Thick Romanian zacuscă of roasted eggplant and red pepper, slow-cooked down and served with grilled cornmeal mămăligă, white beans, charred onion and parsley.
A saffron risotto stirred slowly from arborio rice, folded with roasted squash and green peas, finished with cashew cream and crisp fried sage.
Thick hand-formed Salvadoran corn pupusas griddled to order and filled with refried beans and aromatic loroco buds, served with curtido and thin tomato salsa roja.
Strips of kelp marinated and dried until chewy, cured with sesame, chili, smoked salt and lime peel. Deeply savory, with a clean salt-air finish.
Rice pressed firm into triangles, wrapped at the corners with nori and studded through with carrot, edamame and black sesame. Simple, portable, lightly seasoned.
Half an acorn squash roasted until tender and heaped with wild rice, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, mushrooms and kale, served in its own shell.