Food Culture Around the 50 States

In one of my last pieces for Conde Nast Traveler, I contributed to their “50 States, 50 Cuisines: The Food Worth Traveling For in Every State”. I contributed on New Mexico - some of the incredible food I was raised on - Read it now! (I’m also quoted in the October issue, in the cruise story, based on my assignment/story in March in Norway when Covid lockdown hit)

As a serial road tripper, who has explored much of the United States, there are so many layers of international culture that have shaped the country, and food is a huge part of it. In the words of the late, great Anthony Bourdain:

"I think food, culture, people and landscape are all absolutely inseparable."

“You learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together.”

“Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go.”

“Meals make the society, hold the fabric together in lots of ways that were charming and interesting and intoxicating to me. The perfect meal, or the best meals, occur in a context that frequently has very little to do with the food itself.”