A Caucasus Celebration

We had friends over again, and as usual, I spent a couple of days in the kitchen preparing for their visit.  This time I whipped up a regional tasting menu of Caucasian specialties from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.  As they ate and in between the “yummy sounds” my friends kept on commenting that there were, “so many flavors on the plate”. Many thanks to my … Read more

Ramadan Kareem

The time of Ramadan is almost upon us once again. Since so many of the land and maritime routes of the Silk Road ran through predominantly Muslim countries, and since Muslim traders played such an important role in moving the goods and ideas around that led to a globalization of the ancient world, I wanted to take a moment to explain the holiday to non-Muslims … Read more

A Silk Road Gourmet Thanksgiving

With the US’s Thanksgiving Day rapidly approaching, I thought I’d offer a few recipes from the first volume of The Silk Road Gourmet to help you blend Silk Road cookery with traditional fare for the holiday feast. The first recipe and centerpiece of the meal is to be found in Iran’s wonderful Lamb with Cardamom and Pomegranate Sauce. It is an original recipe based on … Read more