Travel – FoodWatcher

France Reopens to Americans (and Others) June 9th

After over a year, France is opening its borders to most travelers, to a group that includes North Americans. I wrote about some of the developments in my June newsletter but some points have been clarified in the last few days. France announced a “color system” in which your requirements for entry will depend on what country you are from. There are three color groups; Red, Orange, and Green (more here and here) but for the Orange group, which includes North Americans, if you are fully vaccinated, you can come to France. If you aren’t fully vaccinated, you must have a compelling reason to come, and the requirements are stricter, plus you’ll need to quarantine for 7 days and have a PCR test after arrival.

The type of proof of vaccination has yet to be confirmed but you should print out what you have or bring your vaccination card, along with any other documents you have that relate to being vaccinated. Later this month, France will offer a “health pass” of some sort, which has yet to be determined. (More on that below.)

According to the US Embassy in France, here are the current requirements for Americans and others in Orange zones:

“Proof of vaccination (currently only the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are accepted). Travelers must also be fully vaccinated, which occurs two weeks after the second dose of Pfizer, Moderna, or AstraZeneca, and four weeks after the single dose of Johnson & Johnson; AND Either a negative COVID PCR test conducted within the 72 hours prior to departure or a negative COVID antigen test performed within the 48 hours prior to departure.”

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Mexico’s Most Popular Sandwich Is Also the Easiest Make at Home

On a quiet corner in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City, the employees at Tortería Los Güeros, a torta restaurant open since 1974, are going through their opening routine. Genaro Aburto, an owner and torta maker, bends downs to drag a plastic tub into view. “Today is the day we make the pickles,” he says, nodding at the mass of mottled red and green jalapeños bobbing in water. “We’ve already got the carrots, onion, and cauliflower cooking.”

Aburto is just one among legions of torta makers in the capital, those dedicated to assembling Mexico’s most popular sandwich. Though tortas have been eaten for more than a century now, wheat consumption was, at first, fiercely resisted. When the Spanish arrived in the early 1500s carrying wheat, they found an entrenched culture of corn that had been in place for more than 2,000 years. The Spanish created smear campaigns to denigrate corn while proselytizing the purity of wheat; when the taste for bread still failed to catch on, they forced indigenous populations to grow and process it. Hundreds of years later, bread has not supplanted the corn tortilla, though it is eaten as sweet pastry in the mornings, served alongside stews for lunch, rolled into tortillas in the north, and used to sandwich cold cuts and proteins in the ubiquitous, pedestrian torta.

Romance in Paris

Hello – Emily here! Whether single or in a relationship, I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day. My favorite color is pink, it reminds me my birthday is around the corner and if nothing else, chocolates and champagne will soon be on sale. I was single on Valentine’s Day every year until I turned 29, however I never felt alone and I never failed to celebrate in my…

Hello – Emily here!

Whether single or in a relationship, I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day. My favorite color is pink, it reminds me my birthday is around the corner and if nothing else, chocolates and champagne will soon be on sale. I was single on Valentine’s Day every year until I turned 29, however I never felt alone and I never failed to celebrate in my own small way, usually with pink champagne and heart-shaped Neufchatel cheese.

The first year I was in a relationship on February 14th, instead of a romantic dinner-a-deux I decided to spread the love and organized (and cooked) a pop-up dinner for 47 guests. It was a huge success, measured by the flurry of new relationships which started that night, in a utilitarian warehouse in East London. My boyfriend on the other hand was no help, though; he got drunk and threw little potatoes at the guests as they left.

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fake-cation to florence!

…

Happy 2021!

I hope you all had restful enjoyable holiday breaks and were able to come into the new year feeling like your phone after a long overnight software update and super-charging session! (Hm… I’m going to keep workshopping that new year greeting…)

We had about the loveliest fake vacation to Florence possible and I want to tell you all about it before I scamper off to filming GMF (season 8!):

We basically just ate a bunch of mozzarella and prosciutto all week that we splurged on from the fancy section of the grocery store (by the bakery, not in the deli section) and it was delicious. We even acquired burrata which I’ve never seen in a grocery in Grand Forks. That was a TREAT! We had it all week long with loads of basil and the focaccia and Tuscan bread from Emiko’s book.
For dinners, we cooked through Emiko’s book and made a great brick chicken, lots and lots of beans, homemade pappardelle, and one of the best homemade pizzas I’ve ever had in my life. It was so simple, just San Marzano tomatoes from the can, fresh mozzarella, and basil… but the thing I loved extra about it was dusting the dough with semolina flour for some good crunchiness.
We celebrated Christmas outside with steamy bowls of ribollita and the weather was perfect. Not that I love talking about the weather but if we’re going to be forced to socially distance on a wintery holiday, we could at least get nice sitting-outside weather and we did!
Our Florentine art exploration included making a “fresco” with Bernie, AKA we taped a big sheet of paper to the wall and drew all over it with crayons and rubber stamps. We made a mountain scene with ducks, so many ducks.
We took a “day trip to ski* in the Italian Alps**” (*sled on a giant inflatable unicorn, **on a hill in town)
We went “wine tasting* all over the hills of Tuscany**” (*swing set testing, **playgrounds of Grand Forks)
Had not one but two blissful spa days, AKA I sat in a coconut tub with a face mask on and read Adam Rippon’s book for the entirety of Bernie’s nap time. Then used a lot of cuticle oil.
Watched some great TV on the “airplane” (couch), including The Flight Attendant, Bobby and Giada in Italy, Bridgerton, Wonder Woman, Big, and Soul. Wow, Soul.
Meditated! I got the Calm app and wow my brain is like “Thank U, self!!” 10/10 recommend.

Where should we fake go to next?? Should we time travel back to the 90s and only eat pizza rolls and dunkaroos all week? Ooh that sounds fun… Alright g2g, figure skating nationals is on!! Bye!!!

-yeh!

The Prized Uzbeki Dumplings I’d Bike Across the Country For

Every summer in New York, I bike to Beach 92nd Street in Far Rockaway and rush to lock up my bike in front of a large wood sign with bright primary letters spelling out “Uma’s.” Inside, under a bright tin ceiling, my eyes devour the Uzbeki specials on the board and follow each dish bustling out of the kitchen, my veggie-loving and meat-loving sides tug-of-warring over my order.

But the veggie-loving side of me wins every time. A round blue-rimmed plate clatters onto my table bearing the sweet, savory fruits of Uma’s labor: squash manti. These little purses of steamed dough from heaven, their edges gathered around sweet, tender cubes of squash, drizzled with oil and sprinkled with onions, are worth biking 20 treacherous miles over bumpy foot bridges and bike lane-less Brooklyn boulevards.

15 New Year’s Food Traditions From Around the World

We have a very, er, specific New Year’s Eve food tradition in my household.

It’s an elaborate shrimp tree, and my mother and I spend hours constructing it each year. There’s the day-of, panicked search for the correctly shaped and perfectly sized foam…

We have a very, er, specific New Year's Eve food tradition in my household.

It's an elaborate shrimp tree, and my mother and I spend hours constructing it each year. There's the day-of, panicked search for the correctly shaped and perfectly sized foam cone, which somehow always gets tossed away during the year prior. There's the painstaking affixing of curly kale leaves to said foam cone (once procured), in the style of a full Christmas tree. There's the careful preparation of a perfectly seasoned cocktail sauce. And then, just before our New Year's Eve party starts, there's the pinning of each individual shrimp to the tree, using colorful toothpicks, to look like a wrap-around garland.

This Is How We Celebrate Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving

Happy Chuseok!

Photo by Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service

You might be able to readily identify what the third Thursday of November is, but w…

Happy Chuseok! Photo by Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service

You might be able to readily identify what the third Thursday of November is, but what about the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar?

To Koreans, this time is called Chuseok, also known as Hangawi. And as big as Thanksgiving is in the U.S., Chuseok is huge in Korea. It's one of the country's most significant holidays of the year, and could even be called Korean Thanksgiving.

The Kimchi-Cheddar Croissant I Can’t Stop Dreaming About

It’s 9:45 on a Saturday morning. While the rest of Dublin is still asleep or comfy in their homes, a line twenty-strong hugs the plaster siding of the Fumbally Stables market, waiting until the doors open at 10. Behind me in line, two young girls who can't be older than ten poke each other, while an older girl with them talks on the phone. The heavy, salty air whispers of impending rain and I grimace at the clouds gathering overhead.

Finally, the doors to the market open and the line surges forward. While the weekly market features seasonal vegetables, a cult-favorite Irish sauce brand, and more, we all risk the rain for the pastries from Scéal Bakery.

Brunching and Munching in Melbourne, Australia

What’s not to love about Melbourne, Australia? From the bustling CBD to the free public transportation to the amazing brunch scene, Melbourne is most definitely one of our favorite cities we’ve visited. Spending 6 days in one place sounds like a lot, but we had absolutely no problem filling our time (and our stomachs) in […]

Spending 6 days in one place sounds like a lot, but we had absolutely no problem filling our time (and our stomachs) in Melbourne. Be sure to check out the end of this post for a full list of our recommendations!

A rainy street in Melbourne, Australia with tram

Since it’s not looking like we’re going to be going anywhere in the near future, I may as well spend my time writing about the last trip we were lucky enough to go on last September to Australia.

Living vicariously through my past self, if you will.

So much has happened since then, including the massive fires that swept through the entire country (that was in January. THIS YEAR January, even though it seems like it was 3 years ago at this point. Craziness).

Anyway, we stumbled across a fabulous airfare deal to Australia, $600 from Nashville. Since the typical fare is well over twice that, we really didn’t hesitate and booked a trip for two weeks in September, flying into Melbourne and out of Sydney. We figured since you’re on the plane for so dang long, and lose a few days just adjusting to jet lag, anything shorter would really be a waste.

Let me just say, typically after 14 days of travel we’ve had our fun and are ready to come home. Typically around 12 days is the perfect length trip for us.

And yet…

As the end of our trip loomed ever closer, we found ourselves thinking we could have easily stayed for another two weeks. Or longer even.

That goes to show just how much we loved Melbourne and Sydney, and Australia in general. We simply didn’t want to leave.

(more…)

My Time-Traveling Bowl of Spaghetti & Meat Sauce

It always starts the same. I slick the bottom of my biggest enameled cast iron pot with a glug of olive oil then, thwap! I plop in a brick of fatty ground beef or pork, reveling in the crackling applause as its edges start to caramelize. I sprinkle the…

It always starts the same. I slick the bottom of my biggest enameled cast iron pot with a glug of olive oil then, thwap! I plop in a brick of fatty ground beef or pork, reveling in the crackling applause as its edges start to caramelize. I sprinkle the browned meat with salt before scooping it out and tipping in a heap of diced onions, their familiar sizzle and aroma wrapping me in a warm embrace.

From there, the meat sauce I’ve cooked faithfully throughout my adulthood can take up a hundred tiny variations before I toss it with pasta and shove comforting heaps of it in my face. Most often, it involves plenty of chopped garlic, pureed tomatoes, a handful of torn herbs, and maybe a splash of last night’s red wine.