Thursday, October 28, 2010

Re-creating Roma


I think most of us (by us I mean those poor, sad souls who are completely obsessed with food) have a meal in their head that was the best they ever ate. Mine was spinach gnocchi in gorgonzola cream sauce. I ate it in Rome, about 3 years ago, and have dreamed about it since. The gnocchi, so perfect and light. The gorgonzola cream sauce, so tasty and creamy. This meal was haunting my dreams--- I had to have it again.
So, Tuesday, after a particularly difficult day, I came home and decided that THAT was what I was going to eat for dinner. Lucky for me, I happened to have a professional chef coming to dinner, who helped make my dream a reality. We substituted Roquefort cheese for gorgonzola (because Roquefort is randomly a staple of Argentine cooking, and thus much much cheaper than gorgonzola).
Let me tell you, it came out AMAZING (picture above). it was soooooooooooooooo good!!! It was definitely rich, and not at all heart healthy, but 100% worth the calories. A bit of red wine made the meal perfect. Right now I have a bit of uncooked gnocchi dough left in my fridge and i feel like its screaming out to me "eat meeeeee!!!". We'll see how long I last...

Things Americans Like


So a few weeks ago, I returned back home for a brief visit. I've been living abroad for about a year and a half now, so I'm a little out of the US cultural loop. It was strange to return back home, yet to see things with the eyes of a tourist. So, here are a few of my cultural observations...
Things Americans Like:
1. Having an insane number of options. My first trip to the supermarket was a shocking experience. Granted, they haven't changed much, I had just forgotten. Anyways, this supermarket had a whole ketchup SECTION. like different brands of ketchup and all different sizes, etc. There were easily 300 bottles of ketchup there. I was amazed at how much ketchup there was! I was thinking "what, are they afraid there's gonna be a sudden run on ketchup???" My local supermarket has about 10 bottles of ketchup.
2. smartphones. it seems that EVERYONE has them in the US. Do we really need to have access to our email at all times??? Or is this just a sign of our collective impatience?
3. Highways. maybe its just because I live in a city and its been a long time since I've been on a highway but it just seemed like there were a lot of them.
4. apartment complexes. this one i'm sure isn't just me. there are definitely more apartment complexes than there were before. not that they're not nice, it's just that there are definitely more of them.
5. the jersey shore. people seem to LOVE it or love talking about how much they hate it. This one is not just the US though. The Jersey Shore is also on the air here, and they play commercials telling people to "JerseyShorearte" or "Jersey Shore yourself".
6. doggie bags. This one I think we actually have right. Restaurants serve horrifically huge portions, but at least we have the option of a doggie bag. this doesnt exist in other countries (and definitely should-- otherwise they're just going to throw that food out!!!)

All in all, it was a great trip and I was so happy to see everyone!

Monday, October 4, 2010

coming to (North) America!


After a 7 month absence, I'll be taking a brief trip to NY!
Here are the deets:
Binghamton/Ithaca from October 10-15 or 16 am.
NYC: October 16-17.
If you're around send me a text (or call--- do people still do that in the States? We don't here because cell phone calls are super expensive). I'd love to see you all!!!!!


Foods that I want to eat (keep in mind that I earn my salary in pesos so feel free to treat me):
1. Leroys (I mean any good West-side kid HAS to crave that). Also I'd like some good New York-style pizza.
2. Bagels (any good Jew has to crave that)
3. China Lake (ditto to the Jew thing)
4. Mac and cheese
5. Delgados/ any good Mexican food
6. good diner breakfast. I'm talkin pancakes, french toast, bacon, etc. MAPLE SYRUP.
7. chocolate-chip cookie dough ice cream
8. Indian food!!!! I would do just about anything for a samosa and some saag paneer.
9. Shawarma
10. Wings and/or ribs. also corn bread. ok, I want dinosaur bbq. b alt this one is aimed at you.