Our Favorite Food Stories From The Week

This week, we got a few history lessons on some of our favorite international cuisine, like pho and Chinese food (the latter being popular where you'd least expect it). We also lingered over cultural experiences, like an ashram visit where an Indian sweet steals the show, and a dinner party where music is the main ingredient. Here are seven of our favorite reads to send you into the long weekend.

With mouthwatering photos, Eater describes the curious tale of how Chinese food became so popular in Mexico City.

In another history lesson from Lucky Peach, cookbook author Andrea Nguyen tells the storied history of pho, including the much-disputed etymology of the noodle soup's name, regional variations and the author's personal connection to the dish.

First We Feast comes to the defense of the slender burrito. If you haven't heard of it yet, just wait. Just you wait.

Get a good laugh from The New Yorker's latest Shouts and Murmurs column, which tells the story of ordering office lunch in the style of a Greek tragedy. "The scene is laid in the interior of an office, shortly before one in the afternoon . . . "

And then get serious with Munchies' heavy but inspiring tale of a falafel maker at an Idomeni refugee camp, a touching read that importantly humanizes the ongoing refugee crisis.

In its breakfast series, Roads & Kingdoms highlights the often overlooked or completely unrecognized appeal of burfi, an Indian sweet that captivates the ashram-visiting author (and has a special place in this editor's heart as well).

Finally, The Salt describes an intriguing, San Francisco supper club in which a musician-turned-chef hosts "culinary jam sessions" to feed the body and the spirit. You're going to want a piece of the action.