Global Cuisine

If you've ever taken the time to read a Chinese takeout menu closely you may have noticed it has the dishes organized by regional cuisine such as Cantonese, Hunan, and Sichuan. Most Chinese restaurants try to have a wide offering of its cuisine to appeal to many different tastes. Those who love spicy food know to choose a dish from the Sichuan page. This cuisine is characterized by an abundance of heat in many forms, including dried chilies, chili sauce, and tongue-tingling Sichuan peppercorns.

Sichuan food will have you sweating, your eyes watering, and your mouth numb. It isn't for everyone but it's worth trying for the adventurous eater. Now and then even I like to subject myself to such spicy torture by suffering through a dish like a trooper. One of my favorite dishes to do just that with is stir-fried green beans because it's quick to make when the craving strikes.

I am always searching for a new way to make chicken.  It's one of those blank canvas foods...just waiting for inspiration to hit and turned into something wonderful.

While flipping through one of my Ina Garten cookbooks, I came across this recipe. There wasn't a picture, which often deters me from making something. I want to see it done. Anyway, it just sounded good, not to mention I had few hunks of ginger in the refrigerator I needed to use. Ina mentioned this was served in her New York store and was excellent both warm and cold.

The mixture of the honey, ginger, garlic and soy sauce sounded like the perfect flavor combination. So out came the chickens from the freezer to thaw completely and then the marinating process began.

Chicken Paprikash, one of Hungary’s signature comfort food dishes, is made with the country’s quintessential ingredient - paprika. Perhaps not as famous as the better known Goulash, it is still found on nearly every menu and is a common recipe in most Hungarian homes. I was in Budapest for the first time a few months ago and loved the city, in fact I’m already planning a return trip.

Condé Nast Traveler recently published its annual Readers' Choice Awards and the "30 best cities in the world" list, which named Budapest, Hungary, as the second-best city in the world, right below Florence, Italy. It’s no wonder – a thriving vibrant city, rich in culture, a complex history, world renowned spas, and gorgeous architecture – there’s something for everyone in Budapest. Although it helped to have some friends who live in Hungary, I found the city easy to navigate and fun to explore, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a new travel destination.

After researching a few hotels, I opted for the relatively new Aria Hotel Budapest, a stately 19th century bank building transformed into a luxurious boutique hotel centrally located just down from St. Stephen's Basilica. After settling into my spacious and modern music themed “Leonard Bernstein” room, I headed downstairs to Aria’s Satchmo's Bar (which offers both lunch and dinner served either inside or outside on the terrace) to meet with Balázs Váradi-Szabó and learn about the hotel’s cuisine. Balázs, their incredibly knowledgeable food and beverage manager, explained that the current menu in many ways reflects the hotel itself – “classic Hungarian with a modern twist.” Patrons hoping to sample the famed Paprikash can expect a deconstructed version which can be found on their inspired menu as a warm appetizer - the “Hortobágyi éclair” features tender paprika chicken wrapped in a soft crepe-like pastry.

My kitchen is overflowing. My freezer is so full I can barely close it. I sometimes hear the crash of bottles, jars and tins falling off my pantry shelves and onto the floor. I seriously think I could cook and eat without going out of the house for a month. Ok, I might get bored of tuna and beans and pasta, but then again, maybe not. I have no idea what causes me to hoard food, but I sometimes imagine I must have been a starving Italian casalinga in another lifetime.

The other day I was thinking about using the short grain Valencia rice I had languishing in the cupboard to make paella. I was going to buy some shrimp but as I perused various recipes it became clear to me that you can make paella with just about any combination of vegetables, seafood or meat. There is no one paella. I figured I might as well use what I have on hand. In my pantry I had a jar of artichokes and a can of green olives, and in the freezer I had pearl onions, peas and a single sausage. Those ingredients were what I used on top of the paella rice. I tweaked the technique I found in a Mark Bittman recipe Tomato Paella to make the rice.