eating all of the things

[cris]

We were walking around a block of Kowloon, killing time until we were supposed to be seated at this dim sum restaurant. To hear the foodies talk about it, Tim Ho Wan earned its Michelin star based purely on the virtue of its barbecue pork buns, but it never let fame get to its head, so unlike other Michelin starred places, it never pumped up its

Comments

[panzerkunst]

My finicky stomach wishes it could have the adventures yours does.

[brigid]

it's amazing how prevalent food is in our culture. it's sort super alienating not being able to take part in such rituals anymore, but it also sort of makes life more of a (fun) challenge, trying to derive the color from other sources. though reading stuff like this bums me out in terms of traveling in asia since i really don't know how it would be safe for me

[cris]

Yeah, I am fully aware that this attitude that I have with food is a bit of exceptional and a bit privileged; given a lack of serious allergies or digestive issues. I do feel a bit bad for friends who have to compromise some part of their regular diet in Asia because so much stuff is just mixed and combined to a degree that we don't have in the west with all of our individual diet requirements.

It makes me wonder how many folks over there have similar problems and symptoms that they suffer through because there's less awareness; or if there's just a reduced prevalence of such things due to environment or overall diet differences.

[brigid]

i figure if i went to asia i'd have to do what i do when i travel here, which is make my own food, i just don't know how difficult it would be. explaining masto is a bigger concern though, i have no idea the prevalence there...apparently it's somewhat as they're doing a big conference in australia that is for everyone not in the us/europe.

i will say doing the whole30 elimination diet was illuminating for ethan who realized that dairy actually bothers him, but he was so conditioned to how it bothered him he didn't see it as an issue until it was removed from his diet

[ayun]

I think you might find that process relatively enjoyable, actually. Markets are great fun, the food is all very fresh and very local, and obviously not processes at all.

There's also this trend right now for cooking classes at restaurants. They take you through a market to buy ingredients, then take you to the kitchen and teach you a recipe or two. A good way to get some sense of the local food culture while being able to see and tweak exactly what goes into your food. You could probably also use that as a chance to feel out the staff of a place as to whether they can deal with your constraints.

And as Cris implied there are worse ways to go than just eating fruit from markets for days on end.

[spitcurl]

Say what you will about the glories of modern logistics and living in a world where you can live in Cambridge, MA and buy baguettes that were baked in Paris yesterday -- there is still nothing that compares to having a fresh mango in the tropics.

Yep. I didn't like them much, until going to Puerto Rico for the first time. Now I'm an addict, and have an indulgent Mamacita-in-Law to ship them priority mail whenever they are in season. Not so carbon-footprint friendly, but damn good. (Can say the same for coconuts & avocados, though she's never shipped coconuts to us.)

Boston has a real dearth of bakeries and good bread. The anti-carb trends are partly to blame, but I think the real issue is the air quality/yeast-making climate we have here. I'm not sure if it is too humid, or if bakers just are not as nurturing of their yeast as they are in France, or what...

[spitcurl]

Also that last photo of Ayun is priceless. :)

[ayun]

I ate the shit out of some rambutan today. Also a lady tried to sell me a pomelo by telling me to take it home to my parents.

[cris]

agricultural smuggling can be fun! But, yeah, that pomelo might not last until you see your parents. I remember bringing some sichuan peppercorns in from Montreal before realizing later on that they were on a temporary ban Stateside.

Which reminds me, whenever you're back, I was thinking of getting some sichuan peppercorns from Christina's and trying to do a hotpot / meat-on-sticks night with you and Andy. Interested?

[ayun]

Duh, YES I'm interested.

I've never tried (intentional) food smuggling. Guess I'm still not over those years when every time I flew I got 'randomly' selected for secondary screening.