Ethnic Foods

It wasn't too long ago that wedding food options were limited to beef, chicken, or fish with a champagne toast and frosted white cake to follow. Of course, with infinitely creative couples finding new ways to set their celebrations apart, there's no longer a set formula to the American wedding menu. Drawing upon traditions from other world cultures, couples can honor their diverse backgrounds or create new traditions that define them as a pair. We've rounded up several customs worthy of consideration for your unique nuptials!

Itching for a trip abroad, but lacking the requisite vacation time? Quell your wanderlust the next best way — by cooking your way through the cuisine of another culture via an international cookbook. With options ranging from collections of homey British recipes to a book based on modern Persian cuisine, chances are there's an option that'll be right up your alley; keep reading for our top picks.

Few foods are more versatile, come in a greater variety of styles, or are more prized in Asian cuisine (and our kitchens) than the noodle. Ranging in style from translucent, almost-rubbery cellophane noodles to fat, chewy udon noodles (and near everything in between), there's a noodle for every cuisine and palate. Keep reading for a breakdown of the most common types across Asian culture.

Did we leave your favorite style of Asian noodle off the list? Chime in with your top pick in the comments!

Step into any Asian supermarket and you'll be greeted by shelf after shelf of enticingly packaged Japanese candies. Great, right? Well, despite our love for the category, the vast variety can be, at times, a bit overwhelming. So in the interest of separating the kawaii ("cute" in Japanese) from the catastrophic, we're tasting our way through the panoply of Japanese sweets available stateside.

Nowruz, the Persian New Year, kicked off last week, and we want to honor the big celebration the best way we know how — with food. Here, get the scoop on dishes that are popular both in Iran and here in the US, because you might be familiar with kebabs, but have you ever heard of fesenjoon or baghali polo? We have a feeling once you click through, you'll want to make the flavor-packed meals in your own kitchen — because if there's one word that does not describe Persian food, it's boring.

Hoping for an easy way to broaden your culinary horizons? Look no further than a new cuisine. Before you raise your hand in protest to even more restaurant dining, hear me out: the best way to familiarize oneself with a particular country's food is by actually cooking it yourself.

We promise this proposition will be both fun and easy, thanks to the following tomes, each of which is written by a foremost expert in the cuisine. Behold: 10 definitive international cookbooks that are essential to any globe-trotter's kitchen.

This holiday season, go global in the kitchen with Christmas and Hanukkah meals from around the world. From food you might not have heard of (think purple rice cakes) to classics like mince pie, there's no shortage of international inspiration. Browse our picks, and let us know in the comments if you have any of your own!

Travelers don't flock to South Africa for its grub so much as they do its game drives. But on a recent trip there with the South African Tourism Board, I discovered why South African fare has famously been dubbed "rainbow cuisine": the food and drink in this country are as diverse as the people themselves.

South Africa's geographic location and its intricate colonial history have resulted in a cuisine that draws heavily not only from indigenous Africa, but also the Dutch, German, French, Indonesian, English, Indian, and Portuguese. Keep reading to learn more about the various influences on rainbow cuisine and what might go into a well-stocked South African pantry.