Once upon a time, I lived in NYC and sent my young daughters to an international school. They eagerly ate foods from China, Lebanon, and Peru. As I am an avid cook, educator, and traveler, this made me proud.

 

Then we moved across the country to a new community with less international exposure. I watched my children's palates narrow. Initially I resorted to the standard ways parents coerce kids to try new foods. But I did not want culinary experimenting to become a battle. I wanted my daughters to enjoy exploring new foods—and world culture—as much as my husband and I did. So I created a journey for them, which we named One-World Whisk (OWW).

 

Throughout October 2011, I cooked a new international meal every weeknight. To make the effort sustainable, all the dinners had to be easy to prepare (~1/2 hour from start to table) and not too daunting for my kids to eat. The girls tracked our journey with OWW passports and marked a large world map with the countries we "visited". Our family finished the month with an array of new go-to meals.

 

After that initial monthlong trek, I occasionally added new recipes to the repertoire. Then, in late 2019, finding myself in a cooking rut, I decided to revamp the site and update it more frequently.

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On October 1, 2026—exactly 15 years to the day it began—I completed the journey. I had cooked and documented a family-friendly dinner from all 197 recognized nations, along with a few extra side-trip recipes.

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Whether partaking by downloading and printing the OWW passport and map, or by occasionally popping on the site for inspiration, I invite you to join us on our culinary adventure for busy families.