Five Global Flavours: Take a world food tour with One Two Culinary Stew

One Two Culinary Stew blogger Pina Broccoli Anaia has been making the Cambridge food scene a tastier place for 10 years. In her new column for Velvet, she’s taking us on a world food tour. . . right on our doorstep

I’m celebrating a blog milestone for One Two Culinary Stew – a fitting occasion to mark my new bi-monthly column. Ten years ago, I stepped into the online world and created my website and social media. With my proverbial spoon in hand, I began stirring my bubbling cauldron of food experiences. Besides, with a surname like Broccoli, I was meant to write about food!
My interest in food reflects my heritage, personal identity and cultural influences. I’m a first generation Italian-Canadian born in French-speaking Québec who grew up in the Jewish restaurant business. My Italian Roman Catholic father and my uncle owned a kosher-style deli/diner for nearly 50 years.
My culinary experiences were varied from an early age. I have fond memories of my mother’s lasagne, my dad’s potato knishes and my city’s international cuisine. This diverse upbringing sparked my passion for food, travel and languages.
My taste buds are constantly crossing culinary borders. I’ve lived in multicultural Montréal, Toronto, London and, for the past 15 years, Cambridge. This region of ours is a gastronomic mosaic of individual elements that come together to form its own notable food scene. This month’s column highlights the global flavours from my foodie background that our region has to offer.

Papas Locas
A food truck with a Spanish name owned by Greeks making Canada’s national dish – that’s the kind of multiculturalism I embrace! Cambridgeshire’s Papas Locas serve a diverse range of inventive loaded fries and poutine variations with flavours from around the world, including Canada where poutine was invented in Québec over 60 years ago.
Coming from the land of poutine, I appreciate the trinity of fries, squeaky cheese curds and gravy. It’s rare to find classic poutine here. The cheese curds are tricky to source, use and store, so tucking into Papas Locas’ The Canadian One poutine feels like a win. Springy artisan cheddar cheese curds and crisp exterior/soft interior fries are ladled with velvety gravy thick enough to slightly melt the curds, striking the right balance of flavours and textures.
@papaslocasuk

Tradizioni
There’s always a sense of comfort and familiarity when I step into Cambridge’s popular Italian restaurant Tradizioni on Mill Road. The rich aroma of their Ragù Bolognese sauce takes me back to Sunday mornings in my mother’s kitchen. She would be up super-early to make sure the hearty meat sauce gently simmering in her large pot would be ready in time for our family lunch.
This succulent sauce, which needs to be slow-cooked for all the flavours to meld, is a real labour of love. Tradizioni do this so well – their ragù with tender minced beef has real depth of flavour. Their menu boasts an impressive list of pasta shapes to accompany this silky sauce. I love a good spag bol, sometimes upgrading to their egg pappardelle for the ultimate traditional pairing.
@tradizionirestaurant

Bagel or Beigel
I have an affinity with Avi, the gregarious owner of Suffolk-based Bagel or Beigel. We’re both Canadians who have made this part of the world our home, but there’s a food angle to it. Canadian-Jewish Avi, who cut his bagel-making chops as a teenager in various family-run bakeries in Toronto, brings my familiar flavours of Jewish cuisine to farmers’ markets and people’s homes (via delivery), as well as through bagel and challah bread workshops.
Everything is homemade at Bagel or Beigel headquarters. Whether it’s the staggering variety of perfectly chewy bagels (filled with a cream cheese schmear or meltingly tender home-cured salt beef), jars of tangy dill pickles made the traditional way, or loaves of fluffy, eggy challah, Avi and his young daughter Poppy (dubbed the ‘CEO’) take great pride in feeding the good people of Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and beyond.
@bagelorbeigel

Hungrill
I grew up in a Greek neighbourhood in Montréal then lived in Toronto, home of the city’s Greektown/The Danforth. I had a host of dining options at my doorstep: lamb at the high-end estiatorio, calamari at the humble taverna and souvlaki at the local takeaway.
New Greek restaurant Hungrill has settled into a small, very Mediterranean-looking building on Cambridge’s bustling Mill Road. It’s the home of proper gyros. Thin slices of chicken or pork are marinated with herbs and seasonings, then stacked on a vertical, rotating rotisserie. The meat slow-cooks evenly as the juices drip down and infuse it with flavour. The fragrant meat is shaved off into thin slivers and layered in a pillowy wrap with fresh tomato, red onion, garlicky tzatziki and chunky chips, or served as part of a hearty ‘Portions’ plate with potatoes, salad and pitta.
@hungrill_gyros

Bedouin
My birth city of Montréal has a large Maghrebi community, primarily made up of people of Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian descent. Fluffy couscous, filo pastries and slow-cooked stews pleased my palate to no end.
North African restaurant Bedouin on Cambridge’s vibrant Mill Road has been run by an Algerian family for over a decade. Behind its ornate front door lies an atmospheric interior, complete with carved wooden furniture, a real Bedouin tent draped from the ceiling and wall rugs from the Sahara.
Their heartwarming tagines take centre stage. These rich, aromatic stews are beautifully presented in their traditional clay pot with conical lid. There’s also a clever take on the Moroccan bastilla, served in the shape of a samosa. It’s stuffed with chicken, onions, turmeric, ginger and coriander, then topped with icing sugar, cinnamon and toasted almonds – a combination of sweet and savoury often found in North African cuisine.
@bedouin.cambridge

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