As a preteen in the early 1990s, Anna Ansari hated Saturday shopping excursions to Detroit’s Eastern Market where her Iranian immigrant father loved to hunt for ripe melons and other fresh produce that reminded him of home.
In those days, Detroit was bleak and Eastern Market half-empty — a far cry, Ansari says, from the “festival” atmosphere the market enjoys today. She and her sister, Sara, felt more comfortable — and less “different,” she says — in their suburban neighborhood supermarkets.
Luckily, redemption came after their market forays, Ansari recalls, when their father, a surgeon in Monroe, treated them to lunch in Greektown, snacks at Rocky Mountain Peanut Company and rides on the People Mover.
Flash forward three and a half decades and Ansari’s life has come full circle. After immersing herself in Asian studies at Barnard College/Columbia University and Yale University, traveling widely through China and Central Asia, and working as an international trade attorney, she wrote a cookbook inspired by her culinary heritage. Called “Silk Roads: A Flavor Odyssey with Recipes from Baku to Beijing,” it has been nominated for several prestigious awards and featured on “The Splendid Table,” “CBS Saturday Morning: The Dish,” and in other media outlets.
The book, which weaves together 90 recipes with personal essays and family photography from Detroit and beyond, was shortlisted in the United Kingdom for both the 2026 Fortnum & Mason Debut Cookery Book Award and the 2026 Guild of Food Writers Debut Book Award. The Guild of Food Writers also named Ansari Food Writer of the Year for her work in independent publications.
“So many different parts of my life have come together to get me to this point,” says Ansari, who has lived in London for 13 years and, like her father, is now an immigrant herself. “It’s the perfect confluence of everything I’ve ever done.”
Ansari will be among nearly 50 culinary experts, celebrity chefs and authors at the second Traverse City Food & Wine Festival, Aug. 19-23. She’ll co-host a sold-out “Lunch in the Vines” event at Chateau Grand Traverse winery on Aug. 19 and a four-course Silk Roads Dinner, Aug. 22, at Grand Traverse Resort’s Aerie restaurant.
For information about the festival’s 80 tastings, demonstrations and other culinary experiences, from goat yoga with wine tastings to brunch cruises on a two-masted schooner, check www.traversecity.com/food-wine.
Ansari, a frequent Michigan visitor, grew up in Grosse Isle and Bloomfield Hills and is a 1998 graduate of Cranbrook Schools. She got her law degree from Brooklyn Law School. Her mother, who worked as a nurse, is American with deep family roots in Monroe.
Fascinated by the intersection of food, family, and history and the way food moves across borders, cultures and generations, Ansari delights in exploring the flavors of the legendary Silk Road, the ancient central Asian network of trade routes that connect China and Asia to Europe and the Middle East.
“Food is one thing that kind of tethers us to each other” through traditions, memories, and even actual seeds carried —whether on ancient camel caravans or jet planes — in the bags or pockets of travelers and transplants, she says.
“Every apple we eat comes (originally) from Kazakhstan. … from the Silk Road. Melons come from Uzbekistan … and spinach is from ancient Persia. These things we take for granted. It boggles my mind.”
In another example of the migration and adaptation of food, Ansari notes that her father, Shapoor Ansari, looked all over Metro Detroit in the 1960s for yogurt (a Turkish word) before finally finding it in Greektown.
Today, of course, yogurt is ubiquitous, integral to breakfast, snacking and more, she says: “In the ‘60s you had to go on a hunt for it. Now, there’s squeezable yogurt you can shoot in your mouth. Yogurt is so much a part of American food culture you don’t think of it as something from overseas.”
While the recipes in her Silk Road cookbook may sound exotic, they are doable, according to Ansari, who says she and colleagues tested each one at least three times (and often many more) before including them.
Cumin, fresh herbs, lamb, rice, noodles, chickpeas, tomatoes, and peppers star in many Silk Road recipes, she says: “Part of the beauty of these cuisines, as well as the recipes in my book, is that they use very basic, simple and familiar ingredients. It’s the way they come together that’s the surprise.”
From “Silk Roads: A Flavor Odyssey with Recipes from Baku to Beijing,” by Anna Ansari
Central Asian Slaw
Ansari and her Scottish husband, Edward, discovered this fresh, crisp and refreshing salad in Khiva, Uzbekistan.
Serves 4 – 6 as a side
Ingredients:
For the slaw:
300 grams (10 ounces) mixed red and white cabbage, thinly sliced
200 grams (7 ounces) carrots, peeled and julienned
1 red pepper, very thinly sliced
1 yellow pepper, very thinly sliced
1⁄2 green pepper, very thinly sliced
80 grams (3 ounces) frozen or fresh sweet corn kernels (never canned)
10 grams (1⁄4 ounce) fresh dill, finely chopped
For the vinaigrette:
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1⁄4 tsp fine sea salt
1⁄2 tsp toasted coriander seeds
1⁄2 tsp honey (hot or not)
Method:
Combine all the slaw ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Toss well. (If using frozen sweet corn, the kernels should defrost and be ready to eat by the time you are.)
Make the dressing by whisking together the vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl until emulsified. Dress salad with as much of the vinaigrette as you like.
Lobio (Georgian Bean Stew)
A comfort food from Kakheti in northeastern Georgia, the cradle of that country’s wine culture.
Serves 4–6
These beans may be eaten with bread or cornbread but also are excellent the traditional way as a loose, soupy stew. Or, try them a bit thicker — almost refried bean-like in texture, eaten as a dip or slathered on toast, topped with a tomato slice, flaky sea salt and more fresh herbs.
Ingredients:
250 grams (9 ounces) dried kidney beans, soaked overnight, then drained and rinsed
1 onion, quartered
3 garlic cloves: 1 minced, 2 whole
1 bay leaf
1 3⁄4 tsp fine sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dried thyme
1⁄2 tsp dried chili flakes
1⁄2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
20 grams (3⁄4 ounce) fresh parsley, dill, or coriander, or a combination of all three, chopped
Method:
Add drained and rinsed beans to a large pot with a lid. Pour in enough water to cover the beans by 2 inches, then place over high heat and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes before reducing heat to low. Add one onion quarter, two whole garlic cloves, and the bay leaf, then partially cover the pot with the lid. Cook 1 – 3 hours, or until beans are tender.
Check occasionally and add 1 teaspoon of the salt when they reach a just tender/al dente firmness. (Note that cooking time depends on the type and age of the beans). While the beans are cooking, finely dice remaining onion quarters.
Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add diced onion and ¼ teaspoon salt. Reduce heat to medium and cook the onion, stirring occasionally, for 8 – 10 minutes, or until soft and golden.
Add minced garlic, ground coriander, thyme, chili flakes, and black pepper. Stir and cook for 60 seconds or until fragrant. If necessary, remove pan from heat and set aside while waiting for beans to finish cooking. When beans are ready, drain them from the pot, reserving cooking water. Discard the garlic, onion, and bay leaf.
Add half the beans and a generous ½ cup (4 fluid ounces) of the bean cooking water to the pan with the onions and spices. Use the back of a fork or a wooden spoon to mash the beans, water and onions into a paste.
Add the remaining ½ teaspoon salt to the bean paste, along with the chopped fresh herbs. Cook for 5 -7 minutes over medium heat to meld flavors. Mash any intact beans – or don’t. It’s up to you.
Return the whole, intact beans to their cooking pot, then add the maybe-mashed bean, onion, and herb mixture, and stir everything to mix. Place over medium heat and begin adding the bean cooking water, 6½ tbsp (or 3½ fluid ounces) at a time, until the contents of the pan reaches your desired consistency.
You can use regular water if you don’t have enough of the bean cooking water if you accidentally tossed it or if you substituted canned beans for dried ones. Cook for 5 – 7 minutes more or until the Lobio is warm.
Note: If you don’t have kidney beans, use whatever beans you enjoy or have on hand – except for black beans.
Spiced Walnut Blondies
Cardamom-infused and walnut-studded, this is a favorite dessert of Ansari’s son, Theo. “They’re so gooey and delicious but without chocolate,” she says, and adds: “Blondies don’t get the recognition they deserve.”
Makes 16 – 36 blondies, depending on size
Like a brownie, a blondie should be gooey, chewy, fudgy, and dense, not fluffy and airy. Three of the recipe’s10 ingredients – walnuts, cardamom, and nutmeg – are included as a nod to a beloved Iranian teatime treat: Koloocheh, a round, date-and-walnut-stuffed cookie flavored with cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg; they’re typically stamped with patterns and enjoyed not only on holidays but also on an average day, with a cup of tea.
Ingredients:
170 grams (5 3⁄4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until lukewarm, plus extra for greasing
210 grams (7 1⁄4 ounces) flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cardamom
1⁄2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp fine sea salt
300 grams (10 ounces) soft light brown sugar (you could also use dark brown sugar or a combination of both)
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
150 grams (5 1⁄2 ounces walnuts), lightly chopped (or chopped hazelnuts if desired)
Method: Preheat oven to 340° F. Grease an 8 by 9-inch square baking pan with butter, and line with baking parchment. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cardamom, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
In either a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large bowl and using a hand mixer, combine the melted lukewarm butter and sugar, and mix until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla, mixing to combine after the addition of each ingredient. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then use the same spatula to gently fold in dry ingredients. Mix everything until just combined, but so no white specks of flour can be seen.
Gently fold walnuts into the batter, trying to distribute them evenly. Pour the batter into your prepared pan, smoothing out the top. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or nearly clean. The blondies will be gooey but not undercooked.
If your tester has a few crumbs on it, that’s OK – but raw batter is not.
Let the blondies cool in their pan for 30 minutes before cutting them into 1-inch squares. They’re delicious and gooey when warm, but even better the next day. They will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for three to four days.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Anna Ansari brings her ‘Silk Roads’ recipes home
Reporting by Susan R. Pollack, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Susan R. Pollack, Special to The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
