Misery. When I get out of a steaming hot shower in the icy heart of winter and frost settles onto my damp neck before I can towel off. When I eat too much food at the fair and go to bed immediately afterwards. When my feet are tired and hot after a long, long day but – for whatever reason – I can’t take my shoes off yet. When I eat cucumber salad? I feel fresh. Happy. Not exactly miserable. But misery is the Polish name of this crunchy, creamy cucumber salad made with sour cream, dill, a bit of sugar and a splash of vinegar. As for whether or not it lives up to its name? I’ll let you be the judge. Serves 2-4 Ingredients: 2 cucumbers, peeled and sliced medium thinly sour cream 1/2- 3/4 cup, to taste 1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill 2 tsp sugar, or to taste 2 tsp vinegar, or to taste Method: Don’t blink, or you’ll miss the instructions. Toss everything together and serve. Enjoy the misery. Preferably …
Read More
We don’t always do what’s expected in my family. We laugh in the face of drama. We cry whenever happy. We eat pizza for breakfast. And we’re generally 10 years out of fashion (note: I’ll never slip into skinny jeans, so don’t hold your breath on that one). P.S. We never had normal birthday cakes. I liked to have the unusual and highly troublesome (in the best possible way) German Tree Cake on my birthday. Half the time my brother Damien requested apple pie for his. If we were Polish, homemade, sugar dusted Szarlotka is surely what he would have gotten. Since it’s apple picking season, any excuse is a great excuse to make apple pie. And I’m thrilled Poland has such a fun version… Now, I should clarify – this is not exactly pie per se – that’s simply the translation most often given for this sweet treat. Instead it looks more like a fruit bar with apple pie filling. The “crust” is like a cross between a shortbread cookie and pie crust. The dough is made …
Read More
At any given moment I’m an arm’s reach from my cellphone. It’s not just a phone, it’s a laptop, a GPS, and – when my daughter tells it “I love you” – a female voice replies with almost lifelike bashfulness “You are sweet.” Frankly, I’m frightened. That’s why, when I receive mail – real mail, bundled up in cardboard and clear packing tape – I get so excited. Cardboard boxes don’t talk back. The postage stamp doesn’t double as a GPS when I’m fifteen minutes late for a show. It simply sits there, until I open it. The best possible mystery. The way it should be. This week, Global Table Adventure received a package from my mom which tickled my funny bone in the most delightful way. This is reason #3,568,999 why my mom is so special. Ava, who was as curious as I was, tore out the sheets of crinkly tissue paper to reveal a heavy duty heart-shaped bowl, small pitcher, and a covered sugar bowl. The bottom of each bowl read “Handmade in Poland.” …
Read More
Sometimes I have to play games to get through a busy day with a smile. Here are some good things that help me out (in no particular order): – watching the sun peek through the clouds. – listening to my shoes squeak in the library. – counting how often our daughter giggles. – feeling her small hand in mine. Other times it’s all about vinegar, slowly reduced with soy sauce and brown sugar, with a hit of black peppercorn and bay leaf. What? I know, I know. But it’s true. As a long time fan of Vinegar City, Pork Adobo is just right for those sweet and sour days which cling to us like paperweights. Whatever that means. The inspiration comes from our Filipino Global Table, which (in turn) was inspired by the cuisine of Portugal. It would seem adobo can be anything in sauce (particularly vinegar based), but pork adobo is particularly grand with pork belly or shoulder. In other words, any meat that is thick, fatty and wonderful on the slow and low side …
Read More
It’s Friday. We all need a little love. A quick fix to carry us into the weekend, Filipino-style. Also, we’re on our way to October, which means we’re on our way to Halloween… The answer? <gulp> Sago at Gulaman, a.k.a. Tapioca and Jello Sipper. This drink hardly even needs a recipe. First step, make some jello. For brownie points, make agar agar “jelly.” Agar agar is seaweed based and sets up at room temperature. Very cool. You can find it on the international aisle of Whole Foods, or at your local Asian market. I used pandan flavored jelly from Nam Hai, one of our local Asian markets. They also had mango, lychee, and many other fun, tropical flavors. (Note: You might find it easier for dicing to make your jello in a 9×9 container – but Ava and I had a blast using these molds) Next, up, the tapioca. Drop the dusty white pearls into a large pot of boiling water. Give several stirs and cook like pasta until completely transparent. My small pearls took almost …
Read More
Are you the sun or the moon? Do you shine hot and bright, or glow cool and blue? Is there a better of the two? There’s a Filipino folk tale that says the sun and moon once had an argument. The sun angrily told the moon “you only shine because I shine on you.” The moon spat back, “no one likes you because you’re too hot – at least at night the women can go out and dance under my cool glow.” This made the sun so angry, she threw sand in the moon’s face. And that’s how they say the moon got dark spots all over her face. There’s nothing quite like bitter emotions to bring out our worst characteristics. All too easily we become blindsided by anger, jealousy, and resentment. These are normal parts of living. Of being… well… human beings. But in the midst of all this emotion, there’s a better path than acting out in anger. The key is to realize that we all glow. And that every single glimmering spirit is valuable. …
Read More
Yes. Peruvian Tiramisu. It’s real and it’s happening right now. This is tiramisu exactly as you know it with the addition of one magical ingredient from Peru: lucuma fruit. To me, the brilliant gold flesh of lucuma tastes like a combination of caramel, sweet potato and pumpkin. With a bit of banana leaf undertones. I’m not sure how it came to be that there is a fruit which tastes like caramel, but I’m smitten. I mean, really. This is the perfect dessert to serve with falling leaves, crisp afternoons, and a whisper of frost. (Hello, autumn.) Kelly, the owner of Mi Tierra in Tulsa, tells me that, while lucuma fruit is folded into ice cream, drinks, and more, tiramisu is the “big city” way to enjoy the fruit in Lima. Now… about the fact that they’re eating Tiramisu in Peru… Here’s the deal: the Italian influence in Italy is second only the the Chinese influence. The first wave of Italian immigration to Peru occurred during the period 1840–1866 (the “Guano” Era): not less than 15,000 Italians …
Read More
Remember the girls who could do Double Dutch jump rope? I loved them. I loved them because I was never coordinated enough to do what they could do. Every day I watched their hair fly, their feet pump like pistons, and ropes slice through the air. Today, I’m not even sure if I can jump regular rope, let alone Double Dutch. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve been on a playground for my own pleasure. But if there’s one thing I can do, it’s eat double carbs. In this case, I might as well be Peruvian. I’m talking about Chifa – a fusion of Peruvian and Chinese food… and it’s not something just a few people love. Chifa is Peru’s heart and soul, considered one of the country’s top favorite dishes. Today’s Lomo Saltado is a simple beef stir-fry, but made with Peruvian peppers, cilantro, and cumin (of all things). And… this is the important part… Chifa is served with French Fries and rice. Double carb town. Lomo Saltado is the strangest sounding combination, …
Read More
Last week I spoke with “Kelly,” a short, black-haired Peruvian restaurateur whose father had a thing for Western names (he also named one of her brother’s Kennedy – and, as she admitted with downcast eyes, another brother “Hitler”). If that wasn’t enough to blow my mind, she added in her thick, rolling accent that halibut ceviche is the “Dunkin’ Donuts” of Peru. I asked her twice to repeat herself. Each time her smile grew bigger and her words clearer. Ceviche is the Dunkin Donuts of Peru. Ceviche- Peru’s pride and joy – is light, fresh, and healthy, so I found the comparison strange. Unlike the doughnut, which takes a dip in a bubbling cauldron of oil, the seafood “cooks” in the acid of lime or lemon juice. Nothing could be cleaner. Each bite is bright, flavorful, and often spicy with the addition of the rocoto pepper (although any hot pepper can be used to taste) and a hit of fresh ginger. When I tried Kelly’s ceviche, I was happy to find an assortment of goodies accompanying it. There were the oversize corn kernels …
Read More
Rumor has it, no meal is complete in Paraguay without a slice of warm, cheesy cornbread. While sopa means soup in Spanish, this is definitely bread and… traditionally, all mixed up with a happy bundle of homemade cheese. One of our readers – Emily – says everyone in Paraguay makes their own cheese so that this would be no big deal to a local. I read up on the origins of this bread… there are two main versions. In the first version, Don Carlos ( President of Paraguay from 1842-62) requested his favorite white soup for dinner – one made with cheese, egg, corn flour, and loads of milk. One day the chef put too much corn flour in the soup and decided to bake it up as bread in cast iron. The new dish became a hit and Don Carlos dubbed it Sopa Paraguaya. Here’s the second story, from Wikipedia: In ancient times, this food was made with fresh corn and cooked in the “ñaúpyvú” (clay pot), not in the oven “modern” inherited from the …
Read More
Last chances only come once. Last chance to tell that boy you like him. Last chance to wear hypercolor. Last chance to wear a micro-mini. Because, guess what? The 90’s are over, and they’re not coming back. (not that I’m bitter) (well, maybe about the mini skirt thing). Take a look outside. This might be your last chance to fire up the grill in 2012. Come December, when the Mayan’s pop in to say hello, you might wish you took the opportunity. Especially when it comes with so much DIY goodness. I’m a big fan of DIY meals. (Remember when we made “Foe” (similar to Pho)? No one’s bowl looked the same. Yet they were all major Yum Town). Today we’re exploring the popular South American DIY called Carne Asada, a.k.a. the most lovely barbecued meat you’ll ever nibble. Carne Asada can be found all over – from Mexico (hey, there’s those Mayas again), to the fine countries of South America. It is an especially fond part of the Paraguayan Global Table…and so here we …
Read More
Sometimes we need a do over. A chance to get it right. And a little forgiveness. Because in every mishap is a silver lining. Especially when it comes to sweet, crumbly dulce de leche filled alfajores – the popular South American cookie. One bite instantly dissolves on the tongue into a cloud of tender lemon zest deliciousness. Divine. But back to forgiveness. Specifically, I need to forgive my sweet, bumbling husband for being so thoughtful as to fill up the cooler with ice for our 3 1/2 hour road trip, yet being so forgetful as to overlook returning the cookie dough to the cooler. I need to let go of the grief that the cookie dough rode in the bed of our pickup truck, saran wrap in the wind, balanced precariously on top of my red suitcase, all the way to our family vacation in Beaver’s Bend. And I need to accept that, because it was 100F and sunny, the cookie dough could never be cooked. In situations like this, it’s all about the silver …
Read More
