Author: Ms. R.

In Old Gretna on the West Bank, Dough Nguyener’s Bakery takes a modern twist on the quintessential New Orleans bakery, landing somewhere between a classic Vietnamese restaurant, an upscale pastry shop, and a drive-through doughnut spot. And while the aesthetic may lean a bit a little heavily on the Dunkin’ Donuts model, with flashy cases and pink neon accents, the food on offer is anything but standard. Owner Betty Archote (née Nguyen) and her family are veterans of the……

Read More

You can’t miss The Tomato Place. It sits proud and chaotic, a collection of ideas and impulses, just south of Vicksburg on Highway 61. Its namesake banner hangs out front, along with signs for boiled peanuts, shelled pecans, fried green tomatoes, turkey legs, and more. Old iron tables and wooden stools adorn the outside, flanked by hibiscus flowers and other local flora, while paintings of fruits, vegetables, and tomato sandwiches cover the outside walls. “Some people pass us by……

Read More

Japan is known for its culture surrounding rice, a significant source of nutrition and symbol of life. Naturally enough, Japanese mythology features a number of episodes involving it, and some of such sites remain known to this day. According to the myths, major deity Ninigi brought a stalk of rice from heaven when his son Hiko-hoho-demi no Mikoto was born and planted at the foot of the sacred mountain of Takachiho, in present-day Kirishima City, creating the first rice……

Read More

Born in 1902, María Izquierdo became one of Mexico’s most accomplished female artists of the 20th century, with a career similar to Frida Kahlo’s. Both became famous for their canvas paintings, rather than murals, which was Mexico’s defining artistic expression at the time. While Kahlo’s notable relationship was with Diego Rivera, Izquierdo’s was with Rufino Tamayo, both men known for painting on canvas and walls. In 1945, Izquierdo was offered the opportunity to paint a large mural in Mexico……

Read More

You aren’t meant to see the building during the day. It hides under old signs, a beaten brick building with a broken awning and wood panels against its door. A few old beer signs and a handwritten schedule almost give it away, but it isn’t until the sun goes down and the red string lights illuminate the facade that you can really see Red’s, the legendary juke joint in Clarksdale, Mississippi.  Inside, the space is intimate—a small room bathed……

Read More

In the Mississippi Delta, hot tamales are almost as iconic as the blues. They’ve grown up together, intertwined in the region’s culture.  Tamales have appeared in songs since the 1920s, and their origins are the subject of much debate. Some believe Mexican laborers brought them to the Delta while working the cotton harvests in the early 20th century. Others trace them back even further, to soldiers returning from the Mexican-American War. Still others argue their history runs much deeper,……

Read More

If you had to, how would you remove 6.5 million cubic miles of ice from Antarctica? In truth, you have two options: On one hand, you could dramatically accelerate the warming of the world to turn Earth’s southernmost continent into a parched realm. On the other, you could spend several decades zipping across it with planes, Ski-Doos, and people armed with some extremely cool pieces of technology. Fortunately, when a group of scientists set out to answer this question,……

Read More

In late summer of 1937, a man named Louis E. Hammond emerged from the tupelo gums and cypresses of the North Carolina wilderness with a 21-pound piece of quartz, onto which had been inscribed a nearly indecipherable, enigmatic message. The Californian had been traveling through on vacation when he’d stopped at Edenton, on the northern shore of Albemarle Sound, near the mouth of the Chowan River. It was in the forest along the Chowan’s banks, he would later explain,……

Read More