Nina Mukerjee Furstenau

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    A cape is just an apron on backwards
    • Sep 7, 2021
    • 2 min

    A cape is just an apron on backwards

    COLUMBIA, Missouri-- I am game to believe a cape is just an apron worn backwards. I didn't laugh so much as nod when I read these words...
    100 views0 comments
    Soil and substance
    • Jul 26, 2021
    • 3 min

    Soil and substance

    By Nina Mukerjee Furstenau They say mushrooms capture the sun, but they also make what is tethered in the earth available to humans. To...
    37 views0 comments
    The Common Ingredient--LOVE
    • Jul 15, 2020
    • 1 min

    The Common Ingredient--LOVE

    COLUMBIA, Missouri-- The website, www.thecommoningredient (psst: it's love!), was formed to help our neighbors with good food, comfort...
    152 views0 comments
    The Carolina Housewife in times of trouble
    • Mar 27, 2020
    • 3 min

    The Carolina Housewife in times of trouble

    The mysterious Lady of Charleston who penned the Carolina Housewife cookbook in 1847, fell in with the idea that a lady's name
    83 views0 comments
    The language of coconut shrimp curry
    • Mar 1, 2020
    • 3 min

    The language of coconut shrimp curry

    By Nina Mukerjee Furstenau ORLANDO, Florida—We are eating a favorite lunch of rice with coconut shrimp curry when I ask my father about...
    188 views2 comments
    Midwest foods cure the blues
    • Feb 5, 2020
    • 2 min

    Midwest foods cure the blues

    By Nina Mukerjee Furstenau FAYETTE, Missouri-- In not-so-breaking news from the Midwest: casseroles cure the blues. I see this happen in...
    124 views2 comments
    Yogurt: milk & mayhem
    • Aug 14, 2019
    • 5 min

    Yogurt: milk & mayhem

    As Robin Sloan says in his delightful book, Sourdough, "I have come to believe that food is history of the deepest kind...
    307 views2 comments
    Routes and roots
    • Jul 14, 2019
    • 4 min

    Routes and roots

    By Nina Mukerjee Furstenau FAYETTE, Missouri--My route home twisted through clouds. It was easy to imagine this as something customary on...
    153 views2 comments
    What we bring to the table
    • Apr 28, 2019
    • 3 min

    What we bring to the table

    By Nina Mukerjee Furstenau KOLKATA, India-- How long does it take for a food from another land to become your comfort food, your...
    88 views2 comments
    In hot water: tea in the mountains
    • Feb 15, 2019
    • 5 min

    In hot water: tea in the mountains

    By Nina Mukerjee Furstenau DARJEELING, India--In the land of noble Himalayan vistas, steep slopes, and delectable teas, indoor heat is...
    89 views2 comments
    An embarrassment of patishapta
    • Jan 11, 2019
    • 5 min

    An embarrassment of patishapta

    By Nina Mukerjee Furstenau KOLKATA, India—On Sunday, I was making patishapta, an Indian crepe, not quite as I was taught. Okay, not at...
    202 views2 comments
    Chhana: milk's leap toward immortality
    • Dec 8, 2018
    • 3 min

    Chhana: milk's leap toward immortality

    Nina Mukerjee Furstenau KOLKATA, India -- Clifton Fadiman famously said, "A cheese may disappoint. It may be dull, it may be naive, it...
    304 views2 comments
    Psst, may I speak confidentially?
    • Nov 19, 2018
    • 5 min

    Psst, may I speak confidentially?

    KOLKATA, India-- I feel, as Lilian Boxfish did in the novel Lilian Boxfish Takes a Walk, that there’s a low-grade lunacy to life in a...
    100 views0 comments
    When a war lord craves melons...
    • Oct 26, 2018
    • 2 min

    When a war lord craves melons...

    KOLKATA, India--What would a war lord, like Barbur, do for the taste of melon? Apparently, the 16th century central Asian prince, Zahir...
    136 views0 comments
    Tracing clues on a trail of crumbs
    • Oct 7, 2018
    • 3 min

    Tracing clues on a trail of crumbs

    KOLKATA, India—I’ve been reading a lot lately about what makes a food your own. At home in Missouri before leaving for Bengal to research...
    264 views12 comments
    Satisfying our hungers
    • Sep 27, 2018
    • 4 min

    Satisfying our hungers

    Nina Mukerjee Furstenau FAYETTE, Missouri -- In August, clear-yellow cloudless sulfur butterflies coast past my kitchen window heading...
    220 views5 comments
    Giving a fig
    • Sep 18, 2018
    • 1 min

    Giving a fig

    My fig tree is nearly ready to give up its fruit. Every time I look at the green, slowly thickening bulbs, I know I have to be both...
    106 views0 comments
    Welcome to"A Likely Story"
    • Sep 17, 2018
    • 1 min

    Welcome to"A Likely Story"

    I write food and heritage stories that connect experiencing locales, people, and flavor. Follow this blog for short snippets of wonder...
    197 views0 comments
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