Anita's Feast

Discovering the fabric arts of Gujarat

2012-02-09T06:00:00.004+01:00

To anyone who came to know textiles from India in the 1960s, it can come as a surprise to learn just how elegant the real deal can be. Forget those cotton bedspreads with the elephants, and don’t even think about tie-dyed t-shirts. The tribal traditions that continue to inspire fashion are something else altogether.

Endearing, enduring India

2012-01-27T10:00:00.029+01:00

After a month in India, I’m on overload. This trip is done, but the friendly people, fabulous food, history, and artistry that permeates the country, all have me ready to return at the drop of a hat.

Desayuno Cubano

2012-01-11T11:00:00.000+01:00

The view of New York City from the bus top on JFK Boulevard in Weehawken, New Jersey is one of the best going, as is the commuting time (just 12 quick minutes to the NY Port Authority). Two blocks in from the Hudson River and its string of stately homes-with-a-view, Union City is my new go-to destination in near Manhattan. Not as a tourist attraction, mind you, but as a place to stay, for a fraction of the cost to be IN Manhattan.

2011--My year in art

2011-12-28T12:17:00.001+01:00

“Maman”, Louise Bourgeois, Riehen, Switzerland

“One has to take several different shots of a subject, from different points of view and in different situations, as if one examined it in the round rather than looked through the same key-hole again and again.”—Alexander Rodchenko

Louise Bourgeois certainly examined her subject “in the round”, placing her spider sculptures in outdoor venues around the world. Currently, a Maman is installed in the garden of the Fondation Beyeler, near Basel, where the Bourgeois exhibition, À l’infini, is closing out the year.

Early to rise

2011-12-22T06:00:00.000+01:00

One of the signs of Christmas in Basel is the appearance of doughy chaps with raisins for eyes and a scattering of sugar on their tummies. In German-speaking Switzerland, the little fellows with a flavor of pain brioché are called Grättimaa. I happened upon these at the Basel Christmas market, just before the feast day of Saint Nicholas on December 6th (when Swiss children here are visited by Samichlaus and his companion Schmutzlis, but that’s another story).

A Christmas Valentine

2011-12-19T14:00:00.000+01:00

This holiday treat came my way courtesy of a six-year-old neighbor, who brought the “cookie-card” she’d made at school to our holiday dinner, as a hostess gift.

Saturday morning rituals

2011-12-14T10:00:00.000+01:00

The market in Saint-Louis is just across the French border, and going there has become something of a Saturday morning ritual. When I visit the market there, whatever else I may buy, bread is high on the list—crusty brown bread, handmade, and baked just in time to get it to the market before I arrive. Often, shopping in Saint-Louis is a leisurely pursuit: meandering the aisles, browsing to my heart’s content, before heading across the street to a cozy café, armed with pastries purchased in the market.

The Met's new Islamic wing

2011-12-07T15:42:00.000+01:00

This is a slice of a page from a monumental rendering of the Koran, from present-day Uzbekistan. Almost as tall as a door, it hangs just inside the main entrance to the Metropolitan Museum’s new wing devoted to Islamic art. The book's turn-of-the-15th-century back story is big, too: according to legend, when the calligrapher was criticized for making a miniscule version of the holy book for a Timurid sultan, he replaced it with this over-sized one, and trucked it to the palace in a wheelbarrow.

The power of pomegranate

2011-11-28T05:19:00.000+01:00

Pomegranate is an ancient food with symbolic meaning in many traditions, its many seeds symbolizing the blessings of fruitfulness. Scouts brought pomegranates back to Moses to show the promised land of Israel was rich and fertile, and Homer mentioned them as well. This one is the real thing, but to me, it looks like a detail from Brueghel.

Dinner on the ground

2011-11-23T23:15:00.000+01:00

Country churches across the southern US have a long-standing tradition called “dinner on the ground”. When I was a child, these pot-luck get-togethers were special occasions, held every now and again after Sunday church services. Every time we visited my grandparents in Mississippi, where my grandfather was pastor of a small-town Baptist church, I hoped dinner on the ground might be in the offing. Last Sunday, it was.

Comfort me with apples

2011-11-19T23:20:00.000+01:00

A highlight of my foray through the Minnesota heartland last week was the roadside stop at an apple farm in Dakota County, just south of Minneapolis. There, when I scored a quarter peck of Honeycrisps, I experienced something new: apple love. I like apples, mind you, but have always thought they had to be tart to have a good crunch. Not so.
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Cambodia in Minnesota

2011-11-16T14:00:00.000+01:00

A Cambodian wedding is spiced with unexpected touches of color, and gilded with tradition. A big part of that tradition is a ceremonial meal that features home-style curried chicken soup, served with baguettes. When I read favorable reviews about a Cambodian restaurant in, of all places, Saint Paul, Minnesota, I crossed my fingers that I would find the soup on the menu during my stay in the Twin Cities. I need not have worried.

All-American Saturday

2011-11-10T17:26:00.000+01:00

One of Chez Lénard’s trio of gourmet hot dog carts operates in Ridgefield, Connecticut. The cleverly named dogs are popular hereabouts, and endorsed by both the late, great Gourmet magazine and local foodie star Martha Stewart. I like places with history, and Chez Lénard comes with an interesting backstory.

Last Saturday, I sat on a bench beside a Lénard cart with friends. We had a hot dog fix, then headed down the block to Deborah Ann’s Sweet Shoppe for ice cream.

Autumn on the High Line

2011-11-04T18:00:00.000+01:00

A new stretch of New York’s High Line on Manhattan’s West Side opened last summer, and yesterday, I had a chance to walk it. A late-afternoon sun slanted across the pathway, gilding everything—plate glass, facades, even the grass—with gold.

Foreign Flavours: A New Anthology from Writers Abroad

2011-10-26T10:00:00.000+02:00

The online writing group Writers Abroad has published Foreign Flavours, an anthology of 64 short stories and non-fiction articles themed around food, drink and recipes. My story “Three cooks, one Moroccan kitchen, result: delicious” is included in the anthology.

Dinner at Petra Kitchen

2011-10-19T10:00:00.000+02:00

Kofta bil Tahina at Petra Kitchen

Earlier this month, while in Wadi Musa, Jordan to tour Petra, the ancient Nabatean capital, I spent an evening chopping and stirring with fellow travelers and the good-natured teaching chefs of Petra Kitchen. After a day spent scrambling up and down rocky hillsides admiring the "rose-red city", our group was more than ready for a home-cooked meal. Petra Kitchen offered just that, with one little detail. We would have to cook it ourselves.

High on Wadi Rum

2011-10-13T13:03:00.000+02:00

Jordan’s Southern Desert casts a spell on all who visit. Rugged, barren and awe-inspiring, the desert of T. E. Lawrence and the Great Arab Revolt of the early 20th century has jeep tracks nowadays, and tented camps. It is still home to Bedouins, though, and they make it possible for city folk like me to experience a bit of desert life. When I traveled into Wadi Rum by jeep recently, my companions and I were treated to sublime weather, magnificent vistas and rock formations, and nights under star-blessed skies.

Mad about mezze

2011-10-06T10:00:00.000+02:00

Mezze are those delightful appetizers integral to the cuisines of the Middle East, Turkey and Greece, numerous small tasters brought to the table to whet the appetite before a meal. The word mezze comes from the Arabic term t’mazza, which translates as “savor in little bites.”

Hummus, a paste of chick peas mashed with garlic, lemon and tahini, may be a familiar favorite, but the presentation here is artful. At Mount Nebo Restaurant, hummus came flanked with a sprig of mint, drizzled with olive oil, and with an eye-catching pearl tomato tucked in alongside.

Scorpion House—what’s that?

2011-09-27T15:40:00.000+02:00

As the first non-Moroccan to buy property in Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, Morocco’s holy city, Mike Richardson, energetic creator of the popular Café Clock in the Fez medina, might have had qualms. But, he assured me, the locals have welcomed him to town. Three weeks ago, I visited him at Scorpion House, his new venture-with-a-view.

Stinky cheese, Munster cheese

2011-09-21T10:15:00.000+02:00

A couple of years ago I had a chance to help with the grape harvest on the Kaiserstuhl, in southern Germany. We capped a morning of serious hustle along rows of vines with a vintner’s lunch, served on a portable trestle table in the midst of hilly vineyards. The sturdy fare, mostly cheeses that ranged from mild and nutty to veined and tangy, provided a welcome respite from snipping grape clusters and grape buckets.

Last week, in Alsace, on the other side of the Rhine, I was hungry for cheese after two months away from Europe’s dairy wonderland. This harvest season, I was after stinky cheese, the more pungent the better.

Tangia or tanjia—either way, it’s Moroccan pot roast

2011-09-14T10:00:00.000+02:00

Sunday dinners after church were wonderfully predictable when I was a kid: if it was Sunday, it must be pot roast. The meat seared to seal in the juices, seasoned simply and popped into a pressure cooker that released whiffs of homey comfort with each psst! psst! psst! And a pot roast dinner ALWAYS delivered on the promise of gravy to douse the rice grown just a few miles away (that would be Texmati, where I grew up). With the first taste of beef tangia recently in Fez, it took about a millisecond to take me back to southeast Texas and glorious pot roast.

Holy Moulay Idriss—Morocco’s sacred city

2011-09-07T11:00:00.000+02:00

Moulay Idriss Zerhoune is just 70 kilometers from Fez, but is a world apart. The little city's founder, Moulay Idriss el Akhbar, was a great-grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, and the town is literally built around the shrine dedicated to the 8th-century ruler and his tomb. Moroccans hold Moulay Idriss second only to Mecca as a place of pilgrimage.

August got my goat!

2011-08-31T12:53:00.000+02:00

August is National Goat Cheese Month in the US, which is as good a reason as any to salute the little ruminants who bring us so much goodness. These Moroccan goats live in the countryside near Essaouira. They are enjoying one of their favorite munchies, argan nuts (more about that another time), and of course, giving tourists something to write home about.

The sun sets on Ramadan

2011-08-31T10:00:00.000+02:00

At 19:52 last evening, the cannons on the hills above either side of the Fez medina fired three times, signaling the end to Ramadan. I raced up the stairs to the rooftop terrace, but couldn’t see the moon. Clearly someone else had.

I did hear cheers from the little square around the corner from the house, though, followed by a couple of thumps on a drum.

Eid Mubarak!

A Moroccan gift of 'beldi'

2011-08-24T23:06:00.000+02:00

Soon after my arrival in Fez last month, I came down with a nasty summer cold. A medina friend came to the rescue, concerned after listening to me hack away for several days. When I answered a knock at the heavy street door, she held out a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, bottled just for me.

Shopping in the last week of Ramadan

2011-08-23T23:28:00.000+02:00

During Ramadan, after a morning of closed shop doors and empty souks, shoppers turn out in force for a few short hours each afternoon. They must make their purchases in good time to be home when the cannon fires and it’s time to break the fast. It’s not all fruits, veggies and meats, though. For the past several weeks, enormous quantities of packaged smoothies and other sweetened drinks have also been available from the kiosks that dot the souks.

Summer in the city

2011-08-19T09:52:00.000+02:00

                                  Hot town, summer in the city
                                  Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty
                                  Been down, isn't it a pity
                                  Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city

The Lovin' Spoonful hit from the 60s could've been referring to Fez in August, with its sunny, hot and dry days. In the afternoon, a desert wind billows sand through open windows and rooftop halkas, and temperatures have climbed above 40 degrees Celcius (104 Fahrenheit) several days running. Today the mercury hit 44C (111F).

Ramadan presents special challenges in summer. Fasting means no drinking between sunup and sunset, and I’ve not spotted a single Moroccan hitting his or water bottle. If I wore a hat, I’d doff it to the women and men who keep their cool through summertime Ramadan, so that I can enjoy the results.

Notes from Ramadan, at View from Fez

2011-08-18T14:52:00.000+02:00

It's 2:00 am and I am jolted awake by the firing of a cannon, followed by the deep bong of a drum and a man's voice in sing-song accompaniment. Earlier, there were horns tooting all around the medina.

What is going on? To find out, read my Notes from Ramadan in a guest post at the The View from Fez.

Breaking the fast--around the Ramadan table

2011-08-17T09:15:00.000+02:00

For the entire month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, abstaining from eating, drinking, smoking and other worldly pleasures. They are observing one of the five pillars of Islam, and although fasting is deemed beneficial to health, it is mainly a method of self-purification and self-restraint.

Being in Fez during Ramadan has given me the opportunity to join Moroccans in breaking the daily fast. Many of the foods served also feature on other special occasions, but during Ramadan, the ritual of drinking and eating for the first time after fourteen hours of abstention takes on special meaning.

Wild honey of Fez

2011-08-10T09:15:00.000+02:00

One of my requisite stops upon returning to Fez is the honey souk, Fondouk Kaat Smen, on Tala’a Kebira, the Medina’s High Street. Big blue plastic casks filled with good honey line the sun-bleached courtyard, but I head for the back room at Nafis Hicham’s place. There, bees who perished for their art loll in vats of sweet goodness, as he dips a teaspoon into each vat to dole out tasting portions.

Some things have changed in Fez since Alice Feiring wrote about her visit to the honey souk in 2007, and the “feral honey” she found there. One thing that has not, however, is the variety of honey on offer here—and the quality. Oh the quality! Feiring is known for her passionate advocacy on behalf of natural wines; in my view, her good taste extends to the honey of Morocco.

Plums, peaches and prickly pears

2011-08-03T09:15:00.000+02:00

Plums hold a new place of honor in my Moroccan kitchen. The purple-skinned ones, with tart flesh, take time to ripen fully, so have time to grace a fruit bowl for more than a day. The best of the lot, though, were those served to me at a Moroccan friend’s home. She served plums so small, I mistook them for grapes.

Sweet and toothsome, they were a superb addition to the dessert bowl (which in fact, included enormous, “plum-sized” grapes. Later, when I happened on “grape-like” plums in the souk near my home, the sweeties lost no time in hopping into my shopping basket.

Couscous memories, at Fridge Whisperer

2011-07-29T17:16:00.000+02:00

There is no better time or place to have couscous than in a Moroccan home for the Friday mid-day meal. Read my couscous memories, in a guest post at the Fridge Whisperer.

Sweet countdown to Ramadan

2011-07-27T10:00:00.000+02:00

Halwa Chebakia is a Moroccan sesame cookie which is folded into a flower shape, fried and then coated with honey. It's very popular in Ramadan, and is also served for special occasions. Honey-drenched sweets are popular year-round in Morocco, but in the run-up to Ramadan, they are “the bees’ knees”, literally.

You say Prahok? I say delicious!

2011-07-20T11:47:00.000+02:00

A Khmer curry is the centerpiece of a Cambodian celebratory meal. It’s also one of the most satisfying dishes a newcomer to the cuisine can learn to make. The secret to the intense yet subtle flavors of the curry is freshly pounded kroeung, or spice paste. Time-consuming and aromatic in the making, kroeung is often made using prahok, a fermented fish paste unique to Cambodia.

Kampot pepper’s sweet comeback

2011-07-13T10:00:00.000+02:00

The slightly sweet, eucalyptus taste of Kampot pepper made it the darling of Parisian chefs at the turn of the 20th century, and for more than fifty years, Cambodian peppercorn exports thrived. Fast-forward to the 1970s, when, in four short years, the industry was completely destroyed under the Khmer Rouge. Production and exports languished for the next thirty years.

Art-Aid: Basel Project for Japan

2011-07-05T19:00:00.000+02:00

Ingo Gϋnther’s mapping of Japan’s shoreline of Japan on a section of gallery floor space was a highlight of Art-Aid: Basel Project for Japan, a recent exhibition in Basel’s St. Alban district. Gϋnther, known for his globes that visualize social, political and environmental issues, highlighted the devastated region with packets containing pine tree seeds. Viewers were encouraged to take a packet and plant the seeds, helping to grow a global Tsunamischutzwald, or protective forest, by participating in the Thanks a Million project.

Art-Aid challenged perceptions of disaster, with a particular emphasis upon the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. On view alongside Art Basel Parcour, it was a powerful expression by five artists with deep connections to Japan: Gϋnther, Senji Ohmaki, Yoko Ono, Joseph Beuys and Naoya Hatakeyama.

Angkor without the crowds—Banteay Srei

2011-07-01T10:15:00.000+02:00

A pre-dawn alarm, followed by an hour’s travel with a car and driver, ensured early arrival at Angkor’s Banteay Srei, a 10th century temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. For a splendid hour after daybreak, the only sound was that of songbirds, slightly muffled by morning fog.
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Around Angkor— without the crowds

2011-06-30T10:44:00.000+02:00

Beneath Angkor’s Elephant Terrace

Since I first visited Angkor Wat in 1998, tourist numbers to Cambodia’s number 1 attraction have increased exponentially. So, when I returned in April, it was with misgivings. Would I would be able to linger before the extraordinary bas reliefs and take in the atmosphere, without being crushed in the throngs? I was delighted to find that it can be done.

A taste of Italy--my culinary adventure

2011-06-29T12:38:00.000+02:00

This time last summer, I was in a Tuscan kitchen, cooking up a storm on a beautiful estate in the heart of Val d’Orcia. Il Poggiolo is located between the world-renowned wine regions of Montalcino and Montepulciano, and we visited both.

The day I met Bou Meng

2011-06-27T15:31:00.000+02:00

Frangipani wafted in the early morning air and butterflies were everywhere, when I visited Cheoung Ek, the best known of Cambodia’s infamous killing fields.

The smiling face of ABOUTAsia

2011-06-23T20:42:00.000+02:00

Angkor is Cambodia’s premier tourist destination, but it can be a test of a traveler’s mettle to navigate the place. A tailored viewing of Angkor’s principal and outlying temples is one way to make sure you see what you want, and in line with your budget, how you want. With just a few days to spend in Seam Riep, hiring a knowledgeable guide seemed the best way to go, if I was to have a good look at archeological sites, and still manage a stint in a Khmer kitchen.

From the moment I contacted ABOUTAsia, travel advisor Kelly Drake was on the mark, suggesting itineraries and when we’d agreed on a plan, arranging for a top-notch guide. Thanks to Kanha, I came away from two days of exploring the Angkor complex feeling I’d experienced the grandeur—and the surprising intimacy—of sprawling Angkor.

On the culinary side, Kelly organized a half-day of cooking with the chef at Sojourn, a small resort on the outskirts of Siem Reap. She also introduced me to Johannès Rivière, the innovative chef/owner of Cuisine Wat Damnak. They were two days I'll not forget.

Tapping into ABOUTAsia's community network made for an especially rewarding stay in Siem Reap, and is something I'll do again when I return to Cambodia.

Art Parcours through St. Albantal

2011-06-21T19:00:00.000+02:00

Art Basel 42, which closed on Sunday, reported a guest list that was 65,000 visitors long. This year, I found greater inspiration outside the main exhibition halls. Art Parcours placed art in Basel’s urban landscape, inviting artistic interpretations of ten internal and external spaces of St. Alban, a medieval neighborhood along the south bank of the Rhine. Incarcerated Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's banner was mounted on a fortification wall built in the 14th century (Watch the video Who's Afraid of Ai Weiwei?).

Classy, Cambodian and locavore

2011-06-15T19:00:00.000+02:00

It was the best meal I had in Cambodia.

Cambodian cuisine derives from several sources—Khmer for sure, but with significant influences from the kingdom’s neighbors. By migration, invasion and whatever other means cuisines evolve, incremental cultural fusion results. Cuisine Wat Damnak, which opened in April in Siem Reap, showcases the best of current developments in Cambodia’s culinary timeline.

My Romdeng friends

2011-06-08T19:00:00.000+02:00

My last full day in Cambodia was one for the scrapbook, as the young women and men of Phnom Penh’s Romdeng restaurant welcomed me into their kitchen for an afternoon "tending wok".

Gustav Auer, co-author of Spiders to Water Lilies, a book of recipes from Romdeng’s Khmer kitchen, had invited me to help prepare the staff’s Saturday evening dinner. It would be a rousing pot of Khor Sach Ko, Cambodian comfort food.

Phnom Penh fugue

2011-06-01T19:00:00.000+02:00

Early-morning Phnom Penh is quiet, save a few motorcycles and tuk-tuks on the almost empty streets. It’s early in the morning when the place is most eerily reminiscent of days gone by.

Cambodian comfort

2011-05-25T19:00:00.000+02:00

Khor Sach Ko, a slow-cooked Khmer stew, is a hearty beef and noodle dish. It has surprisingly complex flavors for such unpretentious, homely food. The dish, prepared for a staff dinner at Romdeng restaurant in Phnom Penh, is just one of the meals I enjoyed at the restaurant during my stay in Cambodia—it’s food I’ll be preparing at home.
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The art of incense

2011-05-11T19:00:00.000+02:00

All that incense wafting about the altars in Vietnam’s homes, shops and pagodas has to come from somewhere. I did not expect to discover the source (well, one of them anyway) on a bicycle excursion to the tomb of Tu Duc, the longest-reigning Nguyen emperor.

Banh xeo… Let them eat pancake!

2011-05-04T19:00:00.000+02:00

Banh xeo, Vietnam’s crepe-like pancake, is a delightful, messy, savory culinary experience. From Saigon pancake in the south, to the smaller rounds served up in Vietnam’s central and northern regions—the savory crepe wrapper, enclosing bits of seafood, meat, and crunchy mung bean sprouts tucked into a heap of herbs and leaves is one of this traveler’s best way to “eat your greens”.

Cholon’s pagodas serve up atmosphere aplenty

2011-04-27T19:00:00.000+02:00

This fierce dragon stands guard at Quan Am Pagoda, in Cholon, Saigon’s Chinatown. The district, home to Chinese traders and merchants for centuries, is peppered with temples serving the large Chinese community. Quan Am’s extravagant decorations also include elaborate wood carvings and ceramic roof ornamentation, depicting characters from traditional Chinese plays and stories. The pagoda was my last stop on a too-short morning visit to the bustling suburb.

Cooking with Miss Vy

2011-04-20T19:00:00.000+02:00

Vietnamese food is the epitome of fresh, I am discovering. Market stalls are piled high with green goodness, and every meal layers on herbs and leaves. The result is a complex blending of spiky and sweet flavors, some cool and others warm—and all in perfect harmony.

Something fishy in Vietnam

2011-04-15T19:00:00.000+02:00

In kitchens and on table throughout Vietnam, fish sauce is always at the ready. Truly indispensible, it features in basic preparations, is applied as a finish, and is a constant in the dipping sauces served alongside almost every dish.
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Ben Thanh’s market metamorphosis

2011-04-10T19:00:00.000+02:00

In the evening, the streets on either side of Saigon’s Ben Thanh Market sprout bustling restaurants, set up after the daily market closes at dusk. The night market gets going about 7:00pm, and does a brisk business until late in the evening. Narrow side streets are lined with souvenir stalls, but it’s the restaurants that got my attention.

Saigon’s Ben Thanh Market

2011-04-09T19:00:00.000+02:00

The Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam is one-stop shopping central, just about 24/7. Top quality fruits and vegetables, seafood and meat products are delivered fresh daily, beginning in the wee hours of the morning. Yesterday, three of us gathered the fresh ingredients for a day’s of cooking with Chef Pruang of Hua Toc Restaurant’s Saigon Cooking School.
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Gulf Coast seafood heaven

2011-03-02T19:00:00.000+01:00

After a sunny February morning’s visit to the Fresh Market in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, my companions and I were in search of seafood. We spotted Mikey’s on the Bayou, its turquoise block building perched at water’s edge just below the Washington Avenue (Highway 609) bridge over Fort Bayou. We made a U-turn and circled back to the oyster-shelled lot, joining the several pickup trucks already parked there.

Flying South? Try Concourse E

2011-02-23T19:00:00.000+01:00

Earlier this month, I paid my second visit to One Flew South, an upscale restaurant in Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport, recently listed in Frommer’s top-ten lineup for US airport restaurants. During a previous layover here, I’d discovered the delights of food prepared by Chef Dwayne Nutter, and knew straightaway that my food court days in Concourse E were numbered. Chef Nutter, a full-time innovative chef and part-time comedian, took a timeout against the restaurant's wallpaper backdrop of a South Georgia forest.

The Lightered Knot

2011-02-16T19:00:00.000+01:00

Until recently, I’d not considered the virtues of fat wood, or what folks in South Mississippi call “lightered knots” or “lightered” for short. A couple of weeks ago in my home town of Wiggins, the Mississippi Coastal Plains Resource Conservation & Development Council launched The Lightered Knot, “a kindling kitchen for entrepreneurs & educators”.

The antics of Vogel Gryff

2011-01-14T19:00:00.000+01:00

image source: Basler Zeitung

Yesterday, Kleinbasel, once little more than a village across the Rhine from the Bishop’s city of Basel, celebrated Vogel Gryff. The annual ruckus has gone on without interruption for centuries, save a brief hiatus under the dominion of Napoleon. The event is named after the griffin that represents one of the three Honorable Societies, or guilds, of Kleinbasel (Lesser Basel). The mascots of the other two guilds are also mythical creatures: Wild Maa (in this photo, wild man, is the guy in green holding a sapling fir); and the Leu (lion), here leaping in a vigorous dance.

Sliding into 2011

2011-01-01T19:00:00.000+01:00

As I went about my business yesterday, picking up goodies for a Sylvester (New Year’s Eve) apéro with friends, each merchant cheerily wished me "Guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr", or a good slide, into the New Year. Of course, I wished them a good slide right back, as one does here in this part of Switzerland. My favorite local Sylvester custom, though, happens at midnight in the square fronting Basel’s Münster, the former cathedral.

Tis the season

2010-12-22T19:00:00.000+01:00

Basel’s Christmas market is the largest and most traditional in Switzerland. The merchandise on offer is of high quality, albeit pricey, and I always find something worth taking home. Last year it was a hat made by a milliner in nearby Dornach. This year…well, I’m still looking and trying to make up my mind.

Fit as a fiddle for autumn

2010-10-13T19:00:00.000+02:00

Leaves are turning and beginning to fall, darkness comes early now, and the evenings are getting downright chilly. Despite some warm afternoons, autumn really is upon us. What better time than a change of season, to energize the body and restore spirits with hiking, yoga and healthy food? I spent last week in Canton Valais, doing just that.
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Couscous diaries

2010-10-07T19:00:00.000+02:00

My advance copy of Lonely Planet's forthcoming food anthology arrived a week ago, and it’s an edifying read. The thirty-eight stories are set around the world, and all recount food memories that transformed the travel experience—and the traveler. I devoured the book tout de suite!
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The cows come home

2010-09-30T19:00:00.000+02:00

It’s been a little more than 100 days since cattle and Swiss dairy folk moved up to summer pastures—and now they’re down again, or many of them are.
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Southern Germany's pumpkin mania

2010-09-22T19:00:00.000+02:00

In the local markets of southern Germany, pumpkins and their squashy cousins come in myriad shapes and sizes. Each autumn, a family-run farm in the state of Baden gets seriously inventive in its display of pumpkins, squash and gourds.

I heart Dijon

2010-09-08T19:00:00.000+02:00

Place François-Rude is at the heart of Dijon’s pedestrian zone. The capital of Burgundy is visitor-friendly, its compact historical center chock-a-block with parks and plazas, splendid architecture, and good food. On a weekend visit last month, I was fortunate to have sunny days, and at times it seemed I had the place mostly to myself for two days of museum-hopping and meandering the medieval streets.

August comes to Switzerland

2010-08-04T19:00:00.000+02:00

This drowsy month is one of birthdays (Switzerland’s, mine) and the pinnacle of summer here. It can be cool and rainy, but is generally a harmonious season, at times glorious. The country celebrates the Swiss Confederation on August 1st. Markets are piled high with fresh fruit, while bees buzz above out-sized sunflowers in gardens and fields. I happened on these beauties looming over a front lawn in a village just outside Basel.

Trust me—Switzerland’s honor system

2010-07-28T19:00:00.000+02:00

Self-service flower gardens represent an aspect of living in Switzerland that still enchants me after twelve years. Ever since I moved here, I’ve been a fan of the country’s honor system for buying fresh produce and other farm products directly from the people who tend gardens and farm animals.

Siena—art on the walls and underfoot

2010-06-26T19:00:00.000+02:00

Siena is a city of art and architecture in a country replete with both. Thanks to a multi-site ticket, I spent the better part of two days ducking into museums and church premises for some fast-paced art history lessons. From the Italian Gothic Duomo and Baptistery, to the medieval buildings of Santa Maria della Scala across the piazza, it was heady going.

I expected glorious sculptures in Siena, and I found them. The frescoes and decorated pavements were a surprise and a delight. Here’s a bite-sized sampler.

Laid-back Lucca

2010-06-24T19:00:00.000+02:00

The train journey from Florence to Lucca is poky, a signal to ratchet down, way down. The regional train makes four stops in factory-intensive suburbs of Florence before reaching Pistoia; then halts six times in towns set among low-rise hills, pines silhouetted in the distance.

Much of the way, close to the tracks, the landscape is that of horticulture, a carpet of garden centers and nurseries stretching into the distance. Near Lucca, the vineyards become more substantial and the hills, hillier. By the time the train chugged into Lucca’s station, my internal clock had been reset to the leisurely pace of the little walled city.

Savoring Florence

2010-06-23T19:00:00.001+02:00

Schiacciata is the Florentine version of focaccia, and comes in a host of neighborhood variations. Oven-hot and wrapped in paper, this lightly salted and crispy bread is redolent of olive oil. Sometimes it’s flavored with rosemary or other herbs. It quickly became my go-to snack in Florence. But there were other treats in store.

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Fine-tuning Florence

2010-06-23T19:00:00.000+02:00

The #12 bus from Santa Maria Novella station rounds the Fortezza da Basso, then turns back and crosses the Arno, before winding its way upward to San Miniato al Monte through affluent suburbs. Nipping past the Porta Romana and the upper entrance to the Boboli Gardens, the #12 brought me to Piazzale Michelangelo, and its breathtaking view of Florence.

I disembarked into a vortex of maneuvering tour buses, a replica of Michelangelo’s David poised serenely above the fray. Silhouetted against sky and trees, he appears oblivious to the photo-snapping hordes and souvenir venders at his feet.
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Frazzled in Florence

2010-06-22T19:00:00.000+02:00

Firenze, with its trove of Renaissance masterpieces, lies directly on the path from my home in Switzerland to San Quirico d’Orcia, Tuscany, where I’d booked a week’s stay. Florence is a logical stopover en route to Tuscany, but is it a smart thing to do in high season?

When I was able to book a centrally located, reasonably priced hotel without difficulty, surely that meant I would arrive in time to beat the hordes of tourists that descend on the city in summer. What was I thinking?

Sampling strawberries

2010-06-10T19:00:00.000+02:00

A stroll through Basel’s Marktplatz on Saturday just about turned me into a fruitarian. From leafy greens to apricots piled high and yellow in the sun, it was hard to know where to look next. Then I found the bustling fruit stand of the family Fuchs.
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Straussi time in Baden (DE)

2010-06-03T21:35:00.000+02:00

With daylight lingering into the evening, it’s tempting to stay outside as late as possible. A great place to do this is in one of Germany’s Straussi. Just across the border from Basel, Baden's vineyard restaurants serve fresh regional specialties, sometimes at tables set out on terraces or behind a barn. This is about as local as you can get.

The vineyards will look like this in three months, but the Straussi are open now...Brägeli mit Bibiliskäs, anyone?

Read more about Straussi here. And to find out which ones are open when you’re ready to hit the road, visit Thies' Straußenführer (in German, with maps).

Rhubarb--Red , tart and tasty

2010-05-19T19:00:00.000+02:00

As spring launches a wave of color into the markets around Basel, the vibrant hue of rhubarb demands my attention. Rhabarba (rhubarb) is onstage at virtually every stall.

On Saturday I headed down to Basel’s Marktplatz, and toted home an armload of rhubarb, along with a little box of strawberries. I lucked onto strawberry rhubarb from Alsace, stems of red from tip to toe, and sweeter than the red-and-green variety. A good thing too, since the strawberries were not yet at their peak.

I decided to make something other than my usual compotes and crumbles. Martha Stewart’s latest galette recipe called for corn meal. Cooking with Amy suggests how to “go Mini”. I wanted to do both. I had corn semolina in the pantry, so that is what I used. After plopping pastry ingredients into the food processor, I counted to 30, per instructions. At 28, the food processor stopped cold. However, the butter, flour and cornmeal had turned into flakey pellets, ready to knead.

After a short stint in the freezer, the dough was easy to press and roll into circles that folded into crinkly-shaped squares. I ladled macerated rhubarb and strawberries onto each circle, pressed the corners and sprinkled the minis with Turbanado sugar.

Result? An excellent, puckery-sweet filling, and I liked the single-serving concept…but I was less than thrilled with the pastry. The corn semolina gave it a grainy texture and the final sprinkling of sweet was too much. When I make these minis again, it’ll be with a traditional tart pastry and sans sucre as a finishing touch.

Nettlesome Spring

2010-05-12T19:00:00.000+02:00

‘Annoying’, ‘vexatious’, ‘irritating’, ‘teasing’—Spring 2010 is all of these things. After a few glorious weeks of forsythia, daffodils and crocuses, came the rains, gray skies, dropping temperatures. We had a playful peekaboo sun early in the week, then a hailstorm trashed my herb garden.

Since early April, though, farmers’ markets hereabouts have been awash in springtime produce: especially fresh greens, artichokes, rhubarb and asparagus. And nettles!
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A walk down cherry lane

2010-05-05T19:00:00.000+02:00

The Fricktaler Chriesiwäg (Frick Valley cherry trail) is a family-friendly introduction to an easygoing landscape. Last week, I sampled its virtues just in the nick of time.

The Fricktal is 20 minutes away from Basel by train, in Canton Aargau. When I joined friends for a half-day walk through gently rolling hills, starting from the Frick train station, our route began with a saunter along the cherry trail.
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One perfect day on the Bodensee

2010-04-28T19:00:00.000+02:00

Last Saturday, I packed sunscreen and a camera and joined an organized group outing to Mainau Island, Germany's "flower island" on Lake Constance (a.k.a. Bodensee). Led around by the nose, every detail tended to by careful planners, I had nothing to do but point my Nikon. It was bliss.
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Berlin's Kaffee Kultur

2010-04-07T19:00:00.000+02:00

image credit: hslo (flikr)

Sunshine. Coffee. Newspapers. All three were mine, as soon as I stepped through the door of Blaues Band, in Berlin’s Mitte district. I chose a table streaming with morning light and settled in with Tages-Anzeiger before ordering breakfast. Fresh loaves were bustled to the kitchen and empty bottles clanked as they were trundled out the front door. I felt like a local.

More Pho Bo than Currywurst?

2010-03-31T19:00:00.000+02:00

image source: iStock

My personal, random survey of Berlin's food scene happily reveals at least as many Vietnamese eateries as Currywurst stands. This may or may not be an accurate observation, but a recent stay in Germany's capital gave this impression, to the delight of my taste buds.
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Holding hands across the world

2010-03-24T17:00:00.000+01:00

Berlin is bear-intensive. Think Berlin's coat of arms, or Knut, the Berlin Zoo's polar baby sensation who charmed the world in 2006. For four months, until April 14th, 2010, another kind of bear is in town. United Buddy Bears, a smile-inducing circle of painted bear sculptures, is on display in the Berlin Hauptbahnhof, in a four-month stop on exhibition's world tour.

Thank you GDR

2010-03-17T18:00:00.000+01:00

See more works by Birgit Kinder at www.wandmalerei-berlin.de

The art to be found in Berlin's old eastern quarters is the stuff of legend. The venerable museums on the Spree's Museumsinsel house countless priceless works of art, perhaps the most famous being the feast of classical Greek, Babylonian, Roman, Islamic and Middle Eastern art and architecture at the Pergamon. The Hamburger Bahnhof, a converted train station near the city's main station, showcases modern art.

Visiting these museums can be a pricey affair, though, and involve long queues. Berlin's East Side Gallery, located on a preserved remnant of the Berlin Wall along the Spree River, offers a history lesson and exercise at the right price: zero.

Venice in Basel

2010-03-14T16:52:00.000+01:00

Any time of year, I look forward to the newly fresh produce on offer at local markets. I recently learned that all of the Barba di frate, aka Monk's Beard or Buck's Horn Plantain, in our local markets here come from the marshes around Venice.

Just knowing this conjures up visions of sunsets on the Grand Canal, fresh seafood from the Adriatic, and dining al fresco. Who wouldn't be curious about a veggie named after the facial hair of monks?
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¡Buen provecho!

2010-03-09T18:34:00.001+01:00

What does one do when her best friend leaves town for an exciting year-long adventure in Southeast Asia? Send him off with a Mexican fiesta, of course. That's what happened here, anyway.

Tom loves Mexican flavors, so when, in the Swiss way, I invited people over for an apéro to wish him a bon voyage, one thing led to another and it just seemed natural to turn south of the (Texas) border for inspiration.
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Fasnacht for a foodie

2010-02-25T19:00:00.001+01:00

Four days ago before dawn, Basel's carnival opened with a bang. More than any other event on the city calendar, Fasnacht, called "the three most beautiful days" by Baslers, defines the character of the city. It's bigger than life, politically savvy, and an insider's heyday of pipes, drums and (mostly) controlled mayhem.

Lots of people leave town to avoid all the confetti-flinging and music-making. I've done the same in past years, but this time, I stayed in town.
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A starry night in Germany

2010-02-20T00:00:00.001+01:00

Douce Steiner was born to good cooking, and has a Michelin star to show for it. Last night, at the Restaurant Hirschen in Sulzberg, Germany, just a forty-five minute ride from Basel, I had an opportunity to experience firsthand her personal credo of "Flavor above all".

Our large group of fifty had the place to ourselves. We just managed to snug into the two elegant-yet-homey dining rooms, where we were treated to a five-course menu, if you don't count the taste teasers that opened the evening. From amuse bouche to desert and coffee, the meal was exquisite. The juxtaposition of visual cues and taste bud surprises made for a genuine romp from course to course.

Remembering Morocco

2010-02-11T19:00:00.000+01:00

I learned to make tagines, breads and salad at the proverbial knee of several Moroccan home cooks and one very good Berber chef, Lahcen Beqqi. The visit of a good friend offered a great excuse to crack out recipes I'd first practiced in the Fez medina, as well as an opportunity to brew up a good pot of mint tea (sans most of the sugar).

Raclette three ways

2010-02-01T19:00:00.000+01:00

Legend has it that Raclette, a dish born in the Swiss canton of Valais in the 16th century, resulted from an accidental meltdown of hearty alpine cheese, left by a hunter or shepherd on a hot stone too close to his campfire.

Not wanting to waste a morsel of the aromatic stuff, he scraped it onto boiled potatoes. He probably had a rasher of air-cured beef or bacon in his pouch, and a flask of Schnapps to wash it down.
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