This may be unfair, but I’ve come to the conclusion that you can tell a lot about a country by their sausage. For lunches, while traveling, my husband and I have developed a habit of securing some local wine, bread, cheese and sausage that we can nibble at our leisure. Since we’ve munched our...
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Tags: beef, charcuterie, pork, sausage, wurst
Posted in France, Germany, Italy, country, culture | 26 Comments »
Curry has me in its heady grip, and as I was curious to see its permutations as it made its way around the world. I touched on some of the varieties that could be found in India, how the English stamped their influence on curries by adding a few of their own, such as Balti,...
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Tags: curry, England, Japan
Posted in Britain, India, Japan, country, culture | 39 Comments »
A topic smoldering in the back of my mind for some months as I’ve seen variations on this theme for months because of numerous holidays. When is bread more than bread? Or perhaps a bit more generally, when do baked goods serve a higher purpose? I’ve unearth a few instances, and I am sure...
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Tags: bread, culture, food, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Sweden, Thailand, United States
Posted in Italy, Mexico, Portugal, United Kingdom, United States, celebrations, country, culture, religion, traditions | 26 Comments »
Halloween is fast approaching. I know because I just spent a few days with my niece and I got the details on this much anticipated holiday from her costume (a garden fairy) to the fact that old people do not wear costumes (she’s four). She informed me of this sad fact when I asked...
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Tags: Halloween, Ireland, Mexico, pumpkin, Spain, United Kingdom, United States
Posted in Ireland, United States, candy, country, culture | 24 Comments »
In British cuisine, the word curry started out as a generic term to describe what the British Army encountered a mixture of spices or spiced sauces, sauteed vegetables and meats, basically applied to about any savory Indian dishes. Along the way “curry” became a specific term for dishes created for the British in India....
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Tags: Bangladesh, curry, India, Pakistan, United Kingdom
Posted in Britain, country, culture, food, recipe, region | 25 Comments »
Fish sauce are ubiquitous even though we may not always be aware of where they pop up – take Worcestershire sauce for example, or the Italian Colatura di Alici. In Asia, these sauces are considered core components in cooking and the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam all have their own versions of this wonderful condiment....
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Tags: DC, fish, fish sauce, food, sauce, soccer, Thailand, Washington
Posted in Thailand, Washington, DC, condiments, country, culture | 20 Comments »
As I previously mentioned, I think street or fast food can go a long way to providing a multi-sensory cultural experience that accurately captures the current culture of the country, region, or city in question. Every time I bite into a conchita pilbil taco, I am transported back to Merida, Mexico, or a gelato reminds me of...
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Tags: Africa, Canada, China, culture, fast food, India, Italy, street food, United Kingdom, United States
Posted in Africa, Britain, Canada, Caribbean, China, India, Iran, Japan, Middle East, New York, Peru, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, country, culture, fast food, food, travel | 19 Comments »
Due to the favourable climate and geographical conditions Hungarian paprika has a bright red colour and a distinctive rich flavour that allowed Hungary to became one of the leading paprika producers in the world. Kalocsa and Szeged in the southern part of Hungary are the heart of paprika production in Hungary. These regions have...
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Tags: Hungary, paprika, soup, spices, stew
Posted in Hungary, country, culture, spices | 25 Comments »
photo from sfgate.com In preparing a recent post on raw fish, I developed a craving for cerviche, and really who could blame me? Living in San Francisco, there was one restaurant on my radar that I knew could offer me an authentic, or at least close proximally, of the Peruvian cerviche I desired: that restaurant...
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Tags: cerviche, corn, culture, ethnic food, fish, food, France, Italy, Japan, Peru, Spain, spices
Posted in China, Italy, Japan, Peru, San Francisco, country, culture, featured, food, history, spices | 26 Comments »
The more I learn about the Amalfi Coast, the more impressed I am. We owe a debt of gratitude for such culinary wonders as limoncello, and of course this incredible anchovie fish sauce, colatura di Alici. The sauce is simple to make: select fresh anchovies clean and pack in a wooden barrel add weight...
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Tags: Amalfi Coast, fish, fish sauce, Italy, sauce
Posted in Italy, condiments, country, food, recipe, region | 25 Comments »