It’s Peak Season for Tamales in Los Angeles
Big tamaladas are canceled this year, but many of the city’s tamaleras press on because tamales, along with the cultures and microeconomies they sustain, are essential.

At her outdoor kitchen in Montebello, Calif., Claudia Serrato and her family make tamales with blue corn and braised bison.
By TEJAL RAO

See the Beauty of Tamales de Frijol Being Made
Alfonso Martinez of Ponco’s Tlayudas, a Los Angeles pop-up, demonstrates how to make tamales de frijol
By GENEVIEVE KO

How Will We Eat in 2021? 11 Predictions to Chew On
Meal kits from your favorite restaurant, snacks that help you sleep and other ways the food world may respond in a year of big changes.
By KIM SEVERSON

Five Kwanzaa Celebrations Around the Country
For many Black Americans, the holiday is a time for bonding, joy and repose. The Times visited five households to see how people cook and gather, engage and reflect.
By NICOLE TAYLOR, NYDIA BLAS, CELESTE NOCHE, BRIAN PALMER and TIMOTHY SMITH

These Bacon and Eggs Practically Cook Themselves
A big holiday breakfast is great — unless you’re the one stuck making it. This sheet-pan recipe is the solution.

By GENEVIEVE KO

Reclaiming the Tiki Bar
Tiki bars are a beverage industry mainstay — with a painful and underexamined past. Can the format be repaired?
By SAMMI KATZ and OLIVIA MCGIFF

Henry Haller, Chef for Five Presidents, Dies at 97
He had the high-level skills necessary for the job but also a welcome flexibility, allowing him to thrive in the, well, pressure-cooker that is the White House.

Henry Haller preparing for the White House wedding reception of Lynda Bird Johnson, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s oldest daughter, in 1967. Johnson was the first of five presidents Mr. Haller served.
By GLENN THRUSH

THE LIVES THEY LIVED
Cecilia Chiang Lost Everything in China, and Built It Back in California
She twice escaped war in China, and eventually landed in an America that was hungry for a new kind of Asian cuisine.

By JADE CHANG