One of the joys of being on the road: finding some of the best dim sum ever to eat in the car. From Capital Seafood in Irvine, CA.

I went to the opera a while with one of my friends who proposed that we make a true date of it and get dinner beforehand since it was restaurant in New York City.

Restaurant week is the time of year when restaurants fling their doors open for $35 and break out some of their best, and most interesting, dishes ($24.07 for lunch- what a steal!). Living like a poor graduate student for the last 3 years has made me shy away from this tradition. Although not quite budget friendly, it’s not a bad deal at all. At most places you get an appetizer, entree, and dessert for under $40 (beverages not included). And if there’s one thing a graduate student knows how to find, it’s a deal.

The 21 Club, New York

I balked a little when my friend suggested dinner. I spent over an hour looking at menus online. Getting excited and then frustrated, wanting to find a perfect place but not being able to. At one point I almost called the whole thing off. But I made a decision to go through with it.

So what is my hesitation about trying restaurant week? It occurs twice a year and I’ve lived here for 3 years. So that’s roughly 6 opportunities to feast at New York’s finest tables. And it lasts more than a week, so I can’t say that I don’t have the time. The truth is, well, I’m a vegetarian. And not a recent vegetarian either. And not a “oh sometimes I eat meat on the weekends when it’s bacon” vegetarian. Not that there’s anything wrong with eating meat, or eating meat sometimes, or eating some meats and not others. I truly believe that people need to eat what makes them happy and that’s not uniform across the board. For me, I prefer not eating meat and I don’t miss it. What I miss is having more than one option on a menu. And I miss not worrying about what stock was used in a vegetable soup. But overall, I’m fairly happy with my vegetarian options in New York City. I almost always find something I like (if it has a vegetable, I’m sold) and I don’t have to dodge too many restaurants, outside of steak houses and bbqs.

Cauliflower risotto & pork belly

Until Restaurant Week that is. New York’s finest restaurants want to show off their specialities. So while my friend can chose from smoked salmon, caramelized duck, or strip steak, I am left with pasta and a couple of vegetables. I’ll admit it, I’m biased. Over my 3 years in the city, I’ve perused menus but never went through the experience. Until last week.

I finally picked a place after a careful search– the 21 club on 52nd St between 5th & 6th Avenue. The restaurant has character with airplanes dangling above and miniature statues of bears and bulls surrounding the bar room. It’s Americana down to the lawn jockey statues. I chose the cauliflower risotto and my friend got the pork belly. Both dishes were incredible (although I have to take her word for it). The risotto was salty but balanced with a dash of truffle oil. The real treat though was the dessert. I ordered a “salty bomb” which was caramel ice cream on top of toffee covered with lines of chocolate. My friend’s lemon tart with blueberries was also incredible and we were able to share. I walked out of the restaurant feeling satiated and pleased. I had gotten a good deal and didn’t feel restrained because of my diet. Maybe I can be one of those true New Yorkers who participates in restaurant week. I only have to wait a few months for the next one.

Here’s the official website complete with menus to ogle: http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek/

Salty Bomb

Kathmandu, Nepal

Local vendor in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Kathmandu, Nepal

Gaylord’s ice cream stand, Kathmandu, Nepal.

The famous landmark welcoming folks to Georgia – a peach or a big…?

Black Sesame Rolls

One of my favorite dim sum dishes is this black sesame roll. I don’t even usually like black sesame stuff, but this is cool (figuratively and literally), sweet but not too sweet. Yes, most normal adults eat it with chopsticks, but I grab it with my hands and unroll it like a roll of film so I look like a cross between Gene Simmons and a 3 year old, but I don’t care. It’s fun.

Yin-Yang Rice

A plate of Yin-Yang Rice: half chicken in tart tomato sauce, half shrimp in creamy white sauce. Perfectly balanced.

Old Havana Sandwich Shop

More evidence of Bull City Rising: a new Cuban restaurant east of the downtown Courthouse. For those of you less familiar with Durham, east of the Courthouse has yet to really pick up – businesses still tend to be shy and many empty storefronts remain.

Old Havana Sandwich Shop

Two local Durhamites – one is a Cuban native – opened up the Old Havana Sandwich Shop in a historic building. They offer a few varieties of Cubans, and this, the Havana, did not disappoint. For under $7, the huge sandwich with amazing bread from the local bakery, Gugelhupf, slow cooked, flavorful pork, ham, and their own mojo sauce, some Boylan soda and a game of dominoes, this place is a keeper.

Dancers

Check out this short (12 min.) movie clip, “Ride That Pig to Glory” about Emile DeFlice, South Carolina pig farmer and tango dancer. He owns Caw Caw Creek Pastured Pork. He eloquently talks about the dance and beauty of sustainable farming practices and of source, the tango.

RIDE THAT PIG TO GLORY from UM Media Documentary Projects on Vimeo.

Source: Southern Foodways Alliance

The full film, entitled “Southern Food: The Movie,” is due out in 2012. It was filmed for the Southern Foodways Alliance, based out of the University of Mississippi. SFA celebrates the diverse food cultures of the American South through documentaries, studies, and events. Their mission: “we set a common table where black and white, rich and poor — all who gather — may consider our history and our future in a spirit of reconciliation. For some wonderful films about food stories in the American South, from Vietnamese fishermen in Louisiana to Carolina BBQ, check them out here.

Some of these centers became so important that towns were established around them. That’s the case of Santiago Tianguistenco (at the edge of the market in Nahuatl) where one of the most important markets of the Toluca valley was established.

Grapes

The most important market of the Great Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, was Tlatelolco. This market served to one fifth of the 400,000 inhabitants of the city. This market was set up and taken down every day of the week and it became so important and large that it had its own governing body that included a panel of judges that resolved local disputes.

After the Spanish conquista, the system of markets remained largely untouched. Street markets were set up in different towns and neighborhoods on certain days where the population obtained goods and provisions from merchants and producers. This system is still in use today all over Mexico.

Peppers

Mexico City with a population of roughly 8 million people has countless tianguis that are set up in every neighborhood on different days of the week. Tuesdays and Saturdays are the most popular tianguis days. Some of the largest tianguis take over important avenues that are closed to car traffic during that market day. Some can be as long as 1 or 2 kilometers and every single one of them attracts big crowds.

But this type of market is not the only one in Mexico. The most important markets are the established ones that are now regulated by local authorities. In Mexico City these markets are called Mi Mercado (my market) and each one of the 16 boroughs has several of them.

Mi Mercado

Mi Mercado markets still are some of the most important commerce centers at the local level in many neighborhoods in Mexico City. Housewives, local small restaurants and food stands get their products at these established markets. Personally, these are my favorite markets.

Mercado San Juan in downtown Mexico is one of the oldest established markets of the city. It has all kinds of specialized and rare ingredients from all over the world. There are a couple of vendors that sell artisan Mexican cheese and wine. Last time I was there I had a cheese tasting that left me speechless.

Cheese

However, my favorite market so far has been Xochimilco market. Xochimilco is a southern borough of the city, but it’s a world of amazement all by itself. It was (and still is) such an important place that it deserves not only one, but a series of articles (I would even dare to say a series of books).  Xochimilco market is not one, but two markets with several rows of street vendors in between.

You can find all kinds of pre-Hispanic ingredients like nopales, quelites, corn of different colors and flavors, amaranth, peppers, beans, etc. The array of prepared food goes from the typical (chicken soup) to the bizarre (pork snout, ear, cheek and eye tacos). Dried chiles and peppers, moles of all colors and flavors and seasonal fruit fill every row making this market a photographer’s and foodie’s paradise. Words cannot describe the experience of walking through the aisles of this market.

Tlaoyos and Pork Tacos

Even though the market in Xochimilco is big, that is not the biggest one of the city. Markets like La Merced, Jamaica and Central de Abasto are behemoths in comparison.

The most important market in Mexico is Central de Abasto, one of the largest wholesale markets in the world. The numbers for this market are breathtaking starting with its size, 328 hectares. 25,000 tons of fresh produce is traded daily. It has an average of 300,000 visitors and 55,000 delivery vehicles a day. It employs 70,000 people and the annual turnover is 9 billion USD.

Central de Abasto

This market is the backbone of food distribution of the country. Most merchants from smaller markets and tianguis get their produce here. So do most convenience stores and restaurants of the city and metropolitan area. 80% of all the products sold at Central de Abasto are destined to this area of the country.

Markets in Mexico involved much more than food. A friend of mine from Ohio who lived in Mexico for over a year says that there’s a market for everything. From clothes markets to technology and computer plazas, there’s a market for all your needs. When Christmas time comes around a long market sets up in downtown where you can find all kinds of Christmas decorations and toys. And on Epiphany’s eve, January 5^th, big toy markets set up all around the city where parents can buy toys for their kids’ lists written to the Three Magi.

Wood Toys

These are only some of the markets in Mexico City. Every state has its own version of tianguis and markets. Some of them are dedicated solely to selling and specific product, leather shoes and coats, wood furniture and toys, specialized foods, ice cream, bread, local produce, etc.

Borges was right, if you want to know this magic country, you have to do it through its markets.

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