A Colombian chef turned social entrepreneur, Leonor Espinosa has made it her mission to revive traditional agriculture, ancestral foodways and culinary know-how among rural, mainly indigenous and Afro-Colombian people. Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Atole de elote is a warm corn drink from Central America. Student Jose Rivas wrote an essay about a weekly tradition of enjoying atole with his late father in El Salvador, and how the drink helped him to feel more at home after he moved to the U.S. Becky Harlan/NPR hide caption
Nowruz, the Persian New Year, is a celebration of the start of spring marked through large parts of the Middle East and Central Asia. Above, a Nowruz haftseen table, laden with seven items meant to symbolize rebirth or renewal. creativeelixir/Getty Images/iStockphoto hide caption
Mimosa cake is made of layers of sponge cake brushed with citrus liqueur and liberally spread with pastry cream, then topped with small cubes of even more sponge cake that are meant to mimic the small blooms of the mimosa flower. It's the taste of the Festa della Donna, an Italian holiday when women of all ages leave the menfolk behind to celebrate each other. GiuseppeParisi/Getty Images/iStockphoto hide caption
The Caribbean Tradition, an appetizer made with pickled pig's feet, chiriqui beans, and puffed pork skin, at Donde Jose. Chef Carles calls it his version of a ceviche. Kait Bolongaro for NPR hide caption
Food writer Maria Speck soaks bulgur wheat in pomegranate juice to saturate it with burgundy color, then serves it with blueberries and orange-blossom water to tantalize the taste buds and eyes. Penguin/Random House hide caption
Skinned, sliced, battered, deep-fried animal testicles are served as Rocky Mountain Oysters at Bruce's Bar in Severance, Colo. There's a rich tapestry of Western lore built around Rocky Mountain oysters, thanks to the food's cowboy provenance. Ann Marie Awad/KUNC hide caption
After losing her daughter during the war, Vijaya cares for her granddaughter Anjali. Despite not being able to afford fresh vegetables, she cooks nourishing sothis or stews made of coconut milk. Palmera hide caption
Mary Cittoni, Joanne Cittoni Gonzalez and Clemente Cittoni work together, making malfatti in the kitchen of Val's Liquor in Napa. Lisa Morehouse/KQED hide caption
Matzo ball soup is a classic recipe straight from Eastern Europe. But not all Jews from the region came to the New World via Ellis Island, as reflected in this jalapeño-inflected family recipe from chef Pati Jinich. Copyright Ellen Silverman hide caption
Tour guide Ron Craig points to a photo in Jack Daniel's old office at the whiskey maker's distillery in Lynchburg, Tenn. The photo, taken in the 1890s, shows Jack Daniel (wearing a black-banded white hat and a gray goatee), seated next to an African-American man. He and a second African-American man (top left) are believed to be sons of Nearis Green, who may have helped teach Daniel his trade. Blake Farmer/Nashville Public Radio hide caption
Oil down, Grenada's national dish, is a melting pot of its cultural history. This hearty stew is made of local veggies, salted meat and aromatic spices. It's a dish prepared cookout-style at social gatherings, where everyone brings something to put into the pot. Scott Neuman for NPR hide caption
The coffee cabinet is a Rhode Island staple. It's an ice cream beverage dating back to the World War II era. The ingredient list is pretty simple: It's just coffee syrup, ice cream and milk. John Bender/Rhode Island Public Radio hide caption
Jollof rice is the celebration dish of West Africa. At its basic, it includes rice, tomatoes, onions and chili peppers. But there are a zillion variations, depending on your country of origin, and the friendly rivalry can get intense over which version reigns supreme. Matthew Mead/AP hide caption
Reiko Tsuzuki, 70, makes buckwheat soba noodles by hand in her restaurant kitchen in the Japanese island of Shikoku. Ina Jaffe/NPR hide caption
In Italy and the U.S., restaurants are pledging to use sales of Amatrice's signature dish, spaghetti all' amatriciana, to raise funds for the devastated Italian town. Keith Beaty/Toronto Star via Getty Images hide caption
Anil Kurup, the cafe's baker, grew up in the same orphanage as the owner, Amin Sheikh. Courtesy of Bombay to Barcelona Library Cafe hide caption
Rich Harlan prepares Coney hot dogs at his restaurant, Red Hots Coney Island, in Detroit. David Gilkey/NPR hide caption
Chile Chicken Stew Robin Ha/Ten Speed Press hide caption
For decades, Nitza Villapol hosted Cocina al Minuto, a popular cooking show in Cuba. In the decades after Fidel Castro took power, she adapted her cooking, teaching Cubans how to make do without certain ingredients while instructing them in how to use once-eschewed produce and cuts of meat in new ways. Screenshot from YouTube hide caption
The 'Turkey' apricot, a hand-colored engraving after a drawing by Augusta Innes Withers (1792-1869), from the first volume of John Lindley's Pomological Magazine (1827-1828). The Romans dubbed the apricot the "precious one." Poets praised its beauty. The conquering Arabs took it to the Mideast, where the luxurious fruit was exploited in sugary confections. The Royal Horticultural Society Diary/Wikimedia Commons hide caption
Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor discuss the court's food traditions. RBG let us in on a secret: The reason she was not entirely awake at the State of the Union? She wasn't totally sober. Cliff Owen/AP hide caption
Libyans are wary, but are enjoying a bit of normalcy at the new cafes that have sprung up in the past few months. Mahmud Turkia/AFP/Getty Images hide caption