The KaiKai Book

For over a thousand years, Chiara Vigo’s family has been keeping up an ancient tradition, spinning silk from the sea. Creating the sea silk, or byssus, involves an intricate process shrouded in secrecy. Living on the Sardinian coast, Chiara follows in her family’s footsteps as a master weaver—perhaps the last remaining on Earth.

Tucked away in Poland’s beautiful Tatra Mountains lives a 15th-century cheese making tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. Known as oscypek, the milky, smoky cheese is made entirely by hand by masters called “bacas.” Traditionally, the method is passed from fathers to sons, but Janina Rzepka has worked towards becoming one of the few female masters of the craft. The intricate process of making oscypek is not easy, but for Rzpepka and other bacas, sharing the cheese of their ancestors with the world makes it totally worth.

Angelito “Ange” Gujeldi is what is known as a nest gatherer. Following in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather, Ange climbs jagged rock faces and ventures into caves nestled in the rocks of an island in the Philippines, to collect nests spun from the saliva of swiftlet birds. It’s dangerous work, but it pays well. Really well. And that’s because people are willing to spend a lot of money to eat the nutritious soup that can be made out of these bird’s nests.

Twice a year, about 80 miles outside Kathmandu, Nepal, villagers from Bhujung embark on a centuries-old quest. Enduring bee stings and hanging from handmade rope ladders, Madan Singh Gurung and his fellow honey hunters defy death to gather precious liquid gold. It’s a tradition that links past and present—one Madan feels has been his destiny since birth.