The most anticipated game of the Cricket World Cup may be the Pakistan-India game on Sunday. The nations are bitter rivals, and their cricket teams rarely meet. There is one thing their fans do agree on, though: Biryani is the best thing to eat at a cricket match. The rice dish is a favorite all over the Indian subcontinent. Each culture has its own way of preparing biryani, but the desi restaurants in the area around the World Cup stadium in East Meadow, N.Y., are used to serving up multiple styles.

Each of the three biryani shops closest to the stadium in Eisenhower Park has halal meat, restricted beef options and a range of vegetarian dishes. But the most popular item on all three restaurant menus is the biryani.

Fans arrive for the Sri Lanka versus South Africa Cricket World Cup match at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium at Eisenhower Park, N.Y., on June 3.

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Biryani became associated with cricket partly because of the sport’s format. The oldest version of the game lasts five days. Fans eat multiple meals from early morning until evening. The breaks in the play are even named after mealtimes. The World Cup format is much shorter, about as long as a baseball game. But in any format of cricket, there’s a long pause before each play. It’s the perfect amount of time to scoop meat, rice, yogurt and other condiments onto a spoon.

There are over 35 kinds of biryanis across the Indian subcontinent, with each city offering varying flavors. Like cricket, the Indo-Pak rivalry plays out over biryani as well. Vegetarian biryani is more popular in India, along with chicken and mutton — but not beef, which most Hindus avoid. In Pakistan, meat biryani is more common — but never pork, which is forbidden in Islam.

Sahar’s Kitchen and Chai — Karachi style

Mohammed Rehman, owner of Sahar’s Kitchen & Chai, and the restaurant’s chicken biryani, in East Meadow, N.Y., on June 4.

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In East Meadow, the desi restaurants have both Hindu and Muslim customers. At Sahar’s Kitchen and Chai, Mohammed Rehman, who comes from a Bangladeshi family, offers a Karachi-style biryani with the raita, a yogurt sauce, on the side — trademark Pakistani flavors!

Rehman loves watching cricket with a plate of biryani. “Biryani is a quick eat and fills you up,” he says, adding descriptions of various subcontinental biryanis. “The Pakistani is more dried, with more sauce on top. The Indian has more spices. And Bangladesh is more curried.”

The Royale — biryani diversity

Amrinder Singh, owner of the Royale Restaurant & Bar in Carle Place, N.Y., on June 4.

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The Royale Restaurant & Bar serves alcohol and meat dishes, but that hasn’t stopped devout Muslims and religiously vegetarian Hindus from eating there. For Royale owner Amrinder Singh, this is a reflection of Indian diversity. “We are very respectful towards any religion, any ethnicity,” Singh says, adding that while his restaurant cooks all its food in the same place, it is happy to modify recipes according to diners’ needs.

Subcontinental diversity is reflected in the Royale’s menu, which features prawn biryani and cheese biryani as well. This is the go-to place for the authentic Indian biryani from Hyderabad.

Spice and Curry — a longtime favorite for all kinds of people

Naveed Haroon, co-owner of Spice & Curry Kabab & Grill, and the restaurant’s chicken biryani, in East Meadow on June 3.

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The East Meadow biryani trail ends at Spice & Curry Kabab & Grill, the oldest desi restaurant in the area. Despite describing itself as a Pakistani restaurant, Spice & Curry doesn’t have beef biryani on its menu. “Beef biryani is not very common. We make it on special orders. We also customize vegetarian options, including the chana [chickpea] biryani” says owner Naveed Haroon.

Customers from both India and Pakistan attend biryani-loaded cricket screenings at both the Royale and Spice & Curry. While the Indo-Pak banter prevails, there’s no trace of any hostility. “It’s all politics. In Nassau County, there’s a big population of Indians and Pakistanis. And they get along,” Haroon says.

The Royale Restaurant & Bar on June 4.

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Royale owner Amrinder Singh echoes the same sentiment, citing the example of his former roommate from Pakistan. “He lives in Virginia. He comes to see me — I go to see him. The emotions are the same.”

Both Singh and Haroon agree that the U.S. co-hosting the Cricket World Cup is going to significantly enhance the popularity of the sport in the U.S. and along with it introduce biryani to a wider audience. But are they prepared to cater to a large number of diverse customers? The answer can be found in Spice & Curry’s kitchen, where the chef shows you how the restaurant’s biryani is cooked.

First up, oil goes into a daig, a large pot. Then they add a bag of dried onions and fresh tomato puree, followed by a number of spices, including red chili powder, turmeric powder and zeera coriander. Once the sauce is ready, in goes the basmati rice. Meat or vegetables are separately added to create different biryanis.

Cricket plays on the TV in the lobby of the Holiday Inn hotel that’s connected to the Royale Restaurant & Bar, on June 4.

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While the customers might have their preferred cricket team or biryani, they are bound by the love for both. “The food is going to unite the love. No matter what kind of rivalry they have on the field, when they’ll be back, they’ll enjoy the food,” Singh says.

The hoot of a great horned owl. The munching of a mule deer enjoying grass. The crunching of your feet on the sandy soil. To any hiker, these sounds enhance the joy of being outdoors. But the endorphin rush of a great trail can be blunted by the high-pitched buzz of a mosquito hovering around your neck, trying to score some lunch.

Unfortunately, Southern California’s mosquito season began in early May and there’s no end in sight. This period has grown “longer and longer” according to Susanne Kluh, general manager at Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District.

“When I started at the district 25 years ago, we pretty much put our [tracking and collection] tools away in the middle of October,” Kluh said. “Now because it stays warm so long, [mosquito season] really goes into late November, sometimes early December.”

Being bitten by a mosquito can result in an itchy, unsightly red bump and — depending on where you are — serious disease. Outbreaks of dengue fever have been seen this year in several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, underscoring the importance of wearing repellent regardless of where you spend time outdoors.

So I’ve put together an explainer on how to protect yourself while re-creating in Southern California. Trust me, it will come in handy when planning your next camping trip or hike!

First off, what kinds of mosquitoes inhabit L.A.?

Too many. Los Angeles County is home to several types of mosquitoes, including multiple kinds of culex mosquitoes that spread West Nile virus, usually in the summer months.

Two of the most notorious are the invasive ankle-biting yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) and Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), Kluh said.

Since the 1940s, these little jerks have repeatedly made their way to Southern California. And that includes a large infestation of Asian tiger mosquitoes in 2001 that came over with an ornamental bamboo shipment imported from China. For years they struggled to get established. Then climate change worsened and the Aedes mosquitoes likely adapted. “Every time they live somewhere, they get a little more used to a climate,” Kluh said.

In 2011, L.A. County officials discovered the Asian tiger mosquito in El Monte, which raised alarm bells because of its ability to carry serious illnesses, including dengue and yellow fever in humans, and heartworm in dogs, according to the UC Riverside Center for Invasive Species Research.

Then in 2014, yellow fever mosquitoes were discovered in Commerce and Pico Rivera, which raised similar health concerns. Despite its name, the yellow fever mosquito isn’t transmitting the disease in L.A. County. (But it could if it ever found an infected local host.)

Both species are now established in the L.A. metro area, and we’ve suffered since.

These aggressive daytime biters spread serious diseases outside L.A. like Zika virus, which can cause birth defects among pregnant patients, Chikungunya, which can cause serious long-term joint pain and dengue fever, which can cause high fever and body aches, and occasionally, death.

But all mosquitoes aren’t dangerous. Young mosquitoes generally don’t carry disease and are simply a nuisance. They’re also great snacks for many birds.

Where do they lay their eggs?

The Southern house mosquito, a type of Culex mosquito, typically lays its eggs in fresh or stagnant water, like a muddy puddle where a seasonal river once flowed. She’ll lay them all at once, creating a raft of 100 to 300 eggs floating on the surface of the water, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meanwhile, the Aedes mosquitoes lay durable eggs that can sit attached to, for example, a dry water trough. Once hit with a little rain, those eggs hatch.

They “love biting people,” and can breed in tiny places, Kluh said. A beer bottle cap, left by an imprudent camper next to a campfire, is the perfect hatching nook for any L.A. Aedes girl.

Typically, trails with water will attract mosquitoes, as that’s where they go to lay their eggs. The Culex thriambus enjoys areas along rivers and streams in foothill communities. You might also find the Western treehole mosquito (Ochlerotatus sierrensis) on a trail, especially one nearby oak trees. These guys can carry heartworm, which can be devastating to a dog that hasn’t been treated with preventive medicine.

In higher elevations, including parts of the High Sierra, you might even find snowmelt mosquitoes, which breed in puddles left from melting snow. They don’t carry West Nile virus but do enjoy biting people.

Wow, gross! How do I keep them away?

There are several ways you can protect yourself from mosquitoes. The most effective of them is DEET.

DEET (chemical name, N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) is the active ingredient in many insect repellents on the market. It was developed by the U.S. Army in 1946 and then registered for public use in 1957, according to the National Library of Medicine.

The concentration of DEET in a product determines how long it will keep mosquitos away. A product with 10% DEET will protect you for about two hours while a 30% DEET product provides about five hours of protection.

As mosquitoes age, their olfactory system becomes less sensitive, according to Walter S. Leal, a UC Davis distinguished professor in molecular and cellular biology who has researched insects for more than 30 years and studied the effectiveness of DEET and other insect repellents.

So, to ward off disease-carrying older mosquitoes, you’ll need a higher percentage of DEET — somewhere between 20% to 30%.

Researchers have developed other insect repellents, but they never last as long as DEET. That being said, if you’re going to the playground with your child for 30 minutes, Leal says that citronella spray — which is distilled from grass varieties — should work just fine. But if you’re going on a long hike, DEET is the only repellent on the market proven to last up to six hours. “That’s why it is so difficult to beat,” Leal said.

But is DEET safe?

The short answer? Yes. But that yes comes with an asterisk: According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, kids should use insect repellents that contain no more than 30% DEET. (It notes that reports of adverse effects associated with DEET are rare, and when used appropriately, DEET does not present a health risk.)

The CDC recommends using insect repellent, including DEET, if you’re pregnant or nursing. Repeated research has found that DEET is safe for pregnant parents when used as directed.

“[DEET] is the gold standard,” Leal said.

In his lab, he’s tested products with 20% DEET versus products with 20% Picaridin, a synthetic compound developed in the 1980s to resemble the natural piperine, which is found in plants used to make black pepper. Through that work, Leal said he and other scientists have never found a product more long-lasting and overall effective at warding off mosquitoes than DEET.

But DEET has a perception problem because unlike some repellents, it isn’t naturally occurring, Leal said. The public, especially the naturally inclined, take pause with that.

“They want something that’s natural — they forget that strychnine [and] ricin are all natural products,” Leal said, referencing poisons derived from plants. “Being natural does not necessarily mean it is good, and being synthetic doesn’t necessarily mean it is bad.”

Additionally, people often incorrectly associate DEET with the banned insecticide DDT. “This is a big mistake,” Leal said.

There is no chemical similarity between the two. DEET isn’t a pesticide, meaning it repels insects but does not kill them.

But can’t my clothes protect me?

Sure they can. While on a hike, wear loose-fitting long-sleeve shirts and pants. You can also invest in clothing treated with insecticide permethrin, or buy a spray with permethrin for treating your tent, gear or clothing (while you’re not wearing it) to help ward off mosquitoes. It is not effective to spray DEET on your clothing, Leal said.

But unless you wear a full-body hazmat suit doused in permethrin, your exposed skin will still be a target for mosquitoes.

OK, fine, I’ll use DEET. How should I apply it?

When wearing both sunscreen and repellent, apply repellent last. If you apply sunscreen last, it will cover the repellent, and mosquitoes will not sense it, Leal said.

Generally, it’s most helpful to apply DEET on bare skin — your neck, hands, ankles, whatever skin is showing. It’s not recommended to use repellent under clothing.

It’s important to remember to reapply repellent as needed, as even DEET will wear off over time.

Anything else I should know?

A mosquito bite here and there is inescapable, but as long as you’re vigilant and embrace the DEET, you will be able to prevent your flesh from becoming lunch.

And keep in mind, the repellent you apply to keep mosquitoes away will also help ward off the other nasties like ticks and black flies. Three pests, one spray!

Valérie Perrin’s novels have been enormously popular in her native France, and it’s no wonder. Forgotten on Sunday, her third to be translated into English, evokes something of the heartwarming whimsy of the 2001 movie, Amélie, which gets a shout-out in the book.

A recurrent theme in Perrin’s novels is the life-changing magic of friendships across generations. Her latest is narrated by a charming misfit, a 21-year-old nurse’s assistant at a retirement home in her tiny village. Justine Neige is so interested in her patients’ lives that she often stays after her shift to hold their hands and talk to them. She announces on the second page: “I love two things in life: music and the elderly.”

Like Violette Toussaint, the caretaker of a cemetery in Perrin’s Fresh Water for Flowers, Justine has an unusual gift for empathy that enables her to elicit confidences from the people she encounters in her work. Despite the sadness of some of the stories, including their own, both of Perrin’s idiosyncratic heroines remain obstinate optimists and romantics.

Justine has a favorite patient, 96-year-old Hélène Hel, a retired seamstress and bistro owner whose life story she records in a blue notebook. It’s a love story disrupted by the German occupation of France, deportation to Buchenwald, and years lost to amnesia — all frequent subjects in French literature. Unusually, dyslexia and Braille play into it. So do blue eyes. A seagull is asked to carry more symbolic weight than in Chekhov. (Don’t ask.)

As Justine pieces together Hélène’s tragic history, relayed “in jigsaw-puzzle form,” she also strives to locate the missing pieces regarding the tragedy that changed her life: the death of her parents in a car accident on the way to a baptism when she was four. Also killed in the 1996 crash were her uncle and aunt — her father’s identical twin brother and his beautiful Swedish wife — who left behind 2-year-old Jules. The two orphaned cousins were raised by their grim grandparents, who refuse to discuss the crash. “It can’t be said that they’re nasty to us, merely absent,” Justine comments. We eventually learn why.

Justine, seemingly without ambition or wanderlust, went straight from high school to her ill-paid job at The Hydrangeas. Jules, on the other hand, plans to hightail it to Paris to study architecture the minute he finishes his baccalaureate. “For Jules, succeeding in life means leaving Milly,” Justine observes. (It also meant cutting off his Swedish maternal grandparents when he was ten, after “they made insinuations” about his parentage.) He cannot understand Justine’s devotion to her job or to their dying little village. “Jules tells me I’m too naively sentimental, that I think like a novel,” she writes. Of course he’s right, but of course that’s Justine’s charm.

Forgotten on Sunday is comfortably translated by Hildegarde Serle, though I wish she had left some of the original French for color, such as crèpes instead of pancakes and toilette instead of the ungainly ablutions. The title refers to the nursing home inhabitants who are unvisited — or forgotten — even on Sundays. In French, it’s Les Oubliés du Dimanche, with the definite article: the forgotten. Most of these neglected elders, Justine notes pointedly, “have only sons.” (A better word order: “only have sons” — meaning no daughters, who, she observes, are far more attentive to their parents.)

This intricately plotted novel features more twisted strands than a French braid, with several flyaway mysteries that Perrin ultimately tames. Primary among them: Who has been calling the families of forgotten patients on Saturday nights and telling them their loved ones have died, forcing them to show up to a big surprise (and the delight of their elders) on Sunday morning? Despite being “like an Agatha Christie with no dead body,” the case triggers a police investigation by the same lazy, unpleasant detective who, it turns out, investigated Justine’s parents’ accident.

Another question that keeps readers turning pages: Who’s the thoughtful, unbelievably forbearing guy Justine sometimes spends the night with after dancing at the Paradise Club — a guy whose calls she never bothers to return and whose name she never bothers to learn?

Forgotten on Sunday is a pain au chocolat of a book — flaky but buttery, with a sweet center. This sentimental soul-soother is further sweetened by the knowledge that several of the characters are named, at least in part, after Perrin’s grandparents, including Helene Hel’s lost-and-found great love, Lucien Perrin.