Having lived in the Middle East for so long and traveled widely and written about the food, we have to admit that we consider ourselves to be something of connoisseurs of Middle Eastern cuisines – often very mistakenly reduced to just being called ‘Lebanese food’. We love a great hummus and nobody does it better … Read more
When we realised that the Vienna Naschmarkt, a mouthwatering neighbourhood market in Austria‘s capital, was just down the road from our apartment rental we knew that it would be perfect for what we’re doing on our our grand tour: going slow and local. Having a fresh food market five minutes away from us is our idea of … Read more
We open the door to our Budapest apartment rental and in walks Gábor Bánfalvi of Taste Hungary, pulling a canvas shopping cart on wheels behind him like the one my grandmother used to use. I’m midway through drying a dozen wine glasses I’d washed in preparation, which it turns out aren’t necessary. Gábor has come … Read more
I’ve played stringed musical instruments since I was old enough to hold a guitar. Almost everyone in my family studied music theory, piano, and at least one other stringed instrument. When we moved to the Middle East in 1998, I took a few of my favourite instruments with me. (Note from Editor (Lara): six freaking … Read more
Spices, pickles, snacks and sweets were some of the delights we sampled on an Istanbul market tour with a local expert, a Turkish culinary writer. No matter how well you know a destination, there’s always something to be gained by experiencing that place with locals – which is how we came to do an Istanbul … Read more