Weet-Bix in Sydney I have vague memories of an ad campaign that ran during the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics. Buffed and toothy athletes in their green-and-gold tracksuits stood, backdropped by an Australian flag, talking about how many Weet-Bix they ate each morning. “Five,” br … | Continue reading
Buns in Bangalore I only need to shut my eyes for a brief moment, and I can almost taste the hot morsel of crispy flatbread cradling the spicy, glossy gravy of chickpeas, and I am transported to the little tea house in Panjim, where I first tasted the Goan breakfast my friends ha … | Continue reading
Bordeaux Red in Paris It’s Bastille Day Eve here in Paris, and… he’s here. “He” being the (I still can’t believe I’m typing these words) President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump. Yes, that basic reality-TV-show clown. Time for a glass of wine. I’ve lived here wi … | Continue reading
Chicken soup in Hamburg Are all canned chicken soups created equal? That was my question as I pried open a can of “Meine Hühner Bouillon” at 9:00 a.m. at our guesthouse in Hamburg. I’m not a huge canned soup fan; who is? There’s nothing glamorous about plopping a dented aluminum … | Continue reading
Tiramisu Stout in Delft It was the Netherlands Beer Festival in Delft. It was unique because it was warm and sunny, as opposed to the usual Dutch weather, which involves rain, wind, rain, foul tempers, and more rain. Today, the forecast called for good cheer and alcohol-induced s … | Continue reading
Sign up for R&K Insider, our collection of the most compelling happenings in food, politics, and travel from across the web. Hello, dear readers! I’m back from my recent trip to Denmark and it was, as promised, a delight. My first stop was Copenhagen, where my Airbnb host greeted … | Continue reading
Lobster roll in Québec From the moment I drive off the ferry onto Îles-de-la-Madeleine—seven small islands in the Gulf of the Saint-Lawrence in Quebec, six of which are connected by a road—my goal is to find the best lobster roll on the islands. Lobster has been an obsession of m … | Continue reading
Rakija in Sarajevo It’s 10 p.m. on a Monday in Sarajevo. Down a dark, cobbled street at Kino Bosna, things are just gearing up. It may be Ramadan in this Muslim-majority city—an old crossroads of civilizations that retains a heady mix of European and Ottoman influence—but the rak … | Continue reading
Samosas in Chennai It was a pleasantly warm morning, and little fluffy clouds chased each other across a crystal blue sky, but I wasn’t in the mood to appreciate any of it. My mother and I had spent the night in my grandmother’s hospital room, and neither of us could face another … | Continue reading
Brennivin in Heimaey The flight to Heimaey is a deeply unpleasant experience. About four nautical miles south of mainland Iceland, Heimaey is Iceland’s largest inhabited island, and the only inhabited island in the Vestmannaeyjar Archipelago. It’s a stunning place of green grass, … | Continue reading
Burek in Cappadocia A rogue wind swept past the street and left my teeth clattering. My hands were numb, and I couldn’t feel my feet. March in Cappadocia can be unforgiving, especially for someone from the plains of southern India. I was in dire need of a warm cup of coffee. We h … | Continue reading
Cabo in Goa On a beautiful, warm, and sweet April night, we sat on plastic chairs set on a wooden porch in a small village by the Arabian Sea. Drinking straight from the bottle, we talked about how quickly time seemed to be passing these days. It was dark outside on the beach, an … | Continue reading
Barbacoa in South Texas Vera’s Backyard Bar-B-Que is an understated temple to barbacoa in Brownsville, Texas. When two friends and I arrived at 10:45 one hot morning, Armando Vera, the owner, was turning customers away. They were sold out. Barbacoa has roots in the pre-colonial A … | Continue reading
Vodka in Alaska I hunched over the edge of the bar, questioning my life choices in a line of other regulars who were probably doing the same. Have I spent my time in this world wisely? Do I have any regrets? On Independence Day, North Korea claimed it tested a missile that expert … | Continue reading
Breakfast in Seoul Of the many dishes I tried in Seoul—bibimbap, bulgogi (from a Popeye’s in the DMZ, no less), barbecued pork, pajeon—the most memorable came from an early morning stop in an unexpected alley. I was on assignment documenting a student trip to South Korea. Because … | Continue reading
Mango juice in Konkan “Aam meethe hon aur bohot hon.” Mangoes should be sweet and plentiful. So said the legendary Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib. As someone who spent entire summers on her grandparents’ farm feasting on freshly plucked mangoes for dinner, I would say I completely relate … | Continue reading
Baškotini and skuta in Croatia We entered the monastery, and Martina Pernar Škunca rang a bell. A window opened and a nun said, “Hvaljen Isus i Marija”—Blessed by Jesus and Mary. Martina asked for a kilo (just over two pounds) of baškotini. The sister thrust a bag brimming with t … | Continue reading
Vodka in Seoul On Friday nights in college towns across the United States, one is sure to find house parties, or bars full of collegiate youngsters getting down and unwinding at the end of a long week. In Seoul, things are a little different. Seoul has a “private room” culture. D … | Continue reading
Coffee in Istanbul I had come down with bronchitis on the Turkish coast two days before, so exploring the treasures of Istanbul in 100-degree weather was more ordeal than fun. The heat was unbearable, and the medicine I had been prescribed was taking its time to kick in. All I wa … | Continue reading
‘American’ noodles in Kuala Lumpur Most mornings in Kuala Lumpur, it’s bearably cool and there is a mild level of activity around the neighborhood. You see shopkeepers setting up shop in the wet markets. You watch the silver-haired aunty next door perambulate around the neighborh … | Continue reading
Molletes in Seville It’s our last morning in Sevilla, and I am jolted awake in a panic by my partner’s hands gripping my sides. Within minutes, I’ve thrown on my wrinkled clothes from last night and can hear the door slamming behind us. This urgency is not because we are late for … | Continue reading
Pogacsa in Budapest They come for the cakes, the tiers of poppy seed-vanilla cream crowned with lustrous seals of redcurrant, the booze-laced sponge hidden inside frozen white parfait domes that appear delicately sculpted from plaster. In summer, they come for the cones stuffed w … | Continue reading
Sign up for R&K Insider, our collection of the most compelling happenings in food, politics, and travel from across the web. Happy Thursday, dear readers! I’m off to Copenhagen this weekend, and couldn’t be more excited to eat and drink my way through the city. But before I can … | Continue reading
Palm wine in Nigeria Under normal circumstances, alcohol on a wellness getaway would be a no-no, or counterproductive—the odd glass of wine with dinner is perhaps the exception. However, palm wine, or palmy, as locals affectionately call it, is a staple and a healthy part of life … | Continue reading
Hot dogs in Iceland We left the house by the glacier early—around 7 a.m. My husband and I had to get back to Reyjkavik to catch a plane that afternoon. I expected, like in so many other places I’d travelled, that we would be able to find an open coffee shop or breakfast restauran … | Continue reading
Heineken in Cox’s Bazar Outside, the Indian Ocean was the temperature of bath water, lapping gently at the shore. The dull murmur of the waves was barely audible above the incessant horns of passing rickshaws and motorized three-wheelers scooting through Cox’s Bazar, a burgeoning … | Continue reading
Falafel in Berlin Why is falafel such a difficult food to get right? This is not a rhetorical question. I don’t cook, so I don’t know. But half the time I order falafel, it’s like a crunchy ball of baked sand. It’s tasteless, mealy, and above all, dry. Sometimes it’s so dry it cr … | Continue reading
Presidente in the Dominican Republic “Dame una fria.” Gimme a cold one. “Uno cien, amigo.” “Gracias.” I smiled and put a 100-peso bill on the counter, grabbing the ice-crusted bottle of Presidente pilsner. Much power is invested in that little phrase, dame una fria. A Dominican f … | Continue reading
Tiger Pie in Sydney The decor is retro diner; pure Americana. Chrome benches, vinyl seat covers, a big neon sign out the front that screams HARRY’s. Pinups of visiting celebrities paste the walls. But the menu is single-mindedly British. Pies, and lots of them. The classic mince … | Continue reading
IPA in Accra Almost five years ago, I poured a pint of Scotland’s Black Isle Blonde for a Ghanaian chef who came into the bar I worked at in Edinburgh. We bonded over our love of the beer, and he told me all about his country, which I was, coincidentally, about to visit. This new … | Continue reading
Skyr in Reykjavik The first thing Iceland would like you to know about Skyr is it isn’t yogurt. It is at first glance. It’s sold next to the real yogurt, and comes in a variety of delightful fruit flavors, like yogurt. But it is not yogurt. The difference is Skyr is more solid th … | Continue reading
Raspado in Tucson I had no idea what a raspado was before I went to Arizona. It’s a Mexican-style shaved-ice drink, named from the Spanish raspar, which means “to scrape.” It can be topped with fruit, flavoring, syrup, and various condiments. It can be sweet, savory, spicy, or al … | Continue reading
Tea in the Nineveh Plains The men stir their tea. They speak, stare, and listen. Then, they stir some more. Some strangers—now fellow-travelers and, indeed, friends—and I have been traipsing around the Nineveh Plains all day. We’re on our way to Mosul. The Western journalists amo … | Continue reading
Sign up for R&K Insider, our collection of the most compelling happenings in food, politics, and travel from across the web. Hello, all! I’m Alexa, R&K’s senior producer, filling in for Cara on this week of good and bad Cuba news. First, the good: we published Colombian journal … | Continue reading
Coconut cookies in Kabul The Slice Bakery opened while I was briefly living in Istanbul, but even in Turkey, I heard that it had become a gathering point for young people in Kabul. Visitors to Istanbul from Kabul would talk about meetings and debates over coffee and pastries—Turk … | Continue reading
Cider in Cornwall We had driven five hours from London to get to St Ives, on the western tip of Cornwall, England. On single-lane roads on which we were the only car, past cliffs looking over the Celtic Sea, under bridges with faded EU flags tied onto them, flapping in the wind—t … | Continue reading
Pork sausage and marshmallow salad in Tavistock, Ontario Defeat makes you hungry. Or maybe it’s the fact that we dragged ourselves out of bed at 6:00 a.m. to make it to the World Crokinole Championship on time. Either way, two intense hours of disk-flicking have failed to get us … | Continue reading
Urak in Goa It was hot and humid. The monsoon season was still a few weeks away; just the right weather for downing a few pegs of urak. Feni might be the more famous Goan brew, distilled from the cashew apple, but urak—the fruit’s first distillate—is the drink of choice for Goans … | Continue reading
Encebollado in Esmeraldas It’s noon, and the whole flat is waking up, hungry, with thumping headaches. Trying to piece the together the night before is a daunting task. The best way to do it is over some encebollado, Ecuador’s famous fish soup. We head out, tired and sweating on … | Continue reading
Mint tea in the Sahara We had been driving off-road through the Sahara near the Moroccan-Algerian border for what seemed like a day, but was probably closer to two hours. Every bump along the landscape became more pronounced. The rattling of the truck grew louder, drowning out th … | Continue reading
HAVANA, Cuba— It’s 11 p.m. on a pleasant, breezy Wednesday night in Havana as I walk into one of the city’s public parks with for-pay Wi-Fi. I’m in the Vedado district, the city’s entertainment hub, which is filled with tall modernist buildings, art deco walk-up apartments, and p … | Continue reading
The small city of Le Mans will be transformed this weekend as hundreds of thousands of spectators flock to see the famed 24-hour speed-car extravaganza. | Continue reading
Mezcal in Mexico City Upon moving to Mexico City, my husband and I immediately set out to determine our happy-hour spot, a place to cut through the smog that stuck in the back of our throats and watch the brilliant, dusty sunset. La Nacional is a casual mezcal bar, not hidden awa … | Continue reading
Sign up for R&K Insider, our collection of the most compelling happenings in food, politics, and travel from across the web. This week, we published a series of photos following the Green Cross, a group of medical students offering aid to both sides of the conflict in Venezuela. … | Continue reading
Breakfast in Vienna I had just flown in from Kiev to Bratislava, in Slovakia, then took a bus to Vienna, another hour-and-a-half’s journey. My body was tired, but I was very hungry. Crisp air clung to the streets as I approached Vienna’s Naschmarkt—a vast food market with over 10 … | Continue reading
Whisky in Antarctica In March, I boarded a ship to Antarctica to shoot a documentary on climate change. The Ocean Endeavor departed from Ushuaia, on the southernmost tip of Argentina, and sailed around West Antarctica for 10 days. My fellow passengers were a strange mix of scient … | Continue reading
Fruit gaspacho in Morelia I was on my own for the day in Morelia, the Spanish-style colonial capital of the Mexican state of Michoacan. I’d tagged along with my husband on a business trip, and spent the one full day we’d had together sick in the hotel, with that feeling of a cat … | Continue reading
Beer in Budapest The “ruin pub” is a Budapest institution, and the place to be any night of the week in the Hungarian capital. The premise is simple, smart, and sometimes illegal. You take a piece of ground that is abandoned and falling apart. You fix it up (but not too much), op … | Continue reading