Yesterday's Globetrotting Menu

Course 1: American Autumn Garden Salad. Field greens, pickling cucumbers, and red peppers, served raw and chilled with vinegar-based dressing.

Course 2: Tuscan Onion Soup. Simmer one cup beef stock, one cup chicken stock. Add oregano, rosemary, parsley, and basil to taste. Cube and fry 1/4 pound pancetta. Add pancetta to broth; do not remove grease from pan. Slice 3-4 onions into narrow strips. Cook onions in hot pancetta grease, covered. Add 1 clove roasted garlic to cooking onions, stir and mix until garlic and continue cooking until onions are translucent to clear. Add onion/garlic mixture to broth, add ground pepper to taste. Thicken with the "Chinese cheat" -- a mixture of 1/4 cup cold water and 1 tablespoon cornstarch, stirred well. Serve very hot, with small croutons that have salt and gruyere cheese melted atop them.

Course 3: Sashimi with Saffron Rice. For the rice, boil ordinary white rice, seasoned with small amounts of garlic, tumeric, and 1-2 strands of saffron in the water. For sashimi, take 1-2 high-quality tuna steaks (1" thick) and marinade in soy sauce with garlic powder and sesame seeds added. Place in broiler of toaster oven; flip after tops of steaks turn gray. Remove from heat after other side turns gray; crack black pepper atop and slice thin. Interior of steak should be raw.

Course 4: Global Pears. Select large pears which are not quite ripe (still firm to the touch). Halve, de-stem, and core the pears. Add 1 tbsp. brown sugar, 1/2 tbsp. cinnamon, and hints of orange peel, nutmeg, and ginger to hollows left by cores. Bake at 350 degrees for one half hour. Meanwhile, whip heavy cream. After cream is well-whipped, add sugar, vanilla extract, and powdered ginger, to taste until vanilla and ginger flavors dominate. Serve pears at room temparature topped with chilled ginger cream.