Growing up in the Ottawa Valley was not especially interesting. It was not as adventurous as Toronto. It was not laid back like Vancouver. It was, however, an hour or so from Montréal, the city that boasts bagels, poutine and dépanneurs with beer-stocked fridges. Being young, penniless and car-free, I [...]

There is a deep, dark secret that many foodies keep tucked away in the depths of their food-loving souls. Actually, it is more of a psychological obsession that hijacks all decision-making functions when one comes face-to-face with choosing a place to dine. In my case, the infatuation usually surfaces during [...]

There are only a handful of things I credit America as giving to the world: spaghetti westerns, national parks, those stupid roller skate heel shoes, and barbecue. Let’s face it, America is a nation in its infancy, but one thing that we’ve got totally figured out is down-home, face-covering barbecue [...]

As synonymous with Vietnamese food as the country’s signature dish, pho, it turns out banh mi is actually quite a new invention for this very old culture. What, did you think the rice farmers along the Mekong Delta were munching on French baguettes back before the 19th century? As the [...]

When we conjure up thoughts about fruit, images like deep red strawberries, dripping-from-your-lips watermelon, and crisp apples come to mind. Yeah, that kind of stuff is synonymous with cooling off on hot summer days — in some parts of the world. In others, well, let’s just say we’ve all heard [...]

When most food-loving people ruminate over “meccas” of global cuisine, cities like New York, Tokyo, Singapore, and Barcelona conjure instant salivation. Being a foodie is serious business, so for most, traveling to these cities for the culinary experience is not a matter of if, but when. In a recent article [...]

Let me just start by saying that when I was a kid, I had Guinea pigs as pets. Those Guinea pigs had babies. Those babies then had babies with their parents. Those babies had an odd number of limbs. Regardless of my pet’s incestuous behavior, I loved them. When my [...]

By Maria Russo Is it possible to find enlightenment in a bowl of soup? Who knows, but it’s certainly worth a try, don’t you think? During a two-week journey to Thailand, I set out on a quest to prepare my soul for the preliminary stages of enlightenment. I wished to [...]

Meet Nguyen Thi Thanh, or better known in these parts as the “lunch lady.” Due to the relentless coverage of television (Bourdain visited her last year on No Reservations) and the blogosphere, Saigon’s own Nguyen Thi Thanh has become the David Chang of Ho Chi Minh, creating legions of foodie [...]

Egyptian cuisine is produced from the melting pot of the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean. It is varied and fascinating, but if you only have one day in Cairo, you can cover the basics. Here’s how. By Robin Graham Breakfast Felfela has been a fixture on the travel [...]