Griot is considered a national dish of Haiti and all it takes is a taste to understand why. Adored by José Andrés, this dish is a wonderful mix of cooking techniques; marinated pork shoulder is slowly braised and then fried, leaving the meat tender and flavorful.
"What we didn't expect was the response - customers were coming by, messaging us, and sharing stories about what the restaurant meant to them. It made us realize this wasn't just a place to eat - it had become part of people's routines and memories."
The spices are merely a vessel for culture, community, storytelling, and politics. The recipes were so fresh, simple, and seasonal. That's not the version of South Asian food that most people know.
Walking through the narrow bylanes of Mylapore neighbourhood at dusk is like watching a sepia-tinted postcard of Madras coming to life and gently reasserting itself over the Chennai of today. The 7th-century Kapaleeshwarar Temple, the fulcrum of commerce and culture, draws the devout into its timeless force field, and on nearby Pitchu Pillai Lane, a small crowd gathers around the Raghul Kuzhi Paniyaram street stall to buy kuzhi paniyarams: spongy orbs of pan-fried batter speckled with mustard seeds.
Oversized burritos are more of a north-of-the-border staple. In Mexico, even in northern regions where burritos originate, they're practical and proportionate. This is owed to the differences between traditional Mexican cuisine and its American-adapted counterpart.
Med Salleh, which has has one Malaysian restaurant in Bayswater and two Vietnamese ones in Westbourne Grove and Earl's Court, has just added a fourth branch in Kentish Town. The newest site is Malaysian-focused, like the original, serving a menu of street food inspired by Med's upbringing in Malaysia, including dishes from his hometown of Kampar as well as flavours from Ipoh and Penang.
When Ceylon India Inn opened near Times Square in the early 1900s, the city's first South Asian restaurant quickly became a hub for New York's burgeoning community of desi (a term used to describe people of South Asian descent) dock workers, and students. More than a century later, there are more than 400 such restaurants across the five boroughs, enticing a far more diverse array of diners.
Though they were only serving in town for one night, the chefs and staff behind the Mexico City supernova Masala y Maíz managed to cause what felt like a temporary ripple in L.A. dining during their pop-up last week. It reminded this diner that despite the era's current dedication to culinary and cultural boundaries - you should only cook what you know, write what you know - a spirit of mixture and melding can actually lead to something extraordinary, and not cringey, in practice.
The Islamic holiday began Feb. 17 and ends March 19, during which observers fast from dawn to sunset to foster discipline, self-control and gratitude. Observers break their daily fast with an iftar, a festive meal shared with loved ones after sunset. Many also rise before dawn for a suhoor meal.
Amid the commotion, Aamer Iqbal, a 50-year-old banker, took a deep breath and asked his daughter to let go of the kite she was helping to launch. It was the first time in nearly two decades that Iqbal was able to engage in an activity that had defined his childhood: the simple act of flying a kite.
Variations of coconut fish curry abound up and down the Swahili Coast, so much so that the dish is often broadly referred to as East African fish curry. This version of coconut fish curry leans heavily on xawaash, a spice blend that is at the heart of Somali cuisine. This Is my malaay qumbe, coconut fish curry. Variations of coconut fish curry can be found all throughout East Africa.
When it comes to traybakes, chicken is the undisputed hero, because it's endlessly adaptable and perfect for carrying bold, global flavours. First up, some eastern Mediterranean chicken meatballs, flecked with feta and black olives for a sharp, savoury punch. Then a Persian-style saffron chicken and rice; the rice cooks with the chicken, absorbing all the flavours of the sunshine-yellow saffron and crisping up at the edges.
Khan started Darjeeling Express as a pop-up at Soho pub The Sun & 13 Cantons in 2014 before taking on a permanent site in Kingly Court. She decided not to reopen there post-lockdown and chose instead to move the restaurant to a bigger site in Covent Garden, where she stayed until the summer of 2022. Following another pop-up stint, this time in west London, Khan moved Darjeeling Express back to Kingly Court at the beginning of 2023.
My better half was quite used to me waking up on a Sunday morning and saying, "I think we'll go to Cork today, or London." Indeed, on one occasion it was France, as the BBC weather forecast informed me that it was "calm down around the Lizard", and so would be a perfectly calm sailing from Rosslare to Cherbourg. Ringing Irish Ferries to make a booking, the somewhat startled chap had said "Do you realise, missus, it's now 11am and the boat sails at 4pm?"
A true one-pot meal, this Indian-spiced rice is made with store-bought spicy simmer sauce, paired with tofu and cauliflower. It's hearty, filling and you can load it up with a range of herbs or crunchy nuts as toppings. We are staying in a little loft in San Francisco right now, trying to find our next place to live. The kitchen is tiny: two electric burners, a microwave, roughly 2 feet of counter space.
Kolamba showcases Sri Lankan home cooking as it's eaten across the island. Bold spices, deeply layered curries, fragrant rice and freshly made roti, all designed to be shared. Hoppers (also known as appa/appam) are a Sri Lankan staple: thin and lacy at the edges, soft and slightly spongy in the middle, and just as good at breakfast as they are at dinner.
Even though there was an intense religious ceremony happening right outside their car, Bourdain apparently wanted to feed his crew after a long day of filming. With not much more than "a few handfuls of cooked rice available" during the shoot, he knew they were "hot, hungry, and very far from home." And Woolever said that meant they were ready to eat "some resolutely Western fast food chicken and biscuits."
The paratha ($18), a beautifully single, hella-fluffed and towering round, sits on top of creamy dal where the sambal oil adds some nice heat. The abacus seeds ($24), where soft, earthy gnocchi made with taro are paired with smoky and chewy mushrooms, and amped up with chile and shaoxing wine. The rendang ($34) comes with pulled stewy spicy smoky oxtail (Kelang's Caribbean influence), rounded out with a delightful rice mixture of djon djon (a Haitian black mushroom rice) and nasi ulam (Malaysian herbed rice).
Filipino food is the kind of thing everyone should try at least once, but it's such a varied cuisine that it bears coming back often. Often bold, bright, and playful, Filipino food is full of life. And, unless you know a very ambitious home cook, there's nowhere better to have your first Filipino food experience than at your local Filipino restaurant.
