Eat Global

From Afghanistan to Vietnam, take a culinary journey around the world without ever leaving Baltimore.

- Jane Marion

IN MY FAMILY, dining out has become a complicated affair in which we can never quite come to a consensus. My daughter loves the ramen at PekoPeko, my middle son’s go-to is the ceviche at Puerto 511, while kibbeh nayeh, a beef tartare dish on the menu at Lebanese Taverna, is the favored food of his fiancee. To keep everyone content, I play ambassador in what can fast feel like a United Nations negotiation. Luckily for me, they’re not picky eaters, so wherever we go, especially with all the flavors now available across this region, all parties end up pleased.

My own upbringing was nowhere near as global. Growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, as our family of six gathered around a table of Jewish-American standards—roasted chicken, brisket, lox and bagels—I was aware that there was a world of food and flavors from faraway lands awaiting discovery. But, of course, back then, there was no internet for finding recipes, no Food Network featuring bowls of bibimbap or plates of korma, no Bon Appétit Instagram feed to follow, so my culinary education was limited by the borders of occasional travels: purple, pasty poi made from taro on a visit to see a childhood friend in Hawaii, coquilles Saint Jacques served in a scallop shell on my first trip to Paris at 17, fried plantains from a beach shack on a family trip to the Caribbean.

Long before Anthony Bourdain brought the world into our homes, around the dinner table, my father, who owned an international textile business, regaled us with stories of his exotic meals abroad: octopus and raw fish in Tokyo; chicken mole in Mexico; horsemeat and rabbit in France. As he told these tales, I’d stare at him in wide-eyed wonder—and, often, horror.