I am a New York City public educator and inveterate traveller. I began traveling in high school when I cleaned houses and babysat after school and on weekends for a year so that I could travel in Europe.  This was not to be the last time I cleaned houses and baby sat to be able to travel around — I was a jeune fille au pair in France for almost a year while stopping out of college.  I also ended up teaching English in Japan for a spell.  I counted recently, I have visited 42 countries (I didn’t count countries where I just passed through the airport.)  In each country I have visited or lived, I have found that food was an important way of learning about the culture and people.  I challenged myself to eat at as many street food stalls in one day as I could when I was in Chengdu, China, was offered (but declined) grilled grubs while traveling in a bush taxi in Cameroon (my travel partner also invited me to be her co-wife, I declined that offer as well), slurped noodles in Japan and took cooking classes in Cambodia.  The photo is of me enjoying a gourd of dolo (millet beer) in Burkina Faso at dinner with a remarkable women, Monique Dioma.  When I try to replicate tastes when I get back home, I am often reminded about how complicated a science cooking is and the brilliance of women and men who create, document, and share their culinary discoveries.  However it works out, preparing a meal and enjoying it with family and friends is magical.