cuisine

From street-food to fine dining, traditional Italian to Asian-Fusion, being well-versed in global cuisine is the first step to culinary mastery.

Funazushi: The fermented predecessor of modern sushi
On any fine day in spring, when the sky is clear and the waters of nearby Lake Biwa are calm enough for locals to go carp fishing, you can find Mariko Kitamura and her husband Atsushi at their shop Kitashina in the small Japanese town of Takashima making sushi.
By Seamons Mahall3 years ago in Feast
How Taco Bell 'stole' the taco
While there are 7,400 Taco Bell locations, there is only one Mitla Cafe In the world of food snobbery – in this case, Mexican food snobbery – hard-shell tacos are considered something of a taco crime. Crispy, ground beef-filled tacos topped with cheese, tomatoes and lettuce are seen as so passé that a single mention of eating one could cause a collective eyeroll from the hipster fooderati everywhere from Brooklyn to Portland, Echo Park to Austin. But not in San Bernardino, California.
By Turnell Feliu3 years ago in Feast
The Greek island with an ancient 'sushi' tradition
"What are you doing? Why are you throwing it away?" cried Nikos Stamatakis to a young fisherman who'd just disentangled a huge moray eel from a net full of red snapper on the shore of Skopelos, a Greek island in the Western Aegean Sea.
By Turnell Feliu3 years ago in Feast
Prahok: The pungent fish elevating Cambodian cuisine
"There's a saying among our elders, 'No good prahok, no good friends'," said chef Luu Meng with a smile. "Prahok in the countryside is part of life for Cambodian people; it has been an essential ingredient in kitchens for many generations."
By Turnell Feliu3 years ago in Feast
The Basque cake made with a 280-year-old water mill
"You'll have to move quickly," Gerard Lhuillier told me as I stepped inside Moulin de Bassilour, camera in hand. "The cakes are almost done!"
By Turnell Feliu3 years ago in Feast
The contentious origins of England's famous pudding
Where is the best place in the world for dessert? Is it Japan, with its sweet mochi rice dumplings, matcha-flavoured ice cream and agar jelly anmitsu? Or is it Italy, with its coffee-soaked tiramisu and shell-shaped cannoli? How about France, with its creme brulee, choux profiteroles and tarte tatin? No. No. And no.
By Turnell Feliu3 years ago in Feast
A superfood fit for a pharaoh
"It's easy to swallow, so Egyptian mothers feed their babies on it after nursing," remarked Emad Farag, an employee at The St. Regis Cairo, as I slurped another spoonful of the mysterious moss-coloured soup. Of all the things I'd imagined I'd be dining on in Cairo's swankiest new hotel, "posh baby food" was not it.
By Turnell Feliu3 years ago in Feast
House of Bennani: the library of the habous of couscous
At the western edge of Tunis' medina, beneath a loud mural of football graffiti, I arrived at an almost invisible arched door set in a pale pink stone doorway carved with flowers. As I pressed the doorbell, I heard shuffling inside and the loud turning of an old lock. The door swung open, and Mohammed Bennani beckoned me inside.
By Mejra3 years ago in Feast
The French take on a trendy 'superfood'
As Scarlette Le Corre edges slowly through the sun-blazed shallows at low tide, emerald sea lettuce and ginger sea spaghetti kaleidoscope around her rubber boots like two-tone marbling ink. No step is taken without first scrutinising the marine life at her feet – this highly trained eye doesn't miss a subaqueous beat. Snip. A head of rock-clinging sea lettuce unveiled by the ebbing ocean is deftly cut off and popped in her bucket of water. Snip. A fistful of coarse red dulse and clumps of green hairy cheveux de mer (grass kelp) – which sea-vegetable gourmets in France simply rinse, twirl in olive oil and eat – get the chop.
By Mejra3 years ago in Feast
London's most authentic Indian food?
You could easily miss Drummond Street. Just west of Euston Station in central London, it's an unassuming stretch of townhouses, basement flats, restaurants and shops, easily walked in a couple of minutes.
By Turnell Feliu3 years ago in Feast
The desert chefs who cook with the sun
Piercing rays of light beamed down on the Chilean village of Villaseca as Luisa Ogalde placed a pot filled with cabrito (young goat's meat) in an angular, transparent-topped box and angled it in the direction of the mid-morning sun. The cabrito, she explained, would stew in that box for four hours, slowly transforming into meat so juicy and tender you could slice it with a fork.
By Copperchaleu3 years ago in Feast
France's undisputed queens of cheese
In the months leading up to the very first cheese-focused iteration of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) competition, held every few years to recognise the country's the best craftspeople, Nathalie Quatrehomme remembers her cheesemonger mother, Marie, taking over the family living room, assembling and disassembling a plexiglass apparatus supporting dozens of different cheeses.
By Mejra3 years ago in Feast