The Undiscovered Foodie

  While it can seem mysterious and scary to some, one of the best ways to try new food is by visiting your local, international market. Every city I’ve ever lived in has at least one and if you live in a town or village, it could be a fun and short road trip to visit your closest city and explore one nearby! I personally love going to grocery stores in foreign countries and can get lost in colorful aisle after aisle. You can learn so much about a countries culture simply by perusing their markets and food stalls.   Today I’m going to focus on Rani’s World Foods in Las Vegas. The name of this store is ever so slightly misleading because it is predominantly an Indian (and its surrounding countries) market.  While it could be a bit overwhelming, I encourage you Vegas folk to take a peek! I think one of the greatest things about this store is that they have many traditional dishes in “short-cut” forms for your consumption. For example, maybe you tried a chutney (a spicy con...

I’ll be honest, South Korea was never on my “places to go on vacation” list. Oddly enough, I was supposed to go there to teach English as a Second Language (I had been hired with a school and all of the paperwork was in) but when my relationship failed (I was traveling with my partner at the time), I cancelled my contract. I guess it was meant to be that I spent some time there because 8 years later, I was on a cruise ship that would dock in Busan once every 2 weeks. Much to my delight, I really enjoyed my time in this city and country. However, I must admit, at least 50% of the time I had there was spent eating Korean BBQ.   My friends were excited to join me for some Korean food here in Spring Valley, Las Vegas. Spring Valley is a nice neighborhood which also happens to incorporate Chinatown, Japantown and Koreatown. There are so many great restaurants to choose from in one area! We walked in to a table already covered in an array of small, side dishes called banchan. This is o...

  I was out the other night, dining at an artful and cozy American restaurant that featured some twists on international favorites and was pleasantly surprised by their version of the arepa. Arepas are a Colombian/Venezuelan favorite made of corn cakes, often stuffed with cheese and deep fried. While there can be other versions, the fried dough with cheese version is the one I am most familiar with. It got me thinking about humanities love affair with all things fried dough and cheese. Personally, I can’t even imagine my life without this delectable combination. I mean, talk about a match made in heaven! I know I am not alone here because almost every country has their own version of this dynamic duo. Let’s take a look at some of the fan favorites.   When the Coral Princess would dock in Cartegena, Colombia, I never wanted to spend time on the beach in the newer part of the city because I had Huatulco, Mexico on the itinereary for that. In Cartegena, I would run to the old c...

 I  woke up this morning thinking about the deeply rooted connection between culture and food. Have you ever noticed how the colors of food reflect the colors of countries traditional garb, the shapes sometimes mimic architecture and the tastes almost mirror the temperament of the people? Drink the kool-aid with me for a moment. Indian food is filled with colorful spices from the bold, hand staining orange of tumeric to the deep, rich reds of chilis and of course the rainbow of colors found in lentils (dals) from green to mustard yellow. Now, imagine an Indian bride, if you will. Her sari is the deepest red, he braid could be adorned with bright orange marigolds and the gold she wears is the polished, dazzling version of mustard. There’s fire in these spices, there’s fire at the wedding, and there’s fire in the couples souls. I don’t think it’s just by chance that Indians can sometimes be known for the flame in their hearts and the heat in their personalities! Now, let’s take ...

  Blog Post #2: Introduction And so it begins. This is not my typical journalling. This is the start of my 100 days of blogging. Even if I am not posting every single day, I am writing everyday. My good friend sent me a link to check out Seth Godin who encourages this pracitce in writing and something about it just really resonates with me. He says (regarding blogging everyday), “You will seek to notice something interesting and to say something creative about it…isn’t that all we’re looking for? The best practice of generously sharing what you notice with the world is exactly the antidote for your fear…outlining what you believe and explaining why.” YES. Yes, yes, yes.  Why, as humans, are we so afraid of judgement? There is absoultely no way that everyone will agree with, support or applaude what you do, so, why aim for that acceptance and recognition? Why not just share what you think and what you know? I’ve often fallen into the trap of thinking that I have nothing of ...

Blog #1: Ethiopian Food I was picking up my dry cleaning in Spring Valley the other day when I suddenly thought to myself, “Man, it’s been ages since I’ve had Ethiopian” and texted a friend to see if he’d like to go on Saturday. I said I’d do a little research and find a place but I knew it wouldn’t take long because I had recently found out that Spring Valley is where most of the Ethiopians in Las Vegas live! I was on the hunt for buttermilk and it took me four grocery stores to find one, lone bottle because it had been bought out for an Ethiopian holday and it’s food preparations. I had to laugh- I thought only Indians have buttermilk everyday! Anyhow, I digress. It was as if my thoughts were being read by the universe because lo and behold, there was an Ethiopian restaurant right beside the cleaners! I popped in to find out if I’d need a reservation for the following night, and I was greeted by smiles and an oddly modern, slightly late night feeling decor. The workers English was no...