Our Staff's Favorite Stories from 2016

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Food

Our Staff's Favorite Stories from 2016

We had one hell of a year—hunting reindeer and frogs, visiting underground restaurants in Compton, making frenemies at the Trump Tower bar. Here are our editorial staff’s favorite articles published in 2016.

MUNCHIES might technically be a food publication, but we won't be relegated to writing roundups of Pinterest-inspired canned biscuit hacks. Our biscuits are homemade, and, really, we're in the business of storytelling. We want to use food as a keyhole to explore current events and document people, places, and meals that might otherwise go unseen (and uneaten).

We had one hell of a year—hunting reindeer and frogs, visiting underground restaurants in Compton, making frenemies at the Trump Tower bar, and sharing a number of unforgettable meals. Here are our editorial staff's favorite articles published in 2016. Bring it on, 2017.

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Helen Hollyman (Editor in Chief): Wheat As a Weapon of War in Syria This three-part series showcases the ongoing crisis in the Syrian war with a weapon that you'd never consider: wheat. War reporter Emma Beals takes you through the troubling journey: how ISIS is using the crops to control the population, how bakers are defying opposition against all odds, and how the security of Syrian seeds is crucial to our global community.

Farideh Sadeghin (Culinary Director): We Cooked a Three-Course Cannabis Feast for Cops This was one of my first assignments at MUNCHIES. The photo shoot was fun, the pics came out great, and the recipes are still some of my favorite that I've developed.

Matthew Zuras (Senior Editor): Ole Miss vs. Mammy: Who Owns Southern Food? Lauded food historian Michael Twitty's complete and total demolition of another lauded food historian's academically unhinged assertion that slaves did not contribute to American Southern cuisine as thoroughly as often believed is a testament to the fact that historical revisionism must be fought on all fronts, including a subject as seemingly innocuous as fried chicken. In other words: Twitty's a badass whose intellectual hopscotch across culture/food/time is always vital reading.

Alex Swerdloff (Staff Writer, New York): How a Pot-Dealing Suburban Boy Became Miami's Best Baker Miami's food scene has changed pretty drastically since I was a kid and Zak undoubtedly represents a new type of food professional who is less concerned about wowing tourists with spectacle and more concerned about single-mindedly creating the best product possible. Seeing the effort Zak and his team put into their bread makes me proud to be from Miami.

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Hilary Pollack (Associate Editor): How to Hunt for Frog Legs on a Golf Course It was funny and tender, a real slice-of-life kind of piece that is even more thoughtful than it is weird and graphic (which is very). I also adored the illustrations, which captured both the absurdity and precise methodology that goes into this sort of thing. But it's more, too—it's tradition. This is America; this is where meat comes from; this is how food is made.

Nick Rose (Staff Writer, Canada): Hunting Reindeer Involves Jingle Bells and Arctic Temperatures This is a jarring look at reindeer hunting in remote Norway. It's dark, funny, beautifully shot, and a reminder that food is fundamentally about survival.

Elana Schulman (Supervising Producer): The Pizza Show: Chicago As a born and raised Chicagoan, working on the Chicago episode of The Pizza Show was a dream come true. I'll always remember the morning we filmed with Burt Katz, who sadly passed away this year. Before we started filming, Burt and his lovely wife Sharon made sure our crew had bagels, coffee, and a chance to get to know each other. We sat at a table in the middle of their restaurant, Burt's Place, and listened to the most amazing stories from Burt and Sharon's life together. It was one of my favorite moments of the year.

Brad Cohen (Weekend Editor): Can Cooking Meat Really Help South Africa Reconcile Its Legacy of Apartheid? One of my favorite aspects of working at MUNCHIES is being part of a publication that explores that place where food intersects with culture and politics. Food is often a tool for communication and a bridge between cultures, and this story examines the successes and failures South Africa's attempt to use barbecuing to rectify the country's oppressive past.

Sydney Mondry (Social Editor): Getting Drunk at Trump Tower Bar Was the Worse Night of My Life Hilary's Trump bar piece is one of my favorite articles published in the time that I've been here. It's extremely well-written, engaging, and a great example of how we can access seemingly non-food related global issues through food/beverage.

Javier Cabral (Staff Writer, West Coast): Meet the Crip and Piru Chefs Behind Compton's Underground Restaurant This is probably my favorite story lead that I was lucky enough to find, and while I did not expect the story to blow up the way it did, I feel fortunate that Malachi and Roberto trusted me enough to let me inside their gangbanging way of life and let me write their positive, food-based story.