Food in the Field gives a sneak peek into what CNN's team is eating as they travel the globe. Today's contributor, John King is anchor of CNN’s 7 p.m. ET program, John King, USA, and CNN’s chief national correspondent.

I love diners and other casual community eateries because comfort food equals comfortable conversation, and when people are relaxed in a place that feels like home you learn more about them and what drives their politics.

Don’t get me wrong, I'm also in it for the food. I’m a fairly basic guy for breakfast, but can be enticed away from the usual scrambled eggs and homefries by a glimpse at a neighboring table's pancakes or the smell of beignets.

A diner menu can tell you a lot about where you are, from the huckleberry milkshakes of western Idaho to the pork-laden specials at most of the great diners of Iowa political travels.
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"There's this tension in the south between privation and plenty. We were poor as can be and yet we have this really long growing season, our fields are flesh with game. So those tensions maybe matter more here than it does in other regions. That kind of deep poverty and great plenty."

"Our food comes with a really distinctive, sometimes troubling but ultimately triumphant back story. Food is a way, to sit down across the table from someone and say let's take a tour of the. It allows you to tell stories about this region and talk about race and class and all that stuff but in a way that's not threatening. We're just talkin' about food! We're just sittin' around the table." – John T. Edge

Watch our beloved John T. Edge of the Southern Foodways Alliance on tonight's Nightline on "The Soul of Soul Food."

UPDATE- John T. closed the segment out saying, "There is hope in barbecue." Amen, sir. Amen.

5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

Wolfgang Ban and Eduard Frauneder are co-owners and executive chefs of Seäsonal Restaurant & Weinbar in New York City. Their modern interpretations of classic Austrian and Germain cuisine earned the restaurant a Michelin star.

With the kick-off of Oktoberfest quickly approaching on September 18, it's never too early to grab your beer mug and start tapping into those fall brews.

Five Beers for an Authentic Oktoberfest: Wolfgang Ban and Eduard Frauneder
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"Your hands are your best tools!" says Lidia Bastianich, often called the godmother of Italian-American cooking. She shows CNN's Maggie Lake how to get down and dirty with homemade pizza dough.

Her latest enterprise, along with son Joe Bastianich and celebrity chef Mario Batali, is "Eataly" - a 40,000 square foot Italian emporium, housing seven in-house restaurants and specializing in imported Italian goods, many previously unseen stateside.

More on Eataly

Cooking up a storm for the holiday weekend? We've got some seriously smokin' grilling advice right here.

- Up your grilling game

- Red hot grilling tips from Eatocracy readers

- Best. Burgers. EVER and Best. Cheeseburger. EVER

And feast on the results of The Picnic Poll to find out what your fellow chefs like for a main dish and drink, burger topping, side dish and dessert.

In my very first video for Eatocracy, way back in June, there's a brief section where I'm asking the proprietor of Di Palo's Fine Foods for the correct pronunciation of the word, "guanciale."

Perhaps I should be afraid of judgment from people thinking that a half-Italian girl who runs a food site should know how to say such things. I'm thinking 1. I've seen and written the word a million times, but never heard it said aloud 2. talking to experts is how I learn and 3. asking questions of folks who know is NEVER a bad thing.

Are pronunciation questions on the menu for you?

Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• Italian food stereotypes, no grazie! An Italian native speaks out against fauxtalian fare. - Elena_SC

• CSA USA! Michael Ruhlman's readers share their food hauls from across the country. - Ruhlman

• We though we hated vending machines. Then a Twitter search brought us this guy. - Lemonade Standoff

• Wanna make a ton of money by talking to strangers? Take your shot, girl. - WSJ

• Can peanut paste save the planet? Plumpy’nut's advocates are spreading the news. - New York Times

Small farms are "Better for the consumers, better for the animals, better for everyone," says Alan Zuschlag of Touchstone Farm, the nation's first Certified Humane sheep operation.

Opening an audaciously expensive 40,000+ square foot Italian food hall in the middle of dicey economic times might seem like a load of bologna, but orange-Croc'd celebrity chef Mario Batali is taking a gamble on New Yorkers' obsession with all things edible.

Batali tells CNN, "The real bet is not whether the restaurants will draw people, because they will. The real bet is how much of the percentage of the business is going to be retail grocery store? For it to really work, it has to be at least fifty percent...the restaurants are dressing for the retail."

CNN Money has the FULL STORY

Previously - Who taught Mario Batali to love food and what's his food for love?

Soweto-born sommelier Thato Goimane says of his native land, "We are making serious wines." As massive fans of and evangelists for Pinotage, Chenin Blanc and other signature South African grapes, we can't help but agree.

Previously - A taste of South Africa