What dish do you love to cook (or eat!)? — Assembly

In Assembly’s “Around the world” series, girls sound off on the topics that matter to them, from the companies they’re dreaming up to the issues they wished more leaders talked about.

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“I always had a passion for food, whether it’s cooking for my family or eating my mom’s food. I love cooking different kinds of pasta because I can do a lot of experiments with it and create my own recipes. And I love eating the Bengali traditional dishes my mom cooks, especially the dishes which contain fish — like shorshe ilish, a fish curry cooked with mustard. This is a dish that is passed on from generation to generation in Bengali culture; mom learnt it from my grandma and my grandma learnt from her mother. In Bangla shorshe means mustard and ilish (hilsa in English) is our national fish. Bengalis are absolutely in love with this fish.”

— Opshori, 17, Bangladesh

“My favorite dish is lasagna, which is a three-layered pasta dish that consists of homemade sauce which simmers for three hours. Its filling is fresh ricotta cheese from our local Italian deli. The recipe has been handed down from my great grandmother. It’s a tradition in my family to always make it for holidays or on special occasions and it is always so much fun to help my mom make it.”

— Sophia, 16, U.S.

“I love to cook fried rice because I can use the remaining rice from lunch or dinner and any available vegetables in it. It's a dish where we can learn how to stop food wastage by the optimum use of remaining food items.”

— Anjana, 19, Nepal

“I don’t cook very well, but I love to eat. I like to have my meals with my family and we love to eat pizza as a family of Italian descent. I think that food can connect you with your culture and bring you great sensations.”

— Isabela, 17, Brazil