World Cuisines Month

Did You Know

The world’s largest food-and-beverage company got its start in the 1860s, when the founder, a Swiss pharmacist, created an infant formula for babies who could not or would not breast feed.  His first success saved the life of a premature baby who couldn’t tolerate his mother’s milk or use any known substitute.  Today the company operates in nearly every country, serving up Taster’s Choice coffee, Carnation Instant Milk, Häagen Dazs, Lean Cuisine, KitKats, and Powerbars, to name just a few well-known brands.  And for four-legged family members, the company makes Friskies, Fancy feast, Purina, and Pro Plan.  The founder: Henri Nestlé, and now you should know the rest of the story.

 

Before the Americas were “discovered” by European explorers, Iran was quite literally at the crossroads of the world.  Known in ancient times as the seat of the Persian Empire, the region was the centerpiece of a trade route – otherwise known as the Silk Road – connecting the great civilizations of Greeks (and later Romans) to the west, Indians to the south, and Orientals to the east.  Today the Silk Road is being revived after several hundread years of decline.  Tourists are paying big dollars to visit Xian, the modern Chinese city that was once the eastern end of the route: Kashgar, the former crossroads of Asia; and the Bezeklik Grottoes in the Flaming Mountains, home of priceless Buddhist carvings and murals.