Tanghulu is a Chinese snack of candied fruit served on a bamboo skewer. It's a popular street food in China, made by dipping fruit into a sugar syrup and allowing it to solidify into a hard shell. While traditionally you would use hawthorns and/or hollow them out
'Otai is a Polynesian drink made from coconut milk and water, and a combination of tropical fruit. The Tomb Raider Cookbook's version uses watermelon, crushed pineapple and the juice from a lime. Somewhere in there is a missed opportunity for Lara Croft to dance around a kitchen
Plantain Chips are a snack enjoyed in tropical regions where plantains or bananas grow. They can be a power snack and marginally healthier than potato chips, depending on how they're cooked. The Tomb Raider Cookbook's recipe for these has you fry them, and afterwards season them
Lomo Saltado is a Peruvian stir fry influenced by Chinese cuisine, combining local flavors with Cantonese cooking techniques. Traditionally, it contains strips of steak with red onions, tomatoes, spices, French fries and soy sauce. The Tomb Raider Cookbook's recipe for this dish is so good, it's
Ta'amiya, better known as falafel, are fritters of ground up fava beans (more commonly chickpeas), garlic, herbs and spices that are ground up, formed into balls and deep fried. This next recipe from the Tomb Raider Cookbook was inspired by Lara Croft's multiple travels to Egypt
Focaccia Romana is an Italian fluffy bread topped with various ingredients, then baked to golden perfection and served with pasta or meat. The Tomb Raider Cookbook's recipe tops it with with flaky salt (I used sea salt), garlic, rosemary and plenty of olive oil, all of which soak
Post-Expedition Cocoa is the Tomb Raider Cookbook's version of hot chocolate. Is it a groundbreaking recipe? No. Is it comforting, warming and nourishing nevertheless? Yes, yes, and yes. Specifically, this recipe is a dry mix you can either take with you on an expedition, or enjoy after
Irish Stew is a classic from... Ireland, classically made with mutton or lamb, potatoes, carrots, onions and a rich stock. It's the Irish version of beef bourguignon and an incredibly flavorful and economic dinner. The Tomb Raider Cookbook's recipe for it sticks closely to tradition, and
Kofta Kebabs are a meat dish from the Arabic world, often served as either a kebab, meatloaf or meatball and made with ground beef or lamb. In the Tomb Raider Cookbook's case, it's lamb, and the dish is inspired by Egypt with grated garlic, chopped parsley,
Buranelli are Venetian butter cookies, commonly shaped like a ring or a backwards S. They make a delightful treat to have with a cup of tea or coffee. This is one of many European recipes in the Tomb Raider Cookbook, and I made a batch of them on a sleepy
Kati Rolls are a street food snack from Kolkata, India, which is a paratha or roti flatbread wrapped around a filling, which can either be meat or a vegetarian alternate. In the Bengali language, "kati" means "stick". The Tomb Raider Cookbook's recipe for Kati
Lefse is a soft flatbread or pancake from Norway, made with mashed potatoes and slightly sweetened, then griddled and served with butter and cinnamon sugar. They were the next Tomb Raider Cookbook dish I made, and the bulk of the work was done a day in advance, making them even
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Okonomiyaki is a cabbage fritter from Japan, using shredded cabbage that's dipped in a batter with bacon, scallions, pickled ginger and/or other flavorings, then pan-fried until crispy and served with toppings like a soy ketchup sauce, bonito flakes, kewpie mayo, scallions and furikake. It's
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One of the dishes, or rather drinks, that most intrigued me in the Tomb Raider Cookbook has been Po Cha (pronounced "paw cha"). It's a Tibetan recipe for butter tea, consumed by the people there because it's highly caloric, warming and life-sustaining in
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Soon after Curried Trail Mix, I made Mango Sticky Rice, a Thai dessert, from the Tomb Raider Cookbook. The recipe has instructions for cooking the rice in a steamer basket, which is what they would traditionally use in Thailand, but it says you can easily use a rice cooker. I
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The next dish I made from the Tomb Raider Cookbook was Curried Trail Mix, a snack in the Asia & Oceania chapter. While many of the recipes have a country of origin, this does not, so it's more or less an invented recipe inspired by Asian flavors. Curried
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The next dish I made from the Tomb Raider Cookbook was Seaweed Salad, a recipe of Japanese origin. The recipe recommends using wakame, a sweet variety of seaweed, but I used nori, the same kind you'd use to make sushi rolls. Whatever you use, the seaweed is tossed
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I made the Tomb Raider Cookbook's recipe for Mango Lassi, a mango, yogurt and milk-based drink from the Punjab region of India. It doesn't always have mango in it, but this recipe does. Some variations have strawberry in them instead. They usually incorporate cardamom, cumin
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The next dish I made from the Tomb Raider Cookbook was Anzac Biscuits, a biscuit (NOT a cookie) of Australia-New Zealand origin (hence "Anzac"). Having existed since at least World War I, they contain rolled oats, shredded coconut (a modern addition), golden syrup, butter, flour and in
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The next dish I made from the Tomb Raider Cookbook was Salteñas, a Bolivian kind of baked empanada or turnover. They're filled with a beef and vegetable stew that's cooked ahead of time and left to chill in the fridge, with gelatin so it solidifies and
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I was very excited to make the next dish from the Tomb Raider Cookbook, which was New York Cheesecake. One of my favorite desserts, and one I don't have very often, I saved it for last among the North American recipes so I could savor it. In Tomb
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The next recipe that caught my eye from the Tomb Raider Cookbook was another UK favorite and pub classic, Bangers and Mash. For those not in the know, it's a plate of pork sausages ("bangers") with mashed potato, commonly served with an onion gravy and peas.
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On a rainy Sunday, I made the next recipe from the Tomb Raider Cookbook, Apple Hand Pies. As one of the book's North American recipes, it is a timeless American classic dessert made portable for adventures out in the world, or hikes. Lara Croft hasn't visited
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One of the dishes I was most excited to make from the Tomb Raider Cookbook was Chicken Tikka Masala. An Indian-British fusion staple, it's very similar to the more traditional butter chicken, but perhaps anglicized for the Londoner's palette. Either way, it's something