In my first cookbook, Baking with Bruno, I wrote about some of the ways immigrants have shaped food culture in their countries of adoption, highlighting European immigrants in particular. More than ever, it is important to recognize the contributions of immigrants from all corners of the globe, without whose influence the food we enjoy on our table wouldn?t be possible: farmers, pickers, packers, drivers, cooks, bussers, waiters and storytellers; home cooks and bakers from boundless horizons that enrich our daily lives. Traditions from every part of the world enrich our daily meals.

Recipes are stories. They are tales that travel through time?gifts shared with us by witnesses of bygone eras, preserving memories of times spent with family and friends. They might be the only link to a past love, a scribbled piece of paper with only a few words and some numbers, holding so many powerful emotions.

The poetry of words and numbers contained in a recipe reminds future generations of their proud past. In the story told through cups, weights, volumes or sometimes just scribbled guesses, a recipe can take the reader on a remarkable journey. Cultures are built on recipes, and a recipe is one of the most precious items cooks carry with them on their journey to new horizons. It shapes the culinary future of a community, and acts as a powerful beacon of hope and identity. A world with no recipes is a world without an imagination.

Our planet is indeed a huge garden, and the presence of real and relevant food stories is always alive, no matter where those stories originate from. Food is life and food matters everywhere.

Bruno Feldeisen