It's March now; the sun is shining and snow is melting (and then refreshed overnight, and then melting again, and then refreshed, and then….but that's our March). That's why it was good that Norway came up last month in the randomizer. February, it turns out, was a great time for thinking about Norway. Here in Michigan, February is the month that seems to go on and on, one iron grey day after another, until suddenly it's over and we're into March, where there is a glimmering hope of the eventual arrival of spring. In Norway, however, March is still dead... Continue reading

It's always a challenge to figure out creative ways to use kohlrabi. But there are limits. I found this tasty treat in the Croatia section of Yugoslav Cookbook. I'm not going to make it any time soon (or, more accurately, ever, because, well, eew). If you do, let me know how it works out for you. Here's an enthusiastic diner from page 127, where the recipe can be found. For your delectation, I replicate it here verbatim: "Kohlrabi stuffed with brains Serves 4 8 young kohlrabis Salt 14 oz. Calves' brains 1 small onion 2/3 c butter Pepper Parsley 1egg... Continue reading

It's not just Proust. Everyone has fond memories of the food of childhood. For those of us who are second or third generation name-your-ethnicity, the meals of home may be the only link we have to the old country. In my case, it's the auld country, with a twist. I come, on my mothers' side, from a line of Scottish Jews, or, as we call them, the Hebrews of the Hebrides. When the pogroms of Czarist Russia sent the Jews fleeing continental Europe, many Jews ended up in New York, Toronto, Buenos Aires, and other major urban areas. My relatives... Continue reading

Up until last week, when Seychelles came up in the random rotation, my only association with it came from an assistant diplomat I dated briefly years and years ago. He was one of those scions of blond East Coast privilege, a fact which he did rather go on about, so I didn't feel too sorry for him when his next post was switched at the last minute from Seychelles back to boring old Washington DC. Now that I've been reading up on Seychelles and looking at picture after picture of idyllic beaches, coral reefs, and palm trees swaying in the... Continue reading

Malta is situated in the middle of the world, or what would have seemed like the middle of the world, if you were a European or Ottoman or North African living sometime between the Bronze Age and about 1950. Hence it has been strategically important, and has attracted the attention of every major seafaring nation in the West for many centuries. and hence its cultural influences have been many. Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Fatimids, Ottomans, Sicilians, French, British—they've all been here, or tried to be. In the middle ages, Malta became the home of the Knights Hospitaller, whose Order had been... Continue reading

Austria! Kaffe mit Schlag, Wiener Schnitzel! Mozart! The Sound of Music! Alps! Yet another Ottoman siege! When Austria came up in the random generator, I immediately emailed my friends Marcus and Theresa. Not only did they live in Vienna for a long time, but they also have foodie cred; I knew they would have excellent suggestions for our Austrian meal. Had I not had such faith in them, I might have been suspicious when they both recommended that we try Tafelspitz, a most unappetizing-sounding recipe consisting of beef boiled for many hours with root vegetables. "It's better than it sounds,"... Continue reading

Hi! Got your passport and a fork? We're circumnavigating the globe, dinner by dinner. Here's the story: I've got a handy random generator program, InterDine, created specially for Dining at Random by a brilliant and handsome computer programmer. I've got stacks of cookbooks, plenty of friends, and the whole wide internet to play on. One by one, I ask InterDine to randomly generate a country or territory of the world, and then I cook a meal from that place. Because I have a gluten sensitivity, all the meals are gluten-free. Cooking gluten-free in most of the cuisines of the world... Continue reading