**** Foodies Say

Yes, I know that the "**** [fill in the blank of any group] say" meme is a bit out of control by now, but when I saw this one I just had to share. I had to. I am both hanging my head in shame and laughing at the same time (except I'm not a big Food Network fan). I hope you're enjoying the weekend!

via Chow

Antiguan Food 101 (Part 1)

I often get asked, "What is Antiguan food like?" I can only speak about Antigua because that's the island that I know best, but the short and simple answer is that it's a little complicated.

I also can't say that there are too many things that are completely and totally Antiguan. Due to proximity to other islands and immigration, Antiguans eat many of the same dishes that people in other English-speaking Caribbean islands do. Often you'll have dishes that are eaten on a different island, but there are small variations to the recipe; OR, even more confusing, they just have different names. For example, what some in Barbados call cou cou (or sometimes spelled coo coo), a boiled cornmeal dish that is a personal favorite of mine, Antiguans call fungee (pronounced fuhn-jee). Saying that there is a distinct Antiguan cuisine can be a little tricky.

My Mom's fungee (the big yellow ball) with spinach, eggplant, okra and saltfish (more on that below)

After walking around Nelson's Dockyard, Husband J, Cousin C and I were super hungry. Cousin C had mentioned that he knew the proprietor of a roadside food stall we'd passed. I was ready to have my first Antiguan food since I'd arrived. A big shout and thank you to Miss Brenda!

Miss Brenda's stall

When I saw the menu, I marveled at how extensive it was. Miss Brenda was offering all of Antigua's greatest hits on one menu.

Starting reading the menu with me from the top, and I'll describe some things for you.

Macaroni pie - That's essentially baked macaroni and cheese. I have to admit it was new for me to hear it described that way. We just called it macaroni and cheese growing up.

Here's my Mom's mac and cheese from last year's Thanksgiving:

Rice and peas - I think I've mentioned before that I barely ever ate plain, white rice growing up. There was always some type of bean or peas, as we'd called them, thrown into the mix. Usually the beans were red kidney beans or pigeon peas (aka gandules). I don't make rice and peas as much as I should now. I am bad at making rice. :( **hanging head in shame and handing over my Caribbean Person Card for repossession**

Pepper Pot is a stew that is found in other parts of the Caribbean (Anguilla and Guyana come to mind). I can say that it's a hodgpodge of ingredients like spinach, okra, bits of beef, callaloo leaves, pork, eggplant and others elements. I haven't had pepper pot in years. Mom? :)

Here's some pepperpot stewing.

(source)

Pepper pot and fungee are actually the national dish of Antigua. That's funny to me since I've never had these both together. :)

My lunch for the day was ducuna and ling fish with veggies.

Ducuna, ling fish,eggplant, boiled green banana (we don't fry these), boiled ripe plantain

If you'd like to hear me describe my lunch, check out this video. For some reason I'm having problems embedding video right now. :(

The sweetness of the ducuna (which is made of grated sweet potato, sugar, coconut, spice with optional raisins) is a really great counterpoint to the saltiness of the fish. Salted fish, which is often cod or sometimes pollock, is a fairly common part of meals. You may have heard it referred to as bacalao as well. Hearing about ling fish was new to me. It's in the same family as cod but just fleshier and thicker. It's often eaten with fungee or with a mix of veggies like eggplant and spinach with bread. The latter is considered a traditional Antiguan Sunday morning breakfast. Ducuna is not exclusive to Antigua either. I believe that this is native to at least St. Kitts and Anguilla and a few other islands.

Husband J likes much of the Antiguan food that he's tried, but I wasn't sure if he was ready for some of these dishes. :) I ordered him some stewed lamb with sides.

Again, not uniquely Antiguan but fairly common. Caribbean stews like this one are made by marinating the protein in onion, garlic, occasionally tomatoes and other spices. It's lightly fried, stock is added and then simmered. Good stuff.

So there is a brief introduction to Antiguan food, and there is more to come.

Notice how Miss Brenda doesn't give small portions. I think it helped that Cousin C knows her grandson and son-in-law well. :)

The Trip

Recently, I think I may have seen one of the more interesting road trip movies out in a long time. The Trip stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, two English comedians and actors, as fictionalized versions of themselves. They set out on a week-long drive around northern England stopping off at some of the region's best high-end restaurants while trying desperately not to annoy each other to death. It's not a documentary, but there was definitely improvisation involved in the acting, which adds to the zany quality of the dialogue. Actually The Trip was a six episode series that aired on the BBC last year that was eventually chopped up and turned into this movie. I had been meaning to see it while it was in the theater this summer (I totally procrastinated!), so I was surprised to see it already available on DVD and Netflix streaming.

I am a not-s0-secret Anglophile, so between the impressions, slightly dorky style of Brit humor, expansive northern English countryside and peek into some of the best kitchens and restaurants in England, I was in travel foodie heaven. Other than London, I haven't been to any other parts of England, and the scenery explored through the film made me ready to rent a car with Husband J and set out for the Yorkshire Dales myself. I can say that The Trip should be an integral part of the UK Tourist Board's campaign to get more people to travel outside of London. I was so into the landscapes and food that I took notes on the places they visited, but you guys know I'm a little dorky like that.

Here's the trailer:

Okay, so caveats:

-It may be a little slow at points, but just stick with it.

-You might get sick of the impressions at some point. Again, stick with it.

-You might not like Steve Coogan during parts of it. He redeems himself.

Have you been to Northern England? Where would you go for your ultimate foodie road trip?

Bertolli, Fabio Viviani, Meal Soups & Me

If you follow me on Twitter (and I hope you do, if not, click the little birdie on the right. I am a prolific tweeter for better or worse), you'll know that earlier this week I had the opportunity to attend a really wonderful event sponsored by Bertolli to promote their new Meal Soups with special guest, chef and two-time Top Chef contestant, Fabio Viviani. This was my first invitation to attend a food related event by a major company, so I kinda felt a little special. Cue the "Jeffersons" theme song (Movin' on Up....).

I thought I was going to be in a large room full of lots of press and wall-to-wall people where I could retreat into a corner and shove food into my face. Instead, I walk into this small, intimate wonderfully lit room full of bread, antipasto and friendly people. You guys, I met such wonderful bloggers at this event (more on them later), and I was just a feet away from Fabio Viviani, who is probably one of my top ten favorite Top Chefs ever (I think my favorite of all time is Carla Hall, who is probably the long lost sister of my friend, Big Mitts).

Of course, there was plenty of great antipasto for noshing and meeting people.

Amazing bread and wine....

Focaccia & Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio

After a speech from a rep from Bertolli/Unilever, we saw a little introductory video about the Meal Soups. Chef Michael Christiansen, who essentially develops many of Bertolli's products from the chef's perspective, takes us through how they created the soups. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and is actually a really nice, down-to-earth guy from New Jersey. We had a great conversation that evening.

Essentially, these soups are the frozen componets of what you would make homemade except now you just add some water, bring to a boil, then let it simmer until all of the components are hot. Pretty quick and easy.

After the video, we proceeded into this lovely kitchen and had a demonstration of how the hearty soups really work and learned a little more about the production process. Fabio & Chef Mike tried to do a cook off to see who could make an actual soup in the time allotted. Of course, Chef Mike's Bertolli version won.

Chef Mike showing us the frozen version of the soup. It's essentially all cubed at first.

Here's an actual video of both Fabio & Chef Mike speaking about the soups. I will say that Fabio does give a decent explanation for why people skeptical of frozen anything should try the Meal Soups. Fabio is a VERY good salesman. BTW, excuse my camera angles! This was taken with my Iphone.

BertolliFabioViviani from TAOTerri on Vimeo.

After the short talk, we were able to try some of the soups with wine pairings.

Chicken Rotini (roasted white meat, pasta, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots and celery in chicken broth)

Tomato Florentine (Cheese filled tortellini, white meat chicken, spinach and tomatoes in a tomato bisque) I think this one was a big hit. I was too busy scarfing to take a pic earlier.

So, I'm sure you all want to know my opinion, right? I will start by saying that you all know that I don't shill for anyone, so this is really my opinion. You guys, this stuff is actually good! Like I cleaned my bowl good. I wouldn't have been able to tell that it came from anything frozen. I know sometimes in the winter, especially, I am scrambling to find something to make on a weeknight, or I've run out of groceries. I could totally see me having one of these soups for a quick meal. While I am a proponent of eating things that are made from fresh veggies, etc., I don't mind taking short cuts when I need to. I also read the ingredient label, and I could pronounce everything. That's a good sign.

There was even someone serenading us with Italian opera favorites.

Luckily, dessert was not left out. Woo hoo!

I LOVE a good cannolli

You know that I was too happy to see some tiramisu.

As I mentioned before, all the bloggers there were sooo nice. It was really great to connect to food bloggers, especially those that cook since I am not a cooking blogger. Bloggers are really cool people (If I do say so myself). :)

from left to right: Rachel of Laptops & Stovetops, Dana of Dana's Food for Thought & me

Finally, the honored guest, Fabio and I actually had a few conversations during the night. I asked him about the whole Domino's thing. He mentioned that they wanted him as a consultant and that his role was to teach them about sourcing ingredients and how to make pizzas in a more authentic way. Hey, I'm not mad at Fabio for working for the big guys like Bertolli and Domino's. Do you, buddy! I can actually say that Fabio is exactly like he is on Top Chef: very genuine, charming, funny and the accent is totally real. Just kidding, Fabio. ;)

What a night! I'm waiting for New York City to finally cool down, so I can make the soup I got to take home.

Happy Weekend!

Disclosure: As usual, I didn't get paid for this post or links in any way, but a stomach full of good soup, meeting nice people, and hobnobbing with Fabio was payment enough.

Where to Next? - Return to Wadadli!/Beach Snobbery

Hellloooo!!! Remember me?!!

I've had a fairly unintended whirlwind couple of weeks, but that just means a whole lot more to share with you all. I ended up being away for a little longer than I would have liked, but it allowed me to have some quality time with some great people. Anyway, enough of me being coy. I'll let you know where I went in the video.

IntrotoWadadli (Antigua) from TAOTerri on Vimeo.

(By the way, I totally didn't mean for that to be a gratuitous bikini shot. I was supposed to be a bit more covered. :( Also I know the waves make it hard to understand me at parts, but that's what happens when you've only got a Flip video camera and still learning video editing.)

By the way, Wadadli is the name given to Antigua by its native peoples, the Arawaks and later the Carib Indian tribes.

So, yes, I visited one of my favorite places in the entire world, Antigua. I got to see my family, which made me very happy. I was sad to leave this time. I miss them. I need to make sure that I return more often. The last visit was three years ago. I must do better. I'll be sharing the trip in the next couple of weeks. Be prepared for some beautiful beach shots and down home local Caribbean food.

Part of Ffryes Beach & Cocobay Resort (we almost stayed here)

Points to whoever guesses what tropical fruit this is!

At Betty's Hope

Ducuna & Ling Fish with veggies

The view from Shirley Heights

More to come! Happy Tuesday!

Different Country, Different Customs - Saudi Arabia

I am beyond thrilled to end Expat Week with a bang....and a vlog! My namesake Terri made a vlog just for us!! Terri Lundberg is an American expat who has been living in Saudi Arabia for three years. Originally from California, she is a self-professed travel addict, photographer, trailing spouse, and mother. She's been to 85 destinations in 22 countries and looking forward to more. She writes about her travels and produces hilariously opinionated and honest vlogs about her life as an expat. You can keep up with her on her blog blackchickontour.com. - T

In this video, I discuss how I feel about being a female expat living in Saudi Arabia and how I'm affected and not affected by the customs and culture of Saudi Arabia. Even though I reside on a "Western/Expat" compound, it's not just Americans on the camp. There are people from all over the world (think 3rd world), including Saudis. It makes for a weird mix. So, even though I'm on a compound and I pretty much live like I would in the United States, there are still some things that make me conscious of where I am. That's typically related to what I'm wearing. You can watch the video to hear more about that.

Also, in the video I make reference to a situation with my vacuum cleaner. LOL. :) If you want to get the back story the link to the post is here: http://blackchickinsaudi.blogspot.com/2009/10/too-funnythe-vacuum-cleaner.html Check it out for a quick laugh.

How I Feel About Being A Female Expat in Saudi Arabia from Terri Lundberg on Vimeo.

Touring Turkey - Ephesus, Part 2

I hope you enjoyed the first post about our visit to Ephesus. Our time at Ephesus was not over, and we still had a few major sites to see amongst the ruins.

Behold, the Grand Theater......

This theater can hold up to 25,000 people. It's huge!! This isn't just any old theater, either. For those of you who are a little familiar with the Bible, this theater was the scene of an early incident mentioned in the Bible between early Christians and the residents of Ephesus. I'll tell you a little more about it in this video.

By the way, I'm squinting a lot because I had to look straight into the sun to film this. I just bought real sunglasses last month. I kid you not. I also say "Um" too much. :(

EphesusTheater from TAOTerri on Vimeo.

If you want to look up this story in the Bible, check out Acts 19. It starts to get good at Verse 23.

Here's the lady I mentioned in the video. The Grand Theater has some pretty great acoustics.

If you wanna check out the acoustics, watch this.

EphesusAcoustics from TAOTerri on Vimeo.

You can hear me and Husband J cheering at the end. I was saying "Merci!" because our songstress was part of a group of French tourists.

After passing by some more evidence of Ephesus' former glory, we knew we had to see one last thing.

Arcadian Street. Imagine a really nice open-air mall. Perhaps Ephesus' Rodeo Drive?

On the very edge of the Ephesus site is the Church of Mary. It was built as a church to commemorate the Council of Ephesus, a religious conference to discuss Christian doctrine. The organizers built a basilica in Mary's honor. Many believe that Mary, Jesus' mother, spent many of her last years here in the Ephesus area under the care of John the Apostle. (Remember him?) You can actually visit a house right outside of Ephesus that many think was her actual home.

Church of Mary

If you are thinking about going to Turkey, you must include Ephesus on your trip.

So THAT'S ALL, FOLKS! That was our trip to Turkey. I'll write a hotel review or two more, but this will be the last Turkey post for awhile. I hope you enjoyed learning about this fascinating and beautiful country.

Ramadan Mubarak

According to the Islamic lunar calendar, today is the first day of Ramadan, the Muslim month of all-day fasting and reflection. During Ramadan many Muslims read the through the Qur'an, refocus on charitable gifts and volunteering and increase their time of prayer. My neighborhood will be busy as I live very close to a mosque, and my neighborhood has traditionally had a large Muslim population. As a matter of fact, it's been called Little Mecca.

Although Ramadan happens for one month per year, an integral part of the daily life in a Muslim country is the call to prayer. One of my favorite travel memories actually involves the call to prayer. I was in downtown Durban, South Africa's predominantly Muslim area. It was sunset and the light streaming through old colonial looking buildings. The next thing I know, a beautiful voice part singing, part chanting with so much soul and feeling emanated through the streets. It was the sundown call to prayer, and I was taken in completely. I remember feeling very at peace at that moment. Even though I'm not Muslim, I was deeply affected.

In honor of the beginning of Ramadan, I thought I would share with you with the call to evening prayer near our hotel in Cappadocia. I liked this one better than the one at 4:30am (that's not even a typo). :)

Cappadocia Prayer Call from TAOTerri on Vimeo.

For any of you celebrating Ramadan, I wish you a healthy month of fasting, reflection and greater peace.

Travel Challenge, Day 9 - A Favorite Song from Another Country/Language

Day 9, A song you like from another country/language

This was much easier than yesterday's prompt. :)

I feel like this Travel Challenge is turning into "Let me tell you about South Africa...."

Anyhoo, this music reminds me of my time there. Mafikizolo is/was a popular South African group that had a few big hits when I was living there. They sing in Zulu, and their music can be called kwaito, which is a generic name for urban electronic music influenced by life in South Africa's townships. It's definitely a distant cousin of American hip-hop.

The name of this song is "Ndihamba Nawe" which literally means "I walk with you." After some research, I found out that the smoother translation means "I choose you." Awwwwwww!!

Here's the song:






They had another big hit, "Marabi".

I actually learned a little bit of Xhosa, the one with the clicks that is very similar to Zulu (if you can speak either language, you can usually communicate in the other). In the little Zulu/Xhosa I can make out, I do know this:

Marabi is a form of indigenous South African jazz, and this song resembles that style.

umtwana = child

eGoli = Johannesburg. It is actually directly translated as "City of Gold." Many Black South Africans, who came to Jo'burg to mine its gold and diamond mines, called it eGoli.

Are there any songs from another language or culture that resonate with you?

Touring Turkey - Goodbye to Cappadocia!

Here's a quick video to commemorate our final moments in Cappadocia. The very funny guy is our guide, Ibrahim. I mentioned him before. I was too sad to say goodbye to Cappadocia, after we'd seen so many awe-inspiring things.

This video was shot at the top of Uchisar Rock Castle, which was one of our last stops. As soon as I saw that our hotel was close by, I made a mental note to climb to the top. It's a long way up, but the view was worth it. Uchisar means highest point, and the view from the castle is one of the best in Cappadocia.

Uchisar Rock Castle

Goodbye to Cappadocia from TAOTerri on Vimeo.

Next stop in Turkey? Ephesus.

Touring Turkey - Up in the Air Over Cappadocia

I've finally saved the best experience we had in Cappadocia for last. Husband J and I took our first hot air balloon ride! I had never been on a hot air balloon before and knowing that I was going to be able to see Cappadocia's landscape in the process was too much to pass up.

There are lots of balloon operators in the Cappadocia area. After doing some research and at the suggestion of the hotel, we decided to book with Royal Balloon, and I definitely don't regret going with them since they were fun, informative and professional every step of the way. Whatever you do make sure to fly with a reputable and trustworthy company (Yes, I know I'm being Captain Obvious, but please do).

Let's start from the beginning...

Most hot air ballooning in Cappadocia starts EARLY in the morning. Be prepared for an early morning pick-up. I hope 5:00am is early enough for you! Royal Balloon dropped us off at their offices/dining room. Part of our experience included breakfast with many of the customary elements we'd come to expect at that point in Turkey: bread, olives, tomato and awesome cheese plus all of the cereal, fruit, eggs, etc. that you could want.

Royal Balloon Headquarters

We took another trip over to a field where we finally caught sight of the balloons preparing for our trip.

I think I enjoyed watching the balloons getting blown up almost as much as the balloon ride itself.

Fire, fire! (Beavis & Butthead reference, and yes, I am old).

Finally done!

Getting into the balloon was a lot harder than expected but the handlers from Royal Balloon were very helpful and accomodating. It was finally time to see Cappadocia from the sky.

Even though the sun had already risen, and it was both overcast and cold, it was still a spectacular sight to all of these rock formations from above. The early morning calm, the stillness of the countryside and the quirky but beautiful scenery was so magical that there were many moments of silence in our balloon.

Here's a little of what we saw:

We flew over the Goreme Open Air Museum. Remember my visit there?

We were having a great time getting to know the other visitors to Cappadocia in our balloon, who turned out to actually be from New York City, too. The older gentlemen in the group knew someone from my childhood. Six degrees, I tell you!

We were just geeked to be there and perfectly happy to show it.

I knew that our balloon wasn't the only one up in the air that morning. It seems that almost all of the companies find the best course for the balloons to follow at that time of day. It ended up being one big balloon caravan.

How many balloons can you count in this picture? At one point we saw 25.

As much as I'd like to think it's the case, I don't think pictures do this experience justice. Below is a quick video to give you a taste of what we saw, heard and talked about (I thought about editing out the background conversation, but conversing with our fellow ballooners was really a pleasant part of the trip.). I'm still learning video editing, so please bear with me if it's not all that great. :)

In the video, I mention the fact that I was a little worried about dropping money on this little excursion. It's the truth. I was. When our Egypt trip fell apart, I had the sole responsibility of planning this trip, and I wasn't sure if it would be worth it or if Husband J would like it. Pressure! Anyway, you'll see what I mean in the video....

Up In the Air Over Cappadocia from TAOTerri on Vimeo.

Who was the mystery person I was referring to in the video? Ms. Martha Stewart herself. She was guided by Royal Balloon when she came to do a shoot in Cappadocia for her show.

If it's good enough for Martha..... :)

When we finally landed, the team from Royal Balloon treated us to a champagne toast. As much as I enjoy a little bubbly in the morning (I guess?), it was FREEZING, and it had started to lightly snow at our landing area.

I know we're smiling here, but we were COLD. Check out how my hand is gripping the glass.

I'm so glad that I didn't chicken out about going on our little hot air balloon adventure. It was by far one of the highlights of our trip to Turkey.

Touring Turkey - Pasabag & The Fair Chimneys

On our last full day in Cappadocia (I'm still skipping around time wise), we spent the day with a private guide, Ibrahim, who works with Matiana Travel. I've only had a private guide once before, but I think Ibrahim was different. He was around our age, so it was like being with your cool friend who knows all of the spots to go to, lots of random bits of history and makes you laugh. You'll see him soon.

What the Cappadocia region is known for are the rock formations called fairy chimneys. I wish I could explain all of this in a really clear way, but I wasn't so good at 8th grade earth science. Here's a description of what they are and how they are made:

The peaks of three volcanoes - Erciyes, Hasan and Melendiz Daglari- dominate Cappadocia. It was their eruptions some thirty million years ago...that provided region's raw material: tuff. This soft stone, formed by compressed volcanic ash, has been worked ever since, by processes of erosion, to form valleys and curious fairy chimney rock...

The tuff surrounding basalt [another rock] is worn away, until it stands at the top of a large cone. Eventually the underpart is eaten away to such an extent that it can no longer hold its capital: the whole thing collapses and the process starts again.

-The Rough Guide to Turkey, p. 462

Yep. That's it. This erosion process produces a place that looks like this:

Fair Chimneys near Goreme

It's even more freaky (for lack of a better word) when you get to walk through them. You feel like you are on another planet. Please let me know if you have ever seen ANYTHING that resembles these formations. Hollywood has even taken note of Cappadocia's oddly beautiful setting: parts of it served as one of the sets for Nicolas Cage's next installment of Ghost Rider (I'm sure you all will be rushing to see that one. Ahem!)

Anyhoo, I was determined to make a quick jaunt through it all to get up close and personal with these rocks (and to see if I could find some fairies).

Staring off into the valley

I'm sure you're wondering why they are called "Fair Chimneys" in the first place, right? Well like most funky rocks in Cappadocia, people used to live in/near them. When invaders would come to this region (the Ottomans, Romans, whoever!), they saw the flickering lights from candles used by the area's residents. Supposedly, the lights looked little dancing fairies. Cute, huh?

These particular fair chimneys below happen to be my favorite. This is also one of my favorite pictures of me and Husband J from this trip.

Husband J and I at the Three Beauties Fair Chimney area

Here's a short unedited video (it's much more fun that way, I promise) at Pasabag, one of the more well-known fair chimney areas. You'll see the tuff mentioned above and hear and see a little of our guide, Ibrahim.

At PacabagTAO from TAOTerri on Vimeo.

After this post, I'm sure you can see why I fell in love with Cappadocia's eclectic beauty. Wouldn't you?