Somewhere South

When self-proclaimed "soul food scholar" Adrian Miller visits eastern North Carolina on a barbecue expedition for his new book, Vivian takes him to Sid's, a Saturday-only barbecue spot that does whole hog in the region's famous style.

Brothers and restaurateurs Tatsu and Shion Aikawa are self-proclaimed 'samurai cowboys.' They take Vivian on a tour of their favorite barbecue joints in Lockhart, the barbecue capital of the Lone Star State. The trio feast on a picnic spread reminiscent of the brothers' personal foodways inspired by the barbecue traditions of Japan and Texas.

Glenn and Dorsey Hunt are known for their collard sandwiches, which makes them among the most popular food vendors at the annual Lumbee Homecoming in Pembroke, N.C. Desite being busy, they were happy to show their collard sandwich operation to Vivian Howard.

Cookbook author Von Diaz takes Vivian Howard to the Your Dekalb Farmers Market in Dekalb County, Ga., north of Atlanta. They explore all the greens at the market from raw in the produce aisle and to sauteed and cooked on the hot bar.

Chefs Meherwan Irani, Cheetie Kumar, Samantha Fore and Farhan Momin, along with Eater writer Sonia Chopra, explain Indian pickle traditions to Vivian Howard while sampling a variety at Irani's Chai Pani restaurant in Asheville, N.C.

Chef Anges Marrero, a Puerto Rican chef who now calls Lexington, Kentucky home, shows Vivian Howard how she makes catfish escabeche. Agnes Marrero is the executive chef at Smithtown Seafood in Lexington.

Every Southerner has a particular way they cook and eat barbecue. While Vivian knows North Carolina’s tradition of whole hog barbecue, she travels to Florida for smoked mullet and Texas for barbecue with Japanese and Mexican twists.

At the Lumbee tribe’s annual homecoming, Vivian samples their famous collard sandwich and learns the roots of Southern hospitality. On a trip to Clarkston, Ga., Vivian meets a group of refugee farmers who grows greens that remind them of home. Premieres April 24.

Vivian is asked to lecture on chow chow, a quintessentially Southern relish, at Asheville’s first ever Chow Chow Festival. From there, her preservation education dives into Indian and Sri Lankan pickles, Puerto Rican escabeche and Korean kimchi.

A charity dinner and a trip to the Mississippi Delta and farther south reminds Vivian that not all dumplings are the same. But whether filled with minced meat, chopped veggies, or nothing at all, dumplings stretch our ingredients and our imagination. Premieres April 10.

The many wonders of schmaltz render Vivian speechless. In Jackson, Mississippi, home cooks Petra Kay, Susan Hart and Alli Parshall discuss the history of Jewish ingredients and why they're so healing.

At an East Meets West dinner in North Carolina, Chef Edward Lee and Vivian can't quite figure out how to define a dumpling. A debate ensues as they discuss the Asian dumplings of the royal courts versus the dumpling of Southern comfort food.