Andrew Coppolino's food tour of North, West and Central Asia

According to the Government of Canada's website, the theme of Asian Heritage Month for 2023 is "stories of determination." Restaurants in any shape and form are excellent examples of businesses that need a certain grit and determination to thrive.

The range of Asian restaurants in our area has grown remarkably in just a few short years — and they contribute significantly to the rich diversity of flavours and cultures you can experience.

Celebrating these businesses and their foods is easy and delicious, but first the larger complexity of the term "Asian" needs to be addressed.

Asia is immense: with 4.7 billion people, the continent makes up 57 per cent of the total world population, according to the United Nations.

The continent is conventionally divided into five or six regions: north, west, central, east and south. Usually southeast Asia is considered its own region to make up the half-dozen.

Within, there is a large collection of sub-cultures and their foods. China alone, for instance, is divided into 23 provinces, five autonomous regions with Hong Kong and Macao as two special administrative regions. Each has its own distinct culinary tradition of which you could find a dozen examples in our area.

Cuisine from the north

For this week, here are few restaurants and foods traditionally found in north, west and central Asia; the list is by no means comprehensive. Part two — east, south and southeast Asia — will run next week.

Russia is the world's largest country by land mass, but rare are Russian restaurants in our area. While the owners identify as Ukrainian, Waterloo's Teremok Café on Erb Street has been operating for 22 years. Russian and Ukrainian dishes for dine-in or take-out include pelmeni, pierogies (including pierogi casserole) and a range of comforting soups, like cabbage and beet borscht. There is also solyanka, a thick, often sour, soup of Russian origin.

Also, because May is Polish Heritage Month in Ontario, I'd like to mention where to get some Polish pierogies. There is a good selection of pierogies and pelmeni at Pierogi House available for dine-in, take-away and frozen. As well, Pierogi Pigs food truck is usually quite busy in the area too.

Head to western Asia

When it comes to western Asia, we can find examples at virtually every corner of the region in the form of Lebanese, Syrian and Turkish shawarma. These can be smaller mom and pop joints like Shawarma Lounge in Laurelwood or dine-in restaurants like Arabesque Family Restaurant in Kitchener. Recently, Waterloo's Shawerma Plus has started franchising in cities outside of Waterloo Region — a testament to the popularity of the handheld spit-roasted meat.

While there are always crossovers between cuisines and dishes, biryani can be both Indian and Afghani. You can find Afghani dishes along side Persian dishes at venues such as Kabob Hut in the University Shops Plaza next to University of Waterloo, including koobideh kabob of ground beef skewers with saffron basmati rice.

At Kitchener's Yum Yum Kabob, Hussein Ferdos serves Persian dishes like vaziry kabob as well as Afghani dishes. He explains that such crossovers are both traditional and current when it comes to influence and sharing. His menu is influenced by foods from Syria, Turkey, Afghanistan and Iran.

Chef-owner of Elixir Bistro in Belmont Village, Pirooz Jafari, was born in Lorestan province Iran, but he loves to cook classic French dishes like boeuf Bourguignon and coq au vin. However, you might find grilled salmon with a saffron sauce on the menu.

Food from the 'Stans'

Central Asia is referred colloquially as the "stans." These include Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The most familiar cuisine of which is from Afghanistan and features kabobs grilled over coal, rice dishes, and unique and delicious dishes like mantoo and aushak dumplings that might be stuffed with pumpkin.

To try these dishes, check the aforementioned Yum Yum Kabob as well as Helmand Kabob in Guelph, named for one of 34 provinces in Afghanistan. In Cambridge, the name Khyber Afghan Grill is a literal manifestation of how cuisine travels back and forth and mixes with each other. Part of the ancient Silk Road, the Khyber Pass is a mountainous route linking Afghanistan and Pakistan and has been a key trade route for centuries.

Sadly, a popular Afghani restaurant, Choppan Kabob, has closed temporarily, and it remains to be seen if it will reopen.

The restaurant was founded a decade ago and was family-owned and operated. Its existence is based on the harshest of real-world politics: owner Wali Jamali escaped from Jalalabad, Afghanistan during the Russian invasion from 1979 to 1989, rebuilt his family's life and eventually opened the Highland Road restaurant sharing his family's recipes and dishes with the community.

It's a good example of "stories of determination," which is the theme of Asian Heritage Month.