If you’ve ever stood in your kitchen, uninspired by another week of tacos, pasta, or baked chicken—you’re not alone. I love to cook, but American weeknight meals weren’t cutting it anymore. I craved something deeper: connection, culture, a spark of curiosity.

So, I decided to go on a global culinary adventure—from A to Z.

Welcome to Cooking Through the Countries, where I’ll be preparing one full meal—main dish, dessert, and drink—from every country in the world, in alphabetical order. No skipping. No soft edits. Just real food, real culture, and a little bit of real chaos.

🎯 The Rules:

To keep this journey grounded in authenticity, I’m following a few personal guidelines:

• If the original recipe calls for it, I use it. Even if it’s an ingredient I wouldn’t normally eat or cook with.
• If a traditional technique is standard, I’m doing it. That means peeling and deveining shrimp by hand, making pita from scratch, or shaping dumplings one by one—just like they’ve done for generations.
• Minimal shortcuts. While I’m not grinding my own spices or churning butter, I’m committed to honoring the heart of each dish’s preparation.
• Meat should be locally raised and processed whenever possible. I want to support local growers and stay as close to the source as I can.
• Ingredients must be shopped by hand whenever possible. No Instacart, no Walmart pickup, no delivery apps—just good old-fashioned in-person grocery shopping. It’s part of the journey.

I’m not a professional chef or cultural expert—just someone who believes food is one of the most beautiful ways to understand the world. Every dish tells a story, and I want to listen—then share it with you.

We begin our journey in Afghanistan, with a menu of Kabuli Palaw (a spiced rice and lamb dish), Jalebi (sweet, syrup-soaked spirals), and Sheer Chai (a pink tea with a salty twist).

Thanks for joining me—whether you’re here for the recipes, the storytelling, or the inevitable kitchen mishaps. Let’s cook the world together.