSENT FROM THE FEAST AND HAVING HER OWN”
Three poems by Angela Ball
A LOCAL LOAF
One bakery’s quest to make truly homegrown bread
By David Cook
MIAMI IS CHANGING BUT ITS BAKED CHEESE BREAD ENDURES
On Pandebono and the vanishing city
By Rahawa Haile
LENA RICHARD’S NEW ORLEANS COOKBOOK
A portrait of America’s first Black cooking show host
By Mayukh Sen
“IN THE KITCHEN WITH CELIA” & “FOR ME: A SWEETELLE”
Two poems by Sean Hill
SCHMALTZY
Fat and flavor on the Southern-Jewish table
By Madeline Weinfield
A CULINARY CANON: FROM ST. LUCIA TO LOUISIANA
Stories and recipes from a Caribbean chef’s travels
By Nina Compton with Osayi Endolyn
FOOD AND LOVE ON NASHVILLE’S NOLENSVILLE PIKE
Scenes from an American road
By Mikeie Honda Reiland
THE RICE RECORDS
Rice cannot talk, but it has a story to tell
By Latria Graham
MOBILE’S FORGOTTEN BANANA DOCKS
An Alabama hub once brought the Caribbean fruit to the nation
By Ravi Howard
PLUS: A SPECIAL REPORT
THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN
After decades of unchecked hazardous waste pollution, a Florida hamlet fights the developers eager to build homes there anyway
By Jordan Blumetti
ART & PHOTOGRAPHY BY: Lindsay Metivier, Rosson Crow, Julie Curtiss, David Alekhuogie, Dung “Donkey” Nguyen, Phong, Laurence Philomene, Jed Devine, Sarah Unger, Anastasia Samoylova, Luis Echeverri Urrea, Carter/Reddy, Alexis Doshas, Will Good, Brittany Conerly, L. Kasimu Harris, Fiona Compton, Carolyn Swiszcz, Sam Angel, Eden Frangipane, Joel Caldwell, Grace Beahm Alford, Antonio Henrique Amaral, Arthur Rothstein, Jordan Blumetti, Aaron Browse, Charlie Strayer, Will Huey, Devon Sarian
COVER: Photograph by Lindsay Metivier © The artist, www.lindsaymetivier.com
The Food Issue is published with support from The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts.