In this Winner of the Louisiana Literary award in 2010, Sara Roahen’s stories of personal discovery introduce readers to New Orleans’ well-known signatures – gumbo, po-boys, red beans and rice – and its lesser-known gems: the phở of its Vietnamese immigrants, the braciolone of its Sicilians, and the ya-ka-mein of its street culture. By eating and cooking her way through a place as unique and unexpected as its infamous turducken, Roahen finds a home. And then Katrina. With humor, poignancy, and hope, she conjures up a city that reveled in its food traditions before the storm – and in many ways has been saved by them since.