In this intriguing collection of recipes, food journalist David Ricketts offers an international riff on home cooking. Starting with basic recipes that are familiar to all American home cooks, he presents variations of these dishes as they are prepared in other cultures. Chicken noodle soup becomes Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup with Fresh Herbs; beef stew, African Beef and Kale Stew with Pumpkin Seed Sauce; and rice pudding, Asian Black Rice Pudding. The taste difference is all in the local herbs and spices, not in the basic ingredients or cooking techniques. The resulting dishes - from Peru, Thailand, Greece, Scandinavia, and Morocco, among other countries - are tantalizingly familiar, yet enticingly exotic, with new flavor combinations that make each recipe a delicious adventure into another cuisine. Many of the wonderful comfort-food recipes in Home Cooking Around the World are ideally suited to our hectic pace of living. They are prepared in one pot or skillet and can often be left unattended while simmering. The cooking methods are simple and, for the few exotic ingredients, there is both a source listing and a glossary. Beginning cooks can use the book with ease, while experienced cooks will find new variations on familiar themes to expand their repertoires.