Mar 273 minThe Carolina Housewife in times of troubleThe mysterious Lady of Charleston who penned the Carolina Housewife cookbook in 1847, fell in with the idea that a lady's name
Mar 13 minThe language of coconut shrimp curryBy Nina Mukerjee Furstenau ORLANDO, Florida—We are eating a favorite lunch of rice with coconut shrimp curry when I ask my father about the over-sized engine...
Feb 52 minMidwest foods cure the bluesBy Nina Mukerjee Furstenau FAYETTE, Missouri-- In not-so-breaking news from the Midwest: casseroles cure the blues. I see this happen in person at most famil...
Aug 14, 20195 minYogurt: milk & mayhemAs Robin Sloan says in his delightful book, Sourdough, "I have come to believe that food is history of the deepest kind...
Jul 14, 20194 minRoutes and rootsBy Nina Mukerjee Furstenau FAYETTE, Missouri--My route home twisted through clouds. It was easy to imagine this as something customary on British Air at 30,0...
Apr 28, 20193 minWhat 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 talk-all-night with friends ...
Feb 15, 20195 minIn 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 not de rigueur in Darj...
Jan 11, 20195 minAn embarrassment of patishaptaBy Nina Mukerjee Furstenau KOLKATA, India—On Sunday, I was making patishapta, an Indian crepe, not quite as I was taught. Okay, not at all as I was taught. T...
Dec 8, 20183 minChhana: milk's leap toward immortalityNina Mukerjee Furstenau KOLKATA, India -- Clifton Fadiman famously said, "A cheese may disappoint. It may be dull, it may be naive, it may be over- sophistic...
Nov 19, 20185 minPsst, 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 city. Granted, I norma...
Oct 26, 20182 minWhen 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 Al-din Muhammad, or B...
Oct 7, 20183 minTracing clues on a trail of crumbsKOLKATA, 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 my next book, Green...
Sep 27, 20184 minSatisfying our hungersNina Mukerjee Furstenau FAYETTE, Missouri -- In August, clear-yellow cloudless sulfur butterflies coast past my kitchen window heading for Florida. The two-t...
Sep 18, 20181 minGiving 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 patient and swift. Here's...
Sep 17, 20181 minWelcome 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 and occasional essays w...