Barcelona

CB Pantry Raid: Paula Mourenza’s Conservas Video

In this installment of Pantry Raid, a video series in which our walk leaders give a guided tour of the local pantry and discuss the staples that have sustained their communities over the years, watch Paula Mourenza, our Barcelona bureau chief, talk all about conservas, canned or tinned seafood. As Paula previously wrote, in Spain, conservas “are not simply a matter of economic survival or a source of basic nutrition for students, hikers, military recruits and the like. Rather, the tradition of conservas more resembles that of keeping one’s most beautiful jewelry locked safe in a strongbox, to be brought out only on special occasions.”

Tbilisi

CB Book Club: Lisa Granik’s “The Wines of Georgia”

We recently spoke to Lisa Granik MW about her book, “The Wines of Georgia” (Infinite Ideas, November 2019). Granik became a Master of Wine in 2006, and was a Professor of Wine at the New York Institute of Technology from 2013-15. Currently she advises wine companies and regions seeking to improve their sales in the United States. Granik, who has written for publications such as The New York Times, The World of Fine Wine and Sommelier Journal, dives into Georgian wine culture in this title, explaining not only grape varieties, terroirs, winemaking methods and viticulture but also the centrality of wine to Georgian culture generally.

Istanbul

Street Food at Home: How to Make Sabırtaşı’s İçli Köfte, an Istanbul Classic

Several years back, before İstiklal became an open-air shopping mall, reaching old man Sabırtaşı’s streetside içli köfte stand felt like pulling into a safe harbor. Always standing there was the beatific Ali Bey, an angel in a white doctor’s coat offering salvation in the form of his golden fried içli köfte. Although his presence is still sorely missed, his son Mustafa – who inherited not only his father’s white coat but also his kind demeanor – and wife have proudly continued the tradition of selling their sublime içli köfte to İstiklal’s hungry pedestrians.

Mexico City

CB Pantry Raid: An Instagram Live with Paco de Santiago

The next installment of CB Pantry Raid, a series in which our walk leaders give a guided tour of the local pantry and discuss the staples that have sustained their communities over the years, features Francisco de Santiago (“Paco”), our lead guide in Mexico City, who will be talking all about corn. Tune in on Thursday, April 30, at 5 p.m. EDT (GMT-4) on Instagram Live. Corn is vital to Mexican cuisine and culture – one of the things we love most about dining in Mexico is the high likelihood that our meal will have a healthy dose of corn in one form or another. Sometimes we even wash down our corn with some corn, like when we order tamales with atole, a traditional beverage made of corn flour, fruit, spices, and milk or water.

Barcelona

CB Pantry Raid: An Instagram Live with Paula Mourenza

The next installment of our CB Pantry Raid series, in which our walk leaders give a guided tour of the local pantry and discuss the staples that have sustained their communities over the years, features Paula Mourenza, our Barcelona bureau chief, who will be talking all about conservas, or foods preserved in cans and jars. Tune in on Friday, April 24, at 5 p.m. EDT (GMT-4) on Instagram Live. As Paula previously wrote, in Spain, conservas “are not simply a matter of economic survival or a source of basic nutrition for students, hikers, military recruits and the like. Rather, the tradition of conservas more resembles that of keeping one’s most beautiful jewelry locked safe in a strongbox, to be brought out only on special occasions.”

Mexico City

CB Book Club: Joe Yonan’s “Cool Beans”

We recently spoke to Joe Yonan, the James Beard Award-winning food and dining editor of The Washington Post, about his new cookbook, “Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein” (Ten Speed Press, February 2020). He has written two other books for Ten Speed: “Eat Your Vegetables: Bold Recipes for the Single Cook” (2013) and “Serve Yourself: Nightly Adventures in Cooking for One” (2011). The humble bean plays a starring role in many of the culinary cultures we cover, as evidenced by our “Bean Week” series, which included dispatches from Catalonia, Beijing, Mexico, Greece and Istanbul. So we were delighted to talk to Joe about this delicious, versatile and environmentally friendly protein, one that has gained new prominence in the current pandemic.

Athens

CB Cooks: An Instagram Live with Carolina Doriti

Another Instagram Live series we’re launching is CB Cooks, which will bring our walk leaders into your home for a live cooking demonstration. First up is Carolina Doriti, our Athens bureau chief, who will be cooking <em>galatopita</em>, a Greek milk pie, on Sunday, April 19, at 11 a.m. EDT (GMT-4). If you want to cook along with Carolina, here are the ingredients you’ll need (although all are welcome to come watch, even if you’re not cooking).