In nineteenth-century Russia, sauerkraut was valued more than caviar.

The history of the Americas is one of constant warfare over salt.

A Wedding In Haiti is a great experience and its unaffected prose is as true a portrait of complex Haiti as you will find.

Whenever I was called a gourmet, I suspected I was being accused of something at least slightly unpleasant. But that was before I heard the term "foodie." I am still not sure that a gourmet is a good thing to be, but it must be better than a foodie.

The egg creams of Avenue A in New York and the root beer float....are among the high points of American gastronomic inventiveness.

In every age, people are certain that only the things they have deemed valuable have true value. The search for love and the search for wealth are always the two best stories. But while a love story is timeless, the story of a quest for wealth, given enough time, will always seem like the vain pursuit of a mirage.

A true gourmet - a judge - has the wisdom to know when to stop eating.