Coq au Vin in Bombay: An expat son prepares a multicourse French meal for his parents to give them a taste of his new world. Culinary disaster ensues.

Skip the Marshmallows: The sweet potato is a lovely veggie. Mark Bittman offers some alternatives to the traditional sugary, insipid coating.

The Future of Fish: We have overfished so much that soon, most of the fish we’ll be eating will be farmed. Industrial fish farming wreaks havoc on the land and makes for fish that taste less than wonderful.

Spam: These days, consumers are rediscovering relatively cheap foods, Spam among them.

Leftover Mashed Potatoes: Spanish-influenced potato croquettes with smoked paprika and piquillo peppers are a great alternative to the trash can.

Cocktails as Food: Edible cocktails raise the question: at what point does a cocktail become food?

Rice Salad With Celery and Walnuts: This lemony salad works as a main dish or at the Thanksgiving table.

Queens Chinatown: Flushing, Queens is the best neighborhood for tasting true, dazzling, and inexpensive flavors of China.

Urban Wineries: A small group of vintners is ditching the countryside and opening wineries in old factories, industrial showrooms, and on former naval bases.

Ugly Produce: The European Union scrapped rules banning extra knobbly or oddly shaped produce from stores. Go curvy cucumbers!

Top Chef: A look at the show: confidence and timing are crucial, xenophobic conflict brews this season.

Bargains by the Bottle: Oz Clarke’s Pocket Wine Guide points to top values like Spanish cava and malbec from Mendoza, Argentina.

Ice Cream in Rwanda: The women behind the Blue Marble ice cream shop in Brooklyn plan to open their next store in Rwanda, where they will help provide jobs for local dairy farmers and tasty cones.

Travel: In Chiapas, Mexico the tamales are wonderful and the price is right; 36 hours in Santa Barbara; green chile breakfast burritos in Santa Fe; a traditional fishing shack on stilts in Venice.