News India Times

www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know News India Times (December 27, 2025 - January 2, 2026) January 2, 2026 16 Holiday Season F rom the Italian ambassador’s stone villa in Washington, Chef Roberto Grazioli has cooked for prime ministers, presidents and first ladies. But at Christmas, he cooks for his mom. Grazioli headed home to northern Italy this month for a visit to the village where, when he was a boy, the two of them fried bits of dough into delicate pastries, opening worlds to him. “She’s my first teacher,” he said on a recent afternoon, before rolling out sheets of pasta for a dish he has made for six ambassadors over two decades in the United States. It’s an intense and gratifying job that has left him little space for much else. Grazioli is part of a community of embassy chefs and other culinary evangelists who lean on their nations’ dinner-table traditions to bring a bit of warmth in a world of roiling tensions. The soft power of good food takes many shapes, particularly during the holidays. D.C. is a city of embassies, home to more than 175 of them. Part of representing a country’s interests inWash- ington is piquing interest in what matters to its people, and food is a common source of pride and connection. Dozens of countries have showcased beloved holiday and national dishes in the U.S. capital in recent years in a medley of formats. In the depths of a covid winter, ambassadors and chefs from 27 embassies in D.C. printed a “European Union Holiday Cookbook,” which gathered stories and favorite dishes and was distributed to Cabinet secretaries, U.S. government staffers and others. It was an exercise in diplomacy with a “human touch,” said Stavros Lambrini- dis, who was then the E.U.’s ambassador to the U.S. in Washington and now heads its delegation to the United Nations. They got so many texts thanking them that they kept the project going for a few years. Over the summer, Events DC, the city’s convention and sports authority, hosted its latest Embassy Chef Chal- lenge, pitting cooks and cuisines against one another. Packed with personal touches, national quirks and family lore, the dishes that have emerged from such efforts have offered a peek at the vast diversity of tastes throughout the capital city. They have included: a Greek ambassador’s great-grandmother’s recipe for NewYear’s Eve sweet bread, vasilopita; a Luxembourgish winter hare or rabbit recipe with a two-day marinade, huesenziwwi; chiles en nogada, or poblano peppers in walnut sauce, a green, white and red dish that mirrors the colors of the Mexican flag; and chicken pelau, a one-pot, pigeon-pea- and-rice recipe fromTrinidad and Tobago. In a spirit of good cheer after a long year, some of the diplomatic corps’ culinary standouts – from Brazil, India and Italy – shared with TheWashington Post recipes for their favorite celebratory dishes. The recipes provided by the embassies have been minimally edited for clarity but have not been tested by The Post. Brazilian Embassy Fish Moqueca The embassy’s chef, Carol Simões, says cooks through- out Brazil put their own spin on this classic stew, which is traditionally simmered slowly in clay pots. It features tomatoes, fish, peppers and chiles “bobbing in a broth enriched with coconut milk and dendê oil,” an earthy, deep yellow extract from the fruit of a palm tree originally brought from Africa. Pronounced mo-KEH-kah, the dish is eaten at family celebrations and gatherings throughout the year and is “an initiation to Brazilian gastronomy,” said Simões, who provided her version of the dish. Ingredients • 1 large yellow bell pepper • 1 large red bell pepper • 3 tomatoes • 2 onions • 2 small garlic cloves • 2 small red Brazilian lady’s fingers chile peppers (Simões says sweety drop peppers could be an alter- native.) • Generous ¾ cup coconut milk (from one 14-ounce can) • ¼ cup dendê oil (from a specialty store or online) • ½ teaspoon fine salt, plus more as needed • 6 sea bass fillets, skin and pin bones removed • 2 tablespoons olive oil • 2 sprigs cilantro, plus more for leaves for serving Directions • Cut the bell peppers in half, remove the seeds, and slice into strips. Remove the tomato skins and slice. Peel and slice the onions into rounds. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Slice the chile peppers into rounds. • In a blender, blend the coconut milk with the dendê oil and ½ teaspoon of the salt for 1 minute, until fully emulsified and creamy. • Season the fish with salt to taste. • Heat a large pot (preferably a clay pot) or a high- sided skillet over medium heat. • Drizzle in the olive oil, add the onions, season with a pinch of salt, and sauté for about 3 minutes until softened. Add all the pepper slices and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until lightly golden. • Reduce the heat, add the cilantro sprigs and the coconut milk mixture. Add the tomatoes and stir well. • Nestle the fish steaks among the vegetables – this keeps the fish partially submerged in the broth so it cooks evenly. • Cover the pot and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through but still moist and the vegetables are tender. Garnish with cilantro leaves. Indian Embassy Carrot Halwa Like many diplomatic missions inWashington, India has no dedicated embassy chef. But it has many informal diplomats of deliciousness, among them press secretary Neha Singh, who shared this personal favorite for the season. “It has ingredients which are readily available in all American stores, so it would be easy to make, and best of all, it’s a dessert,” she says. Singh made a few linguistic and other modifications, for taste and ease of under- standing, to her go-to recipe from Hebbars Kitchen, a popular global site for recipes and videos on vegetarian Indian cooking. Ingredients • 2 pounds carrots, scrubbed • ¼ cup ghee • 10 raw cashews, chopped • 10 raw almonds, chopped • 10 raw pistachios, chopped • 3 cups milk • ¾ cup granulated sugar • ½ cup evaporated milk • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom Directions • Peel the carrots and grate finely using a box grater or food processor. • In a large, heavy-bottom pan, heat the ghee over medium heat, then add cashews, almonds, pista- chios and any other nuts or raisins that you like, and toast until they turn slightly golden brown. Transfer to a bowl or plate. In the same pan, add the grated carrots and sauté for 5 minutes or until they change color slightly. • Stir in the milk and cook over medium heat, stir- ring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Continue to simmer until the carrots are cooked well and milk reduces. Once the milk thickens completely, stir in the sugar and cook until the sugar dissolves and thickens. The result shouldn’t be mushy – you should still be able to see the grated pieces of car- rot separately. • Turn off the burner and stir in the evaporated milk, cardamom and toasted nuts until well com- bined. Serve warm or let cool completely. Italian Embassy Chef Roberto moves through the kitchen in Villa Fi- renze, the residence of ambassador and longtime Italian diplomat Marco Peronaci, with an artful precision, sliding around a long steel island with an industriousness forged over decades of making delicacies that disappear within minutes. He said he wants to keep working until his last day of life. “When you retire, you are finished,” said Grazioli, 58. “What are you going to do? Sit on the couch and watch Juventus versus Torino or Lugano?” he asked, naming the Italian and Swiss football clubs. He relies on creativity and the freshness of ingredients and mostly eschews easy additions like butter or sugar in his meals. He also has a dramatic flair and is quick to jettison rules when a recipe, or whim, demands. During a recent bout of “pastry diplomacy,” the Nor- wegian Embassy – and its chef Eilif Rosok – chronicled a friendly visit by Germany’s ambassador, who brought over some franzbrötchen in a basket to show off the na- tion’s cinnamon pastry prowess. “Now, who’s next?” the Norwegians prodded fellow chefs on Instagram. Grazioli took the challenge and amped up the compe- tition. Using a short list of ingredients – among them, flour, eggs, oranges, chocolate, wine and almonds – he created a tray of seven provincial specialties, including cannoli and baci di dama, hazelnut sandwich cookies also called “lady’s kisses.” “I did it with my heart,” Grazioli said in an accompany- ing video. Recipes From India, Brazil And Italy: D.C. Is A City Filled With Embassies, And Each Has A Special Holiday Dish By Michael Laris, TheWashington Post -Continued on Page 18 Photo:MUST CREDIT: Melina Mara/TheWashington Post For Carrot Halwa, grated carrots are sautéed in the ghee used to brown cashews and other nuts.