Corvacho: Gusto for the Tastiest Bits (Chicken Feet, Pig's Ears and More)

I've been thinking, and it's not really fair to ask who will be my guide to all tasty organ bits. I’ve already had the most joyous chicken-feet-eating, bull-balls-cooking guide to all the parts of animals that Americans ignore – Corvacho, my Peruvian host father. I first heard of Corvacho through Isaac, from stories of the summer Isaac spent living in Trujillo, Peru and studying reed boat building. Isaac brought home a stunning black and white photo of a short, rotund man with a look of absolute power in his eyes. In the photo he was standing next to his favorite rooster, a prideful animal bedecked in the shiny glory of perfectly ruffled feathers.

I met Corvacho two years later when Isaac and I returned to Trujillo for a month. My favorite image of Corvacho, a father of twelve, is of him sitting at the dinner table gnawing happily on a plate of chicken feet. He would chew the gelatinous matter off the clawed toes methodically, and I would stare in fascination. His joy for meat knew no bounds – he ate cow’s balls, pig’s hooves, pig’s ears, duck that he had killed himself, heaping helpings of sangrecita which involves cooking corn and onion in chicken blood. Corvacho was short, but his sheer presence always filled the house and his booming voice greeted us with jokes. He loved to rib Isaac about his virility and ask if I was pregnant. He shared his bull balls and other choice meats with Isaac to ensure that we would soon have a house overflowing with kids. About two weeks into our stay, Corbacho told us a story about his father, a butcher, who used to give each one of his children a whole goat or pig for Christmas. And suddenly the entire narrative was clear: a young Corvacho has a father who is the most joyous butcher known to man. They revel in chopping up ducks, goats and cows. They pull feathers of chickens, take entrails from warm animal bodies and romance the very meat that will sustain their family. Corvacho grows into a man who eats his meat with such respect and gusto that no one can resist his charm.

Spicy and Tasty in Queens

After the quick, cheap cold skin noodles, we wandered over to Spicy and Tasty, a restaurant which specializes in Szechuan food originating in the Sichuan Province of southwestern China. Alice (my brother's girlfriend....please, I am not referring to myself in the third person) had frequented the restaurant since she was a child, and ordered for us all. When the dishes arrived, the sweat-laden smell of intestine greeted my nose. Although I feel like a pretty adventurous eater, I've never gotten into the habit of enthusiastic intestine eating. There is a particular smell, a mix of sweat and saltiness that always alerts me to its presence in a dish. As it turned out, Alice had ordered kung pao pork kidney, pork blood and intestine with sour cabbage and sautéed squid with Chinese celery. The kidney was a surprise as it arrived shredded in such a manner that each piece looked like a tiny ruffled sea creature. I still experience the "I'm an American and I can't get over the mental image of eating an organ" moments. However, it is really silly, so I keep trying to get over it.

The texture of the kidney, just a bit chewy, drew me in and the heat of the red chili oil and Sichuan pepper bloomed a fierce pink on my cheeks. The family motto at my house is: if it doesn't make you sweat then it's not hot enough. I share my Mom's tendency to turn bright red while eating hot food. To balance out the heat, I ate quite a bit of squid and celery. Although I did eat some of the pork blood and intestine dish, I never could get over the smell. I need to go into organ eating training! Who will be my guide?


Spicy and Tasty
39-07 Prince Street
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 359-1601

On The Trail of Anthony Bourdain: In Search of the Golden Mall

While in New York Ian and his girlfriend Alice took me to Flushing, Queens for some authentic Chinese food. Alice's grandparents live in Flushing, so she has many years of experience eating in restaurants in the area. Also in our favor was the fact that she speaks Chinese! We headed straight for the Golden Mall, a nondescript building lit by the glow of harsh florescent lights and covered in Chinese advertisements. We opened the glass door, walked down some steep stairs, and entered into a basement maze of Chinese food stalls. Humid, noisy, sweaty, cramped and teeming with people, the Golden Mall lived up to its name. It was a mecca of Chinese food rendered golden by fluorescent lighting. On Anthony Bourdain's recommendation, we ordered cold skin noodles for $3, and sat down in front of a photo of him eating a lamb face salad. The name cold skin made me think of dead bodies and autopsies (yes, I am macabre), so it was hard to warm up to the thought of noodles with such a deathly name. However, the slightly chewy texture of the rice noodles won me over immediately. The tiny bit of chewiness reminded me of the tapioca beads in bubble tea and Vietnamese sticky rice. The chewy texture rounded out the flavor of the dish pressing against my tongue like the taut belly of a pregnant lady.

There was no time to try the lamb face salad because we were setting the pace for a mini food marathon that would next take us to the restaurant Spicy and Tasty for pork blood and intestine with sour cabbage. That daring eating adventure will be the topic of my next blog post.

The Golden Mall
41-28 Main St, Queens, NY 11355

Minca: Searcing for the Best Ramen in New York

My brother Ian, who has lived in New York for the past few years, has spent a fair amount of time scoping out ramen joints. Last week he took me to the Japanese Ramen factory Minca on East 5th street. It is big by New York standards, and seats about twenty. There are several stools around the wooden bar – the best seats in my opinion – because you get to watch the chef assemble the ramen. The essence, the heart, the lifeblood of the menu – is ramen. Ian and I started out with Sapporo and some pork goyoza. The dumplings were hot, the beer cold and life was good. We both ordered the same Ramen: shoyu broth with pork and thick noodles. Minca offers four types of broth, five kinds of noodles and the choice of either pork or chicken. Shoyu is a pork and chicken broth mix so rich that six days after eating ramen the broth is still pumping through my veins.

I watched as the chef added noodles to the broth and then scallions, black mushrooms, a sheet of nori seaweed, fatty pork cooked in garlic and oil, and tamago, half a hard-boiled egg cooked in soy sauce. The bowl was as big as my head, and I wished I could dive in and swim around in the broth. When I die, submerge me in a hearty shoyu broth! It was rich, salty, savory – the essence of pork. The tender slices of pork were a buttery dream. I was starving, so hungry, and I ate and ate. However, I underestimated the ramen, and had Ian finish my bowl. This was my first ramen experience, and I’m on the lookout for more. Any recommendations?

536 East 5th Street,
New York, NY, 10009
(Between Avenue A and Avenue B)
PHONE: 212.505.8001
http://www.newyorkramen.com/

Getting Married? Go Exotic!: Tips for Getting Married Abroad

A towering cake, dresses, shoes, tuxes, flowers, food, gifts - the average American now spends around $25,000 on a wedding, and in countries around the world families spend sums equivalent to their life savings or a down payment on a house to fund the one day ceremony. Instead of a lavish wedding, Mark Geersaem and Annelie Salverda of Holland decided to get married in Bali. Annelie explains, “The biggest reason we married abroad was to simplify things. Traditional weddings can get really out of hand with spending so much money, and we wanted to have all our time and attention for each other.”
During the fall of 2006 on a six month trip to Asia the couple began to discuss marriage. Both of them remembered fondly the lovely, small wedding of two friends who got married in Greece, and were inspired to plan their own private ceremony. They decided to get married abroad for several reasons. They wanted to spend less money - “We traveled for half a year for the same amount some people spend on one day” they explained. They also hoped to avoid family tensions and to have a simple, worry-free ceremony.
To arrange the wedding the couple first contacted city hall in their hometown, Hertogenbosch, to find out what documents they needed to marry abroad. When they went to the embassy in Jakarta, and were informed that in Indonesia couples can only lawfully be married by the church. The couple found an organization called Bali Exotic Weddings that performed ceremonial weddings, and contacted them via e-mail. The company offers several wedding packages and allows couples to create their own ceremony. Mark and Annelie explained, “Everything was possible, but we chose a simple package: a photographer, a Hindu priest, three musicians, two Balinese wedding girls (they did an opening dance) and an offering table.”
Mark and Annelie called their parents three days before the wedding to share the news. They explained, “We didn’t tell them earlier because otherwise they would feel pressured to come to our marriage, and we didn’t want them to (not everyone has enough holiday money to come), and not for us (we wanted to keep it small).” By coincidence a good friend was traveling in Bali, and he attended the wedding. “We told him to bring his bathing suit!” they exclaimed.
When asked how the ceremony went Annelie excitedly described, “Really great! It was very laid back. Normally I am very nervous being the center of attention, but on this day I was really relaxed. It was very emotional, very pure. We didn’t have rings; it was possible but we didn’t want them because Mark doesn’t like to wear rings. We wrote some words for each other to exchange. That was the most emotional part because that’s the moment you really tell the other person how you feel.” After the ceremony, the lovely bride and dashing groom ate lunch, drank champagne and went for a swim. That night they had a romantic dinner in a small fish restaurant on the beach.

Annelie and Mark’s Top 10 Tips for Getting Married Abroad

1. Laws: Every country has its own rules about the legality of a wedding. For example in Indonesia you need a religious marriage before you can marry by law. Contact the embassy or consulate of your home country and the country where you will marry to find out what documents you will need (passport, birth certificate, etc.). Take time to organize the necessary documents. If it is too difficult to organize all the documents, you can have your ceremony abroad and get married legally when you return. The advantage of getting married legally at home is that you don’t have to translate your wedding-documents afterwards.
“Mark and I are going to marry legally on the 26th of June.”

2. Choose a Country: A lot of people marry overseas, so you are not the first couple to do so. It means that there are many possibilities. Certain countries, like Thailand and Indonesia are very popular for weddings, and arrangements are fairly easy. However, in less visited countries like Cambodia it is more difficult to arrange a wedding.
“Indonesia, especially Bali, is very popular. Our wedding company very often arranges weddings for foreigners.”

3. Decisions: Do you want to tell parents and friends about the wedding? Do you want to invite them to the wedding or simply have a big celebration on you return home? Realize that it might be financially difficult for friends to attend a wedding in another country. If you have the money you could also offer to pay the airfare of your guests.

4. Location: The venue is very important. Look also for a locale in the shade.
“For example, a romantic site on the beach is wonderful, but also bloody hot!”

5. Getting There: Arrive at the wedding location at least a week in advance, even if you think you have arranged everything. If you have a small wedding, then you have time to arrange things for your wedding. Besides it is good to be there in advance because then you can adapt to the environment and climate.
“We arrived a couple of days in advance….we organised a nice sailing trip and choose a post-wedding restaurant after trying out all the local restaurants!”

6. Dress: Decide what you want to wear. Your clothes will be creased when they come out of your suitcase, so be sure to take them to a reliable dry-cleaner a couple of days before the wedding - otherwise you will have a wrinkled suit a few hours before your wedding starts.
“Mark’s jacket was so badly wrinkled he couldn’t wear it anymore, so he threw it over his shoulder for the whole day! He didn’t care, because it was too hot anyway.”

7. Dress: A great idea is to have a suit and dress made suit during your travels! For example Bangkok (most of the stop-over flights in Asia go through Bangkok) offers tons of shops that will make cheap, tailor-made clothes from your choice of materials.
“We had our wedding clothes made in Hoi An, Vietnam.”

8. Customs: Be sure to respect the customs of the country you are visiting. For example, in Indonesia couples can only legally be married after a Hindu wedding ceremony.

9. Photography: Choose a local photographer! Don’t think your father, uncle or best friend can take quality wedding pictures. A local photographer will be familiar with the ceremony, and used to taking pictures in the local climate.
“At the last minute we choose a local photographer. We were very happy with this choice. He took good pictures and it only costs 60 US $ for a whole day. He gave us a disc with the pictures and we made our own wedding-book.”

10. Best Advice: Arrange your trip so you are travelling both before and after your wedding. Then you will be relaxed and have time together as a couple.

BALI EXOTIC WEDDING, Jl. Subur No. 8, 2nd floor, Denpasar 80119, Bali, Indonesia +62 361484297
http://www.bali-exoticwedding.com
http://www.baliweddingpackages.com

Top Ten Travel Tips for 2010

1. Work Those High Frequency Travel Periods
Top ten travel articles like the recent one in the New York Times often advise travelers to avoid popular travel dates like holidays. Is this practical? No. So, here's what you need to do: travel with flexibility, and rack up hundreds of dollars in airline vouchers and sky miles. Anyone who has traveled recently has witnessed the state of complete disorganization of the airlines in general. They almost always overbook during holidays, and are begging for volunteers who have the time to take a later flight. Flying home during Christmas, my husband, brother and I all got $400 in vouchers and extra sky miles for agreeing to take a flight later in the day.

2.Couchsurfing
I personally hate hotels because they are impersonal and boring. Couchsurfing relies on an international system of good karma in which I offer someone my couch and hospitality, and I also have access to couches/rooms all over the world. As a couchsurfer, no cash is ever exchanged. Guest usually bring gifts, cook for you or wash dishes. While traveling in Puerto Rico, I met a European couple (Polish/Irish) who was traveling around the world via couchsurfing for one year.

3.Travel with Purpose
A week be damned! If you're going to travel, take a year off and get a job that allows incredible flexibility. My favorite travel plans (always in the back of my mind as a plan B and C for my current life) are listed below:
- Teach English in Spain (http://www.mec.es/sgci/usa/en/programs/us_assistants/default.shtml) or France (http://www.frenchculture.org/spip.php?rubrique424&tout=ok) through the Ministry of Education. You work 15 hours a week, get 700 Euros a month in pay, and can supplement your income by teaching private classes. Working 15 hours a week is priceless. I have two friends currently teaching English in Madrid through this program, and I can tell you that they are not coming home. Andrew recently spent Christmas in Egypt, and Allison told me she is never coming home. They have both been teaching in the program for 2 years.

4. If You're Serious, Translate Everything In Terms of Your Trip
I recently had my hair dyed for the first time, which cost $70. As the hair dresser told me that I needed to maintain the color every six weeks, I was mentally translating that colossal cost into travel. Hair coloring nine times a year = $630. On a lucky day, I could probably find a flight to Thailand for that price, or fund a week scuba diving in Mexico. The same is true for people who spend a bunch of money on Starbucks, ordering take-out food and gaming systems. I know that many people care about those things. I don't.

5. Rent A Car, Rent A House
Last spring while in Spain, Isaac and I got a deal to rent a car for 29 Euros a day. I love traveling by train and public transport, but with four people, it was much cheaper to rent a car than to take the bus. My brother and his girlfriend Alice joined us on a trip to San Sebastian. If you're too nervous about Couchsurfing, you should always look at options for renting a house or apartment for your overseas travel. Of course, this is cheaper if you are traveling with a group or your significant other.

6. Cigarettes, Bourbon and Other Gifts
I like to travel light, but I have learned to always pack a few gifts for potential new friends. When Isaac and I traveled in Vietnam, friends recommended that we bring Camel cigarettes, which are unavailable there. Everyone in Vietnam smokes, so the gift of Camels made many people happy. In addition, when we got in a tight spot the gift of cigarettes smoothed things over. Kentucky bourbon is always a good choice. Pack something regional or impossible to get in the location you are going to visit.

7. Street Food
Street food is cheap, fresh and creative. I love the surprise of finding my meal by walking down a crowded street and being able to try five or ten dishes I have never seen before. As for about the sanitary practices of street vendors, I think they are more sanitary than most restaurants (anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant kitchen can confirm this). In all my wanderings, I can't remember ever getting sick from street food.

8. Write Letters
In this age of Facebook, Twitter, MySpaceness, writing real letters to friends is priceless. Perhaps I am nostalgic or old-fashioned, but I love letters and exotic stamps.

9. Learn a Language
When Isaac and I spent six months in Asia, we studied Vietnamese, Thai and Malay for a week in each country we visited. Many people said that a week of language was a waste of time, but it laid the foundations for us to communicate in those languages on a daily basis.

10. When All Else Fails, Find a Cheap Flight to New York
If you have the travel fever, but don't have the time or money to escape the country, find a cheap flight to New York. I love to go there and eat soup dumplings and dim sum with my brother Ian. I get my fill of street food, other languages and great art without leaving the country.

Couchsurfing? Nomadically Delicious

Many people have qualms about couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.org). It you are unfamiliar, it is a worldwide network of karmic couches offered via an online system of profiles.
"Ohhhh scary! What if there are crazy people on there?"
Of course, this is possible. However, my experience with couchsurfing has been nothing short of revolutionary. First, I flew to Arizona to attend a conference. I arrived in Phoenix after midnight, picked up a rented car, and had to drive to Flagstaff. I was dead tired from teaching all day, the flight and a long delay when I changed flights. In addition, when I picked up my rental car, they only had sports cars (stick shift). At first, it seemed like a cool coincidence that I got a free upgrade. However, I was dead tired and had to drive a tiny bat mobile car that I hardly fit into and didn't feel comfortable in. I was so sleepy I almost drove off the road several times. I think it is one of the only times I have really feared for my own life. I was driving like a maniac because I was supposed to present a paper at a conference at 8am. I arrived at the house of my couchsurfing family at 3am, which made me feel bad since I was supposed to arrive earlier and I knew they had kids. When I couchsurf I always choose to stay with women or families, just to be on the safe side. The father of the family let me in and showed me my fold out bed. He was a personal chef, and had left a homemade chocolate cupcake on my pillow. This cupcake was nothing of the Betty Crocker sort, and the icing is one that I still remember. I got a few hours of sleep (4 to be exact), woke up, let my couchsurfing family take the sports car for a spin (they were dying to do it), went to the conference, and presented a paper in which I quoted things in Portuguese even though my Portuguese is a disaster. The chef had invited me to a lunch he was cooking for a group of Tibetan monks visiting the area, and I could think of nothing more amazing than fleeing the conference to go have lunch with monks. How crazy was I to fly and drive myself to the point of complete weariness just to present a paper? So I left the conference and went to lunch with the monks. The head monk was an American who had lived in Tibet for a long time, and he wanted to read my hand. I would dare to say that he was a bit into women, but perhaps he just needed to rub my hand a lot to read it. Aside from that, the food was homemade and I got to spend the afternoon around with a bunch of orange robed monks. To top it all off, I got invited to hike in the Grand Canyon the next day. Grand Canyon? In my mad dash to present the paper, I had forgotten entirely where I was, and I had forgotten about the Grand Canyon. This was an important moment in my life, because I realized how insanely blinded I had been by graduate school. The chef told me, "You really need to just take a break and enjoy life." He was right. When I got back to Kentucky I sent his family some bourbon chocolate and salt water taffies. That family marked a turning point in my life in terms of reminding me to relax and take time to smell the flowers.

Couchsurfing experience #2 involved me flying to San Juan, Puerto Rico for another conference. I stayed with an amazing young woman and her boyfriend while they also hosted three other couchsurfers (from Poland, Ireland and Denmark respectively). My host had separate rooms and bathrooms for the couchsurfers, and aspired to someday own a hotel. She assured me she would always have a free room for couchsurfers in her hotel. She was a vegetarian and cooked traditional Puerto Rican dishes but with fake meat. She was a brilliant cook, though I know that some people find fake meat scary. I brought her Kentucky Bourbon and the other couchsurfers gifted her with traditional chocolates and candies from their countries. She took us out at night, showed us the local hot spots and plied us with granola bars which she had boxes and boxes of since she worked for General Mills.

I hosted couchsurfers on two occasions. Once Isaac and I hosted two 20-somethings who went out drinking really late and then threw up in our bathroom. That was our worst experience, and it didn't involve anyone mean or crazy, just some young guys drinking too much. I wouldn't choose to host young men again. After that we hosted a British couple who was road tripping across the United States and stopping in D.C. for Obama's inauguration. We cooked them curry and played cards late into the night. Another time we invited a French couchsurfer who was WOOFing in Kentucky to dinner with us. WOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, and if you're interested in traveling the world on a shoestring budget, you should check out the website (http://www.wwoof.org/). She brought a delicious brie salad to dinner.

I am trying to spread the word about the wonders of couchsurfing, but most of my friends still think I am crazy.