Fooding Around
A Stay at a Traditional Korean Inn
Professor Hee Sun Jeong of the Korean Food Institute at Sookmyung University and I met when she came to Boston with a team to cook a meal of Imperial cuisine for 100 people! I visited the Institute when in Seoul and was greeted with a warming and refreshing cup of hot yooja tea. A piece …
Read moreAsian Sojourn
On December 13, 2009 my husband Dick and I started on our trip to North Asia. We were in Seoul, South Korea for 10 days then onto China – Beijing for 6, Shanghai for 6 and now we are in Tokyo until January 29th. Both of us have been working along the way and here …
Read moreWhat’s a Sox game without dried squid and beer?
TOKYO – Peanuts! Popcorn! Squid jerky, anyone? The Boston Red Sox play their season opener nine days from now at the Tokyo Dome, once home field to their relief pitcher Hideki Okajima, a former member of the Yomiuri Giants. And instead of those sausage and onion subs on Yawkey Way, fans will be munching dried …
Read moreSwooshing through a spa in high-tech Tokyo
TOKYO — Spa LaQua is a contemporary take on one of Japan’s national treasures: the “onsen,” natural hot springs that bubble up from deep inside the earth. Such resorts are a popular destination for Japanese and are found from north to south on the archipelago. Spa LaQua’s saltwater springs come from about 5,500 feet below …
Read moreDress-up season in TokyoSummer spawns celebrations of season and spirits
TOKYO — The passion in Japanese souls is never more evident than at a “matsuri” — a festival that is part Mardi Gras, part history lesson, and part food festival. From local neighborhood fetes to large-scale city events, matsuri celebrate everything from rites of passage to changing seasons to local culture. They even are used …
Read moreWorld of CookingArrive a tourist, eat your mistakes, go home with recipes for a feast
MENFI, Italy — We weave our way out of the densely packed city of Palermo at rush hour and drive south through western Sicily. The road slices through a valley surrounded by huge rocky outcroppings. The sky is a deep blue and green fields stretch ahead like a velvet patchwork bordered by a riot of …
Read moreSPRINGTIME IN SICILYIn the markets of Palermo, vendors share deliciously imprecise recipes
PALERMO, Italy — Nestled among the faded gray and peeling concrete buildings, some still cratered by World War II bombings, sits one of the liveliest markets in Sicily. Bright red and blue awnings cover hundreds of stalls in the colorful Ballarò, the most extensive of many markets in this charming, chaotic city. I traverse the …
Read moreAn American burger in Tokyo
TOKYO — Pass the neighborhood shrine, pass the smell of charcoal-roasted fish, pass the sushi shop, pass a noodle spot. Then comes a surprise: The unmistakable aroma of grilled burgers and fries from a restaurant a few doors down. In Tokyo, anything culinary is a possibility. Yes, there is American fast food here — McDonald’s …
Read morePasta is full of carbs, but that doesn’t matter Tomatoes or cream?Here’s your guide
ROME — A nattily dressed gentleman, unlit cigar poised between his lips, studies the pastas in a soccer-field-length supermarket aisle. Signore Pino Magno is an Italian diplomat who loves to cook. He is choosing pasta to go with one of his sauces. After much consideration, Magno decides on a bag of casarecce, a delicately once-twisted, …
Read moreLoad up your plate with regional Italian delicacies at a ‘sagra’
MAGLIANO, Italy – There you are, dining al fresco on a warm summer’s eve in the Italian countryside. Plates of the ”gastronomia tipica” (local dish) are splayed out before you, and a pitcher of hearty wine is being passed your way. You are engulfed in a lively, informal atmosphere. The flow of food and conversation …
Read moreAebleskiver, Denmark’s answer to the doughnut
COPENHAGEN — Ask any Dane or Danish-American about aebleskive, and you’ll be treated to broad smiles. Aebleskiver –literally ”apple slice” — is a pancake puffball that rarely contains the apple tidbit originally tucked into its center as a sweet surprise. But the name, pronounced ay-bla-skeever, has stuck. Gone in two bites, this traditional Danish dessert, …
Read moreJapan’s lunchbox fare pleases eye, palate
FUKUOKA, Japan – ”Tadaima!” (I’m home!) Yuriko and Satoshi Kawasaki cry as they remove their shoes and tumble into their house after a hard day at kindergarten. ”Okaerinasai!” (Welcome home!) replies 40-year old Misako Kawasaki. She empties their school bags and brings their Ultraman and Hello Kitty lunch boxes into the kitchen. Early that morning, …
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Bento:Build a Better Lunch
Debra Samuels, bestselling author, food writer and cooking instructor, wants to give the American lunchbox a makeover. In the chapter on “bento,” the traditional Japanese lunch box, in her upcoming book, My Japanese Table, Debra encourages the use of color, texture and taste to create healthier and more visually appealing meals.
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