Tokyo

The Eel Deal in Tokyo

The thought of eating unagi (freshwater eel) can be off-putting, yet the super-fragrant, umami-tasting, velvety-textured delicacy is one of Japan’s prized foods. In Tokyo the eels are split from the stomach side for cleaning and then steamed before being grilled over charcoal and lavished with a finishing sauce, gleaming and sequestered in a covered lacquer box or ceramic bowl.

Athens

Breakfast on the Go in Athens

Greeks are not a nation of breakfast eaters, so koulouri, a plain, circular bread topped with sesame seeds, tends to be the morning fare of choice for most people. There is something seriously sweet and fresh about these bread rings, which are sold on most street corners in downtown Athens and are a guaranteed encounter on our walks.

Tbilisi

A Game of Chicken in Tbilisi

A customer haggles with a vendor selling freshly plucked village chickens and turkeys in Tbilisi’s Dezerter’s Bazaar. This raw, disorganized, 2,000-square-meter warren of unprocessed agrarian goods is the city’s largest open-air market and the focal point of our culinary walk in the city.

The CB Gift Guide 2018

We said it last year, and we’ll say it again: we’re often not impressed with traditional holiday gift guides. They’re either littered with undisclosed affiliate links or seemingly endless lists (much like our holiday to-dos) that make us want to turn off the computer and hibernate until the end of January. With that in mind, we’ve brought back our gift guide, a highly-selective (and relatively short) list of products, some serious, others frivolous, that our correspondents and guides eat and use, made by people they know.

Istanbul

Sweet and Savory in Istanbul

On our Born on the Bosphorus walk, we popped into a baklava and börek shop for a mid-morning snack. Our eyes lit up at the glittering trays of baklava and sheets of golden-brown pastry that filled the window. Unable to decide between sweet and savory, we had a little bit of both.

Queens

Satisfying a Sweet Tooth in Queens

While on a Queens walk, we stopped into a bakery specializing in baked goods and pastries popular in Ecuador. At this time of year, you’ll likely find t’anta wawa, a type of sweet roll shaped and decorated in the form of a small child or infant that is traditionally eaten on Día de los Difuntos, All Souls’ Day (November 2), in Ecuador.

Tbilisi

CB Book Club: Tiko Tuskadze’s “Supra”

Tiko Tuskadze, chef-owner of London’s celebrated Little Georgia restaurants, with one branch in Islington and one in Hackney, shares her love for the food of Georgia, her home country, in her first book, “Supra: A Feast of Georgian Cooking.” The book, which was published in the U.K. in summer 2017 and in the U.S. and Canada in summer 2018, features the recipes and stories that have been passed down through her family for generations. We recently had the chance to chat with Tuskadze and hear more about her career trajectory, the work that went into creating Supra and the role that food played in her childhood in Georgia.