Monday, January 30, 2012
Bluegrass in a Tuk-Tuk
A couple days ago, I came upon a really fantastic website: The Tuk-Tuk Sessions. I have no idea who is behind this project, but according to their website, "the impetus behind this (project was) born out of a desire to play music and give the world a visual tour of life in Phnom Penh. We want to capture the bustling, vibrant streets of the Penh, accompanied by equally vibrant tunes, punctuated with the mandatory horns, moto revs and slight chaos." Basically, a musical person or group is found, put in a tuk-tuk, and they jam out while driving around Phnom Penh and the whole thing is filmed in one take. Pretty neat.
To give you a sense of what it's like to commute in Phnom Penh, I wanted to share one of the videos that was born out of the project fe,aturing a really great bluegrass band here in Phnom Penh, Grass Snake Union. To make it extra special, they are covering a song by Trampled by Turtles, an excellent bluegrass band that hails from Duluth, MN! Hope you enjoy the trip and tunes.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Feeding an Addiction...
Sometimes I think I have a bit of an obsessive personality, mainly when it comes to food. When I find something I like, it seems like I can't get enough of it... When I was little, I distinctly remember going through phases of food: Caesar salad, kiwis, lemon-flavored Crystal Lite, hard-boiled eggs, baked potatoes, etc. Every time I went out to dinner with my family, Caesar salad was my order. Daytime snack? A kiwi of course. And when I started cooking a bit for myself, what was my daily choice for breakfast? Two hard-boiled eggs. The latter could very well have been the source of my sky-high cholesterol as a 12-year old, but I just couldn't get enough of those eggs.
Whether it's because I'm a creature of habit, or just a slave to my tastebuds, there are certain foods I adore and eat with regularity. Without a doubt, one of my biggest staples these days is plain yogurt. It's part of my daily breakfast, accompanied by honey, some oats and fruit; often mixed with a spoonful of jam as a mid-day snack; and my personal favorite, a great side for a spicy serving of most Indian dishes.
My love affair with plain yogurt first began in India. It's known as dahi there, and is the key ingredient for lassi, a kind of yogurt-shake that comes in both sweet and salty variations. The market near my old flat in Delhi had a dairy vendor, Mother Dairy, and each morning I would trot over to the market to hail an autorickshaw, and to pick up a 10 rupee take-away lassi for my ride in to the office. Up until this point, all my encounters with yogurt had been of the sweet kind, but in India I discovered it's amazing savory side. Yogurt was used to marinate meat, was the basis of raita (a side-dish of thinned yogurt with a mixture of spices and shredded carrot/cucumber/onion), and could be mixed with spicy green cilantro chutney and eaten with a curry. It was love at first bite for my tastebuds, and the rest is history.
Here in Cambodia, dairy is almost non-existent in local cuisine. Some children enjoy ice cream, but it appears that milk and yogurt are not commonly consumed. I've located a few sources of yogurt in the city, made directly by the source. Given that each small container can cost anywhere between $.50-1.75, my yogurt habit was really starting to add up. I had heard rumors that making yogurt was actually pretty straight forward, and so I thought I'd give it a go.
An old roommate in India had experimented with yogurt fabrication a couple times, but she had the advantage of an "auntie advisory board," a group of female relatives with decades of yogurt-making experience, and sage advice passed on from generations before. But not one to be discouraged, I had Google.
In my background research on yogurt preparation, I discovered some fun facts:
- The word "yogurt" is Turkish in origin, meaning to thicken or coagulate.
- Analysis of one strain of yogurt bacteria indicates that the first yogurt may have been created on the surface of a plant! And historians have found mention of yogurt as early as 500 BC, where it's combination with honey was referred to as "the food of the gods." I second that sentiment.
- One blog post compared making yogurt to making wine; each batch will taste slightly different from those that came before and those that come after, as the final product is a result of "infinite possibilities" of mixing milk, time, bacteria and climate.
- It's really all about the bacteria, also known as "active cultures." Some bacteria result in faster fermentation, and others are a bit slower. The faster the fermentation process, the more whey (the watery part at the top of a yogurt container) produced. Whereas slow bacteria results in a denser yogurt that incorporates the whey.
- Yogurt is pretty awesome for you. In addition being a great source of calcium, vitamin B-12, and protein, fresh yogurt fills your digestive tract with "good bacteria," potentially promoting immunity and healthy digestion.
So how did it go? Surprisingly well. My recipe basically involved bringing one liter of fresh milk just to a boil, letting it cool, stirring in 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt with active cultures, and then letting it sit in a warm place to ferment. I forgot to let the boiled milk cool before adding the yogurt, and worried I had inadvertently killed the cultures. But after 8 hours of sitting in my hot apartment, my warm milk turned into a giant vat of yogurt. Success!
This morning, I took a jar of my fresh yogurt, with a dollop of honey and oats, in for breakfast at work. Deeeeeelicious!
Whether it's because I'm a creature of habit, or just a slave to my tastebuds, there are certain foods I adore and eat with regularity. Without a doubt, one of my biggest staples these days is plain yogurt. It's part of my daily breakfast, accompanied by honey, some oats and fruit; often mixed with a spoonful of jam as a mid-day snack; and my personal favorite, a great side for a spicy serving of most Indian dishes.
My love affair with plain yogurt first began in India. It's known as dahi there, and is the key ingredient for lassi, a kind of yogurt-shake that comes in both sweet and salty variations. The market near my old flat in Delhi had a dairy vendor, Mother Dairy, and each morning I would trot over to the market to hail an autorickshaw, and to pick up a 10 rupee take-away lassi for my ride in to the office. Up until this point, all my encounters with yogurt had been of the sweet kind, but in India I discovered it's amazing savory side. Yogurt was used to marinate meat, was the basis of raita (a side-dish of thinned yogurt with a mixture of spices and shredded carrot/cucumber/onion), and could be mixed with spicy green cilantro chutney and eaten with a curry. It was love at first bite for my tastebuds, and the rest is history.
Here in Cambodia, dairy is almost non-existent in local cuisine. Some children enjoy ice cream, but it appears that milk and yogurt are not commonly consumed. I've located a few sources of yogurt in the city, made directly by the source. Given that each small container can cost anywhere between $.50-1.75, my yogurt habit was really starting to add up. I had heard rumors that making yogurt was actually pretty straight forward, and so I thought I'd give it a go.
An old roommate in India had experimented with yogurt fabrication a couple times, but she had the advantage of an "auntie advisory board," a group of female relatives with decades of yogurt-making experience, and sage advice passed on from generations before. But not one to be discouraged, I had Google.
In my background research on yogurt preparation, I discovered some fun facts:
- The word "yogurt" is Turkish in origin, meaning to thicken or coagulate.
- Analysis of one strain of yogurt bacteria indicates that the first yogurt may have been created on the surface of a plant! And historians have found mention of yogurt as early as 500 BC, where it's combination with honey was referred to as "the food of the gods." I second that sentiment.
- One blog post compared making yogurt to making wine; each batch will taste slightly different from those that came before and those that come after, as the final product is a result of "infinite possibilities" of mixing milk, time, bacteria and climate.
- It's really all about the bacteria, also known as "active cultures." Some bacteria result in faster fermentation, and others are a bit slower. The faster the fermentation process, the more whey (the watery part at the top of a yogurt container) produced. Whereas slow bacteria results in a denser yogurt that incorporates the whey.
- Yogurt is pretty awesome for you. In addition being a great source of calcium, vitamin B-12, and protein, fresh yogurt fills your digestive tract with "good bacteria," potentially promoting immunity and healthy digestion.
So how did it go? Surprisingly well. My recipe basically involved bringing one liter of fresh milk just to a boil, letting it cool, stirring in 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt with active cultures, and then letting it sit in a warm place to ferment. I forgot to let the boiled milk cool before adding the yogurt, and worried I had inadvertently killed the cultures. But after 8 hours of sitting in my hot apartment, my warm milk turned into a giant vat of yogurt. Success!
This morning, I took a jar of my fresh yogurt, with a dollop of honey and oats, in for breakfast at work. Deeeeeelicious!
Catching Up...
Oh, well, hello again.
So I know it's been awhile. When I began this blog, my intention was to be a "good blogger" and consistently post every 1-2 weeks, but unfortunately I ran out of steam mid-September. There was a reason for my withdrawal from the blog-o-sphere, but that is a post for another day.
Over the next few weeks, my hope is to get reaquainted with blogging and provide a catch-up on what's been going on professionally, personally, and of course, culinary-ily here in Cambodia.
I was back home in Minnesota a few weeks ago, and had more than a couple inquiries as to where my blogging went. The real clincher was when my Grandma (and inspiration for this blog's name) gave me a giant bag of Skittles for Christmas, after reading about my addiction to the candy here. My Grandma Mae doesn't have internet at home, so my aunt prints out the latest posts and brings them over so my grandparents can read them. It hit me that this is what this blog is all about, being able to be in better touch with my loved ones, and share a bit of my life while I'm far away. So, Grandma, and other readers, thanks for reading, for the encouragement and support, and without further ado: "Soup's on!"
So I know it's been awhile. When I began this blog, my intention was to be a "good blogger" and consistently post every 1-2 weeks, but unfortunately I ran out of steam mid-September. There was a reason for my withdrawal from the blog-o-sphere, but that is a post for another day.
Over the next few weeks, my hope is to get reaquainted with blogging and provide a catch-up on what's been going on professionally, personally, and of course, culinary-ily here in Cambodia.
I was back home in Minnesota a few weeks ago, and had more than a couple inquiries as to where my blogging went. The real clincher was when my Grandma (and inspiration for this blog's name) gave me a giant bag of Skittles for Christmas, after reading about my addiction to the candy here. My Grandma Mae doesn't have internet at home, so my aunt prints out the latest posts and brings them over so my grandparents can read them. It hit me that this is what this blog is all about, being able to be in better touch with my loved ones, and share a bit of my life while I'm far away. So, Grandma, and other readers, thanks for reading, for the encouragement and support, and without further ado: "Soup's on!"
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