World-renowned chef, author and Emmy winning television personality Anthony Bourdain visits Libya in the next episode of "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown," airing Sunday, May 19, at 9 p.m. ET. Follow the show on Twitter and Facebook.

Fried dough is arguably a universal language. There are about as many ways to enjoy sfinz - a spongy, light (albeit fried) pastry eaten across the Middle East and North Africa - as there are variations and even spellings.

In Libya, it's sfinz. In Morocco, it's sfenj. In Tunisia, yoyos; and in Italy, sfinge. (Leptis Magna, on the coast of Libya, was once a highly prominent city of the Roman Empire; it's also an UNESCO World Heritage site.)

This week, Anthony Bourdain travels to the North African country that is still trying to find its footing after long-term ruler Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown by an uprising in 2011.
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5@5 is a food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

Jacob Griffin doesn't want maple syrup to be stuck as a pancake staple; there's a lot more sweetness to tap.

Griffin is the chef at The Farm Stand Cafe at Madava Farms, an organic maple farm in New York’s Hudson Valley that is the home of Crown Maple Syrup.

Five Unlikely Uses for Real Maple Syrup: Jacob Griffin
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5@5 is a food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

Since the Harlem Shake has jumped the shark, let’s get back to a shake that really matters - we're talking about the good ol’ fashioned milkshake.

Mark Robert Turner is here to make the transition a smooth one. Turner is the Operations Manager - and resident milkshake magician - of Bareburger, a micro-chain of organic burger restaurants.

If you don’t own a blender, you can use an immersion or stick blender, which works just as effectively. If you don’t have either one of those, grab a stainless steel bowl and a whisk; you should never deny yourself a milkshake because you don’t have the right equipment.

Five Tips To Make a Marvelous Milkshake: Mark Robert Turner
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There comes a time in every food writer's life when they must reluctantly remove thine fancy trousers and succumb to the sugar-fueled enthusiasm the public expresses for mass market Easter candy.

Last year, Americans spent nearly $2 billion on Easter candy alone, including milk chocolate bunnies, cream-filled eggs, jelly beans and, of course, the cherished, brightly colored marshmallow critters known as Peeps.

The iconic chick- and bunny-shaped confections are made by family-owned candy manufacturer, Just Born, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The factory hatches an estimated 4 million Peeps a day, which is enough to give to one Peeps treat to every person in Croatia. (You're welcome.)

Should you find yourself hopped up on too many of the blood-sugar-spiking 'mallows come Monday, make the leftovers melt into memory with homemade Peeps ice cream.
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CNN photojournalist John Bodnar is a second-generation Slavic-American whose grandparents emigrated from Eastern Slovakia, and his mother’s Carpatho-Rusyn ethnicity is the prominent influence for his cultural and family traditions. Previously, he wrote about haluski.

I’d like to introduce you to the Easter bread that we called Paska. It is a two dough bread that incorporates cheese and raisins, and the arduous process that can take up to SIX hours to prepare. There in no wonder that this bread was made only once a year. I can’t imaging how my grandmother, who had 10 children, could find time for anything, let alone spending so much time for baking bread, plus the rest of the meal preparation.

It will always be one of my favorite foods. I will occasionally make a small loaf, but it is never as good as Mom’s. When I visit her, frozen Paska is always “forced” upon me and I take it home with me. Outside the Easter tradition, it is amazing when toasted and covered with butter. Oh yes, did I mention Paska with a hot cup of coffee?

Get John's family recipe - Slovak soul food: Paska for Easter

More on Easter foods and traditions

Plenty of traditional foods pack an emotional whallop, but few of them back it up with a sensory punch as strong as horseradish's. The pungent root is a key part of a Passover Seder plate (along with salt water-dipped vegetables, a shank bone, a hard boiled egg, a sweet paste of apples and nuts called charoset, and a bitter vegetable - often lettuce) and symbolizes the harsh lives of the Israelites before they were delivered from slavery in Egypt.
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All over the world, people gather to celebrate Passover - the holiday that commemorates the Jewish people's escape from slavery in Egypt. For seven or eight days (depending on where you live), families and friends come together for festive seder meals packed with ritual foods and a few dietary restrictions (for instance, no leavened grains).

And while many traditions remain the same the world over, favorite regional recipes can bring communities closer together. Here, families from Israel, Estonia and India share a few of their favorites, courtesy of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, to make your celebration a little larger in spirit.
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Ashley Strickland is an associate producer with CNN.com. She likes tackling English toffee, channeling summer with sunflower cheesecakes, sharing people-pleasin' pizza dip and green soup, cajoling recipes from athletes and studying up on food holidays.

There is a grace in the harmony of simple flavors and taking the time and care to introduce them to one another. I like to think it’s embodied in a perfect pound cake.

Take a moment to get to know the grand dame of Southern desserts.
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One of a bagel’s greatest virtues is that it's a single serving of fresh-from-the-oven bread, baked just for you.

Even better: if you do the baking yourself, there's usually at least 11 more just like it cooling nearby, creating a perfect excuse for a weekend get-together.

Bagel lovers, especially New Yorkers and people of Eastern European descent, have strong opinions about what makes a bagel great - or not so great.

For the owners of Surfside Bagels in Far Rockaway, New York, the hand-rolled boiled and baked bread should be dense and chewy. Its exterior, shiny; its interior, yeasty but not too sweet. Fortunately, they’re willing to spread their knowledge.

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Hungry for healthier meals but don't know where to start? Hundreds of nutritious, delicious recipes - from kid-friendly mains and comforting casseroles to grilled entrees and smarter (but still delicious) desserts - are just a click away.

First lady and Partnership for a Healthier America's honorary chair Michelle Obama announced today that the nonprofit group has paired with social networking site Pinterest to make to make it easier to find healthier recipes online. Media partners from Condé Nast Magazines, Hearst Magazines, Meredith, Food Network and Time Inc. will flag their recipe sites' online recipes that align with the dietary guidelines of the USDA's MyPlate initiative.
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