Much of the food that Mr. Mattos makes at his Brooklyn restaurant Isa, such as a dish of scallops with green strawberries, yuzu and rhubarb shoots, is lighter than your typical dining-out fare.

WSJ: Ignacio Mattos's Asparagus Salad With Grated Horseradish | Slow Food Fast

"I come sometimes when I want to be happy, " said Ms. Tounkara, who was in the food pantry cooking mafe, a traditional dish of stewed meat, peanut sauce and rice.

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Texans, in contrast, are proud of their association with "a bowl of red" - in 1977 the dish was enshrined as their official state food.

BBC: The perfect chilli con carne in the heart of Texas

It was as if the dish had been dreamt up to discredit the idea of healthy food altogether a supposition strengthened when it disappeared from the menu soon after.

NEWYORKER: Joanne Trattoria

Most stalls tend to specialise in one particular dish, but between them they offer an opportunity to sample a good selection of Morocco's traditional food.

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Who could have predicted that my Pistachio-Pesto Salmon, introduced in 1998 in "Entertaining 1-2-3, " would essentially become a national dish, or that short ribs cooked in prune juice and teriyaki would capture the hearts of so many food editors?

WSJ: The Rules of Recipe Attraction

In fact, south of the border the dish is something of an embarrassment: a 1950s epicurean guide to Central America defined it as "a detestable food passing itself off as Mexican, sold in the US from Texas to New York".

BBC: The perfect chilli con carne in the heart of Texas