Part 2: Morning Tea with the Tuaregs To this day, I still don’t understand what drives a person to set out on a three-week trek through the desert. Sand. Sand and rocks. An almost lunar landscape. Dry heat. Sweat. Sand between your teeth, and even in bread freshly baked over the embers.And morning tea.Back in…
Category: food
Four Cups of Tea
Part 1: Tibetan Refugees in Nepal Tea. A drink enjoyed all over the world, in seemingly endless variations. From real tea, to South American mate tea, to various drinks that have nothing to do with tea except for the name.My first memory of tea goes back far to childhood, when we had a cold and…
A Burger Story: From Hamburg to the East Village
Let me first point out that, as much as I find the overindulgence in food in Michelin-starred restaurants stupid, I also hate fast food. You know, when you get a centimeter-long steak decorated with grass and I don’t know what else. Or you get a greasy patty that you eat standing up while rushing back…
Beer Tour
Across Southern England and Wales in the Summer of 1983 Last fall, I wandered around New York. I came across McSorley’s Old Ale House nearby. Supposedly the oldest Irish pub in the city.Sitting in McSorley’s, I suddenly found myself back in England — or perhaps Ireland. The same low light, the same stubborn wood, the…
Moroccan Chicken Tagine
Morocco! In the 1960s and 1970s, Marrakesh was for some Europeans a kind of nearby version of the great road to Kathmandu — less distant, but with the same promise of difference, spices, slow time, and the feeling of having arrived somewhere far away.At a time when Western musicians were looking for new sounds and…
Cottage Cheese Polenta
A Creamy Twist on a Slovenian Classic Cottage cheese polenta is a simple but extremely filling dish that you can prepare as a standalone meal or a rich side dish. The cottage cheese adds a creamy texture and freshness to the polenta, while also boosting its protein content.While polenta is considered an Italian national dish,…
Dandelion
In the kitchen I remember that as a child I didn’t like lettuce and everything that looked like it. I claimed that it was all just a slightly different grass and that it was for rabbits. And I’m not a rabbit!My mother was a smart woman. She knew that it wouldn’t help if she forced…
Katz’s Delicatessen
Anyone who has seen the movie When Harry Met Sally should raise their hand. Well, I haven’t. But I’ve heard a lot about it. And Meg Ryan has always been my favorite.But first things first.Katz’s Delicatessen is a legendary, kosher-style (but not kosher) deli in New York City’s Lower East Side that has been serving…
Beef Bourguignon
French Red-Wine Beef Stew These days, the 25th Winter Olympic Games began in Italy, Milan – Cortina. At the opening ceremony, which impressed, they showed everything they are proud of. From Leonardo da Vinci, through Verdi to Giorgio Armani. All the credit to them, but I didn’t notice anything related to Italian cuisine. Otherwise, they…
Mexican Food
Do you remember when and where you first ate real Mexican food? And by that I mean Mexican, not some sub-genre, like Tex-Mex. Or even worse, some quasi-Mexican restaurant somewhere far away, in Europe or somewhere else… But first, let’s clarify what the difference is. Just briefly.Tex-Mex is a Texas-based fusion of American and Mexican…