Cheapness and creativity converge in two great posts I just read:
Conner’s nitty-gritty on substitutions required for cooking in Cuba reminds me of every expat kitchen I’ve kept and visited. None quite so rough as Conner’s situation, though Cairo required a certain savoir faire. That’s where I foraged for basil in vacant lots. (I just made that pasta, what I call Cairo Noodles, again a couple of months ago–creamy cheese, basil, tomatoes, garlic and loads of olive oil. It stood the test of time, even though I didn’t have the signature buffalo-milk ‘feta’ from the Parmalat box.)
I would love to see a photo or video survey of expat kitchens all over the world, where treasured ingredient X is always squirreled away in the cupboard, and getting ingredient Y calls for a party. I imagine people giving little tours of their kitchens and pointing out all the treats and various little bounties and clever workarounds.
Meanwhile, over at the Frugal Traveler blog on nytimes.com, Matt Gross interviews Lauren Weber about her new book and the virtues of cheapness. The first answer is the most concise reason I’ve ever heard for being generally cheap (and I’m always looking for justifications, as I often need to push back a lot here in NYC, the city where everyone pretends to be wealthy).
And I like her point about how travel becomes boring if money is no object. Whenever I’m visiting fancy resorts for work, I think of that. Sure, it’s fun to go hang out there for a night or two, and imagine that lifestyle. But if I really lived it? Totally boring. Challenge and constraints are good, both in cooking and travel. There’s a whole damn world out there to visit and eat, and frankly I don’t trust my own taste/instinct entirely to take me into the best stuff. Sometimes I need to be forced there, whether it’s due to a shortage of basil or an uncooperative train.
And then, well, this is just funny. Oh, and this, about accents. Love the Pakistan clip at the end. Hooray for Bajira, the new Blanquinou!
a must in any pakistani’s kitchen is shan brand spices or masala. i was going to link the company’s website but got totally side-tracked by this hilarious FAQ where the answerer apparently got tired of giving As and just posted the Qs. but what i was saying … oh yeah, with so many asian grocery stores now, it’s easy enough to collect the spices individually in big cities in the US but when i was growing up, this is what we’d scour for.
now, back to the FAQ, which includes this ominous tidbit:
Your masalas dont have ingredients mentioned on box. This is against the local rules in New Zealand. I think i must inform local authorities.
ha!
oh, also, one of my favorite memories of traveling with gojira was our obsession with finding the cheapest postcards we could find on a trip to iceland. i do it quite frequently with everything at home but comparison shopping while traveling is great: you get to explore, save money, and get to look purposeful and important as you consider the prices of geegaws.
“Challenge and constraints are good, both in cooking and travel. There’s a whole damn world out there to visit and eat, and frankly I don’t trust my own taste/instinct entirely to take me into the best stuff. Sometimes I need to be forced there, whether it’s due to a shortage of basil or an uncooperative train”
Couldn’t agree more!! On a recent author performance feedback thingamajiggy from a major travel publisher to remain unnamed, I was criticized for one shortcoming. It wasn’t my writing or my coverage or my research. I was too budget oriented. Something about being thrifty I just can’t shake (although my forthcoming guide to Guatemala from Countryman Press took me to some SWANKY places like the InterContinental. As you say, nice for a day or two but generic, sterile, and too much of a no brainer for the independent spirits of this world!)
I so dig your writing by the way. good luck with the cookbook!