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Foodie Down Under
In case you haven’t noticed yet, I’m a foodie. I know, foodie is a loaded term. It can imply anything from elitism to the corporate dumbing down of the Western world. In my case, all I mean to say is: I love to discover tastes and recreate them in my kitchen. And even more so…
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Moon Cake
On the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, Asia celebrates the Harvest Moon Festival. Lions dance in China, Taiwan and Singapore. Japanese and Korean children make paper lanterns while in Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines, the older generation gazes ardently at the full moon. In all these countries, in one form or another, people…
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Dinner Time!
Dinner is often on my mind. Well, food in general. But it’s become an obsession now that I’ve endured a 14 day quarantine while in Los Angeles and another 10 days following my return to Amsterdam. It’s time to party! Don’t worry, though. We’ll be entertaining dinner guests in a COVID conform fashion only. That…
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How Does Your Garden Grow
Mistress Mary had a garden where, astonishingly, silver bells and cockle shells grew. I have a vegetable garden. I have no pretty maids to help weed or water or harvest. It’s a one-woman operation in the middle of Amsterdam. Not quite farming on an industrial scale. In the midst of a pandemic, it’s a comforting…
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Private Dining
As lockdown restrictions ease around the world, restaurants reopen. Take-out is no longer the only dining option. There’s outdoor seating with plastic shields between tables. Indoors, there are caps on the number of diners and a break between sittings to deep clean the restaurant. Fresh from a 7 month long trip around the world, I…
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Heartland
The heartland is the breadbasket of America. It grows our grain and meat. In my mind, it’s a verdant plain rich with food for all. Imagine then my surprise to learn from Civil Eats that the heartland can’t feed itself because of the coronavirus crisis. How can this be? Cash crops Farming is a business…
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Home Project
On March 15, when the Netherlands entered its intelligent lockdown, my husband and I were in Australia. From Perth, we watched the initial stages of panic unfold in Amsterdam: the fisticuffs over toilet paper and the run on tinned tomatoes. By the time we got home, the Dutch had recovered their blasé equanimity. Most household…
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On the Condiment Ledge
Every self-respecting Korean cook has a condiment ledge. Any sunny place will do: in the garden, a parking lot or on your roof. On that ledge, you keep your onggi. These earthenware jars are made from clay fired at 1200 degrees, which allows the jar to breathe. Onggi earthenware makes the best container for traditional…
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Into the Kitchen
When my husband and I first considered this mad round-the-world adventure, the kitchen was always at the heart of the plan. For at least some part of our journey, we’d stay at a place where I could cook. Some travelers like to volunteer as their way of getting to know a country and its people.…
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Saigon Stories
Every city has its own creation myth and Saigon is no exception. The name alone offers so many possibilities. Saigon could reference the forest of kapok trees that once stood on this site, an embankment on the river or a royal city. Today, Saigon is not a beautiful city. Crowded, noisy, thick with scooters. The…