Archives for the 'Travel' Category
Rick Steves to Offer Gander at French Foie Gras Farm
Euro travel host nonpareil (and NORML advisory board member) Rick Steves writes at his Facebook page about how his love of of foie gras has led him to offer a tour of a French goose farm to show travelers the process of gavage, and to let them taste the delicacy:
I am fascinated that British travelers make a virtual pilgrimage to France’s Dordogne to celebrate the force-feeding of the geese and, once the geese are slaughtered, to eat their huge and tasty livers ‘ and yet, many Americans think the whole process should be outlawed. Few American anti-foie gras activists consider actually visiting a goose farm to talk with the owner and hang around for meal time (never much of a wait) to see the forced feeding. I have a favorite goose farm where our tour members could actually witness la gavage, as pulling the goose’s neck up and filling its belly with corn is called (the process reminds me of transferring cereal from one box to another). Our French guides were all for the visit, but when considering our itinerary, being there during hours the farm is formally welcoming the public would rush our Dordogne River canoe trip. I enjoy the canoe experience even more than a Mr. Rogers-type visit to a goose farm. I encouraged my staff to keep the canoe time sacred and beg the farmers for the love of goose-liver pâté to let us visit outside of regular hours. If that doesn’t work, we’ll visit an alternate farm, and have both wonderful French experiences as part of our tours in 2010.
More from Steves on his love of foie gras here and here, and a Christmas recipe here.
Adventures in Providence
A weekend in Providence, RI to experience the season’s next-to-last WaterFire brought this post by Jessica to mind. There are good, independent restaurants out there but having been chased into the deep forests by development, restrictive liquor laws, and urban planning, they must be carefully stalked. Providence is a city where the restaurants are like shy and furtive orangutans.
We stayed near downtown to be close to the hullabaloo and thought we’d have no problem finding places to eat. Wrong-O. A quick walk looking for lunch became an hour-long odyssey as we roamed the area trying to find an open restaurant. What amazed me was that we were on top of RISD, with Brown just beyond, and yet there weren’t even any bars. (This same situation always left me scratching my head about Cornell: 14,000 students and yet only three or so bars outside the gates. I eventually determined Cornell partying revolves around the frats; apparently Cornell girls like their beer with a rape chaser).
Providence may be the second largest city in New England but even New Haven beats it for eating. Though more populous and denser than the Elm City, the two are comparable for numbers of restaurants according to my unscientific metric. Another stunner was that the locals seemed to think they had it good. When asked for recommendations, both the hotel concierge and passers-by directed us to the monolithic Providence Place Mall, which dominates the downtown like a cinder block.
“I don’t want to eat at The Cheesecake Factory,” replied Mrs. Kuhl.
We did eventually find good local places to dine though they were spread far apart. There’s a Little Italy west of I-95 and a small cluster on College Hill by Brown but downtown is a wasteland. Now I understand why H.P. Lovecraft was malnourished.
This particular WaterFire was to raise money for breast-cancer awareness (that’s the capitol building lit up in pink above). It was fun and worthwhile. At the end of the night, as we slogged back to the hotel with our exhausted Monchhichis, we passed by the mall. Its cornerstone was a glowing Cheesecake Factory.
I asked Mrs. Kuhl, Did you know beforehand the mall had a Cheesecake Factory?
No, she said. I just assumed.
Airlines Make Flying Coach a Little Sweeter
Having just taken two 20-hour international flights, I was reminded of the luxury of airline food. I was treated to sushi, soba noodles, grilled eel, Haagen-Dazs ice-cream, snacks every two hours . . . and all for free. Sigh . . . remember when domestic flights offered free food, rather than a less-than-appetizing dry turkey wrap with a packet of mayonnaise, a side of Lays potato chips, and a soda for $10? Well, although free food on domestic flights likely will not make a comeback, airlines have taken note of consumers’ expectations of higher quality food during mealtime:
Now airlines are revamping their offerings—and inventory control—in a bid to turn coach food into a money-maker, to better compete with upgraded airport food outlets and even enhance their own brand. Gone are boxes with beef jerky and soggy turkey sandwiches. In their place, fresh foods, lighter fare, brand-name products and even the kind of fancy food you get in first class. You might even call it “haute cuisine” since it’s served six miles above sea level.
[...]
To lure back fliers … Delta Air Lines has been rolling out new coach food products designed by celebrity chef Todd English, including grilled chicken gyros, and almond-butter-and-grape-jelly sandwiches. Some popular indulgences like $2 cups of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream have been added to some flights. One of the best-selling items, Delta says, is a $6 fruit-and-cheese plate with smoked Gouda, Havarti and Derby cheeses paired with grapes, pecan halves and dried apricots.
American Airlines thinks serving brand names is a better approach, rather than touting celebrity chefs who may not be well-known in some parts of the country. American now sells Boston Market sandwiches and salads, figuring the well-known restaurant chain will give passengers better assurance of the quality of the food over unnamed airline fare.
Catering companies that supply American’s food prepare the items under Boston Market specifications, and items are priced only slightly higher than store prices. For $10, American serves you a chicken Carver sandwich, bag of potato chips and a soft drink (still offered free by the airline). Boston Market sells the sandwich combo with a drink and a side for $8.29.
An improvement, yes, but $10 is still steep . . . I’d rather get normal airplane food for free! I might just be better off bringing my own meal onto the plane. But for those who are actually willing to pay for their airline meals, this news comes as a welcome treat and will surely boost sales.
Ask the Readers: What the Shell?
The family and I spent the holiday weekend in Boston where the missus PRed a half-marathon and I set new personal records in consumption: Legal Seafoods, The Barking Crab, Kingfish Hall. I can’t say I’m ever truly tired of seafood but it will be nice to go a couple of meals without having to rip the carapace off something.
One of the dinner specials at Todd English’s Kingfish was a pound of shrimp boiled with Old Bay, red potatoes, a half cob of corn, and a ham steak. The shrimp were served with everything except the heads so I sat there and methodically cleaned them, which brought me to this dilemma of decorum: is it gross to de-vein your shrimp at the table? The legs and tails have to go, obviously, but should you then just pop them in, predigested zooplankton and all?
Quick Bites: What Is Best in Life? Edition
The May/June issue of Yankee Magazine offers the best of New England plus their favorites for ethnic food. Alas, said lists are only available in the hard copy (remember those?). Console yourself with the best Ethnic Food Festivals in New England.
Meanwhile Coastal Living catalogs their favorite seafood dives. Gotta catch ‘em all!
Not Por Nada, Mexico Food Snaps Coming Soon
I got back last weekend from ten days in Guadalajara and Guanajuato, and immediately began my last and possibly busiest semester of law school. Which is my way of apologizing for having so far being lax on posting about worthwhile foods & sights.
And damn if there aren’t tons. Both cities are brilliant vacation destinations, and each boasts cheap and abundant food choices, including world-class markets.
In that spirit, I’ll have food snaps rolling out this coming week in–I hope–droves.
