OXFORD AMERICAN • SPRING 2025
THE FOOD ISSUE
10
LUNDI GRAS LION DANCE In the streets with the Krewe of Mung Beans,
redefining the spirit of New Orleans
By E. M. Tran
18 “PEACH” “THE CORRECT SEASON” & “ABSENT FROM THE FEAST
AND HAVING HER OWN” Three poems by Angela Ball
22 A LOCAL LOAF
One bakery’s quest to make truly homegrown bread
By David Cook
28
ON PANDEBONO AND THE VANISHING CITY
Though Miami is rapidly changing,
its baked cheese bread endures
By Rahawa Haile
32
LENA RICHARD’S NEW ORLEANS COOKBOOK A portrait of America’s first Black cooking show host
By Mayukh Sen
44
“IN THE KITCHEN WITH CELIA”
A poem by Sean Hill
46 SCHMALTZY Fat and flavor on the Southern-Jewish table
By Madeline Weinfield
50
EVERY BITE COUNTS Developing a culinary canon,
from St. Lucia to Louisiana By Nina Compton with Osayi Endolyn
68
AN AMERICAN ROAD Food and love on Nashville’s Nolensville Pike
By Mikeie Honda Reiland
71
“FOR ME: A SWEETELLE”
A poem by Sean Hill
76
THE RICE RECORDS Rice cannot talk, but it has a story to tell
By Latria Graham
88 DOWN ON THE BANANA DOCKS Mobile, Alabama’s forgotten banana hub once brought the Caribbean fruit to the nation
By Ravi Howard
Art and Photography by
Lindsay Metivier, Rosson Crow, Julie Curtiss, David Alekhuogie, Dung “Donkey” Nguyen, Phong, Laurence Philomene, Jed Devine, Sarah Unger, Anastasia Samoylova, Luis Echeverri Urrea, Carter/Reddy, Alexis Doshas, Will Good, Brittany Conerly,
L. Kasimu Harris, Fiona Compton, Carolyn Swiszcz, Sam Angel, Eden Frangipane, Joel Caldwell, Grace Beahm Alford, Antonio Henrique Amaral, Arthur Rothstein, Jordan Blumetti, Aaron Browse, Charlie Strayer, Will Huey, Devon Sarian
Cover: Photograph by Lindsay Metivier © The artist, www.lindsaymetivier.com
PLUS: A SPECIAL REPORT
THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN
After decades of unchecked hazardous waste pollution, a Florida hamlet fights the developers eager to build homes there anyway
By Jordan Blumetti
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4 SPRING 2025
