Back Trackin', New Orleans Edition - NOLA on My Mind

Some of my favorite bloggers will be heading to New Orleans this weekend, and it made me think of why I loved NOLA.

1. Excellent music

Music is everywhere in New Orleans. Whether walking down Bourbon Street or hopping from one bar to another in the much smaller and less rowdy Marigny, there is so much darn GOOD music at every turn. Husband J and I definitely loved popping in and out of all of the great music venues. The street performers were just as good as in any bar or club.

I'm playing the trombone! Well, not really :)

2. Unique architecture

We have our gorgeous skyline in New York City, but I really haven't seen architecture like NOLA's in other parts of the country. The architecture reflects NOLA's "easy-going sit on the balcony and soak in the scene" pace of life.

A street in the French Quarter

3. Unforgettable Food

Beignets, gumbo, po' boys, etouffee, oysters...should I go on? I was only in NOLA for about four days and didn't even eat half of the local cajun/creole food that I could have. When I went, I had no idea that I would later write about food and travel, so I didn't take pictures of my meals for you. I loved my meals at the following places:

Bayona - Tucked into a cute little side street in the Quarter, this small restaurant had big flavors in all of its dishes.

Restaurant August - One of the best fine dining meals I had in 2009, if not THE best. It's a little bit of a splurge but totally worth it.

Emeril's - It seems kinda pedestrian and touristy to go to the original Emeril's in the Warehouse District, but we ended up having lunch there with one of Husband J's friends who's from the area. I thought everything we ate was absolutely excellent, and the lunch pre-fixe menu is a great value. I actually liked the original Emeril's better than its sister restaurant, NOLA, in the Quarter.

Fried dough perfection: beignets and chicory coffee from the famous Cafe du Monde

4. Distinctive history and culture

The mix of French, African with a little bit of Caribbean and just plain ol' American influences have created a unique cultural and historical imprint in this part of the country. It's pretty different than what I've learned about and experienced before in other parts of the U.S. A fun and decidedly offbeat way to learn about the history of New Orleans and the Quarter in particular is to take an evening history ghost tour. Husband J and I really enjoyed the New Orleans Ghost Tour. The tour was chock full of fascinating information plus a stop at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop for the best hurricane I had in NOLA (Yes, better than Pat O'Brien's in my opinion).

Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop. My favorite hurricane in NOLA and a great historic bar.

Plus, NOLA folks know how to party! Check out a past post on Mardi Gras costumes.

If you have not had a chance to go to New Orleans, please put it on your list of places to visit in the future. The city is fabulous, and tourism is one of its biggest industries. Please support it!

Blogger friends, I want to see pics and hear some stories. :)

Happy Weekend, all!

Touring Turkey - An Introduction to Turkish Street Food

Food on the go. Food on the street. Either way, I like street food. I haven't had a dirty water hot dog in awhile (That's what we call them often in NYC), but I can appreciate different kinds of portable snacks. Turkey has quite a few street food items that I had not seen or tasted before.

Let me show you some of the more common street food that we encountered in Turkey.

1. Take that Pom!

I love the pomegranate drink, Pom, but it's way too expensive. Pomegranates are really healthy for you, but it's like 5 bucks for a small container of Pom. Not in Turkey. You see lots of men selling (yes, men. I didn't see women salesmen at all. Women were also scarce as wait staff in restaurants. We only had two waitresses the entire 8 days) freshly squeezed orange juice, pomegranate or other juices on the street and near major tourist sights.

When I finally got around to getting some pomegranate juice, we were right in front of the exit to the Ephesus ruins (more on there later), and so I knew we were going to get taken for our money just a little. Either way, the money helps a local entrepreneur, right?

I liked watching the juice being made in front of me. It's old school but effective.

Here's the result: a cup of fresh pomegranate juice. Yes, it does taste better than Pom. Waaay better.

2. What kind of nut is this?

I saw these nut vendors everywhere. Turks were gobbling up their wares all along the major streets of Sultanahmet and Beyoglu in Istanbul.

First, you pick the bag size that you want, and the vendor weighs it. Although I don't know if it really matters in the price calculation. I think we paid a little too much. Yep, I'm a little cynical.

Here are the nuts!

Nut close-up

I wasn't exactly sure what kind of nut this is. All I remember is that it had a thick, meaty texture. Maybe it's not a nut at all? Any guesses about what kind of nut this is? I'm dying to know and feel embarrassed that I don't know (and didn't ask the vendor..DOH!). Some salt on the nuts would have been good too. :)

3. Doner Kebap

This may seem pretty familiar to many of you as it resembles a gyro, but doner kebap is essentially a quick snack made with grilled lamb in lavash bread (Doner means lamb) although there is the option of chicken. Specifically in Istanbul, Kasarli durum doner (I wish I had a Turkish keyboard, so that I can type all of the umlaut and pretty Turkish squiggles under consonants) is lamb with grated cheese on lavash bread and then put on a press to melt the cheese. Husband J and I had a variant of this.

Meat on a spit! Lamb on the left and chicken on the right

I'm going to call the chef here Mr. Doner. In order to prepare our doner kebap, he first must cut off some meat from the rotating spit. By the way, I know this place isn't outside on the street, but you can get doner kebap to go, so I am just going to put it in the street food category.

Mr. Doner then adds fixins like lettuce, red cabbage and french fries (fried potatoes/chips or whatever you'd like to call them).

Mr. Doner puts the doner stuffed lavash under a press (I guess to warm it up? We had no cheese to melt on ours).

After the doner kebap has finished its time under the press, it is wrapped and ready for you to tote it around town.

Inside of the doner kebap

So there you have it. A little primer on some of the foods you'll encounter walking around Istanbul or other parts of Turkey.

Which one of these would you try? Do you have a favorite street food item?

Touring Turkey - The Aya Sophia

One of the most visited (and rightfully so) monuments in Istanbul is the Aya Sophia. Built in 361, the structures served as the primary cathedral for Constantinople (Istanbul's former name) and was a Christian church until 1453. At that time it became a mosque. Churches becoming mosques is a pretty big theme in Turkey. For over 1,000 years it was the largest cathedral in the world (until 1520). In the early 1930's, the Aya Sophia was converted into a museum and open to the general public.

What did I think of it? Wow..just wow!

Aya Sophia, interior

What's most impressive is that this building is virtually ancient, yet there are some many visible details that are still in such great condition. It makes me wonder if any of the things we build now will be as beautiful, or even in existence, just 100 years from now.

There were many designs like these hanging throughout the building. Any Arabic speakers out there? I would love to know what this means.

I will say that the Aya Sophia monument/museum, or whatever you'd like to call it, does an excellent job of educating people about the various elements within a mosque. Mosques come in all shapes and sizes but have some common elements. Here are a few below:

Minbar - where the imam delivers his sermons. Similar function to a pulpit in a church

Muezzin's Loge - The muezzin is tasked with delivering the prayer call summoning worshippers to one of five daily prayer sessions.

One of the prettiest elements of the church/mosque were the detailed mosaics.

Left: Virgin Mary & Child, Right: Jesus

After a while it was time to go to the upper level to get a better view.

There were no stairs or elevators but rather a passageway made of stones that were often pretty slippery. That's Husband J walking ahead.

Aya Sophia upper level

I realized that I have posted no pictures of me. See, I actually did go to the Aya Sophia. :)

A view of the main floor from the top

I love old places with history and lots of nook and crannies. The Aya Sophia is definitely among the most fascinating buildings I've explored.

Food Porn Friday- Tasting Brooklyn 2011

I was really excited to get an invite to the First Annual (well, I hope it will be annual) Tasting Brooklyn event that occurred this past Tuesday, April 5. It was sponsored by Brooklyn Exposed, a Brooklyn lifestyle website, to celebrate the culmination of its first year. I've started to write for the site recently, and I've got a link to my most recent article on my Facebook wall.

What was most fun about Tasting Brooklyn was that it highlighted such a range of restaurants and food vendors that sometimes don't make it to the major food blogs or news outlets on a regular basis.

Here's a sampling of what I saw and ate (actually I shouldn't have eaten much of anything since I was only two days out from my juice cleanse. More on that another time).

Tasting Brooklyn was packed when I arrived at Dumbo Loft.

Braised Beef Cheek ravioli from Fornino in Park Slope

Fornino also brought a cocktail called The Park Slope

Duck & Okra Gumbo from Tchoup Shop. They sell their Cajun Creole inspired food at the bar dba in Williamsburg during the summer months.

Shrimp Roll from Red Hook Lobster Pound. I've written about them before.

The Breucklen cupcake from Robicellis - Dutch inspired Apple cake, Cinnamon Caramel Buttercream topped with Stroopwafel. Robiccellis was voted one of the best cupcakes in NYC by Serious Eats NY.

I also got to see some old friends like Jessica Pichardo (on the right), the owner of Linger Cafe. I wrote about Linger last year. She brought her light and lovely kale salad.

It was a really great event and turnout for Brooklyn Exposed, and I wish the site all the best in its second year.

Happy Weekend!

I've Finally Found a Cooking Show I Like

I don't really like cooking shows. This of course excludes most cooking competition shows. I love Top Chef (although I can't get into Top Chef Masters and the contestants on Top Desserts annoyed me), and I did watch several episodes of MasterChef last year. I know that I've already mentioned that I like writing more about food culture than I do about actual cooking, so please don't think this is another example of a (nonexistent) bias against cooking. I don't know; I just don't want to watch other people chop carrots without some context. Does that make sense?

With the debut of Cooking Channel last year was hoping to get some more food oriented television into my weekly line up. There has been a show or two that has appealed to me, but the overwhelming bulk of the programming is still the traditional cooking show watching a chef make a dish. My reaction: Eh...

However, I think I've finally found MY cooking show, and it came from the most unlikely person: Debi Mazar and her husband, Gabriele Corcos. I love their show Extra Virgin!

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What I love about this show is that it places their cooking within a context. There's something really natural about the manner they are making the food: nothing too perfectly cut and no fancy schmancy plating. They have a conversation, joke with each other, and there's an authentic way in which they engage with each other and the audience. You feel like you're watching your married friends cook instead of a chef explaining a recipe.

Also instead of just staying in a kitchen, there are reality TV-esque interviews and explanations interspersed throughout the cooking portions. We don't stay in their kitchen the entire show, and instead see them shopping for a new motorcycle, selling bruschetta and lemonade with their two daughters on their street and going to visit their extended family in Tuscany. They seem to be living and incorporating food into their daily lives not just teaching us how to make pasta correctly. It's refreshing and to me as it reflects how we all experience food: as a way of bringing together family and friends, sharing love and living rich, full lives.

Plus, I just like watching married people who are cute together. Even if it's just for TV, Debi and Gabriele seem to have a pretty loving and fun relationship.

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I've got it DVR'ed, but new episodes of Extra Virgin premiere on the Cooking Channel Wednesdays at 10:30pm EST.

FTC disclosure or whatever: I was not paid to write this. I just really like their show. I'm not getting money from links, although I wish I was. Just sayin'! ;)

Do you have a favorite non-competition cooking show? Why do you like it?

Touring Turkey - A Look at Turkish Breakfast

I still believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so that's where I'll start with discussing Turkish food. At each of our hotels in Turkey, there were certain foods that seemed to pop up in each time: olives, feta-like cheese, tomato, cucumber, bread and various spreads whether it be butter, jam, or tahini. Here's a shot of one of my breakfast plates from the buffet at Hotel Sultania (review to come), which had many of the elements we would see at each of our breakfasts:

Clockwise from the top: olives (green and black), helva (more on this dish in another post), orgu peyniri cheese, grilled vegetables (the grilled veggies were pretty unusual even for the Turkish breakfasts we had), scrambled eggs (also a little unusual), beyaz peynir cheese. Also a roll. I was really hungry that morning.

I was in heaven. Lots of Cheese, lovely salty things like olives and old standbys like eggs. Yum! What I learned from breakfast is that Turkish food was like Turkey itself, a little European and a little Middle Eastern, but also something totally unique. The olives represent Turkey's Mediterranean western side (we would eventually go to Ephesus and see that area).

I was intrigued by some of the elements of my breakfast that were new to me:

Orgu Peyniri (braided cheese)

This cheese seems creamier and saltier than the string cheese of my childhood and much more flavorful. A good description of the cheese making process is here.

I'm not sure what kind of cheese this is, but it was good, too.

While I was at it (and since I was clearly HONGRY), I grabbed some dried fruit and nuts. At the top of this picture are hazelnuts and on the bottom are dried mulberries.

Hazeulnuts are one of the chief agricultural products of Turkey's northern Black Sea coast. Apparently, Turkey produces 600,000 tons of hazelnuts every year. Thank you to the Turkish people for making sure that we have ingredients for Nutella. :)

I have to admit that I am missing olives for breakfast, and I plan on adding them this week.

Is there anything here that you would add to your daily breakfast?

Touring Turkey - Beyoglu, Istanbul

I'm not sure why, but I am going to start at the end of our trip and talk a little about the Beyoglu section of Istanbul. Most travelers seeking to see Istanbul's major historic sights like the Blue Mosque (that was the first pic in my last post) and the Hagia Sophia/Aya Sofya and Topkapi Palace, usually start out in Sultanhamet, the older historic center of the city named for Sultan Ahmed (or Ahmet) I, an Ottoman sultan who spearheaded the construction of the Blue Mosque. You can pretty much spend all of your time in Sultanhamet and get to see the gist of Istanbul's sights.

Beyoglu is a totally different vibe altogether. If you make your way across the Galata Bridge passing over the little inlet that is the Golden Horn, you'll come to another part of the city that really has its own charm. While there are still some places of interest to see in Beyoglu, it's really an area where Turks come to eat, drink, shop and just otherwise chill out.

Husband J and I strolled along Istiklal Caddesi (Independence Avenue), Beyoglu's major pedestrian artery. In the middle of the day on a Friday, these streets were packed. Later that night you could barely move.

Street tram on Istiklal Caddesi, Beyoglu's main thoroughfare

Istiklal Caddesi packed with people in the middle of the day

If anything I liked the shopping. I told Husband J that I could probably survive here in Istanbul because they had some of my shopping favorites. :)

If I buy makeup, it's usually MAC.

What I also liked about Istiklal Caddesi was peering into the little alleyways right off of the main thoroughfare. Often they were filled with cafes, restaurants, shops or further pathways containing homes. If we had more time, I think we would have explored as many of them as we could. Actually if you don't watch out, you can get lost (like we did). :)

If you walk down Istiklal Caddesi towards the Golden Horn, you'll eventually get to the Karakoy neighborhood. You'll see the Galata Tower. It's hard to miss. Standing nine stories tall, it was built by the Genoan merchants who had held a small colony on the banks of the Golden Horn as a post for trading with Byzantine Istanbul. It's also one of the best places to get a panoramic view of the city. If you have the time, there is a restaurant on the top floor with a performance almost nightly.

For some reason, this is the best shot I have of Galata Tower (head scratch).

View from Galata Tower

Ditto

We stumbled onto San Antonio di Padova Church. At this point we were used to seeing churches that had been converted to mosques, but this is still a working Catholic church. There are approximately 120,000 Christians in Turkey total.

San Antonio Church interior

At the end of Istiklal Caddesi is Taksim Square. Kinda like Istanbul's Time Square, it's where people and transportation converge as well as a major spot for political demonstrations.

The centerpiece and main attraction of the square is the Cumhuriyet Aniti (the Monument of the Republic). The front part of the monument shows Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey as well as other important leaders who aided him.

Some closeups of the statue:

We liked our afternoon in Beyoglu and wished we'd had more time to just chill and people watch. That's for the next trip. :)