CantaloupeAlone

There are so many culinary advantages to living in Taiwan. One of which is the abundance of high-quality Japanese cuisine from both Japanese trained-Taiwanese chefs and authentic Japanese chains. Ramen nerds rejoice! There are plenty of chains and local stores to stand in line. I have been trying to educate myself on the nuances of ramen. What I can tell you so far is that ramen is good. Ramen is really good in the winter. I am beginning to understand why the Japanese needed to create a new word to define all the goodness. Ramen is umami, umami is ramen.  Menu, pictured here poorly in poorly pieced together photos.... Tonchin ramen usually has a line. When my friend and arrived on Wednesday night there were only 5-7 people ahead of us, and we waited for less than 10 minutes. Tonchin offers a fairly conservative menu of 4 flavors with different variations (with the egg, with seaweed, corn, or everything). The menu is full of photos so pointing a...

Generous plates of perfect food Hello, you want this guy making your kabobs. This cooking is better than mine, but not quite as good as Grandma's. Living in Taiwan for the last 4 years I thought I would never taste most of the Armenian/Lebanese food I grew up eating again. Even when I return to America family and friends enthusiastically try to feed me sliced cabbage, canned orange and condensed milk salad instead of my childhood sarma, lamb, kabobs, pilaf, yogurt, and lahmacun. Taiwan has a few Middle Eastern restaurants ( Sabbaba , meh) that mostly seem to cut corners or compromise true taste for the local preferences. It is not a good scene. Beyti Kabob wrapped in lavash with Turkish red pepper sauce, rice, and yogurt Vegetable Pida scallions and mushrooms on a flaky and crispy crust That has all changed. No more moping and longing from me! Safranbolu Turkish Restaurant is putting out excellent, high-quality food with authentic flavor. There is though...

This invitation to my brunch at Fooshion Food Studio in Taipei says I am a beautiful girl cook, and Italian, even though I am not Italian   You say green lemon I say lime. Its the best example of the complications surrounding my latest work cooking 3 tasting parties for 12-20 in Taipei over the last 2 weeks of March. I asked my friend to make a batch of pickled lemons in advance of my arrival, so I could seamlessly use them in a recipe. I found a jar of pickled lime on arrival. The word of lime in Mandarin Chinese translates as green lemon. Green unripened lemons are indeed sold in the same bin as limes. Its just the way it is, and as I learned how things were going to be on my trip. I love to eat like its my job while I travel. Cooking was my job on my latest trip. During the last 2 weeks of March 2012 I flew to Taipei, Taiwan and cooked 3 tasting parties for 20, 15, and 10 people. I do this kind of thing, and much more, in America all the time. Everything was a cha...

Wine from a log? Whole squirrels on a platter? Raw venison? Candied Goose. I ate and drank it all up under a candle lit chandelier a few weeks back at Issue Project Room Species of Space Foraged Dinner. Well foraged is an over statement. Most of the food (venison deer meat) was hunted. Read my full story on Socially Superlative . Door crew Pick a wine to drink from. I got kinda attached to mine. Hot buttered rum with pine needle swizzle stick. Deer jerky and apple leather with pine needles appetizer. Forget serving whole raw pine needles. Doesn't work. The free-form table foraged from Jersey wetlands made of timber and branches. Some dumped by contractors, some dumped by 2011 hurricane Irene. Nuts and seeds to get you through the winter. Ceramic vessels for eating and drinking. Each a unique shape, each holding a different portion, some with holes not holding anything. Venison stew with winter squash is inside. Cold charred venison with "seal oil....