Archive for June, 2009
The Secret to Great…
Brownies? Contrary to popular belief, chocolate is not an aphrodisiac. Or rather, an aphrodisiac effect has yet to be proven. Given chocolate’s unproven ability to dilate blood vessels and stimulate sweat glands (although, a study reported by the BBC claims otherwise: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6558775.stm), it is somehow associated with passion, romance and sexual escapades. Why? What is [...]
Running Amok
I left the 106 degree weather in India…to reach a cool, balmy 95 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It is also the beginning of the monsoon season so there has been one shower a day – so refreshing and wonderful! Siem Reap is known for the temples of Angkor Wat, once Hindu temples that were converted [...]
The Joy of Doing it Yourself
Call me mistrustful, but there is something so comforting about knowing exactly what you’re eating. Knowing that the ruby red plum you’re about to sink your teeth into was able to grow on a tree until it was ready to be plucked and taken to the market. Knowing that the bread that you feed your [...]
Child Free in the City: A Fried Rice Recipe
On occasion, if I close my eyes real tight and gently exhale, I can transcend the cacophonous whirlwind of children screeching and hark back snippets of my past life. As a young, incredibly firm, energetic and childless twenty something urbanite with pocket change, I, like most of my peers, took full advantage of this city’s [...]
Breaking Bread
Pan, pao, bao, pav…whether Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese, India, the word for bread seems similar across cultures and languages. Most cultures have some sort of bread – flatbreads, buns, baguettes – and breaking bread is not an unfamiliar term. You eat together, you are no longer strangers. Indian breads are numerous and they also vary [...]
Eat With Your Hands
There is an art form with eating with your hands here in the state of Gujarat. You use your right hand to eat and your left for water. Typically, you wash your hands before and after with lemon and water. To pick up the food, you press and rip off the roti or puri or [...]
On a Silver Platter
By now you know I am in the state of Gujarat, in the Western part of India. Gujurati food is known to be sweeter than other parts of India and due to the influence of Hinduism and Jainism, it is almost vegetarian – and for someone who didn’t eat vegetables for most of her life, [...]
Eat Local. Die Trying?
Berry season is upon us and farms in this area have initiated their annual ‘Pick Your Own Berries’ (PYOB) events/activities. Children by the bus load head to the plethora of local farms during the summer to fill their baskets with vivaciously, ruby red strawberries. Yummy. Before scheduling our trip to one of the local farms, [...]
40 mg of sand with 100 gm of raisins, please!
Do you know the defect action level of the dried beans you bought or the curry powder that you just used to make that sumptuous meal? When I first heard the term, it sounded like a war strategy! In lay people’s language, the level of mould, bugs, sand etc. in your food that are considered [...]
Pureed Poop? No, Baby Food.
My husband is fond of commenting on the textural similarities between baby poop and pureed baby food. Rude, you say? Are you a parent? Something about parents – they seem to have an uncanny ability to interchangeably discuss the consistency of their baby’s poop and the food that their baby eats. The majority of Koro’s [...]
