Xi’an, being on the silk road, sits at a fascinating middle ground between east and west, only in this case, west means not Europe but the steppes of Central Asia.

This soup reflects that heritage: it blends Chinese spices and flavors (ginger, star anise, sichuan peppercorns) with lamb, a very Central Asian meat, and bread.  The bread is almost a homestyle flour tortilla or naan, meant to be ripped apart and doused in the soup, to thicken and dissolve in the broth.

Noodles make an appearance as well, and the entire experience is one of warmth, both temperature, spiciness, and soul-warming home-ish-ness.  That’s not a word.

I think I’m going to try this with chicken, since my wife will go for that.  Its won’t be the same!  But at least it’s close.  Try this out and let me know what you think!

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

Soup:

• 1 1/2 pounds (3 kg) boneless lamb (mutton, goat or stew-grade beef also work)
• 10 cups ( litres) beef stock
• 1 tsp (5 ml) fennel seeds
• 1 tsp (5 ml) Sichuan peppercorns
• 2 star anise pods
• 1 small stick cinnamon
• 2 or 3 dried Thai chiles
• 2 inches (5 cm) fresh ginger, smashed
• 5 green onions, trimmed, lightly smashed
• 1 tsp (5 ml) sea salt, or to taste

Bread:

• 2 cups (250 g) flour
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Finishing touches:

• 2 bundles cellophane noodles, soaked in cool water until soft
• 1/4 cup ( ml) dried wood ear mushrooms, soaked in to water for at least an hour
• handful of cilantro, chopped
• chili paste or oil, to taste
• black vinegar, to taste

STEPS

1. Cut the meat up into inch (2 cm) size cubes or so.  Place them in a large dutch oven or soup pot, cover with water, and boil for about 10 minutes, just to remove the initial fat.  Pour out the water and the scum which forms on top, and rise the meat in a colander.  Rinse out the pot / dutch oven and replace the parboiled meat and add the stock.
2. If you have a mesh ball to hold spices, great - if not, use a piece of cheesecloth tied with twine.  You’ll use this to hold the fennel seeds and Sichuan peppercorns.  Add this package to the soup, along with the rest of the spices and flavorings (star anise, cinnamon, chiles, ginger, and green onions. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 hours, covered.  If all of that is too difficult, just throw the spices in.
3. While the soup is simmering away, make the bread.  Mix the flour and baking powder together, add water and knead it together.  Cover and let rise for 30 minutes or so. 
4. Heat up a wok or frying pan without oil to medium-high.  Take small pieces  from the dough and roll them out into circles around 1/3 inch (less than a cm) thick.
5. Slap each one onto the wok, let them get brown on each side and then set aside.  Like making a tortilla, except without the press and not as thin.
6. Throw the noodles and mushrooms into the soup.  Serve with cilantro, vinegar and chili sauce as condiments.  Break the bread up into the stew as a thickener, like fritos in chili.  Yum.

Recipe adapted from All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China but Carolyn Phillips and from https://liviblogs.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/yang-rou-pao-mo-recipe.html

They stand row on row in silent guard of a long-dead autocrat. The Terracotta Army, built to defend the tomb of China's First Emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, are the greatest archaeological discovery of the 20th century.

Joined by Abel Kay, we look into the story of the Emperor who unified China, and the ruthless path he took to do it.  

We'll talk about scheming merchants, pretend eunuchs, beheaded generals, assassins, scholars buried alive, rivers of mercury, and the secret to immortality.  Sound like enough for you?

We'll also explore Xian, imperial city, and sample some biang biang noodles and lamb bread soup.

On the way, there might be a detour to Indianapolis, because why not?

One of the special pleasures in life is a cold spread coating a piece of warm, fresh-from-the-oven bread, and this one from Greece is my favorite.

It’s fiendishly easy and magnificently garlicky.  If you don’t like garlic, then give this a pass. Not for vampires.

Basically, you boil potatoes, and mash them until they’re smooth.  I find it a lot easier to boil potatoes you’ve already cut into chunks.

In the meantime, you make a puree of garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and an additional thickener.  Almonds are standard, but if you’re nut-free, bread crumbs will do in a pinch.  Puree the garlic in the lemon juice - the acid will remove some of the garlic bite while keeping the flavor.

Then spoon it all together.  If it’s too thick, a little water will do, but not too much.  You want this to be thick enough to spread onto something, but not thin like mayonnaise or anything like that.  Slather it onto bread or fish or basically whatever you want.  It will be worth it.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

Filling:

• 1 pound (450 g) of russet potatoes (2 or so), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup whole almonds (or substitute bread crumbs)
• 4 to 6 medium cloves garlic (the more garlic, the more intense - start small at first)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (90ml) white wine vinegar and/or fresh lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
• 3/4 cup (180ml) extra-virgin olive oil
• Minced flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
• Warmed pita and/or bread, for serving

STEPS

1. Set cubed potatoes in a colander and rinse under cold water until water runs clear. Transfer to a large saucepan and cover with cold water by at least 2 inches. Season water with salt until it is salty like tears. Bring water to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until a knife easily pierces potatoes with no resistance, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain potatoes in colander, then rinse with hot running water for 30 seconds.
2. Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine almonds or bread crumbs, garlic, 2 tablespoons (30ml) cold water, and wine vinegar and/or lemon juice. Process until garlic and almonds are reduced to a paste. Season with salt.
3. Spread potatoes in an even layer on a baking sheet and let the steam evaporate.  You want to get as much of the water out as possible.
4. Thoroughly mash potatoes with a potato masher in a large mixing bowl.  (If you have a fancy ricer, feel free to use that.)
5. Stir in olive oil and almond-garlic mixture until thoroughly incorporated. If the oil does not fully blend with the potatoes, stir in more cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well, until mixture is emulsified. Season with salt, then garnish with parsley and serve immediately with warm pita or bread, or chill until ready to serve.  It really is best chilled.

Recipe adapted from http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/09/skordalia-greek-garlic-potato-spread-dip-recipe.html

All the world is a stage, and the first stage was in Athens, the birthplace of tragedy.  With Darby Vickers from the History of Greece podcast, we visit with the great playwrights, as Athens hits a great turning point: the Peloponnesian War.

That doesn't go well, and who's to blame?  Surely not a homely old teacher in the Agora?  Indeed.  But his student will have the last laugh.

All this plus skordalia!

Spanakotiropita  (σπανακοτυρόπιτα)

So I have searched every website out there to find an acceptable spanakopita, sorry, I mean spanakotripita, recipe, and I think this one will work.

Here’s the thing: phyllo dough is an absolute pain in the backside to work with.  It freaks me out every time.  So kudos to those who choose to make their own.  Even the frozen kind is challenging for me.

I found this recipe at https://www.themediterraneandish.com/spanakopita-recipe-greek-spinach-pie.  The best thing about this site is that they have many photographs and even videos really documenting each step.

Check their website out.  Honestly - it’s so well done.  They make it look actually easy to do.

Another note: I got into a significant argument with a Greek-American colleague about whether a spinach pie with feta was spanakotiropita or just spanakopita.  He was insistent that all spanakopita included cheese - it didn’t need to be mentioned specifically.  Note that this is counter to the point that Darby made in the episode.  We ended up at a Greek restaurant in Chicago (Greek Islands!) and they listed their spinach and cheese pie as… spanakotiropita!  Victory.  Nike.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

Filling:

• 16 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
• 2 bunches flat-leaf parsley, stems trimmed, finely chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 eggs
• 10.5 oz quality feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 tsp dill weed
• Freshly-ground black pepper

Crust:

• 16 oz package of frozen phyllo dough (thawed)
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil or melted butter - you know you want to use the butter

STEPS

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Before you begin mixing the filling, be sure the spinach is very well drained, and squeeze out any excess liquid by hand.
3. To make the filling: In a mixing bowl, add the spinach and the remaining filling ingredients. Stir until all is well-combined.
4. Unroll the phyllo sheets and place them between two very lightly damp kitchen cloths.
5. Prepare a 9 1/2″ X 13″ baking dish. Brush the bottom and sides of the dish with olive oil or butter.
6. To assemble the spanakotiropita: Line the baking dish with two sheets of phyllo letting them cover the sides of the dish. Brush with olive oil. Add two more sheets in the same manner, and brush them with olive oil. Repeat until two-thirds of the phyllo is used up.
7. Now, evenly spread the spinach and feta filling over the phyllo crust. Top with two more sheets, and brush with olive oil.
8. Continue to layer the phyllo sheets, two-at-a-time, brushing with olive oil, until you have used up all the sheets. Brush the very top layer with olive oil, and sprinkle with just a few drops of water.
9. Fold the flaps or excess from the sides, you can crumble them a little. Brush the folded sides well with olive oil.
10. Bake in the 325 degrees F heated-oven for 1 hour, or until the phyllo crust is crisp and golden brown. Remove from the oven. Cut into squares and serve! Enjoy!

Just go to https://www.themediterraneandish.com/spanakopita-recipe-greek-spinach-pie and follow the step-by-step there.  It’s brilliant.