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Anna Ansari

@thisplacetastesdelicious

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• I write • I cook • I used to lawyer •
•OTT🌎DTW🌎PEK🌎NYC🌎EDI🌎LON•
•@thegfw food writer of the year (2026)•

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A week ago, I hopped off a red-eye from Detroit (seat 55a, thank you very much!), ran home to Walthamstow, slept 4 hours, and then got dressed for @thegfw awards.

It was my father’s 90th the day before, and I had wondered whether I should stay the night in Michigan and celebrate rather than fly on his birthday. My father was adamant that I get back to London, that I attend an awards ceremony where I was nominated in not just one category but two—he would not hear of me missing the possibility of hearing my name announced as a winner.

Thank goodness I listened to my dad. I won! Once and not twice, but I WON.

It’s me! Hi! I’m the Food Writer of the Year 2026. It’s me!

What a pleasure and honor to be nominated alongside @cheftimanderson and @springuine , and what a joy to have •SILK ROADS• nominated as debut food book alongside @celestialpeach_uk and winner @keshia.sakarah_

And what a treat to celebrate with some truly fantastic people I am lucky to call colleagues and friends.
Wow. Wow. Wow.

Thank you.

PS: my dad said that my winning was the best birthday present he could have ever gotten 🎁 by @thisplacetastesdelicious

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a month ago

I could not be more thrilled to (formally) announce my debut book: SILK ROADS—A Flavor Odyssey of Recipes from Baku to Beijing. !!!

Published by DK RED and available for PRE-ORDER NOW via the link in my bio, SILK ROADS is out on October 9, 2025 in the UK and on October 14, 2025 in the US.

It has been a joy, honor and privilege to write this book (and these 90 insanely delicious recipes), as well as a culmination of decades of life, learning and love. In some ways, it’s hard to imagine that the 15 year old Iranian-American girl who, in 1997, despite her initial trepidations, fell in love with China and couldn’t/wouldn’t cook to save her life, would end up an erstwhile trade lawyer immigrant in the UK, writing about the connections, the shared food, flavor, history and ingredients that have flowed across the storied so-called “Silk Roads,” and recording, creating and cooking the foods of these regions with gusto. And, in other ways, it all makes perfect sense: so many roads (and so many people) have led me right to where I sit today. And I could not be more grateful, happy and content.

Buy my book! Cook from my book! Share my book! Learn from my book! It’s beautiful. It’s delicious. It’s fun. It’s funny. It’s full of love and food and family and history and adventure. It’s the trip of a lifetime and I would love for you to come along with me.

Thank you to an incredible team:
@dklivinguk @dklivingus @carmstrong_1 @totallyjackson @laurajayneedwards @jimmylazergram @lucy_sienkowska @taraosullivanwriter @charliephillips @sam__dixon @kristinejakobsson @frangizauskas @diana_riley + Emma at @madeleinemilburn

[Music (“The Mulberry Tree”) from a dearly departed family friend, the incomparable Azerbaijani pianist Chingiz Sadikhov.) by @thisplacetastesdelicious

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a year ago

It’s October! It’s book release month! 🥳🥳🥳

Silk Roads: A Flavor Odyssey with Recipes from Baku to Beijing is out sooooooon (Oct. 9 in 🇬🇧, Oct. 14 in 🇺🇸)

If you’ve been sitting on the fence as to whether to pre-order my book, get on off of it…. and see what the amazing @missminifer @cheftimanderson @bottomofthepot and @felicityspector have to say about it. 🙌🙌🙌 You can trust them. I promise!!!

I’m so incredibly grateful to have such incredible talents say such kind things about Silk Roads. Thank you all a million times over. Truly. 🫶🤘👌

And I’m so incredibly thankful to have had such a great team working on it — 🙏🙏🙏
Publisher and Team: @dklivinguk @dklivingus @carmstrong_1 @totallyjackson @lucy_sienkowska
Photos: @laurajayneedwards
Book design: @jimmylazergram
Food styling: @sam__dixon + @kristinejakobsson
Prop styling: @charliephillips
Agent: @madeleinemilburn
PR + Marketing : @postcardpr @diana_riley @fiona_c_smith @laurenkatebrook

Link to book, events, yadda yadda yadda in bio.
💃💃💃💃 taken in London, United Kingdom by @thisplacetastesdelicious

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10 months ago

Happy birthday to me. This is 45.

Swimming. Panisse. Gillardeau no. 3s. Rose. Sunshine. Mosquitos. Cannonballs. Cicadas. Butter. Hugs. A piñata. Peaches. Goat cheese. Kisses. Cold duck breast. And a reflective piece up on my substack too. taken in Tourves by @thisplacetastesdelicious

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2 days ago

@traversecityfoodandwine is back! 🥂 Join us on August 22 for A Silk Roads Dinner with Anna Ansari.

Anna Ansari is a Metro Detroit native, world traveler, and culinary storyteller whose debut cookbook traces the ancient trade routes of Central Asia through recipes, history, and personal narrative. Anna joins our culinary team at Aerie for an intimate four-course dinner that weaves the bold, aromatic flavors of her travels into dishes rooted in the extraordinary ingredients of northern Michigan.

Get your tickets at the link in bio. by @thisplacetastesdelicious

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3 days ago

You know you want it 🍜

Cold Sesame Noodles from •SILK ROADS• on a hot summer’s day

PS: ingredients all (well, NEARLY all) from @souschefuk

#cookingthesilkroads #frombakutobeijing #sesamenoodles #coldnoodles #coldsesamenoodles taken in London, United Kingdom by @thisplacetastesdelicious

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3 days ago

This Uyghur-inspired chickpea salad from Anna Ansari's (@thisplacetastesdelicious)cookbook, Silk Roads: A Flavor Odyssey from Baku to Beijing, is a good reminder that simple recipes rely on quality ingredients. Perfectly cooked garbanzos are the star here, so resist the temptation to reach for a can! Photograph by Patricia Niven (patricianiven). Link to recipe in bio. #saladoftheday #salads #peopleofthebean #ranchogordo #heirloombeans #beansky by @thisplacetastesdelicious

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4 days ago

Turns out I don’t hate mushrooms; I just hate eating mushrooms 🍄🤷‍♀️🍄‍🟫(except in small doses).

Thank you @eileanshona. Thank you @helensalter & @goodfoodeveryday!

#mushrooms #eileanshona #foraging #mushroomhunting #chanterelles taken in Eilean Shona by @thisplacetastesdelicious

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4 days ago

Summertime = Arnold Palmer time.

The Arnold Palmer, a glorious beverage so ubiquitous in 🇺🇸 that people rank bottled versions bought at grocery stores and have group chats devoted to the beloved refresher (cc @imjasondiamond) A joy of a beverage. A taste of summer. A sip of a country club snack bar. Delicious. Refreshing. Much-needed.

Side note: how is it 🇬🇧 drinks so much tea, but people here don’t really drink ICED tea (aka the best kind of tea)? This needs to change, ASAP. Hey— I hear we are getting yet another new PM tomorrow; maybe that’s something he could actually achieve? 🤔

#arnoldpalmer #icedtea #icedteaandlemonade taken in London, United Kingdom by @thisplacetastesdelicious

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6 days ago

It was an indescribable honor and pleasure to speak with @michiganpublic when I was home last month.

I mean— we’ve all got our fave @npr stations, right? @michiganpublic is mine and has been for decades. And I’ve been listening to *Stateside* for what feels like FOREVER, so to have been asked to be on this iconic program— wow, just WOW.

Thank you so very much to @merced.mc & @aprilbaerradio for having me!

Honestly, I continue to be legit thrilled and overjoyed by the reception •SILK ROADS• has gotten (and continues to receive) in Michigan — on that note: come see me at @traversecityfoodandwine next month!!

Link to my dinner at @gt_resort in my bio, and link to this episode of *Stateside* in my stories.

PS: That’s my maternal great aunt and great grandmother, playing in the Lake Erie surf in the early 1940s, and my dad and paternal grandmother in the early 1960s, Detroit skyline (and a Boblo boat!) behind them.

#michigan #michiganpublicradio #puremichigan #npr taken in Ann Arbor, Michigan by @thisplacetastesdelicious

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7 days ago

Ok. Full disclosure: I LOVE @patricianiven and @brilliantbake

Patricia Niven: when I decided I wanted someone to come and shoot recipes from my book that didn’t have images, Patsy was the first person I thought of. When I needed some help cheffing for a pop-up, Katie Smith was the first person I called.

These women are so special and spectacular, and I am truly lucky to call them my friends. BUT ALSO— my teachers!!

A few weekends ago, I attended my second iPhone food photography workshop with these wonderful women. It was a miserably hot afternoon, and we cooled ourselves down by eating tomatoes and radishes after we photographed them. At one point, frankly, I nearly fainted, but I persevered— I had come because I wanted to learn how to take better composed and edited photos as well as to style my food more dynamically, not to mention how to best position “props.” Props! That’s where @maxwhrobinson and his table full of treats and career full of expertise came in.

What an excellent afternoon! I left not only with pit stains and two takeaway boxes of mango-strawberry trifle, but also (and most importantly) better equipped to use my iPhone to its full capacity to take better food photos forever…or at least until Apple switches things up again.

When they do, I know who I want teaching me. 😉

Run, don’t walk to a workshop next time they offer one!

Thank you, @patricianiven @brilliantbake @maxwhrobinson !!! by @thisplacetastesdelicious

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7 days ago

Two weeks ago, Theo and I had the mostly lovely time at @hackneyschooloffood’s community garden party.

The space. The place. The food. The community. The education. The bees! Wow. Every neighborhood should have a Hackney School of Food!

Thanks to @mallikabasu_ for the invite, to @hackneycouncil for the funding, and to @cerijoneschef and @keshia.sakarah_ and the other food educators and volunteers for all they do.

Also— great to see the beautiful, friendly faces of @we_are_food and @angelahuii there too.

What a way to kick off summer!

#hackneyschooloffood #hackney #communitygarden taken in London, United Kingdom by @thisplacetastesdelicious

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8 days ago