Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Trio

Revised posts:


Hello World: Helloooo Hungry World!



I have never been to Thailand. I won't lie to you, Internet. I haven’t even gotten close. Eight now, at this very moment, sitting in my Los Angeles apartment, I am probably as close to Thailand as I've ever been. 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 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, cooling, dividing, and combining) 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 (and those Jell-O commercials) taught me growing up, it is also the way to a society’s soul. It’s simple. After all, it’s just food! Place on utensil, open mouth, enjoy. 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 might not otherwise ever get to see. 
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 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 to 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 linguo-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.

Do you know the old adage, "those who can't do, teach"? Well, in the food blog world, those who can't taste, look. By which, of course, I mean to say that the best food blogs include pictures. Yum. 
That's where Wall Street marketer-turned-San Francisco food writer Stephanie, of Lick My Spoon, got it spot on. Her blog, started in 2008, has been featured in Bay Area Bites and earns about 8 commenters per weekly post.
Right off the bat, I was drawn in: 
  • Provocative title... CHECK ("Lick whose what???? I'm a lady!")
  • Simple layout... CHECK (who knew cranberry and lime went so well together outside of a glass?)
  • Recipes included... CHECK (because what salvation is salivation if there can be no duplication?)
And, bonus!, the pictures. 
Now, I know people have made whole careers out of photographing food and that's fantastic. But, to be honest, your average food picture is semi-disgusting. Think about it: have you ever been to a family-owned diner or, heaven forbid, a Chinese take-out, in recent days? 
"Yes, I'll take a number 5, please, so long as the beef is not so faded. And maybe go easy on the unidentifiable green mass hovering over the left side of the plate? Yes, that would be fantastic, thank you."
Lick my Spoon, though, has none of that. This post might just be one of the most hunger-inducing visuals I've experienced in a while. Mmmmm, tiny cups of something delicious... If you're anything like me, though, skip over the "pickled peach" part. It only serves to kill the mood. Meditate on Scallop Ceviche or Candied Orange Peel.
Have words ever sounded more delicious? 
But, okay, Internet, I'm not that easy to please. I wasn't sold on licking anybody's anything until one very specific post caught my eye: 

Bagel. Express. 
Purveyor. Of. Happiness. 
Internet, maybe I have thus far neglected to mention that I, too, am (gulp) a Jersey girl. I may not be orange and I may not talk like Snooki... or Tony Soprano... but I assure you, I am JERSEY, born and raised. And I. KNOW. BAGELS. 
Two years ago, I wrote an entire thesis paper on Los Angeles culture, centered around the idea that a principle characteristic of the City of Angels is its lack of passable bagels. I filled thirteen pages. To quote myself: 
Crackly on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside—my mouth actually waters when I start to describe the symphony of high-carb, high-cal, cream cheese-smothered goodness that is the New Jersey bagel. Made right, a bagel is even better than its sugar coma-inducing cousin, the donut.
Well, doesn't that sound familiar? It seems Lick My Spoon agrees with me: 
Boy, do great minds think alike. 
In the spirit of Lick My Spoon, Internet, I am going to leave you with a picture of something I find delicious. (No, it is not Will Smith. This time.)
Here you go: 
It’s cake that looks like pie!

A creation of my own making, inspired by Duff Goldman and Geof Manthorne at Baltimore’s beloved Charm City Cakes
And on that note, it’s time for lunch.

Voice Post: Playing with Food
How do you like your eggs in the morning? With a hint of sarcasm, please. 
At least that’s the answer I would expect to get from fellow food-blogger Adam, over at The Amateur Gourmet. Though I have never met Adam, I like him immensely. I feel we share a certain… je ne sais pas. Scratch that, je do, in fact, sais… what we share is a conversational approach to blogging and a flare for the over-dramatic everyday. 
Like me, Adam is aware that he is Not. Famous. (It’s hard to hear sometimes, though). He knows that his words are not the be-all and end-all of food, and he is aware, on at least some level, that many people on this great green Earth have no. idea. who. he. is. 
So he has to spice things up a bit. Maybe we don’t automatically cling to his every word, as if he were Oprah, Ellen, Perez, or [insert here someone you admire]. Without that automatic authority that some who actually Is. Famous. might possess, Adam has had to get creative. Take, for instance: 
On a drowsy Saturday morning, you stumble out of bed and look at what you have in the kitchen. You don't have much. There are hot dog buns, there's cream, there are eggs (hopefully untainted by salmonella) and slivered almonds. You scratch your chin, you lift your eyebrow, you hold your monocle closer to your eye. Might you? Might it be possible? Why perhaps it might!
From Adam’s post “Hot Dog Bun French Toast.”
By using dramatic language and creating conflict and conflict resolution where there once was none, Adam’s voice pulls the reader in to what could ordinarily be seen as mundane. He could have said: 
“There wasn’t much in my fridge this morning went I went to make breakfast. I had some hot dog buns, cream eggs, and slivered almonds. I had to think of a way to put those together so I could eat something that tasted good.”
But he didn’t. It seems Adam is a skilled story-teller. He also has one of my favorite characteristics in a writer: He doesn’t take himself too seriously. 
That’s important.
It’s especially important once we start talking about sense of humor, which Adam sure has. When noting the merits of his newly invented recipe, he writes: 
And it was based on laziness and cheapness too.
I don’t see Wolfgang Puck admitting to anything of the sort (at least not publicly). Humility definitely comes through in Adam’s posts and it is not unappreciated. 
I also enjoyed Adam’s post entitled “Strange and Exotic Candies from Around the World”. In the post, he gives purpose to an otherwise-purposeless heart-shaped candy bowl. Adam decides to fill the bowl with strange and exotic candies he comes across. And then to enjoy the candies (the best part, duhhh). 
He takes us on a journey from Chinatown ginger candies: 
I didn't like them because they stuck to my teeth too much.
to White Rabbit candies: 
...once again, I didn't love it because it stuck to my teeth.
to Iridescent gummy candies: 
Even though this stuck to my teeth, I really enjoyed it.
Adam’s playful and relaxed tone are definitely something I can sink my teeth into (groannn…. sorry). But what I have to say I love the most is the fact that he understands his audience. Food is not serious. It’s fun. Mom taught you not to play with your food? Well, she’s right. (That’s gross.) But, at the very least, lighten up a bit when you’re talking about it after the fact. After all, who wants to merely dine when he can DEVOUR?

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