40 Items Tagged

Symbolic Foods

Though traditional tāngyuán are plain dumplings, you can also make artful variations.

5 Recipes to Make for Lunar New Year

Welcome the Year of the Dragon with fortune-telling soups, lucky goldfish dumplings, and more.

Sam O'Brien February 9, 2024

The Virgin Mary was a common feature on Schluckbildchen.

objects of intrigue

These Tiny Baroque Prints Once Served as Edible Prayers

The sacred scraps were meant to be ingested.

Amelia Soth January 18, 2024

Noriyuki Enami picking tachibana fruit.

The Quest to Reacquaint Japan With Its Forgotten Native Citrus

Once revered by royals and celebrated by poets, the tachibana is now endangered.

Florentyna Leow February 16, 2022

Are you feeling lucky?

Twelve Grapes

A New Year's Eve tradition of scarfing down 12 grapes for good luck.

Cougnole de Noel.

Cougnou

This Christmas bread is formed in the shape of the baby Jesus.

Pork belly with xanducata.

Morelia, Mexico

LU Cocina Michoacana

This upscale restaurant specializing in Michoacán cuisine serves sauces tied to important life events.

Albert Anker's 1869 "Die Kappeler Milchsuppe" teaches us how to share soup with our enemies without crossing a battle line.

The Soup That Stopped a War

This two-ingredient dish allegedly halted religious conflict, and is still cherished today.

Luke Fater August 15, 2019

Kapeshuna Beans

In the desert of La Guajira, Colombia, locally grown cowpeas hold spiritual meaning for the Wayúu tribe.

Incheon, South Korea

Jjajang Myeon Museum

This tiny museum immortalizes the birthplace of an iconic Chinese-Korean noodle dish.

Lovespoons

This ancient token of betrothal lives on as a Valentine's Day gift in Wales.

Yusheng

The higher you toss this fish salad, the luckier your year will be.

Jjajang Myeon

On April 14, lonely South Korean singles are encouraged to drown their sorrows in black noodles.

Khapse

On Tibetan New Year, deep-fried cookies take the form of auspicious symbols and festive snacks.

Christmas Eve Carp

Some families keep their holiday meal fresh by letting it live in their bathtub.

Pepernoten

Every December, Sinterklaas and his helper throw these little spiced cookies to Dutch children.

Trump Sandwich

In the wake of the 2016 American presidential election, political satire entered the local deli.

Święconka

This Polish Easter tradition artfully assembles symbolic foods, from bread to lamb-shaped butter.

Antwerp Chocolate Hands

These sweet hands come with stories of triumph and brutality.