Soon after our reporter Sohini Das Gupta turned 8, she stopped eating fish. In her Bengali household — a famously fish-eating lot — it was quite the scandal. Sighs were sighed and investigations launched, as her parents tried to figure out what could have gone wrong. Then, at the pinnacle of her fish resistance, her grandmother cooked doi maach: tender pieces of freshwater fish, soused in a yogurt-based gravy of robust east Indian spices. I polished off every last bit. If anyone could achieve the dubious union of fish, curd and an unlikely surprise ingredient she’s not at liberty to disclose right away, it had to be her thammi (Bengali for grandma). This quality extends to grandmothers everywhere: Bustling Italian nonnas or plate-piling Somali bibis, they possess the superpower of turning humble ingredients into morsels most magical. Join us today for classic food stories from kitchens made redolent by grandmothers, from America to Japan with delicious pit stops in between. Pstt: We even managed to source some pantry tricks from grandmas of our own OZY tribe! From Sohini Das Gupta