Good Food: The Jewish Mother
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Traveling

On my first trip to Virginia Beach I prepared myself by looking up restaurants in the area and shops I might want to see.  I had a list and on it was The Jewish Mother.  I didn't end up visiting, then or the next trip to Virginia Beach even though it was always in the back of my mind.  When I got back home from the second trip I read an article about the troubles the restaurant was going through and mentally kicked myself again for not going.  Well, I have made good. 

After some mediocre food experiences, on the third day of our trip we set out for The Jewish Mother.  I normally suspend my on-again, off-again vegetarianism when traveling, and I was really glad I did because I was served the best burger in the history of the universe--it was the Momma Ada Advacado Muenster Burger.  My dining companions were equally impressed with their burgers and we sat comfortably masticating in silence in the uneven, multiflooring, awkwardly laid out, aging diner that is The Jewish Mother.  I feel kind of sad that I could not visit at night when the lights and the band would bounce from wood paneling to mirror and transform the place into the warm and buzzing Hernando's Hideaway type local secret I knew it was.   What I know now is that, day or night, this is not a dining experience to skip.

La Machine at it again or ATTACK OF GIANT ROBOT SPIDER!
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: Nammy - http://www.myspace.com/nammyspace
Topic: Traveling

The French company La Machine has unleashed La Princess, a 37 ton robotic spider, on Liverpool.  It's an awesome art installation and you can read all about it in an article in the Mail Online.  One bit that gave me pause though was that it was funded with tax money--a lot of it.  On one hand I can totally see a public art installation as an improvement in community life, but on the other hand, I wonder if other improvements were being passed over in favor of something easily publicize-able.  

The spider was done by the designer of the Sultan's elephant and that amazing squid presented previously by Royal de Luxe.

 

Giant robot squid by the same designer in Tentacles tentacles on the Bean.

 

Paul Eppling's sculpture and local landmarks
Mood:  happy
Topic: Traveling

When I used to live in St. Pete., FL my most used on-ramp to 275 was 5th Ave N (northbound I think).  And there, every time I drove up to Tampa to go to school was this amazing sculpture of a lizard snatching a lightning bug--made entirely out of car parts and street metal.  Yes, it does light up.  Interestingly enough I've never seen the building it is perched upon from the front and so never new it was a City of St Pete building.   There is a little article about it on the St. Pete council of neighborhood associations:

 "...he is made up of 2 tons of recycled steel, garbage truck parts, car bumpers, street lights, license plates and other industrial equipment created by popular local sculptor Paul Eppling."

Paul Eppling's work in a AAA Going Places Slide Show includes this picture and several more examples of his inspired creations.

Another angle of it by Damgaard Photography on Flickr.

The look of food
Mood:  spacey
Topic: Traveling

I once had a great-uncle who told me that food held no enjoyment for him anymore, and that eating was more of a scheduled body maintenance than any enjoyable endeavor.  At the time, I suppose, I thought that he had passed the point where his day fixated on eating a meal and could now concentrate on other, better things.  Now, I think he may have been eating the wrong things.  I wonder how many times a day each one of us eats what was available for our lunch containers, not spoiled in the fridge, or the best looking selection on the menu without ever really enjoying the thing.  Perhaps we have so tied ourselves to the menus that are most easily accessed that we don't ever discover the food selection that would make that meal, each meal, a real and enjoyable experience. 

As I have become older, I've noticed that I have developed more love for the thought of food than the actual eating of it.  There is a great website for a mind-set like mine:  Tastespotting.   It is filled with gorgeous pictures of gorgeous food, and it is reader friendly, so everyday I get a stream of colorful digestibles sent to my Google.  It did get me wondering though, if I could taste anything that I have seen on Food Network/Travel Channel/Tastespotting, what would I choose?  For now I've put together a list.

Deep-Fried Haggis-- How can I help but think that something I have enjoyed before might be even better if it is battered and dipped in boiling oil?

Spanish Hot chocolate-- More melted chocolate than any chocolate drink I can normally get my hands on here.

Scorpions on a stick--I have no explanation for this desire.

Durian Pastries--While I don't think I could ever muster up the courage to give this infamous fruit a chance, the way these Durian Pastries were described on Serious Eats is intriguing. 

Octopus balls--also called takoyaki? 

Pigeon Pie--normally I shy away from sweet/savory combinations, but this just sounded good.  Pic originally from Wes & Savin's public gallery. 

Jamón ibérico--This is meat specifically from the black mountain pig that naturally gravitates to a diet of acorns.  I am not a huge fan of pig products, for no other reason than taste.  Yet I am intrigued by any food that is so prized by the people who eat it.    

Rat Stew--I really have no idea where I would run into something like this anymore, but it seems to me that its an awefully good idea to eat which most cultures feel is a nuisance.  (same with the pigeon pie--pigeons incidentally were transported around the world as a food source)

Beyond the short list, I would just love to travel simply for the experience of eating the local dishes.  Eating is such a community oriented thing--we identify with people who eat similar things to us--hold celebrations around a dinner table.  I can think of no better way to connect with another person than to share my food with them and to be shared with from someone's table. 

Ever expanding Dubai
Mood:  happy
Topic: Traveling

Plans continue to evolve for the upcoming Dubai Land amusement park,  which is just one addition to the crazy, futuristic wonderland that Dubai is becoming.  There's also news that the city of Lyons will be duplicated within Dubai city limits:  French city by 2012  and Dubai to clone Lyons.  All this in addition to the already developing Palm Islands of Dubai-- the man made exclusive neighborhoods off the Dubai coastline, and the Restless Planet -- Jurassic park themed amusement park.  Something about the massive construction and futuristic dreams of this city seem a little unsettling to me, but I can't help being intrigued.   I suppose the massive themed construction isn't all that different from the venitian canals and New York streets of Los Vegas.  

Dubai is giving you the chance to go to Jurassic Park : Restless Planet
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Traveling

Yet another attraction to put the bustin-out-all-over Dubai on the map.  Restless Planet will put visitors inside Jurasic Park with advanced animatronics and 3D effects.  The animated artists conception video does a good job of reminding me just how huge the film seemed when I saw it the first time.  Just imagining it in real live 3Dis awe inspiring.  /Film has a good write up on it.  It is slated to open in the latter part of 2008. 

Christmas foods around the world
Mood:  happy
Topic: Traveling

Christmas celebrations around the world illustrate how far reaching the Christian religion is, whether or not those who celebrate Christmas today consider themselves part of the religion.  This super transposing of culture creates an amazingly wide range of Christmas culture and traditional food.  Goose, Turkey, and Ham have pretty equal chances of showing up on any U.S. Christmas Table, but, as La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo reminded me, there are far different Christmas fares out there.  Perhaps if you are feeling a little non traditional it might be diverting to try something a little more worldly for this years holiday dinner, or take the opportunity to trace family roots through food.  Lamb, relatively popular in the UK, is not too far from our US table traditions, though I think it is sorely underused in our country.  Chile relenos and fried plantains seem as perfect for tropical weather states, to me,  as they would in Guatemala where they are traditional Christmas fare.  In the Czech Republic, Hungary, Norway, Poland, and Sweden, among other places, the traditional meat of the Christmas table comes from the sea.  In the Philippines roasted pig, barbecue and rice are part of holiday festivities.  This is just a taste of what's out there and it doesn't even touch on the cookies, pastries, chocolates, and cakes traditionally served for the holiday.

 

Wackiest Festivals
Mood:  cool
Topic: Traveling

Time has a slide-show on the World's Wackiest Festivals.  I feel like someone beat me to the cake. 

International Poncho Day! 

 

 

Giant stuffed bunny -- Gelitin
Mood:  happy
Topic: Traveling

The group Gelitin has erected an enormous stuffed bunny on the side of Colletto Fava Mountain in Italy.  It is expected to remain there for twenty years, so make your travel plans!  I love how it looks as though it was just dropped by a giant little girl on her way to play.  Gelitin intends the sculpture/installment to be walked around and climbed.  It is intended to take the visitor out of their current world and make them feel like an explorer, like "Gulliver in Lilliput,"  and I think it has a fair chance of doing just that.  I hope desperately that I can get to see it.  And I love the imagery in Gelitin's description of this solo show.

I even found it in Google map's satellite view!! 

 

Kowloon
Mood:  bright
Topic: Traveling

 

Demolished in 1993 Kowloon Walled City stood apart from the rest of Hong Kong and its suburbs.  It was a completely self sustaining city, with military, merchants, and others packed into closely built sometimes fourteen story buildings.   At approximately six and a half acres, Kowloon had almost 50,000 residents in the '80s.    It had originated as a military outpost for the Chinese when the British occupied Hong Kong.  Mostly ignored throughout the occupation Kowloon grew and flourished in its own way.  Near the end of it's life, Kowloon was in control of the Triads and could offer safety to no visitor.  When China regained control of Hong Kong they started the evacuation of Kowloon and journalist visitors could finally explore the tiny ally-ways and dark streets between the mammoth buildings.  City of Darkness: Life in Kowloon Walled City is a book by two such journalists photographically documenting the end of this city.

Tofu Magazine's article on Kowloon Walled City 

Whistling Language
Mood:  happy
Topic: Traveling

There is a community in La Gomera of the Canary Islands that has a language wholey based on whistling.  Called Silbo, it is a way for members of the community to talk to each other across vast distances.  Previously discussed on the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Blog.  Like many native languages in small European and British communities, Silbo was in the process of becoming extinct until recently revived in the school system.  Silbadors string together combinations of four vowels and four consonants to create over 4,000 words in whistle.  

No they don't eat eggs for Breakfast
Mood:  happy
Topic: Traveling

With so many countries exhibiting influences from around the world, the varieties of Breakfast are changing, but I still find it interesting to review the more tradition breakfast fare still enjoyed by many from many countries.

Hotel breakfast bars in the UK have eggs, bacon, and tomatoes, sometimes baked beans along side yogurt, cereal, and juices.   In Ireland you can find a similar fare with black pudding added (like blood sausage).

The French have made coffee and a pastry or bread a jam famous.  Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland have a similar breakfast with a sometimes larger selection of spreads for their rolls.   Italy replaces breads and pastries with biscotti.  South America as well eats mainly coffee and a pastry.  In Poland they add cold cuts, tomatoes, sardines and pickles.  In Russia coffee is replaced with strong tea and bread is eaten with sausages, eggs, and pickles.

In Greece you will eat spanikopita and coffee--there are some other choices but I love spanikopita so I'm not going to mention more. Much of the Middle East may have pita bread with curd cheese, olive oil, or marmalades and honey. 

In Spain the traditional breakfast is a thick hot chocolate drink and churos--donut like dough sticks.  Chocolate beverages are also very popular in Central American breakfasts.

So most of Europe isn't too surprising.  In Japan however, the idea of breakfast is very different and doesn't vary from the rest of the daily cuisine very much.  You might have miso soup, rice, and grilled fish.  In Korea you would have rice, soup, and grilled vegetables.

In India breakfast consists of dosas (like a crepe), idlis (like a dumpling), and chutney. The East and West African breakfast popularly consists of cornmeal gruel.

 

Wikipedia Breakfast

Breakfast Around the World 

Irish moonshine
Mood:  happy
Topic: Traveling

Somehow the world has turned over without publicity.  When did Potcheen become legal?  I was recently telling some-one about it, not remembering the name, and having to look up the name and I find it for sale! and celebrating its legality.  On my only trip internationally, and thus the one I have to talk about constantly because I loved traveling, I was told by a professor-like tour guide that Potcheen could be, rather easily, gotten by travelers who were willing to seek it out, but that it was (and he emphasized) ILLEGAL, and too strong for any silly American drinker.  I looked some more, hoping and expecting to find some sort of article announcement on the happening and could find only references to the product, which a quick brewer was already marketing.  Oh yes, and by the way, it is not only legal, it is being exported!  

 Liquor snob review 

Crazy Alluring Festivals of the World: Batalla del Vino
Mood:  happy
Topic: Traveling
On June 29th the inhabitants of Haro(La Rioja) Spain and anyone else who wants to commemorate an ancient feud by using bota bags to squirt wine at each other. Yet another of the food fight festivals in Europe, this one, of course, ends with wine drinking.

Haro site

The secret Hawaiian Island
Mood:  happy
Topic: Traveling
Sometime in between 1863 and the 1870s the entire island of Niihau and all of its inhabitants were bought by one New Zealand family. The then matriarch of this family, Eliza Sinclair, had been offered land on Honolulu that included Waikiki beach by the king, but turned the offer down in favor of drier, secluded, water fenced Niihau. Her descendants still own the land to this day. The idea of purchasing land and its people as part of a realestate deal sounds strange to me. Now that more than a hundred years have passed Niihau not only holds the reputation of being the mysterious or forbidden island, but also one that still boasts authentic and uncontaminated, non-electrified Hawaiian culture. I understand the original impetus for sheltering the island from the insanity that goes on in the world, but I wonder if denying all technological and industrial advances is really such a good thing. Though I can't put it into words exactly, I see cultures as things that develop because of outside influences not in spite of them. This can be a harsh and unfortunate developmental cycle, but it had been one that had been in place on Niihau before 1863. Though no matter how you look at it, the 'forbidden island' and its story captures the imagination in a way that few things can. Niihau home page Jane Resture's Niihau page Aloha Hawaii Niihau Incident on Niihau article by Damn Interesting