An Evening in Tashkent
If you ever find yourself hungry in Tashkent and want a wonderful sit-down dining experience, go to The Caravan. The food is classic Uzbek: Lagman, Norin, Beshbarmak, and Manti, and it is very good....
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White Mulberries
I spent many a contented hour of my childhood grazing on wild mulberries in the woods near my parents home. My friends and I would feast on the dark, ripe berries, rushing to get to them before the...
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Uzbek Homestay in Paradise
I’ve just returned from a homestay in a small mountain village in Uzbekistan’s Nurata mountains. For a couple of days, I was welcomed into the life of a family in a small house perched amongst steep...
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Uzbekistan – Faces
Tajik Man in the Nurata Mountains To see some of the many ethnicities that the Silk Road brought to Uzbekistan, click here. Turks, Arabs, Greeks, Tajiks, Mongolians, and Persians; so many ethnicities...
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Cooking with the Kazakhs
Home Sweet Yurt While still in Uzbekistan, I had a yurt homestay with an extended family of Kazakhs. Ever since I was a child, dreaming of Central Asia and Mongolia, I have wanted to stay in a yurt. A...
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Silk Road in the News #8: A Maritime Silk Road Stop in Australia?
Coins from Kilwa, ca. 900 ACE African coins, some possibly minted as early as 900 ACE, have been found buried on the Wessel Islands of Northern Australia, and have thrown accepted notions of when...
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Sweet and Spicy Bhutanese Pickles
Sliced Bhutanese Pickled Cucumbers As the mercury in Baltimore and DC has recently approached or broken 100° Fahrenheit, many folks here have turned to an easier, cooler way to dine. A few small salads...
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Indian Curry Through Foreign Eyes #3: Domingos Rodrigues
Arte de Cozinha Take a step back in time from the English (Hannah Glasse) and American (Mary Randolph) versions of Indian curry that we have examined and explore a 17th Century Portuguese version of a...
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The Origins of Curry
The origins of curry – both the word and the food – are clouded in assumption, misinformation and cherry-picking of language to suit one’s purposes. From my recent research on curry for the Curry...
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Food and Wine Frescoes from the Wei and Jin Tombs
Desert Near Wei-and-Jin Tombs, 2012 In an inhospitable area between the Gobi and the Taklamakan Deserts northeast of Jaiyuguan, China a time capsule was buried almost 2000 years ago. Underneath the...
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Kimchi Chigae
I love kimchi. I have several jars of kimchi in my refrigerator at all times. Kimchi of Napa cabbages and Korean radish, cucumber kimchi, and now, thanks to food and travel writer Michael Y. Park –...
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A 17th C. Frittata with Chili Peppers
Described by the Spanish in 1492 during the first Columbian voyage to the New World, chili peppers took the Old World by storm. Brought by the Portuguese to their colonies in Africa and India by the...
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Building the Perfect Soup
Flat noodles in a savory broth, with egg, pork, and mushroom slices. All topped with garlic chives and some green onions. A perfect, satisfying, nutritious soup. Some dishes don’t need a lot of words...
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Curry Through Foreign Eyes #4: Dr. Kitchiner
Today’s exploration of Indian Curry through Foreign Eyes takes us back to early 19th Century England to The Cook’s Oracle by Dr. Kitchiner, which was first published in London by Samuel Bagster in...
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The Origins of Curry Powder
Where did curry powder come from? There is no real equivalent in authentic subcontinental cuisines for a ready-made powder. The closest thing to a curry powder is a masala, and that is almost always...
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Communist Kimchi!
DPRK Kimchi recipe You may recall that in the Kimchi Chigae post I mentioned that I was developing a North Korean kimchi recipe. Well I worked the handwritten recipe with no ingredient amounts that you...
View ArticleInterview in Ancient History Encyclopedia
A very cool thing happened a couple of days ago: I was interviewed by Ancient History Encyclopedia. The focus of the interview was largely my work on ancient cuisines, but there is some discussion of...
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Culinary History Mystery #6: Tomato Eggs
Chinese Tomato Eggs Tomato Eggs is a home-cooked Chinese dish that reminds students, travelers, and those living abroad of home. Just a whiff of this cooking and folks will tell tales of sitting in or...
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Rice Omelets, Yōshoku, and A Little International Understanding
2014 began with our family hosting a Japanese college student for a brief homestay. A Facebook friend of mine had a daughter studying in the United States; she had some time on her hands over the...
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The Secrets of Umami in Zester Daily
My first post for the great publication, Zester Daily, was released today. Go on over and read all about The Secret to Umami’s Magic by yours truly! Delicious Uzbek Samsa The post The Secrets of Umami...
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