I am not a world traveler. I am a creature of habit, and I am happily married to my routines. Home is the only place I want to be most days.

That being said, my palate really gets around. My pantries are currently overflowing with increasingly specific spices, vinegars, condiments, garnishes, flours, oils, sauces, and so on, and so on, for the sole purpose of being able to cook any type of cuisine at any given moment.

When my cooking obsession was first in full swing, I put up an empty map in the kitchen and committed myself to cooking something from every country. I started alphabetically, cooking a few things for Afghanistan and Albania, before realizing I’d be more likely to commit if I allowed for more flexibility.

I’ve now cooked dishes from 42 countries. Recognizing that international borders are often constructs, I try to find recipes that are at least embraced throughout the region to “qualify” as counting for that country.

All this to say, I may not want to leave my kitchen, but at least the world’s flavors can come to me! I asked a couple of y’all to gimme a continent, so here I’ll highlight some meals from countries within those selected continents (x2 for Asia and South America).

I made this so long ago that it technically pre-dates our rating system, but I’ve applied an A rating based on my memory of it. The bright sauce is definitely worth a revisit, but man, I could sear off that chicken much more skillfully nowadays… I think this was a NYT recipe, but Milk Street has a similar one I’ve had my eye on for a while. We will be revisiting Peru for this and lomo saltado (a beef, onion, and tomato stir-fry) one of these days.

This is one of the first meals I made in 2025 and has been revisited on our lunch menu at least twice since then! I’ve never made a caramel sauce for a savory dish - granted, it’s less of the thick, sugary caramel you’re probably imagining (as I did) and more of a slightly sweetened savory sauce that just makes you want to eat more and more. That’s probably thanks to always funky fresh fish sauce. This one came from the January/February issue of Cook’s Illustrated.

Steak isn’t a regular thing for us, but when we have it on special occasions, reverse searing is the way. To reverse sear essentially just means you cook a slab of beef in a low oven, pull it out at a specific temperature (depends on the slab), and briefly sear it in a blazin’ skillet, ideally of the cast iron variety. If done correctly, you end up with a good crust and evenly cooked meat. This was my first attempt at reverse searing and my first time working with strip steak. Fortunately, both are pretty foolproof! Red chimichurri was new to me, but the tangy sweetness of the paprika and balsamic vinegar was a perfect pairing for the big beef flavors. This is a Milk Street recipe.

This meal was a real sensory experience. The fesenjoon walnut stew was adjacent to a chocolate gravy, rich and creamy. It became immediately apparent why salad shirazi and pomegranate seeds accompany so many Persian dishes as the tart little gems and bright veg add essential acidity. All of these were from Yasmin Khan’s The Saffron Tales, which will soon find a home on my bookshelf.