At Norma’s Mesa, there is love and friendship and absolutely gorgeous food at Norma’s table. At Norma’s table, the lights of Manhattan twinkle and twinkle, stunning guests, at Norma’s table. At Norma’s table, there’s laughter, lots and lots of it. There’s wit too, the reason for the laughter, at Norma’s Mesa. —–00000—– I burst out laughing, shortly after touchdown at John F. Kennedy airport. It had been a long flight. I’d slept well though and awoken refreshed. At the gate, I turned on my telephone to an email from Norma of Platanos, Mangoes and Me – the reason for the laughter....
Thrifty in New York: Housing Works
Its been years since I went to a Thrift store. OK, only a year or two. I had to redress that and what better place to do it ladies & gentlemen than in the great city of New York? Like I’ve said before, eternal gratitude goes to Anna Hezel of Cup & Hammer, and Food52 for making me cotton on to bargains of the best sort at Housing Works‘ Gramecy Store on East 23rd street – only one of many in the city. I found the closest one to Kalustyan’s and went my merry way.
See What Heaven Sent….
Good evening, America. Looked what heaven sent, right before Christmas.
Lunch At Kalustyan’s
I am on the train to Grand Central, refreshed by winter’s air and shine. Heading to Kalustyan’s for Lunch. Its amazing how I’m loving the cold. When we moved away from The Netherlands, my husband and I agreed there would be no more winter holidays, no snow, no ice….no freezing cold. At least for the next 4 years, till we (possibly) move again.But now in the heart of winter’s cool, and after 12 months in the sun, in the tropical heat, I’m not sure if warm holidays are entirely it.I know I say this because blizzards aren’t here, because the winds...
Cucumber Fried Eggs
Meet Cucumber, the fruit and the vegetable. At least in Nigeria, it is. On the right fork where Old Aba road meets the Aba expressway in my city of Port Harcourt, women sit on wooden stools and chairs, selling wares. These squat seats, close to the ground keeps them close to their planks full of cucumber pyramids. Cucumbers stacked in threes to form long, geometric shapes. On an evening drive home, I might see men and women, tired after a hard day’s work, snacking on cucumbers. For in Port Harcourt, cucumbers are both fruit and vegetable. They are plentiful, refreshing and...
The Best Fruitcake in New York, Obviously
New York. Fruitcake. Me. I’m in New York. Again. I arrived via Paris a few days ago. Via Paris because if you had a choice to transit through a European city, you too would choose Paris over Frankfurt. Even over Amsterdam. Just for some great, if rubbery airplane bread. And wonderful cheeses. And Fromage Frais. You would seek out delicious caramels au beurre salé, made with fine salt from Guérande. You would choose to peer into Ladureé’s jewellery shop where macarons preen and sit pretty. Wouldn’t you want to feast on a pain au chocolat, with jus d’Orange while the music of the...
December 2012: Thrifty in My Kitchen
It took me many years to understand the meaning of ‘Thrift’. For some reason, I always thought it was positively linked to ‘Spendthrift’. Not negatively. Alas, I was wrong. thrifty |ˈθriftē| adjective ( thriftier , thriftiest ) 1 (of a person or their behavior) using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully. See note at economical . 2 chiefly archaic dialect (of livestock or plants) strong and healthy. • archaic prosperous. It was a discussion on Food52’s Q&A app., ‘Hotline’ that alerted me to my misconception. It read How are you thrifty in the kitchen? I’d love to hear Food52’ers creative...
Caramelized Pork Banh Mi
Emergence suggests a state of transition, a trajectory of becoming. It is antithetical to structural or static approaches. Santo saw emergence nestled between the Daikon and the baguette of the banh mi sandwich; GastronomyatBU blog. No one told me. About Stinky Daikon. Durian……I’ve heard about …..being banned from airports and hotel rooms but never, ever, have I come across a stinky daikon conversation. One Friday evening, at a small vegetable store I frequent, I happened upon these long, white radishes that I suspected were Daikon. I’d had them on my mind for a very long time, primarily because of a Banh Mi recipe on...
Kunun Aya, ‘Horchata’ de Chufas ‘Nigerian Style’
Northerners in Nigeria are famous for many things, culinary-wise: they are tray-bearers of dates, kolanuts and alligator pepper; suya merchants of everything from meat kebabs to jerky-style beef kilishi and pounded, shredded Dambu Nama as well as wonderful drink makers. Sometimes I wonder what the repertoire of Nigerian drinks would be like without our North. Take Zobo, a red drink from dried hibiscus calyxes. That’s a northern legacy, as well as Kunu, milky drinks from cereal, grains and nuts. Kunulicious Kunucculent Kunu! One of my friends laughed. “Shoko, don’t you know anything? That’s not Bournvita (a brand of chocolate drink)...