Silk Road Gourmet

Crowdsourcing for Volume 2

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A fan of Silk Road Gourmet recently suggested that I try crowdsourcing to raise funds for the publication of Silk Road Gourmet Volume 2.  I hemmed and hawed a bit, thinking that 10K would be too much to try to crowdsource,but after researching the issue,  I decided to to give it a try!

Volume 2 will cover the cuisines and cultures of Central Asia, The Himalayas and the Indo Pacific.  These cuisines will be explored as lesser known “fusion” cuisines that combine ingredients or food-preparation methods from Western or Southern Asia with those of Eastern Asia.

The books are labors of love for me, and I would dearly like to finish them in the next few years.

If you can contribute, even a little, I will be able to get the next volume published sooner, rather than later.  Please share the link with culinarily inclined friends as well . . .

The link to donate on GoFundMe is here

Silk Road Gourmet Nominated for Award

I am thrilled to report that the first volume of Silk Road Gourmet has been nominated for a “golden ladle” in Le Cordon Bleu’s World Media Food Awards. I haven’t won (yet) but simply being nominated is such an honor that I am a bit over the moon about it! I’m glad someone out there appreciates the united picture of food and culture that I tried to paint as well as some of the creative flavor combinations I highlighted.

Le Cordon Bleu Nominee Seal

Another thing I’m thrilled about is that the book is also on sale at The American Museum of Natural History in NYC as part of their Silk Road Exhibit. There’s a big cycle that is being completed (or perhaps repeated) here, because years ago, I was an intern at the AMNH in the casting and molding department under Martin Cassidy. At that time, I helped to mold and cast the museum’s T-rex skeleton now on display in Philadelphia, The British Museum (skull only) and many other venerable museums around the world. In a way I couldn’t have envisioned back then, I’ve “come home” to the museum I have always loved. (Words by Laura Kelley)

The Welcome Wagon

Greetings and welcome to the Silk Road Gourmet Blog.  I started the website as a companion to my upcoming book – The Silk Road Gourmet which features recipes from countries that were once part of the great Silk Road trade.  For over 30 years I’ve been travelling the world, eating and collecting recipes, and just recently decided to gather some of my favorite Asian recipes together in a book that will allow people to sample what I consider some of the highlights of the Silk Road cooking. The book also discusses how food is an important part of the material culture of a people and as such how it bears the imprint of history.  Also considered are the connections between cuisines and how they came to be.

In this blog, I’ll be telling some of the stories behind the travelling and recipe gathering as well as discussing some more recent culinary and cultural adventures I’ve been having.  I also welcome guest posts about your culinary and cultural adventures along the Silk Road or elsewhere in the world.  All I ask is that guest posts keep with the overall mood of the essays and discuss personal perceptions and feelings about food and travel or the preparation of food.

I also urge you to check out the rest of the site for information on the book, countries covered and of course some delicious recipes.  If you have questions or suggestions feel free to e-mail me at laurakelley at silkroadgourmet dot com.  Till then – welcome and enjoy!