The KaiKai Book

To eat fugu is to put your life on the line. That's why Japanese chefs must train for years before serving the notoriously poison puffer fish to the public. For more than 45 years, chef Sasaki has served this potentially lethal delicacy to patrons in his Tokyo restaurant. Feeling hungry?

The native people of Amami Ōshima, a remote Japanese island, harvest and eat cycad—a plant that in its rare form can be deadly because it’s packed with poison. Over the years, the islanders have developed a way to remove the toxins and now use the cycad plant to make everything from noodles to mochi. But why do they bother going through the process at all? During U.S. occupation of Japan after World War II, the people of Amami had no access to the mainland and were struck by famine as resources dwindled. The only staple they had on the island was the cycad—so, out of necessity, they had to discover ways of removing the poison to make the plant safe for consumption. Today, the practice of cooking with cycad lives on as a treasured tradition—a way for the people of Amami to never forget their history and honor the ancestors that came before them.

Of all its delicious offerings, chocolate is Guatemala’s most divine treat. The ancient Mayan tradition of chocolate making is a 2,500-year-old cultural legacy kept alive by dedicated farmers, roasters and chocolatiers. Hang on to your sweet tooth as we follow the “food of the Gods” from a simple seed on a cacao tree all the way to becoming a luxurious dessert.

Mexico's Zapotecs are an indigenous community living in Oaxaca, Mexico. Before Spanish colonization, Zapotecan civilization was a thriving epicenter of food, culture and tradition. Today, chef Abigail Mendoza is on a mission to keep those traditions alive by cooking the food of her ancestors. All the dishes she cooks—including pre-hispanic mole, stuffed chiles with Oaxaca cheese and atole—are made using ancient techniques. Recognized by the world’s best chefs for her dishes, she hopes to keep the food of her ancestors alive and thriving.