My earliest food memory is eggs. Scrambled eggs. Runny ones, my memory reminds me. Here, in 1976, on the beach in Spain with my mother, sister and family friends: a summer in the sun, with eggs. That’s me on the left.
What’s your earliest food memory?
My first view of Petra is the Treasury, after walking for what felt like ages through a narrow, but soaring canyon.
I’ve taken cooking classes all over, from a small kitchen in Florence that I couldn’t find again on a bet, to an industrial-sized multi-station kitchen in a local high school. But this was the first class I’ve ever taken floating down the Nile. Or is it up? So confused.
Anyway, Chef Fathy Hassan whipped up three dishes lickity split before our very eyes and said, “Yeah, sure [crazy girl]!” when asked if I could share the “Babaghanoug Salad” on my blog. Like every great chef, he omitted an ingredient or two, which I, with my keen eye (and empty stomach) caught during the demonstration.
This is Egyptian food at its finest, most authentic and fragrant – the green garlic that spit and spat in the skillet gave this dip a me-want-more flavor. Serve with pita chips.
Babaghanoug:
1.5 kg eggplants
500g onions
200g tahini paste
2 tbsp. lemon juice
½ tsp. garlic, chopped
5g cumin, ground
5g red chili
Garnishes:
Olive oil
¼ cup Italian parsley, chopped
Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
1. Roast the eggplant and onion in a 180° C oven (that’s about 350° to us Fahrenheit folks) for 35-45 minutes, until soft.
2. Once the vegetables have cooled, peel away the skins under running water.
3. Chop the eggplant and onions, then mash together with the remaining ingredients (you could use a fork or a potato masher for this).
4. Garnish with a splash of olive oil, a sprinkling of parsley and a dash each pepper and salt.
Over the next few days I’ll post pictures and more from our two-week trip through Jordan and Egypt. What ended in utter chaos (which you know from 24/7 news coverage of the events in Cairo and beyond) began as a dream when I was eight and saw King Tut’s treasures for the first time in San Francisco: I had to see where this boy king came from. Over the years I’ve collected books, articles, pictures and travel dreams of desert tombs and soaring pyramids; in high school I had a poster of Rhamses II on my lavender walls.
Finally, my dream came true: January 20th, we flew to Amman, Jordan, the start of our two week adventure. Along the way we saw everything I could imagine, and it was all more glorious than I could have ever expected. Petra, the pyramids, the tombs, the Sphinx, but most of all, the people, all gracious, all welcoming, all eager to share with us their heritage, food, culture and, most of all, their hospitality. Even with their own families in potential danger, our hosts were all more gracious than you can imagine.
One of my favorite breakfasts was born of my childhood love: PB&J. My grandmother was a master of the PB&J. She kept the Wonder Bread soft without drying it out, then spread just enough Skippy chunky peanut butter for the Welch’s grape jelly to cling to, avoiding any sort of mess whatsoever.
To this she’d add a small handful of crispy, salty Ruffles potato chips and, on the side, a cold glass of milk for, I suspect, some attempt at nutritional value. Nothing could beat this lunch on a hot summer day in Florida, hair dripping from the pool, back when wearing a bikini was natural, not nerve wracking.
Today I neither dine al fresco in my bikini nor sip cold milk (being lactose intolerant and all), but I still love a good PB&J. My breakfast incarnation includes two slices wheat toast, a generous helping of almond butter and slices of fresh Fuji apple for crunch.
What’s your favorite take on the all-American apple? Do you include it in a sandwich, bake it, avoid it altogether?
This is a beautifully light, refreshing salad. You could add some salmon or grilled chicken to create a main course. Play around with different cheeses and even some nuts to add a little extra crunch. Or try the dressing on your own favorite salad, it’s sweet but light.
This salad’s too pretty to keep under wraps. Ideally prepared with fresh corn, you can use frozen in a pinch and the salad’s just as good. It’s hearty enough to stand up to a perfectly grilled steak or seared ahi, and could stand alone as a main course if you toss in some protein.
I’m time traveling with this post! Two years ago this month I was in Paris. I had four days, three nights, and a mission: to explore Paris without stepping foot into a single taxi. For four days I used buses, le Métro and my two feet (with the help of the Rick Steves Paris Guide to navigate the subway system).
I also wanted a no-repeat visit, meaning I’d investigate areas of Paris I hadn’t on my two previous visits. This worked to some degree: I had to go to the Louvre Museum to see the Mona Lisa and the Near Eastern Antiquities, my favorite collection in the museum. Obviously Cathédrale Notre Dame as well (my plan was to attend an actual service, but I never made it).
New to me this visit? Wandering around the Carnavalet Museum, a mansion in the Marais filled with relics from the history of Paris; free and warm on a rainy day. Walking tours with Paris Walking Tours; I did their Christmas Lights Tour, a safe way for a woman traveling alone to experience Paris at night, and their World War II tour (I had just finished reading Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky).
This time, instead of department stores and shops with names from back home, I shopped for gifts at an outdoor market filled with freshly cut Christmas trees, and found that while my French wasn’t much help, my high school Spanish enabled me to communicate with a shop keeper from Argentina who sold hand knit sweaters that were perfect for little Gonzo Girl.
The only culinary sight on my to-do list was L’As du Falafel (34 rue des Rosiers, Paris, 75004), which was part of my self-guided Rick Steves Marais walk. Not having a plan didn’t stop me from finding a perfect French bistro for lunch, where I had wine, rare beef and crispy steak frites that kept me warm after a cold morning walk (Mark Bittman did a great piece on steak frites a few years ago in the New York Times). My favorite treat was a chocolate crepe that I consumed in what seemed to be one bite. Even today I can’t pass by the Nutella display at Costco without longing to bring some home with me.
Next time I visit, I want to attend cooking school, or at least a class or two. I’d like to bring little GG along, maybe renting an apartment for a week or two and exploring beyond Paris. And next time, I might visit in the spring. Then again, with enough long underwear for warmth, Paris in the winter is pretty fantastic.
Grocery lists come in many forms, from a smattering of post-it notes smashed into a pocket to a well-organized list clearly written on a single sheet of paper. Mine typically fall somewhere in between, starting off in an organized enough matter before spiraling out of control.
Then I started actually thinking about the layout of my grocery list. I always shop the store the same way; why not organize my list that way as well? Turns out, it works like a charm.
For Trader Joe’s I have a number of categories, based on the store’s layout:
Meat & Produce
Dairy
Dry Goods
Snacks
Frozen
Bread & Cheese
Target might look something like this:
Beauty/Health
Women’s clothing
Kid’s clothing
Toys
Food
Household
To make this work for you, sit down and think about how your store is laid out and how you shop the store (produce first, then meat? Or maybe you hit the wine aisle first thing). Make a master list of categories to refer back to, unless you’ve got a fabulous memory, which I don’t.
As type-A as this sounds, it keeps me from crisscrossing back and forth across the store as I forget this, that or the other thing. Who hasn’t been to the front of Costco only to glance down at the list to see the last thing to pick up is at, you guessed it, the back of the store?
So my gift to you this holiday season is the gift of sanity, at least while you’re shopping.