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What to Cook this Week from Greek Salad Bruschetta to Mexican Sopa de Tortilla. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

What to Cook this Week from Greek Salad Bruschetta to Mexican Sopa de Tortilla

For What to Cook this Week, I’m sharing recipes for everything from a Greek salad bruschetta with olive sourdough, as it takes us back to our days of languid lunches barefoot at a beachside taverna to a sopa de tortilla learnt at a Mexican cooking school in San Miguel de Allende which we’ll enjoy as we reflect upon Diana Kennedy.

It’s been hectic here in our Siem Reap kitchen-studio – which is what our apartment feels like, with dishes piled up in the sink from recipe-testing and cooking food for photo shoots and the myriad tripods and reflectors permanently stationed in the living room where we style and shoot dishes on the coffee table. Pepper, our cat, has taken to sleeping on the folded gold reflector sleeve on the sofa.

We shot in the actual kitchen for the first time recently when Terence photographed me making pelmeni, varenyky and salads for this Al Jazeera story on my Russian-Ukrainian culinary heritage and my meditative dumpling making ritual and how it’s gone from bittersweet to heart-breaking since Putin invaded Ukraine.

Learning from mum that my grandmother, if she was still alive, would have identified as Ukraine rather than Russian (unlike papa, who was proudly Russian) is a new thing that I’m still coming to terms with, having been told I was “half-Russian” or “Russian-Australian” when I was growing up as a child in Sydney.

Mum’s revelation made sense. When Terence and I ate at a Ukrainian restaurant in Poland some years ago I wrote in my notebook that the food was exactly like my grandmother’s. After travelling to Russia with mum and Terence after dad died, I realised Baba’s cooking was a fusion of Russian and Ukrainian.

That confirmation explains why I’ve felt so torn apart since this war started. I explain more in the story and hope to tell you more in a cookbook cum memoire of family recipes and culinary history of the Russian and Ukrainian communities in Australia one day. But first to get these Cambodian cookbooks published!

Terence and I never put ourselves in front of the cameras, but realise it’s something we have to do more, and we don’t shoot in the kitchen as it’s just too dark most of the time. Plus, there’s such limited counter space – it all gets covered in food and dishes, and unless we’re shooting a salad, there’s no time to clean and style between cooking and photography.

In an ideal world, we’d rent the apartment next door for a test-kitchen and photo studio, but as we’re still trying to get a contract for the Cambodian cookbooks and culinary history that dream is still a long way off. Incidentally, you can show your love for Grantourismo and what we publish here, with a small one-off donation or monthly pledge toward that Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon.

Grantourismo is reader-funded, so if you’ve enjoyed our recipes or other content on the site, please consider supporting Grantourismo. You could buy us a coffee and we’ll use that money to buy ingredients for recipe testing or shop our Grantourismo store on Society6 for gifts for foodies, including fun reusable cloth face masks designed with Terence’s images. 

Another option is to use our links to book accommodation, rent a car or campervan or motorhome, buy travel insurance, or book a tour on Klook or Get Your Guide. Or purchase something on Amazon, such as these James Beard award-winning cookbooks, cookbooks by Australian chefs, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, cookbooks for culinary travellers, travel books to inspire wanderlust, or gifts for Asian food lovers, picnic lovers and travellers who love photography. We may earn a small commission but you won’t pay extra. Now let me share some ideas for what to cook this week.

What to Cook this Week from Greek Salad Bruschetta to Mexican Tortilla Soup

Greek Salad Bruschetta with Olive Sourdough Bread

I’ve been dreaming of the Greek Islands and not even the summer crowds are deterring me from a Greek holiday, as it’s a flight of fancy after all. So I’m making Terence’s Greek salad bruschetta with olive sourdough bread, as it takes me back to our days of languid lunches barefoot at a beachside taverna where a Greek salad was the first dish ordered.

Pile the classic salad ingredients atop toasted slices of homemade olive sourdough, heady with the aromas of olive oil, Kalamata olives and herbs, and you’ve got a snack you’ll want to eat in the sun after a swim.

This lovely light meal came to Terence after he pulled his first loaf of olive sourdough bread with rosemary, thyme and sweet red capsicum out of the oven. It made him want to take a slice and throw some feta cheese on it.

That was thanks to the aromas of what we call a ‘Greek salad’ or what the Greeks call a horiátiki or village salad – a salad served through to the end of summer when the ingredients are at their best.

In winter, you could go with eggplant instead of cucumber and slide it under the oven grill or broiler, as our American friends call it, to melt the feta.

Summery Greek Salad Bruschetta with Olive Sourdough Bread for a Slice of the Mediterranean

Mexican Tortilla Soup Recipe

I often try to share at least one Mexican recipe in our What to Cook this Week round-ups, because Tuesday, best known by food lovers as Taco Tuesday, is a good excuse to cook Mexican food or Mexican-American food. Not that we need an excuse.

Like many in the food world, I’m feeling sad at the loss of legendary cookbook author, culinary anthropologist and respected authority on Mexican cuisine, Diana Kennedy, who died at her home in Mexico on Sunday, so I thought I’d share this traditional Mexican tortilla soup recipe.

This is not Diana Kennedy’s sopa de tortilla recipe, it’s a tortilla soup recipe Terence learnt to make at a cooking school in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, but it’s the kind of traditional home-cooked Mexican recipes that Kennedy collected, cooked and documented in her many tomes.

Terence and I fell in love with real Mexican food on our first trips to Mexico in the early- to mid-1990s and were blown away by how different it was to the Tex-Mex food we’d been eating in Australia. We bought Kennedy’s The Art of Mexican Cooking upon our return from Mexico and it sparked a lifelong love of Mexican cuisine.

I’m going to write more about Kennedy here and share, but in the meantime, why not join us in making this tortilla soup this week? I also recommend this very traditional homemade guacamole and washing it down with micheladas or margaritas.

Sopa de Tortilla or Tortilla Soup Recipe from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Thai Chicken Skewers with Authentic Thai Satay Sauce

David Thompson is to Thai food what Diana Kennedy was to Mexican food, having spent much of his life mastering Thai cuisines from his home in Thailand, from learning recipes from elderly palace cooks to cooking dishes from the old cookbooks and memorial books that make up a collection he’s planning to digitise and make available to the public.

David Thompson’s Thai Food was the inspiration for the epic Cambodian cookbook and culinary history I’ve been researching since 2013, and it’s been responsible for Terence pounding countless spice paste on the mortar and pestle over the years as we’ve cooked our way through the hefty tome.

If you haven’t yet made my easy Southern Thai chicken satay skewers recipe, which were just like the satay sticks we used to buy and eat on the streets of Bangkok when we moved there over a decade ago, then make those and make David’s authentic Thai satay sauce recipe from scratch to go with them.

It’s a slightly tweaked recipe from the chef’s Thai Street Food cookbook, and while I do share some short-cuts, if you make it how it’s meant to be made, it is a bit of a cooking project. You’ll be soaking chillies, pan-roasting spices, pounding a spice paste in a mortar and pestle. It’s completely worth it, so put on some music and open a bottle of wine.

Authentic Thai Satay Sauce Recipe from Scratch for Your Thai Satay Chicken Skewers

Shan Vermicelli Salad Recipe

Myanmar has been on my mind this week, following the tragic events in Yangon of recent days. I’ll be publishing a post soon on what our readers can do to help the people of Myanmar.

In the meantime, you can cook the wonderful food of Myanmar and cook it for people who haven’t tasted it before, and use that as an excuse to raise awareness of the suffering of the people since last year’s military coup.

One of the things I love most about Southeast Asia’s cuisines is its countless salads and Myanmar makes some of the best salads in Southeast Asia. I dare you to tell me you don’t agree after trying them.

Visitors to Myanmar would often complain about the oily curries, not understanding that they’re not meant to be eaten alone, but with rice and salads, which provide a refreshing contrast.

This Shan vermicelli salad recipe is one of my favourite salads, and while you can eat it as one of an array of dishes that comprise a typical sharing-style spread – along with a Burmese curry or two, this Shan tomato salad and Burmese raw cabbage salad; not traditional, but I also love it with this Burmese fried chicken – it’s also fantastic as a single-bowl meal.

Another thing I love about this salad is that you can eat it warm or cold, making it a terrific year-round dish.

Shan Vermicelli Salad Recipe with Sesame, Coriander and Peanuts from Shan State, Myanmar

Thai Rice Soup Recipe for Khao Tom Gai

Last week I wrote that I liked the idea of Friday night being Fried Rice Night, as I rarely feel like cooking on Friday night and want something easy to make, I love fried rice, and it’s such a good opportunity to use up leftover steamed rice, along with other leftovers in the fridge.

If you like that idea, do browse our ever-expanding collection of fried rice recipes from around the world. I’ll be adding a Thai chicken satay fried rice this week.

But I think I might be in need of some serious comfort food by the time Friday comes around, which for me means a big bowl of dumplings, pasta, noodles, rice soup or rice porridge with loads of condiments.

 So I think I might be making this Thai rice soup recipe for khao tom gai again, although I also have a Vietnamese rice porridge recipe on the cooking schedule…

Thai Rice Soup Recipe with Poached Chicken and Soft Boiled Eggs for Khao Tom Gai

Please do let us know in the comments below if you make any of our What to Cook this Week recipes as we always love to hear how our recipes turned out for you.

Support our Cambodia Cookbook & Culinary History Book with a donation or monthly pledge on Patreon.

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About Lara Dunston

A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

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Lara and Terence are an Australian-born, Southeast Asia-based travel and food writers and photographers who have authored scores of guidebooks, produced countless travel and food stories, are currently developing cookbooks and guidebooks, and host culinary tours and writing and photography retreats in Southeast Asia.
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Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

#christmasgiftideas #ediblegifts ##christmasfoodgifts #foodgifts #giftideas #homemadegifts #christmasfood #ediblegiftideas #hotsauce #chillisauce #sriracha #pickles #homemadepickles #recipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood 
#blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #picoftheday 
#christmas #christmastree #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #cambodia #siemreap
This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

#recipe #recipes #vietnamesefood #cambodianfood #asianfood #southeastasianfood #ricenoodles #rice #noodlebowl #meatballs #igfood #igfoodie #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #writingacookbook #writingacambodiancookbook #patreon #patreoncreator #grantourismo
It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

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