SOUTHERN FOOD At Home, on the Road, in History By John Egerton Knopf. 408 pp. $22.95 FOUR DECADES ago, when my family moved from suburban New York to Southside Virginia, the South was terra incognita to most Northerners. My parents spoke in wonder...

Gnashing your teeth against loose gravel in your salad is not considered the finest culinary experience-that's why most cooks wash the lettuce. But with many other plants, grasses in particular, washing isn't much help. The plants incorporate phytoliths, microscopic opals of silica (the main...

Selected home-video releases:"Letters From Iwo Jima," "Flags of Our Fathers"Clint Eastwood delivers an unparalleled film achievement with these bookend films that came out just two months apart last year, "Flags" telling the story of Iwo Jima from the side of U.S. troops invading the island,...

The tumor that was removed from Bobby Murcer's brain during surgery last month was malignant."As we begin a new year, I find myself facing a new challenge _ the biggest of my life so far. Pathology reports have revealed that the brain tumor removed was...