“Smell this,” said Eric, holding a small dish under my nose. The warm aroma of toasted cumin seed and coriander seed rose from the bowl. He would later add pepper, cinnamon, fenugreek, turmeric, black lemon zest, and saffron to finish what Qataris call bazaar spice.
Category: Asia
Assignment 143: Vietnam
When I was sixteen, I left North America for the first time. I flew by myself to Paris, then on to Bangkok, and finally to Ho Chi Minh City, where my uncle waited for me. I spent most of the trip in a wide-eyed state that I later recognized…
Assignment 135: Kazakhstan
I really like assignments that take me on a culinary journey far beyond what is familiar to me, and so when Kazakhstan came up as my next Wooden Spoon Wanderer destination, I was excited to get started. Right off the bat, I realized that sourcing traditional ingredients was going to be…
Assignment 134: Türkiye
From the moment his assignment landed in his lap, Eric knew he wanted to try his hand at Turkish ice cream. The dish is made famous by videos of tricky ice cream vendors flipping cones and scoops back and forth between themselves and waiting customers…
Assignment 131: Philippines
I have had Filipino food exactly once, at a little restaurant in Toronto. At a table covered with banana leaves, we were served a hefty portion of garlic rice topped with grilled seafood. We ate with our hands — Filipinos call this style of eating Kamayan…
Assignment 127: Iran
For this assignment, we were joined by a few friends, which I always love. Eating should be a communal experience whenever possible, I believe, and this is even more the case for Wooden Spoon Wanderer assignments, when the table is extra full…
Assignment 125: Kyrgyzstan
I was thrilled when Kyrgyzstan was randomly drawn for my next assignment. I know next to nothing about Central Asian cuisine and love learning about a brand new cuisine. The more I researched, the more intrigued I became — Kyrgyzstan is where the better known culinary traditions of…
Assignment 120: Maldives
Our family and friends all know about the Wooden Spoon Wanderer project, and by this point, have contributed a few cookbooks to the WSW library, including some that cover all the countries of the world. These come in very handy, especially for tiny places like Maldives, and…
Assignment 117: India
If I’m being honest, I was overwhelmed to get India as my next assignment. Thrilled, excited, eager…but overwhelmed. Indian food is one of my favourite cuisines (and Eric’s absolute favourite). I’ve eaten a huge variety of fabulous Indian dishes that hail from all parts of the country. The resources…
Assignment 116: Kuwait
Sometimes it’s weeks or even months between assignments, as we juggle life and work, source hard-to-find ingredients, or just put the blog on the back-burner for a while and wait for inspiration to strike again. This time, however, Eric did his assignment less than a week…
