Once upon a time, a congregation’s nuns would bake the communion wafers. They would mix equal parts white flour and pure water until a crepe-like batter formed; then they added yeast and salt. They would ladle the mixture onto a glorified waffle maker, rigged with flat griddle plates occasionally adorned with biblical symbols. They stacked the sheets into towers and they underwent a daylong drying process before cutting them into individual disks with a stamping machine. What began as a ...

By Tom Godfrey My wife and I sneak down a side street in Osaka.  It is quiet here–a contrast from the main drag that huddles around Tonbori River.  The road is full of cafes, the occasional cyclist, and a handful of traditional buildings with wooden accents that seem to belong to another time.  One of those buildings is the original branch of the restaurant, Hokkyokusei, where to eat omurice.   I am on a culinary pilgrimage with my wife, SiEun.  Our ...

By Julie Kunen The scent of warm spices wafted from the pilau steaming in its clay pot over a charcoal brazier in this restaurant in Zanzibar.  Cumin, a memory of Persia.  Black pepper and cinnamon, brought in dhows on the trade winds across the Indian Ocean.  Rice itself, from the Ganges River delta of South Asia.  Together, these ingredients define Zanzibari cuisine, a fusion not just of flavors but of waves of cultural influences washing over the island for millennia.  ...

Where the Fish (and Chips) Are Plentiful Living in the UK for a few years, I ate my more than my fair share of fish and chips. That crispy, golden goodness sustained my family and I through countless day trips, pub afternoons, and Now that I am home in the US, it’s a meal I only eat when I make it at home (that old Mickey D’s Filet-O-Fish just doesn’t cut it). It brings me immediately back to my time as ...

This book review of The Third Plate is the first in a series of travel-related book reviews in Odyssa Magazine. The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food Dan Barber is in Season One of Chef’s Table, a series on Netflix to which I am addicted. I am blown away every episode by the passion and certainty of the featured chefs. So, Dan Barber is no schlub when it comes to cooking and ingredients. With his experimental farm in New ...