jpyvr

I´ve been in Brazil for the past few months, and in a number of major cities. In addition to the McDs, the Pizza Huts (which comes out in Portuguese something like Pizza Hootchy), and Subways, there´s a very popular fast-food chain that is completely Brazilian from what I understand, and it´s not what you might expect. The chain is called Habib´s, and it´s a chain of Lebanese-Arab fast food. The locations are archetypical fast-food á la McDs, with order counters, spotless bathrooms, childrens´playgrounds, birthday party rooms etc. The food is basically Middle Eastern, as it´s known in Brazil, with the addition of some Italian items like pizza and lasagne. The base-level item is called esfia, and it´s like a mini-pizza spread with either cheese or spiced ground meat (unspecified origin). There are also other items that would be familiar to anyone who knows Middle Eastern foods, like humous, tabouleh, chopped vegetable salad etc. Habib´s locations seem to be eternally packed and busy, and many are open 24 hours. Of course one large difference from the North American style of fast food locations is that Habib´s serves beer -- but then again, in Brazil, who doesn´t?

If South America tempts you, I'd recommend Puerto Montt, Chile., especially the fishing-port neighbourhood of Angelmo. Small, unpretentious restaurants serving up local seafood at ridiculously low prices. Special recommendations include "erizos" which are sea urchins. They are absolutely delicious, and best served in a dish called "tortilla de erizos". There's also a native Chilean clam called "cholgas" which are a bright red, chewy but tasty. "Centollas" are the local spider crab. And while you're in Puerto Montt, do not miss the opportunity to traverse the Andes to Bariloche, Argentina. Two days of cross ice-blue lakes surrounded by Fuji-like volcanos, with convenient bus links between the lakes, and a night in a comfortable but simple lodge in a National Park.

Smoked cow's udder in Switzerland. After a hike, we stopped in a small restaurant with a lovely buffet table of charcuterie and cheeses. The proprietors, who spoke only Swiss-German, keep pointing to one particular platter covered with slices of what appeared to be overused, dirty-grey kitchen sponges. I couldn't understand their explanation of what it was, but it was definitely something I'd never seen before. Being a sport, and a curiosity-cat, I added a slice to my plate. The slice tasted of milk that had gone off, with a smoky overtone. Unless you're a fan of milk that pours from the container in curds, it's a combination of tastes that is particularly unfortunate. I still hadn't clued into the origin of the meat though, and when the proprietor came to my table to see how I was enjoying the mystery meat, I did my best to ask what I had been eating. It wasn't until he held one hand up with fingers dangling, and began to milk the fingers with his other hand while mooing that it clicked. So for those who don't treasure the thought of sucking sour smoky milk out of a dirty sponge, watch for anything that matches my description.

I happen to be one of the very few non-Maltese who actually like Kinnie. I understand how someone might put it in the root beer family, but it's actually (I believe) a bitter orange soda, with added quinine (just as in tonic water). It's the bitterness that lots of people object to. Incidentally, Italian chinotto (pronounced kinn-oto) is the same thing. Chinotto-Kinnie: even the names are the same. I'm not a linguist, but I think that both names come from the Italian word for quinine. Anyone who can confirm/correct?

For those who want all things bacon... I recently bought (as a joke present for a vegetarian friend) a automobile air-freshener that was bacon scented. It was made of that same material that those pine tree air-fresheners are, and was formed in the shape of a couple of strips of bacon. My friend was truly disgusted, which meant that the joke succeeded! Can't tell you where you can buy them, but try stores that sell cards and useless gifts.

It normally would be gwa-rah'-nah, but it isn't, cuz in Portuguese there's an accent over the last "a". So...correct pronunciation is gwa-rah-nah' with definite stress on the final syllable. BTW, ice cold in the Brazilian heat, it's terrific! But very sweet...

Here in Canada (in Vancouver at any rate) you can get a terrific organic yogurt from Liberte (from Quebec) that comes in a prune/walnut flavour. It's terrific! Liberte also makes an unflavoured yogurt called Mediterranee which has a 10% fat content. It's probably extremely bad for you, but WOW is it wonderful.

I can't tell from your post how many people you're talking about, nor the budget constraints you may or may not be under, but I'll offer this suggestion in case it meets your needs. There is a private dining room cum wine cellar at Pino Posteraro's Cioppino in Yaletown. It's an elegant and inviting space, with many thousands of dollars of wine lining the walls. I was there once for a meal that was designed to order, so I don't know if the same space can be reserved for "off-the-menu" dining as well. Might be.

I just can't seem to get an insect of any type in my mouth. In Khorat, Thailand, the night market is full of vendors selling crunchy deep-fried insects. I've seen beetles, grasshoppers and even ants. (Scorpions too get the treatment). They're served up in a paper cone, with plenty of hot sauce, and the lucky purchaser gets to nibble them like popcorn as he/she strolls the market. I have been offered many free samples (with lots of good-natured laughs from the locals) but I just couldn't bring one to my mouth. The odd thing, if you think about it biologically, is that crabs and lobsters are really nothing but giant, flightless, aquatic insects. An arthropod is an arthropod is an arthropod. And I love them! Go figure...

That's so sad There may not be any pear orchards left in Pearland, but Peachland, BC still has some peaches!

If you'd like to try something different (yet still very Chinese) I'd recommend the: RAINBOW RESTAURANT 8095 Park Rd # 2 Richmond It's a Chinese-Buddhist vegetarian restaurant, though try not to think of it in religious terms. Just go to enjoy the excellent Chinese food, an amazingly friendly staff, and an incredible value. It's hard to walk out of there spending more than $15 per person it seems. You'll recognize many familiar dishes in the menu, including those normally made with meat or fish, but at Rainbow the meat's been replaced by vegetable substitutes. The "switch" is sometimes hard to believe, there's so little difference from the original. I'm most definitely NOT a vegetarian, so I'm not mentioning this restaurant due to lack of exposure to more traditional Chinese establishments. I found my meal at the Rainbow to be tasty, cheap, and an introduction to an important stream of Chinese cooking all at once. BTW, it's located in an anonymous strip mall just East of NO. 3 Rd., but don't let the location put you off.

I don't know if the situation in the US is the same as here in Vancouver, but right now durians are widely available here in Asian produce and grocery stores. There's a chain of Asian supermarkets here (think Safeway) called T&T and I saw a giant pile of them there last weekend. Because they're not cut or opened, the smell wasn't overwhelming, but it was definitely "there." BTW, after taking many years to build up the courage to try eating durian, I was amazed to find out that it IS true that the taste has nothing to do with the smell. Since smell is such an integral part of taste, I still don't know how that works. In any case, do give one a try if you have the opportunity.

I took a course last year in teaching writing to ESL students, and my teacher showed a demonstration she always uses to impress her ESL students. She made banana bread in a rice cooker. She assembled the ingredients early in the class, then let the bread cook while teaching how to write recipes in English. At the mid-class break, the bread was done and ready for sampling. It was delicious, surprisingly, though the smell of baking (steaming) banana bread did distract from the learning experience. Apparently she was taught how to do this while teaching English in Korea a few years ago.

There was a girl in my fourth grade class who used to eat chalk. The sound was unbearable, especially as she used to chew it very finely before swallowing.

Now this has really got me going. Since cabbage in German is "kohl", then their previous Chancellor's surname was "Cabbage.!" So what could I do but google his first name "Helmut", and consequently found out that it meant "courageous." Imagine, for all those years, I didn't know that the name of the German Chancellor was "Courageous Cabbage."

I can answer at least part of that question - where does the name cole slaw come from? I remember reading a long time ago that the name derives from Dutch. The Dutch word for cabbage is approximately "kohl" (think - kohlrabi) hence "cole". The slaw part I'm not sure I remember correctly. I know that the word was something like "sla" and it means sliced/chopped. Perhaps there's a Dutch speaker on eGullet who can correct my hatchet job on the language!

I've found that time and continued low-temperature cooking both contribute to lessening the "fire" of chiles. Many times I've thought that the dish I was making was WAY too hot, only to find that the next day it was just right when reheated. So my recommenation is to let it simmer for a while today, chill overnight, and then do the same tomorrow. Good luck!

I have been to Vietnam (in 2002) and I second your recommendation of Kim Phung. It's very authentic, definitely. I find the pho at Kim Phung to be the clearest, cleanest tasting broth in town, and it's obviously NOT made with msg. There is a dish that I loved in Vietnam, especially in Hanoi, called Bun Bo Hue. (Even though it originated in Hue, I prefered it in Hanoi) Unfortunately, every time I've ordered it in Vancouver, even in Vietnamese restaurants that I really like, I've been disappointed. Does anyone else know this dish and agree with me? Or, perhaps, even have a recommendation for me in Vancouver?

When I was abou 11 or 12 I went to Italy with my parents. I spoke no other language but English at the time, and remember being totally baffled by the bathroom signs, which though standard Italian were very confusing to little old me. " Signori" and " Signore" seemed WAY too similar, and so if I was visiting a bathroom alone (without parental guidance) I always waited to see someone either enter or exit one of the doors. Of course, it didn't dawn on me at the time that the person entering might have been another English-speaker about to make a big mistake!

I've been complaining for years to anyone who will listen that Vancouver needed a good Brazilian restaurant (like Seattle's Tempero do Brasil). A friend recently told me that there is one in fact, just off Commercial on Charles, called Exotico, I think. Anyone been there? If so, opinion/review please.

Mine's a Benriner from Japan (maybe the same thing that was called Berringer in a few posts?). I have never 1) used the guard 2)lost blood OR mostly importantly 3) lost concentration while using it. One added bonus for this make/model is that the instruction book (in the very best Engrish) is absolutely hilarious! I don't have it anymore or I would provide a sample or two, but by itself it's "worth the price of admission."

mangoes

I don't remember where I originally read this "recipe", but I believe that North African mint tea is usually made from a mix of spearmint and gunpowder tea. I make my own mixture by buying dried spearmint and gunpowder tea in approximately equal weights at my local tea emporium. The result certainly tastes to me remarkably like the teas I remember from Tunisia. Incidentally, a nice Tunisian touch that I sometimes copy is to float a couple of toasted pine nuts in the tea. They're great to crunch after they've steeped in the tea for a while!

I agree that making peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches is wrong -- mostly because the essential third ingredient is missing. Cucumber slices. PB, cucumber and mayo...my 2nd favourite sandwich when I was a kid, and still a (very)occasional comfort treat to this day. My very favourite? Canned pimiento strips mixed with mayo, in a white bread and plenty of butter sandwich. Both were apparently childhood favourites of my mother's, and I guess she felt compelled to "pass the weirdness" on to her kids.

I'm not much of a chocolate bar eater, but I AM Canadian, and I think I know what you're referring to. It's called "Cadbury's Flake" I've just googled it for pictures, but all there seems to be is a series of images of the wrapping (and a Nokia cellphone cover in Flake colours with a logo!) I always thought that Flake was gross, and very waxy, but it is definitely a nostalgia thing for those that grew up with them, primarily in the UK and in the colonies. I have friends born in South Africa, Malta and Hong Kong and they all "wax" nostalgic about flake.