Roasted goat in Kabale I had convinced my expedition team of two Tanzanians and one other American to venture 100 miles off track during an already 1,500-mile journey. My plan was to visit Kabale, a Ugandan city that had been described as the Switzerland of East Africa for its pi … | Continue reading
It was a chilly September night in the Davis Mountains, deep in the isolated expanse of West Texas. Some 200 people had gathered at the McDonald Observatory outside Fort Davis, hours from the nearest airport, for one of its thrice-weekly Star Parties. The sun receded toward the h … | Continue reading
Lumpia in Bali Nothing would go wrong on my parents’ first trip to Bali, I decided. Their Bali would be the stuff of the airline magazine they’d read on the flight there. Their first night would be in one of those cute walled gardens, hidden from the street by an ornate wooden do … | Continue reading
Boba in Taipei Evening is descending on Ximending, and the food hawkers jostle for position, their pushcarts lined up along the curb. Each one is peddling a single kind of snack, made fresh before your eyes. There are hot Yiling onion pies, the size of a child’s palm, golden cris … | Continue reading
“We don’t wear gloves or anything when we pick them, because you can’t get to them that way,” says Mrs. Di, an elderly farmer, as she shows us the prickly sharp thorns surrounding the bright-red berry clusters on her Sichuan pepper trees. “It shreds my hands when we harvest.” Di … | Continue reading
Beer in Marsascala In Malta, everyone will probably remember where they were when they heard that investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated. She was killed on Monday, shortly after leaving home, when her white Peugeot 108 exploded. Her son, Matthew, was sti … | Continue reading
Sel roti in Queens, NY If not for the routine thunder of the 7 train, I’d be disoriented. Behind me is charted territory: the subway, Queens. Before me is a chunk of Nepal. It’s Sunday morning, and I’m following Shailesh, a Kathmandu-born actor turned activist, through a diverse … | Continue reading
Imperial IPA in Virginia “By the power invested in me by absolutely nobody I declare you husband and wife!” Once those words left my lips I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. I’m no priest, but in a last-minute reshuffle I had been asked to preside over the ceremony of a couple of … | 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. On Tuesday evening, I was lucky enough to speak with Emily Rauhala, Beijing correspondent for the Washington Post, at one of … | Continue reading
Croissants in McLeodgan It was late at night, around 8-9 maybe (that’s late in Himachal) when I spotted a pale yellow wall, with “Lhamo’s Croissant” scribbled across it. I could only make out the feeble outline of a café, and made a mental note to check it out the next morning. T … | Continue reading
Beer in Ngapali Beach Last year, long before the current wave of terrible violence began, I was in Ngapali Beach, a white-sand, beach-resort town in Rakhine State, having drinks with Sara—a hotel manager—and a local artist. Our conversation got around to the “troubles” a few year … | Continue reading
Breakfast in Georgia When my best friend and I decided to pick Georgia as our holiday destination, we mostly had in mind pristine nature, secluded Orthodox monasteries, and the famous qvevri (amphora-fermented) wines. An in-depth study of local gastronomy had only convinced us fu … | Continue reading
Lechero in Veracruz They say there are three things one must experience when visiting the port of Veracruz: the aquarium, the biggest in Latin America; live street music and dancing; and lechero, the famous coffee, served in the 200-year-old Gran Cafe de la Parroquia. It’s was a … | Continue reading
Chicken in Buenos Aires I landed in Buenos Aires, a short stopover on my way to run a writing retreat in Nicaragua. One flight behind me and a long way to go. Travel limbo. But first, to eat. Media lunas, small croissant-like pastries, with coffee are the usual breakfast, but I w … | Continue reading
Sekt in Vienna The new delicatessen on the corner seems to sell pasta, condiments, wine, and not much else. But they have a couple of metal tables set outside, and it’s an unseasonably warm day in Vienna, pushing 70 degrees Fahrenheit in mid-October. There are 72 hours left befor … | Continue reading
Mispelchen in Frankfurt Because my siblings and I have always been very close, people are sometimes surprised when I tell them my sister now lives in Germany. We chat on a daily basis, so most days she feels no farther away than my brother does in Wisconsin. But there are limits … | Continue reading
Sign up for R&K Insider, our collection of the most compelling happenings in food, politics, and travel from across the web. Bad news, guys: the news is bad. But I know you know that, it’s sort of an open secret around the universe these days, something horrible and scary that ev … | Continue reading
White wine in Serbia Your first thought when you hear “Serbia” probably isn’t wine. Maybe it’s Yugoslavia. Or Nikola Tesla. Or neither. A member of a a British university’s basketball team tells me that, at first, he thought he was packing for Siberia. “And I was like, isn’t that … | Continue reading
Eggs in Albania There’s one problem with vacations: they have to end. And like suntans, the memories fade too fast. But food is one way to bring the holiday home with you. In June this year, I spent three weeks of long, lazy summer days in Europe but eventually I had to return to … | Continue reading
Georgian wine in Moscow One afternoon more than a decade ago, in a shabby Moscow suburb, an 89-year-old war hero named Anna passed me a canteen of vodka. “It’s homemade!” she declared. “Just like my post-flight rations during the war.” “Just like tank fuel,” my husband Hal said, … | Continue reading
Breakfast in Chitwan Chitwan, in southern Nepal, is famous for one-horned rhinos, elephants, leopards, and the occasional Bengal tiger. I travel to Chitwan regularly to do work with the British Council. I don’t go on any jungle safaris; I stay along the highway in a business hote … | Continue reading
Croissants in Kyoto I love Japanese food. Sushi and sashimi, ramen and donburi, okonomiyaki and yakisoba; bring it all and I am more than happy to wolf it down, with a glass of sake, of course. But rice, miso soup, and grilled fish for breakfast don’t quite do it for me. In Tokyo … | Continue reading
American breakfast in Bangkok The cab drops me off at the inconspicuous shopfront of an open-air café in Bangkok’s Chinatown. Since moving here four months ago, I’ve taken to spending my mornings at the city’s various old-style coffee shops for kafeh yen (Thai iced coffee) and ka … | 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. This is Nathan, replacing Cara Parks in your inbox for one newsletter only. I grabbed the microphone today because I have a favor to as … | Continue reading
Nasi uduk in Jakarta “He had a stroke a few years ago, but he can still push a cart,” Bu Zen tells me, pointing a thumb at her husband, who grins widely, showing off a handful of long teeth. “So he can’t walk very well, but we can still sell our nasi uduk.” The cart […]The post O … | Continue reading
Beer in London It’s 6:30 a.m. in London’s earliest-rising pub. Outside, the south entrance of Borough Market awakens slowly, as only a couple of stalls are already setting up. Once a typical extension of marketplaces, early drinking houses are now disappearing from the city. Only … | Continue reading
Beer in San Diego The first time I heard about the Silver Fox Lounge was in New York in 2011. Someone was wearing the t-shirt at a Webster Hall gig. I smiled at the name but I thought it wasn’t a real bar, just a joke t-shirt, the kind you might get at Urban Outfitters. […]The po … | Continue reading
Cicvara in Bosnia-Herzegovina “A wife who makes good coffee…” Mira begins. She trails off, concentrating on podding beans between sips of hot, muddy coffee. Bittersweet grit coats the bottom of the now empty džezva; the ubiquitous long-necked copper pot that makes our morning rit … | Continue reading
Wine in Hawaii When I heard we’d be going to a winery on the slopes of a volcano, at first it didn’t sound that strange. Some of Italy’s best wines are made from grapes grown on volcanoes. Then I remembered I was on Hawaii island, which, as far as I can remember, isn’t a hotbed [ … | Continue reading
Locho in Surat “Surat nu jaman, Kashi nu maran” (eat in Surat and die in Kashi and you’ll attain nirvana). This adage inspired me to get an early morning train from Mumbai to Surat. The love for food is apparent in the city; the weekends are planned according to what to eat and w … | Continue reading
ALENTEJO, Portugal— Back in the 1940s, when Arnaldo Gouveia was in his 20s, he would leave his home in the village of Motrinos every night at 9 p.m. and walk five miles to Mourão, where his eight-hour shift at the paper mill began at midnight. Some nights he would arrive at work … | Continue reading
Soy milk in Chengdu My cure-all for overcast, chilly mornings while living in China and Taiwan has always been hot soy milk. Bean and nut milks are found all over, most often made fresh in the morning. They’re also popular any time of the day in bottled form in Sichuan province, … | Continue reading
Taralli ‘nzogna e pepe in Naples We were going to be late. We would miss the early train to Pompeii. We lingered at the hotel searching for breakfast satisfaction in machine-made espresso and packaged cookies. Nothing. Now, dodging cars and motorini on Naples’s cramped Via Dei Tr … | Continue reading
Tea in Naxal As early morning sounds drift into the window of the house I’m staying in, nestled in the quiet neighborhood of Naxal, I slip on some shoes and head up the concrete stairs to the third floor. Dim light starts to creep over the blocky skyline of Kathmandu as I cross t … | Continue reading
Topinky in Prague Every year in April, the small Czech city of Pardubice hosts a small, friendly co-ed softball tournament. Teams come from Czechia, Germany, Belgium, and the U.K.—our team, a ragtag collection of players from various teams in London’s considerable number of softb … | Continue reading
Beer in Tilapita I shaped masa into perfect spheres, squishing the dough between pieces of plastic in a tortilla press. The thin tortillas would be cooked fast and hot. Small fish we bought off a boat were frying in oil as tomatoes and cucumbers were sliced and drizzled with a li … | Continue reading
Fried eggs in Millvale Sliding into a booth at P&G’s Diner, I’m overwhelmed by the smell of butter. P&G’s is an institution: a diner, pharmacy, and gift shop that anchors the town of Millvale, near where I grew up. Millvale lies across the Allegheny River from Pittsburgh, stretch … | Continue reading
The skylarks sing as they swoop and swerve in the predawn sky around date palm trees. More than two hundred miles away from the clamor of Saudi Arabia’s capital city, Riyadh, my friend Yunus and I hit the main road and race the rising sun towards the carts and bids and boxes and … | Continue reading
Beer in New York City The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)—the World Cup for IR nerds and New York City’s annual gridlocked, diplomatic, securitized circus of oft-cursed proportions—kicked off its high-level week on Monday. Hundreds of heads of state made their way to midto … | Continue reading
I didn’t recognize the omen when it hit. I am oblivious to tarot, unable to read tea leaves or Turkish coffee trails or astrological prophecy. So when an unexpected blizzard—far too early in the season—hit the northeast German region of Mecklenburg the day before Donald Trump was … | 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. Lots going on this week. Here in my town, the U.N. General Assembly is meeting for its annual shindig, which is always a litt … | Continue reading
Atole rojo in Oaxaca It was my first time with a tour group. I’d come to Cuajimoloyas, in the northern highlands of Oaxaca, to forage for wild mushrooms during Mexico’s rainy season. Instead of navigating the forests alone, I joined a band of women and their local guide, a man na … | Continue reading
Palm Wine in Senegal As we walked along the only paved road that ran parallel to the river in search of “the palm wine guy,” the haze from the sweltering spring day in southern Senegal blurred the faces of the women working in the wheat fields either side of us. Locals in Ziguinc … | Continue reading
Robola in Kefalonia Every island has a story to tell. In the Greek archipelago, every rock in the water, no matter how big or small, speaks with its own voice. Kefalonia is like that—a rock with a very strong sense of identity. I had come to see an old friend, and I was amazed. W … | Continue reading
Czot in Kashmir It was my first time on a houseboat and my first trip to Kashmir. Standing on the deck of the boat, I was excited to start working on my first film when Ajaz, the owner of the houseboat, brought me a cup of tea. It was the first time I tasted Kashmiri […]The post … | Continue reading
Bagels in Auroville With the blaze of the August sun in our eyes and yet a lightness to our step in Pondicherry, India’s beloved, dreamy beach town, and an erstwhile French colony, we set out for Auroville to have breakfast at the Auroville Bakery Café. Our host—a dear friend who … | Continue reading
PORTLAND, Oregon— In the prehistoric days before everyone got all orthorexic, soy and gluten were staple proteins for vegetarians. During my own decade-long foray into vegetarianism, I was thankful for the wide variety of meat analogs, a good century in the making (thanks, Sevent … | Continue reading
Shots of rum in St. Thomas The night before Hurricane Irma arrived here on St. Thomas, I exchanged texts with a friend in Anguilla, asking her if I should be worried. I was expecting just a bit of wind and rain, nothing life-altering. My phone’s signal faded before she could shar … | Continue reading