As a child, I had an overwhelming curiosity about the (H)mong*. For the life of me, I could not figure out why, of all the places in the world they chose to resettle, they picked Minnesota. Frankly, I was a bit dumbfounded by this choice. Nothing against Minnesota, I still am a Minnesota girl...
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I love to travel and frequently collect cookbooks from my destinations. However, sometimes I get into trouble when a recipe calls for ingredients and I have no idea of the American equivalent. Sugar is one ingredient that I’ve had this problem with frequently, so I decided to investigate the differences. I suspect part of...
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Imagine you are Zhu Yuanzhang living in the 14th century, and are of the Han tribe of China. You are tired of living under an oppressive Mongolian overload of the Yuan Dynasty, and desperate to overthrow this ruler. You hatch upon a brilliant plot to unite your people to rise against the conquerers. You...
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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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When you think of curry, which country or region comes to mind?
India
Thailand
Caribbean
Japan
China
Britian
Any of the above, and indeed many other countries would be correct, and you would still be thinking in the right direction if your mind wandered to Germany or South Africa and a host of other locations, but where did it all begin?
If...
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I’d been cooking with fish sauce for a while and knew well its potency and pungency, but until I broke a bottle and liberally doused myself and had to suffer through folks quickly backpeddling to give me “breathing space” did I really get it – this stuff is strong – really, really, strong! No wonder the...
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When I first discovered San Francisco’s Japantown, I was in awe. I thought it was such a fascinating place, and it reminded me of those snow globes – a miniature of Japanese culture, and in my adopted city at that, what a happy coincidence. Part of the appeal for me, was that Japan was...
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Last week we took my father-in-law to A16 for dinner, here in San Francisco for his birthday. We had a wonderful meal, and thankfully we elected to eat family style, as I got to sample to my heart’s content. While everything we consumed was amazing, one of the appetizers we ordered, really struck me, and not least...
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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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“Lahat ho yata ng pagkain dito may patis, ma’am.” - ”I think all the dishes here have fish sauce, ma’am.”
This response probably best sums up how ubiquitous patis is to Filipino cooking. Patis is the Filipino version of fish sauce, and long a staple in the kitchen. Filipinos have a long love affair with fish related condiments, and given the...
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