Helloooo Hungry World!

I have never been to Thailand. I won't lie to you, Internet. I haven’t even gotten close. In fact, I am probably as close to Thailand as I've ever been right now, at this very moment, sitting in my Los Angeles apartment. Or at least it feels that way, as I pause between sentences and incomplete clauses to sneak spoonfuls of the spicy pineapple curry I made myself for lunch. Somehow, even though I have never made it to Asia and the extent of what I’ve seen of Thailand comes from, let’s face it, news footage and that one season of America’s Next Top Model, I definitely feel just a bit more multi-cultural, just by sharing a dish that someone on the other side of the world probably made today, too.

Maybe that seems crazy. Food is just food. It’s calories. It’s nourishment. It’s a collection of ingredients and a series of steps (most of which involve heating and cooling, in some combination) that provide you with the sustenance to carry on for one more day. Right?

Wrong. Just ask Anthony Bourdain, for whom food has opened a world of possibility. Tony (as I like to think he’d let me call him) would surely tell you that lunch in Guatemala and lunch in Cote d'Ivoire share little resemblance because each meal has an element that cannot be forged or ignored-- in every dish, there is a heaping tablespoon of culture.

Don’t worry, that doesn’t add calories.

I believe that the stomach is not just the way to a man’s heart as my grandmother taught me growing up, it is also the way to a society’s soul. After all, it’s just food! Place on utensil, open mouth, enjoy. It’s simple. You don’t need instructions or explanations. You don’t need diagrams or charts. You don’t need permission or excuses. You don’t need words at all. You just need an open mind and an empty belly and you can be temporarily transported to a world you may never see.

And that’s where I come in.


I am an under-qualified but over-enthusiastic foodie. My background in food comes primarily from a lifelong fascination with the Food Network and secondarily from a stint at La Vecchia Scuola Bolognese, a cooking school located in Bologna, Italy. So despite my lack of Gordon Ramsay calibre restaurant expertise, I am your perfect guide to the ins and outs of food culture because I am willing to experiment in the name of good eats!

Each week, I will spotlight a different food, ingredient, cooking style, or kitchen practice and delve into its significance for the culture which created it. No piece of geography is safe! Through my analysis, I will take a look at that ethnic group’s role in American culture and how it has influenced and/or been influenced by integration into the Angeleno melting pot. I also will take a look at the role language plays or does not play in food culture. Think of me as your liguo-gastronomical Myth Buster.

Something to ponder until next week:

Why do we accept “Tadka Dal” and “Aloo Gobi Mutter” on Indian menus nationwide, but demand Chinese restaurants offer us “Shrimp with Mixed Vegetables” and “Orange Chicken”?

Just some food for thought.