Persian food is as complex as those intricate flying carpets of legend, mingling threads from the Middle East and India. I first encountered it at Southern Illinois University at parties hosted by Iranian students who would serve up platters of saffron rice and sweet and sour stews in mysterious sauces. Years later, on a trip to India, I renewed my acquaintance at Irani restaurants in Mumbai.
The homey Central American dishes at Café La Union attract a mixed crowd, from construction workers to artists, who grab stools at the long counter in back for a meal or snack or drop by in the evening to have a few beers, shoot pool and watch sports or play tunes on the jukebox.
Culinary historians and food bloggers already are poring over the menus of White House functions to draw conclusions about the First Family's tastes and discern the social and political meaning encoded in their food choices.
Enriched with pounded spice mixtures, fragrant herbs, blacan (fermented shrimp paste) and coconut milk, the cuisine Malaysia brings Malay, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Thai and European influences together in a delicious melting pot.
Named for the threatened turtles that nest on the beach of John U. Lloyd State Park in Dania Beach, the al fresco Loggerhead Café overlooks scenic Whiskey Creek, an ice cube's toss from the ocean. Open every day of the year, it's a well-kept secret among boaters and divers who frequent the beachfront park, stopping in for a bite after a day on the water.
Some restaurants boast of their Zagat listings or four-star ratings. Siam Bistro in West Kendall proudly displays its Thai Select Seal of Approval from Thailand's Ministry of Commerce.
Chilean cuisine is a fusion of European and native influences and ingredients that celebrates the bounty of land and sea in this 2,700-mile-long country sandwiched between the Andes and the Pacific.
Omaar and Naom Yemini were born in a tent on the Liberty City land where their parents' restaurant, Naomi's Meals to Go and Sidewalk Café, now stands.
Peru has some of the most diverse dishes in South America, and El Rincon de Chabuca (''Chabuca's hangout'') showcases many of them with an emphasis on seafood.
A boteco is a casual place to eat and drink with friends and family in Brazil. Some use crates for tables and chairs, others have plastic furniture with beer logos. Here in Miami, Boteco Brasilian Bar was built on a vacant lot two years ago by Italian Stephano Carniato, who also owns Piola pizzerias in Miami and abroad. He lived in Brazil and fell in love with the culture. When he returned to Miami he decided to create a boteco that looked and felt as if it were transported from Brazil.
Elsylee Colon spends hours making, baking and decorating gorgeous cookies for her company, Elsylee Galetes Artesanals (fine artisan cookies). She sees them as portable mandalas that can be appreciated for the work that goes into them as much as for their scrumptious flavor.
Stretching from the Minho River on its mountainous northern frontier with Galicia to the dry Algarve in the south, Portugal occupies most of the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula. And though it once ruled half of the world, it has enjoyed far less of the culinary limelight than its neighbor, Spain.
Light, refreshing Vietnamese food is perfect on a sweltering summer day, and Saigon Cuisine in Margate, with the refurbished cyclo (rickshaw) at the entrance, is a great place to find it.
After Roemer Cantillo arrived in Miami from Cuba in the 1980 Mariel boatlift, he met up with Abraham Wagner, a friend who owned several bakeries. Wagner hired him, training him at the Rolling Pin in Surfside.
The ''ka'nookie'' is an ''oops!'' that worked out -- deliciously. In 1999, Julie Owens was trying to make peppermint bark to take to a holiday party -- pouring melted chocolate and peppermint candies onto a baking sheet, then breaking it into pieces afer it set up.
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