Pesto of Another Color

In Calabria, pesto, or pestosino, is made from sun-dried tomatoes and chilies with nary a hint of basil, cheese or nuts

By Chris KimballJanuary 16, 2026

Gâteau Magique is Truly Magic

French twist: Whipped eggs add a layer of texture to classic pudding cake.

By Chris KimballJanuary 16, 2026

The Best Food in Sri Lanka? The Simple Carrot

At Best Food Restaurant, lunch is assembled from a bevy of curries.

By JM HirschJanuary 16, 2026

When it Comes to Guacamole, There are No Rules

Hot take. We char all the vegetables, even the avocados, for this guacamole.

By Chris KimballJanuary 16, 2026

Pops of Sumac and Pomegranate Transform Lentils

A Turkish salad so good, it’s a wedding staple

By JM HirschJanuary 7, 2026

In Georgia, Beef Stew Gets a Walnut Assist

Walnuts, candied and raw, are found in abundance at Georgian markets.

By JM HirschJanuary 16, 2026

Spanakopita? No. Spanakotiropita!

In Thessaloniki, paper-thin phyllo pastry is used to envelop all manner of fillings to create pies sweet and savory.

By JM HirschJanuary 16, 2026

In Türkiye, We Ignored the Kebabs and Accidentally Ate the Best Meatball Soup

Sulbiye Adanacıoğlu learned from her grandmother to make tender meatballs from lamb and bulgur.

By JM HirschJanuary 16, 2026

Who Put the Miso in Pesto?

Miso adds creamy-savory appeal to this Japanese-inspired take on pesto.

By Chris KimballJanuary 16, 2026

Crispy, Peppery Chicken Wings, Japanese Style

Potato starch and a double fry make for ultra crispy sweet-and-spicy wings.

By Chris KimballJanuary 16, 2026

Nagoya-Style Fried Chicken Wings (Tebasaki)

Nagoya, in central Japan, is the epicenter of tebasaki, or Japanese fried chicken wings. Though Furaibo is credited for creating tebasaki back in the 1960s, our recipe attempts to re-create the wings offered at Maka Maka Honten. We slick them while pi

Balsamic-Roasted Beets with Hazelnuts and Chives

A dose of vinegar and honey added to beets as they roast results in a well-rounded, sweet-sour flavor, without the aggressive acidity of pickled beets. Whole beets take a good, long while to become tender, giving the vinegar—we use balsamic—a chance t

Super-Light Hummus

This hummus is designed to be super-light and ultra-creamy. We use canned chickpeas for convenience, but we simmer them in alkalized water so the skins soften and break down during processing for a smoother, silkier puree. We were then faced with a pa

Miso Ground Chicken with Rice and Scallions

Japanese niku miso is a simple mixture of ground meat cooked with miso, soy sauce and a few other basic ingredients from the Japanese pantry. Its savory-sweet flavor tends to be intense and concentrated, as niku miso is meant to be eaten with rice or

Turkish Lamb and Bulgur Meatball Soup

In Gaziantep, Türkiye, Sulbiye Adanacıoğlu of Gazi Köşk Kebap & Beyran Salonu introduced us to ekşili köfte, a sour meatball soup. The dish—one of the best things we tasted during our trip—married a rich, tomatoey broth with chickpeas, tender chunks o

Roasted Tomatoes and White Beans with Burrata

This is a hearty, flavorful vegetarian traybake that requires only a handful of ingredients, minimal prep and zero time at the stovetop. Burrata is an orb of fresh mozzarella filled with rich, buttery cream and curds. It is highly perishable, so typic

Tuscan Tomato-Pancetta Chickpea Stew

Tuscan cacciucco is a famous seafood stew. Lesser-known cacciucco de ceci, also from Tuscany, is a rustic chickpea and chard stew. We’ve added pancetta to ours for a little richness. Made with canned chickpeas, the dish comes together inside of an hou

Greek Spinach and Feta Pie (Spanakotiropita)

“Spanakopita” is the term commonly used outside Greece to refer to a savory spinach, feta and phyllo pie, but in Thessaloniki, we learned that spanakotiropita is more accurate, as the “tiro” in the middle of word signals there is the feta in the filli

Turkish Lentil Salad with Sweet Peppers and Herbs

In Gaziantep, Türkiye, home cook Aynur Zorkirisci showed us how to make a mung bean salad called maş fasulyesi salatası. Simple yet layered, the dish pairs red onion and nubby mung beans with hot chilies, fresh herbs and tart lemon and sumac. To re-cr

Pasta with Fennel, Green Olive and Pistachio Pesto

Olives and Parm, balanced with sweet pistachios and herbaceous parsley, make for a potent, umami-rich pesto.

Roasted Broccolini and Chickpea Salad with Tahini-Lemon Dressing

Roasting brings out nutty notes in Broccolini (or broccoli) and accentuates the vegetable’s natural sweetness. For this salad, we roast chickpeas alongside the vegetable, which gives the legumes a denser texture and a more concentrated earthy flavor.

Toasted Oat and Maple Scones

These hearty scones get deep, sweet flavor by coating rolled oats in maple syrup before toasting them, resulting in amplified nuttiness and crunch. Processing a portion of the oat mixture with the other dry ingredients distributes the flavor and textu

Browned Butter Gâteau Magique

Gâteau magique, or magic cake, is a French dessert that lives up to its name. During baking, its seven-ingredient batter separates into three layers: a firm, flan-like bottom, a creamy, pudding-like center and a puffy, souffléed crown. Our version get

Red Pesto (Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato and Red Pepper Pesto)

The sauce here is our version of the oil-based pestosino calabrese, also known as salsa piccante, we learned in Italy from “Papa” Mario Conforti. It is not classic Calabrian pesto, which is creamy and typically includes ricotta and fresh produce. We f

Georgian Pomegranate-Braised Beef with Walnut Sauce (Kharcho)

In Tbilisi, Georgia, we learned to make kharcho, a meaty stew with an herbal, tangy and nutty broth. Traditionally, the dish gets tartness from dried or pureed sour plums, but chef Meriko Gubeladze taught us a version that uses pomegranate juice and w

Charred Guacamole (Guacamole Tatemado)

A trip to Mexico City revealed that when it comes to guacamole, anything goes. We saw it garnished with peanuts, flavored with all manner of herbs, even studded with seafood. We like the butteriness of avocado paired with smoky notes, so we created th

Slow-Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Mustard Pan Sauce

Roasting chicken leg quarters for 2½ hours in a 300°F oven is transformative. The fat has lots of time to render, so the skin takes on a paper-thin crispness and a golden brown hue. The meat, meanwhile, becomes so tender and succulent you don’t need a

Double Sesame Sichuan Chicken Salad with Chili Crisp

This dish is a spin on classic Sichuan ban ban si ji, a salad in which poached chicken is smashed to shreds. We keep things simple—and nonaggressive!—by pulling the meat by hand. A store-bought rotisserie chicken is the easiest way to get the 3 cups s

Steak with Worcestershire Butter Board Sauce

“Board sauces” originate with chef and cookbook author Adam Perry Lang. The concept: Make a simple mixture of ingredients—prepped on a cutting board—then set a just-cooked steak (or steaks) on top. As the meat rests and then during carving, the steak’

Miso Pesto Pasta

Inspired by kinome ae, a miso and sansho leaf sauce we learned in Japan: rich miso replaces the cheese for a creamy, umami-packed pesto.

Mexican Red Rice (Arroz Rojo)

Mexican red rice, or arroz rojo, gets its color, flavor and aroma from tomatoes pureed with garlic and onion. The cooking liquid is commonly chicken broth, which adds savoriness and depth. Light, separate, almost airy grains define arroz rojo. This te

Coconut-Ginger Carrots with Cashews

This colorful vegetable curry is our riff on the carrot curry we learned at Best Food Restaurant in Colombo, Sri Lanka. There, the carrots were sliced into half-rounds, but we use the Chinese technique of roll cutting to give the pieces more dimension

Pork Chops in Chipotle Sauce (Chuletas de Puerco Enchipotladas)

Our 5-star, chipotle-sauced pork chops are savory, spicy, and succulent—perfect with warm tortillas.

One-Pot Thai Shrimp and Glass Noodles (Goong Ob Woon Sen)

Goong ob woon sen is essentially a one-pot wonder: layer shrimp and glass noodles in a covered pot, pour in liquid, and let everything steam together for 10 minutes.