Clik here to view.
Curry Through Foreign Eyes #5: Japanese Curry
The next stop on our exploration of Indian Curry Through Foreign Eyes is Japan. Curry came to Japan by way of British sailors and merchants in the mid-19th Century. This happened sometime after...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Areni Winemaking – Ancient and Modern
Last year I had the pleasure of visiting the Areni-1 cave in southern Armenia. Many unique and noteworthy artifacts have been found in the cave, including leather shoes; fine linen fabric, woven reed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rhubarb’s Silk Road History in Zester Daily
Everything you wanted to know about rhubarb’s Silk Road history, from its origins in Tibet and early use as medicine to its adoption as a food, in Zester Daily. A great recipe for savory lamb and...
View ArticleListen to Laura on Taste of the Past
Listen to an interview with me on Heritage Radio’s Taste of the Past about spring rhubarb and some historical and modern Silk Road food topics. Also included is a discussion about foods, like rhubarb,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Review of the Viking Cookbook, An Early Meal
An Early Meal by Serra and Tunberg Raiders… conquerors… fierce in battle and strong in family. These are the images that the world has of Vikings. We know where they lived, and to some degree how they...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pomegranate Symbolism for Spring
Pomegranates have been used as symbols to conjure everything from lust and sexual abandon, to fertility and prosperity, to blood and national identity, and even, as in Persephone’s case, death and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Homemade 1000-Year Eggs Unveiled
We harvested the 1000-year eggs and are finally getting around to preparing and eating some of the crop. The color is right, and a few of them have the pine-patterning that their CHinese name suggests...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cool as Cucumber Kimchi
With temperatures warming up again and summer on its way. Cucumber kimchi is a wonderful, light recipe for picnics, snacks and light meals. Easy to make, unlike many kimchi recipes, cucumbers can be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cold Tofu with Pidan
One of my favorite ways to enjoy 1000-year eggs is as part of a cold-tofu salad. This presentation of pidan is enjoyed all over China this way as well as in Taiwan, Japan and Korea. It is served as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sliced Peppers with Century Eggs
This is another appetizer or salad presentation of 1000-year eggs. One of the interesting things about this dish is that it can be served hot with the peppers and other vegetables fresh from the wok....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Eggs with Shrimp and Pidan
One of the agreeable and delicious ways to enjoy pidan is with eggs. Some recipes use pidan along with salted eggs or salted egg yolks with or without fresh chicken or duck eggs to make custards or...
View ArticleClik here to view.
1000-Year Eggs with Bitter Melon
This recipe takes two unusually flavored foods and combines them in a cold salad or appetizer in a way that makes them delicious. For those of you not familiar with bitter melon, it really is naturally...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stir-Fried Beef with Century Eggs
This interesting dish combines century eggs with sliced beef in a stir fry that is perfectly suitable as a main dish, or as one of many dishes in a multicourse Chinese meal. Most of the flavor in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Green Eggs and Ham Chinese Style
I would eat them in a car, or at a bar, or on the way to a star . . . Of course, I am talking about century eggs! But I am getting Seussy because this recipe pairs the pidan with a savory, delicious...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fried Rice with Thousand-year Eggs
We are nearing the end of our exploration of Thousand-Year Eggs (for now). There was just something congruous (perhaps logarithmic?) about offering 10 recipes for 1000-Year Eggs that really floated my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Thai Pork with 1000-Year Eggs
This next to last recipe for 1000-Year Eggs might be my favorite way to prepare them. It is savory, spicy, and hot, and the Thai basil lends a wonderful lightness to both the pork and the eggs for a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spinach Soup with Century Eggs
We’ve come to the end of our current exploration of Century Eggs – from making them from scratch, to mixing them with other ingredients and preparing dishes with them. This is recipe number ten of ten,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Silk Road Summer Bean Salad in Zester Daily
What summer picnic is complete without a light and refreshing bean salad? These light and refreshing salads complement roast meats and vegetables wonderfully and are easy to prepare and are extremely...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Uyghur Big Plate Chicken
This is a quintessential Uyghur Dish. Stir-fried chicken, potatoes and bell peppers in a rich, savory sauce redolent with star anise and cinnamon. Roasted cumin flavors the base of the sauce, with...
View ArticleUyghur Five-Spice Blend
This five-spice mix forms the backbone of Uyghur cuisine – at least that part of it that deals with roast meats. Variations of this mix are used to flavor many Uyghur dishes, with other ingredients –...
View Article
