Slovak Gingerbread Cookies (perníčky)

July 26, 2022.Reading time 5 minutes.

Decorating gingerbread cookies around Christmas time is my oldest memory of helping mom in the kitchen. It´s also an activity I wanted to share with my daughter, and has been really fun to do. Sometimes the icing was too runny, or the hole cut in the plastic bag was too big (letting too much icing […]

Interesting facts about Lebanese culture

June 22, 2022.Reading time 13 minutes.

My name is Christy, I am Lebanese and have been living in Aix-en-Provence since August 2021. I studied journalism, and worked as a food editor, then editor in chief of one of the leading food websites in the MENA region. A foodie at heart and a strong advocate of cooking from scratch, I will be […]

Where to eat and shop internationally in Marseille: an interview with foodie, in love with Japan

May 10, 2022.Reading time 10 minutes.

Today I am expanding our scope to present you with exciting suggestions of places related to foreign cultures, this time in Marseille, a “global-city with more than 100 districts and 200 nationalities”*. I had the good fortune to meet Priscilla, a Marseillaise with Guadeloupean and Danish origins, who has been developing her passion for food, […]

Aix-en-Provence: Polish and Canadian … where to eat and shop internationally (#3)

February 1, 2022.Reading time 10 minutes.

In the last blogpost of this series, I promised to focus on Eastern European culture, so I thought it would be interesting to ask my friend Bea, a Polish-Canadian expat, if she could share the places that have been nurturing her soul. Bea has been living in Aix-en-Provence much longer than I have, so she […]

DNA testing, ancestors and cultural identity

December 17, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

During my stay in the United States, I noticed that people were very curious about their ancestors’ origins, especially amongst 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants, and that DNA testing has grown in popularity as a direct consequence of this interest, despite many controversial articles about the exactness of these tests and their impact on people’s […]

10 interesting facts about Christmas traditions in Slovakia

December 5, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

1. Waffles, “oplátky”, were traditionally made by teachers. They started baking them right after a celebration of St-Lucia. A few days before, pupils would run from home to home, singing a song they learnt at school and asking for the wheat.
2. Christmas trees started to decorate towns by the end of 18th century. But […]

This can help you to teach Slovak to your kids raised abroad

September 14, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

No doubt books are essential in the transmission of our mother tongue to children when we live abroad, but having access to books suitable for each stage of a child’s development might be challenging, depending on the region in which we live. In cities with a dense concentration of foreign-born communities, bookstores dedicated to specific […]

Cultural heritage inscribed on the skin

July 27, 2021.Reading time 8 minutes.

When I first saw pictures of Frank greeting some well-known Czech personalities a very traditional, yet unusual manner, my curiosity led me to contact him to ask a question: How on Earth, did Czech and Māori cultures connect? Frank Tomas Grapl Junior is calling himself MāoriAvian or CzechoMaor (or for Czechs: Maoravak). This is a […]

Aix-en-Provence: Reunionese, Korean, Ethiopian … my good places to eat and shop internationally (#2)

June 16, 2021.Reading time 9 minutes.

In this second post of my series presenting international addresses in and around Aix-en-Provence, let’s start directly with an Ethiopian restaurant situated in the city center of Aix, Chez Ama. Living in the US pushed me to change my diet and to become flexitarian, so whenever I see a restaurant that has a vegetarian option, […]

Slovak pirohy

June 11, 2021.Reading time 8 minutes.

Pirohy are the Slovak variation of “dumplings” made with an unleavened dough, wrapped around a savory or sweet filling, and cooked in boiling water. They can also be pan-fried before serving. You can find dumpling variations in nearly every culture: Russian vareniki, Italian ravioli, and Korean mandu. Recipes for dumplings also appeared in ancient Roman […]