Food says so much about where you’ve come from, where you’ve decided to go, and the lessons you’ve learned. It’s geography, politics, tradition, belief and so much more and this week, we invite you to dig in and discover the rich, ever-evolving taste of America in 2011. The week will culminate with a Secret Supper in New York City, and Eatocracy invites you to participate online starting Monday July 11th at 6:30 p.m. E.T.

The first time I ate matzo ball soup, I was sure it was the most exotic thing I would ever put in my mouth, so long as I lived. To Jewish people since time immemorial, it's been the homely stuff of a family kitchen - filling, grounding, comforting and totally quotidian.

To me, a thoroughly unworldly girl celebrating the occasion of her First Holy Communion at a Jewish-French restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio, it was like a bolt of lightning in the dead of night, suddenly illuminating a previously unseen city in the distance.
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Previously - Hell is other people's chicken on the subway

From the Global Public Square blog:

Barbecued dog and steamed paws?

These and so much more were to be had at this weekend's dog meat festival near Seoul.

Alas, it was not to be.

Animal rights activists put up such a stink that the organizers, from the Korea Dog Farmers' Association, said there was no way they could go through with the event.

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The composed salad tasted of Spring, the Turbot special was sumptuous and buttery and the first glass of Prosecco di Valdobbiadene unexpectedly and delightfully dry. I would gladly have ordered a second, but the offer never came.

Nor did a check-in after the food arrived, a smile of any wattage, or any indication at all that we were welcome in the restaurant at 8 p.m. on a slow-ish Thursday evening. Just the check at the end. Was it something we'd done?
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Happy National Doughnut Day, folks!  On this fine Friday, we'd love to know what kind of doughnut  you're dreaming of, already chowing down on or swiping the minute you get off work.

Tell us your favorite doughnut, and let us know where you stand in this great spelling debate!
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A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum Whole Foods register.

The woman in front of me was merrily nibbling away at the contents of her $7.99-per-pound recyclable container while we waited in line, and it got me thinking - was I witnessing brazen pilfering?

New York is riddled with “pay-per-pound” hot and cold bars where you, in fact, do just that: pay for food by the pound. These spots tend to be most popular at lunchtime where busy worker bees can load up a veritable smörgåsbord to take back to their desk and continue breaking rocks for the man.
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If the doomsday sayers of the Family Radio ministry are to be believed, the people of Earth are set to to meet their end on May 21, 2011. Saying farewell to one's nearest and dearest and preparing a howdy-do to to one's eternal fate is pretty grim business; might as well face it on a full stomach.
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Per our pals at This Just In:

50,000 jobs: McDonald's is looking to hire as many as 50,000 people today as part of its National Hiring Day promotion.

Jobs are available at both the corporate and restaurant levels. Job-seekers can go to the company's website or check at local franchises to find positions.

Some might turn up their nose at the notion of getting down with the clown, but manning the fish station at his local franchise was what inspired newly-crowned Top Chef Richard Blais to pursue a cooking career.
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The darndest things pop up in our inbox. Sometimes it's a press release about a $500 bowl of punch (and no, you don't get to keep the bowl) or an event headlined by Jimmy Buffet's sister. Other times it's an invite to breathe the same air as Guy Fieri or random information about crabs.

These are topics around which we can wrap our heads. Today, however, we're lightly boggled. From our pals at ABC's Nightline, a few excerpts of tonight's conversation between Andrew Cherng, CEO of Panda Restaurant Group (yes, the food court Panda people) and reporter John Berman:

Andrew Cherng, CEO Panda Restaurant Group: You know, Panda – We're not really selling Chinese food, you know. Our real purpose is about developing people. I think the biggest thing about Panda is the people that care about what they do.
John Berman: You sell a lot of food. What's more important here, food or caring?
Cherng: Caring.
Berman: But you can't eat caring.
Cherng: You certainly can.

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An old boyfriend used to refer to me as being "food macho." The gnarlier the menu item, the more likely I am to order it - and it's not (just) about some misplaced culinary muscle flexing. I genuinely enjoy the funk of deliberate rot and game and un-tender animal parts. I'm the one who'll order the bowl of ox knees, duck blood or fermented catfish curry that prompts the waiter to cock his head and ask, "You know what that is, right?"

I've sifted through pig guts with my own hands, eaten numerous animal faces, am on the lookout for enough fresh sheep's blood to make Icelandic slátur and if I do ever chance upon some balut (that'd be fertilized duck egg) - down the hatch it'll go.

But plop a plate of tuna noodle casserole in front of me, and I'll start to weep, and maybe even shake a little. If it's in restaurant, I'll try and keep myself contained, but the tears may - okay, have - flowed.
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