Christopher Kimball - Milk Street: The World in a Skillet

Traveling in the Sahara a few years back, I came across earth ovens seemingly in the middle of nowhere; they are used from time to time by nomadic Berbers to bake flatbread. On another trip, I was invited to a meal of couscous by Bedouins on the coast of Algeria, a dish cooked in a pot set over a wood fire.

The lesson was simple: Great cooking rarely is about the cookware. Its about ingredients and method.

To make cooking even simpler, we realized that every cuisine has its own version of the Western 12-inch skillet, a ubiquitous everyday pot or pan that can be drawn on to prepare just about anything. And that ubiquity offers a welcome versatilitythere are few limits on what one can cook in this universal piece of cookware.

Hence, the title of this book, The World in a Skillet. With recipes from over 30 countries, we compiled what we have learned from our travels and from cooks around the world to liberate your skillet from commonplace fare.

We drew inspiration from the tiny islands of Mauritius and Runion off the eastern coast of Africa for Shrimp Rougaille, based on a Creole tomato sauce that reflects European and Indian influences. And in India, a wok-like vessel called a kadai or karahi is a common piece of cookware. We use a skillet instead to make Chicken Curry with Tomatoes and Bell Peppers.

The basic skillet also is a good choice for stir-fried noodles, such as the Sichuan classic Spicy Glass Noodles with Ground Pork (also called ants climbing on trees), the fragrant and flavorful Vietnamese-Style Lemon Grass Tofu, and the Thai favorite, Thai Stir-Fried Pork with Green Beans and Red Curry.

Weve worked hard to make this book useful by organizing recipes by cooking times (an hour or less, 45 minutes, and under 30 minutes) as well as by special sections on side dishes, pastas, grains, stir-fries, pan roasts, and skillet sandwiches.

Like a wok, the skillet is capable of many things, from sauting to frying to baking to roasting to poaching to steaming. You even can cook cowboy steaks in a cast-iron skillet over a wood fire like I once did in Wyoming; the choice is yours. But by pushing the limits, you will find a whole new world in your kitchen (and in your skillet).

And, as we like to say here at Milk Street, the kitchen is the best and most rewarding way to travel the world. All you need is a skillet, a burner, and a healthy serving of curiosity about how the world puts dinner on the table.