The KaiKai Book

Fire up your kettles—we’re going around the world in seven cups of tea. Great Big Story senior producer Beryl Shereshewsky checks in with seven people in seven different countries who show us how they prepare their perfect cuppa. We sample all of it—from Japan’s matcha to Argentina’s mate. Even if you’re a coffee drinker, we’re certain you’ll want to reach for a tea bag after you’re steeped in all this knowledge.

In Japan, children bring bento boxes to school with them for lunch, and Tomomi Maruo has a knack for making these lunches way more fun. As a food artist, she can take up to an hour each day creating entirely edible characters for these special bento boxes called charaben. Her talent for crafting these intricate charaben has prompted her to teach small classes to others eager to master the skill.

If you find yourself at the Forodhani Night Market, don’t leave without paying a visit to Muhamedi, the Zanzibar Pizza Master. But if you’re expecting a greasy slice of ‘za, you’re in for a surprise. His culinary creations are little fried pockets of pure bliss, filled with everything from Snickers bars to octopus. #zanzibar #pizza #tanzania

These four chefs use cooking to tell stories about culture and history. They make food that nourishes the body as well as the heart and the mind. Sean Sherman is a Native American chef who uses ingredients indigenous to North America to create gourmet meals. Konosuke Yamada is a purveyor of Japanese comfort food. We can eat authentic Chinese food in the United States thanks to Cecilia Chiang. And the late Queen of Creole cuisine, Leah Chase, will forever be remembered for her gumbo and for running a restaurant that served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders.