Ruth Reichl - The Best American Food Writing 2018

Copyright 2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Introduction copyright 2018 by Ruth Reichl

All rights reserved

The Best American Food Writing is a trademark of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. The Best American Series is a registered trademark of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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ISBN 978-1-328-66224-8 (print)

ISBN 978-1-328-66308-5 (ebook)

ISSN 2578-7667 (print)

ISSN 2578-7675 (ebook)

Cover design by Christopher Moisan Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Cover photograph Jens Mortensen / Gallery Stock

Reichel photograph Brigitte Lacombe

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Revenge of the Lunch Lady by Jane Black. First published in the Huffington Post/Highline in partnership with the Food & Environment Reporting Network. Copyright 2017 by Jane Black. Reprinted by permission of Food & Environment Reporting Network.

New York. Chicago. Detroit. Portland? Making the Case for a New American Pizza City by Karen Brooks. First published in Portland Monthly. Copyright 2017 by Portland Monthly. Reprinted by permission of Portland Monthly.

Christina Tosi Has a Cookie by Mary H.K. Choi. First published in Eater, https://www.eater.com/2017/9/5/16213430/christina-tosi-profile-milk-bar. Copyright 2017 by Vox Media, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

Ive Worked in Food for Twenty Years. Now You Finally Care About Female Chefs? by Amanda Cohen. First published in Esquire. Copyright 2017 by Amanda Cohen. Reprinted by permission of Amanda Cohen.

Secrets in the Sauce by Lauren Collins. First published in The New Yorker. Copyright 2017 by Lauren Collins. Reprinted by permission of Lauren Collins.

On the Ibrico Trail by John T. Edge. First published in Garden & Gun. Copyright 2017 by John T. Edge. Reprinted by permission of John T. Edge.

Bringing in the Beans: Harvest on an American Family Farm by Ted Genoways. First published in Harpers Magazine in partnership with the Food & Environment Reporting Network. From This Blessed Earth: A Year in the Life of an American Family Farm by Ted Genoways. Copyright 2017 by Ted Genoways. Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Is Dinner for Two Worth $1,000? by Jonathan Gold. First published in the Los Angeles Times, September 1, 2017. Copyright 2017 by the Los Angeles Times. Reprinted by permission of the Los Angeles Times.

How Driscolls Reinvented the Strawberry by Dana Goodyear. First published in The New Yorker. Copyright 2017 by Dana Goodyear. Reprinted by permission of Dana Goodyear.

Temples of the Seasons by Alex Halberstadt. First published in Saveur, Dec/Jan 2018. Copyright 2017 by Saveur Magazine. Reprinted by permission of Saveur Magazine.

The Struggle of Eating Well When Youre Poor by Marissa Higgins. First published in Catapult. Copyright 2017 by Marissa Meade. Reprinted by permission of Marissa Meade.

The NBAs Secret Sandwich Addiction by Baxter Holmes. First published in ESPN The Magazine, March 27, 2017. Copyright 2017 by ESPN, Inc. Reprinted by permission of ESPN.

The White Lies of Craft Culture by Lauren Michele Jackson. First published on the Eater website on August 17, 2017, https://www.eater.com/2017/8/17/16146164/the-whiteness-of-artisanal-food-craft-culture. Copyright 2017 by Vox Media, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

Wheres the Beef? by Beth Kowitt. First published in Fortune. Copyright 2017 by Fortune, a division of Time Inc. Reprinted by permission of Fortune.

In Good Hands by Francis Lam. First published in Afar. Copyright 2017 by Francis Lam. Reprinted by permission of Francis Lam.

To Wash or Not to Wash? by Harold McGee. First published in Lucky Peach. Copyright 2017 by Harold McGee. Reprinted by permission of Harold McGee.

Born in the USA: The Rise and Triumph of Asian-American Cuisine by Ligaya Mishan. First published in the T Magazine, November 12, 2017. Copyright 2017 by The New York Times. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the copyright laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this content without express written permission is prohibited.

Who Owns Uncle Ben? by Shane Mitchell. First published in The Bitter Southerner. Copyright 2017 by Shane Mitchell. Reprinted by permission of Shane Mitchell.

Georgetown One Stop by John OConnor. First published in Oxford American, Issue 97, Summer 2017. Copyright 2017 by John OConnor. Reprinted by permission of John OConnor.

The Country Sausage Thats Going to Town by Chris Offutt. First published in Oxford American. Copyright 2017 by Chris Offutt. Reprinted by permission of Chris Offutt.

The Teenage Whalers Tale by Julia OMalley. First published in High Country News. Copyright 2017 by Julia OMalley. Reprinted by permission of Julia OMalley.

The Mad Cheese Scientists Fighting to Save the Dairy Industry by Clint Rainey. First published in Bloomberg Businessweek. Used with permission of Bloomberg L.P. Copyright 2017. All rights reserved.

The Joy of Reading About Cooking by Tejal Rao. First published in the New York Times Book Review, June 29, 2017. Copyright 2017 by The New York Times. Reprinted by permission of The New York Times.

Oysters: A Love Story by Tejal Rao. First published in the New York Times Magazine, August 17, 2017. Copyright 2017 by The New York Times. Reprinted by permission of The New York Times.

Mario Batali and the Appetites of Men by Helen Rosner. First published in The New Yorker. Copyright 2017 by Cond Nast. Reprinted by permission of Cond Nast.

Pawhuska or Bust: A Journey to the Heart of Pioneer Woman Country by Khushbu Shah. First published in Thrillist. Copyright 2017 by Group Nine Media, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Group Nine Media, Inc.

The Worlds Last Great Undiscovered Cuisine by Anya von Bremzen. First published in Saveur. Copyright 2017 by Anya von Bremzen. Reprinted by permission of Anya von Bremzen.

After Oranges by Wyatt Williams. First published in Oxford American. Copyright 2017 by Wyatt Williams. Reprinted by permission of Wyatt Williams. Excerpts from Preface, Oranges, Orange Men, and Orange Baron from Oranges by John McPhee. Copyright 1966, 1967, 2000, renewed 1995 by John McPhee. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

I soon saw, as I considered every aspect of the pleasures of the table, that something better than a cook book should be written about them; and there is a great deal to say about those functions which are so ever-present and so necessary, which have such a direct influence on our health, happiness, and even on our occupations.

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

The most common question I was asked while working on this volume was, How does it not already exist? Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has been publishing anthologies of fiction, travel writing, essays, and poetry dating back over a hundred years, and it seems impossible that the first