Welcome to Traveling Through, a podcast hosted by David Prior, where we trace the places, encounters, and unexpected discoveries that have influenced some of today’s most creative minds. Listen on Apple Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Andy Baraghani, the bestselling author of The Cook You Want to Be, has spent years studying, cooking, and writing about Persian food. But one surprising tidbit from this week’s episode of Traveling Through is that he’s never been to Iran.

The reasons are complicated—and best left to the Iranian American author and former Bon Appétit editor to explain—but the conspicuous omission in an otherwise well-stamped passport has made him attuned to echoes of Iran elsewhere.

Vietnam reminds him of flavors of his childhood through its unabashed affection for herbs. Beirut offers flashes of recognition in its markets and open-armed hospitality. Istanbul, meanwhile, provides one of the episode’s more memorable stories, involving a first date, political protests, and an unfortunately timed noise bomb.

Also in the episode, Baraghani—whose first restaurant, Ditto, is slated to open in New York later this year—offers a fresh take on the benefits of solo travel, extols the Sicilian granita, argues that most people are doing Japan wrong, and shares a passionate opinion about mulberries that may persuade listeners to head straight to their local farmers market.

The episode is full of observations that begin with food but quickly turn toward identity, memory, and the strange ways we recognize ourselves in places we've never been.

It raises an intriguing question: What happens when a place you feel connected to exists largely in your imagination?

Watch the full episode above, or listen by subscribing on Apple Music or Spotify.