-
Culture: Food – Beignets in New Orleans
There’s no doubt– a trip to New Orleans just isn’t complete without at least one fluffy, powdered sugar covered beignet and bitter cup of chicory coffee. This signature treat of New Orleans is served in many restaurants across the city, but the true place to experience this is to take a pilgrimage to the famed Cafe du Monde located at the corner of Jackson Square and just a stones throw from the Mississippi River. Beignets are best served at breakfast time, but also can make a delicious desert. If your a morning person, I suggest waking up relatively early and heading out on a vigorous walk through the French quarter (this is also…
-
Culture: Fresh Dungeness Crab in San Francisco
There are those who methodically create a stock pile and then there are those who dig and devour every morsel they find. There are leg men vs. body people, garlic butter dunkers vs. lemon mayonnaise dippers. Head to most restaurants during the Winter and early Spring months in San Francisco and you are sure to spot this motley group of people. Who are they? They are devoted dungeness crab eaters. Crab is not only a meal, but also a ritual for San Franciscans. Ask most seafood loving locals, and they will tell you a story or two of long nights with friends gathered around a table filled with cooked crab. A dungeness…
-
Culture: Turkish Coffee in Istanbul
It’s no secret. I love coffee. It’s a daily ritual I can’t live without. At home, I tend to stick with my espresso in the morning and drip coffee in the afternoon, but while traveling, anything goes. I’ve enjoyed a steamy bowl of café au lait in Paris, and strong Italian pressed coffee in Venice. I’ve even tasted a good old fashioned percolated cup of Joe in a diner in Tennessee. So naturally, when we traveled to Istanbul, I was very excited to try my first Turkish coffee. Of course I knew the taste would be different (all use different types of coffee grounds) but I also found it interesting how different the tastes could be just based…
