Sweet Myrtle, Bitter Honey: Delicious Sardinia

Chef at the Arcodoro in Texas, Efisio Farris's recent cookbook Sweet Myrtle, Bitter Honey is the type of cookbook you take out of the kitchen and to bed with you to ensure that you'll have sweet --and savory, and pungent, and aromatic-- dreams.

Full of gorgeous photos of his native Sardinia, a land he holds dear to his heart and hopes to share with his readers through his personal stories and recipes, it'll make you want to pack your bags, grab this book and head for the airport on the next flight to Nuoro.

In my modern Italian literature class we studied the early 20th century writer Grazia Deledda, another Sardinian who was molta apassionata for her island, and her writing, my professor's lectures on the wonders and uniqueness of the second largest island in the Mediterranean's culture and very ancient history and now Farris' book have got me itching to spend a month there at least.

And there would be so much to see and do...

From the prehistoric nuraghe (from which Sardinia's first civilization, the nuraghiche, or nuragic, draws its name); sometimes called "giants' tombs", sometimes "fairy homes", the intent behind their construction remains a mystery to archeologists...

on to the very touristy Smeralda Coast, with its clear water, yachts and a very modern hyper-devloped area to the north on the island that many Italians (and Deledda) considered something of a "land that time forgot" back in the day...

and the island's interior, the cities of Oristano and Nuoro and all of Sardinia's colorful pageantry of festivals, like the rose petal-strewn procession for Sant'Efissio, Mamoiada and the Sa Sartiglia festivals. The costumes, masks and ceremony are all so detailed...

Above all I want to sit and enjoy a sunset while feasting upon some of the fresh, local dishes Farris describes.

Like Chef Zadi, Farris is a member of the slow food movement and it shows in his concern for fresh, local produce and flavors; however, you'll find that all pretensions to haute cuisine have been left behind on il continente -the recipes are emminently preparable except for a few (such as the Sardinian flatbread,) assuming you can get your hands on the right ingredients (all probably available at upscale or ethnic markets).

Store-bought Sardinian flatbread, carta da musica ("music bread" - so called because because of its resemblance to the parchment used for writing musical scores) - which looks far more appetizing when freshly baked.

From Efisio's book and my own reading, I get the impression that Sardinia is a very "earthy", fertile land, truly unique in its language, customs and society.

Surprisingly for an island people, Faris repeatedly mentions that the majority of sardinians rely upon their herds for food and favor pig and lamb over the seafood catch. However, there are many seafood recipes in here for all you baccalao fans or the Sardo specialty: bottarga, salted, dried fish roe.

Sardinia has many unique specialties, but as the title highlights, two of its most distinctive are the island's bitter honey and the sweet myrtle branches laid out over charcoals to lend its distinctive aroma to lamb and fish.

There are recipes for those who care about:

-tradition - regional recipes only to be found in Sardinia

-animal parts usually considered inedible (at least by me; i.e. congealed pig's blood candy; pig trotters and tripe)

-dishes that are little known and guaranteed to impress your food snob buddies

-healthy and hearty meals (with a strong emphasis on fresh veggies) that can feed 2 or 10

He even has a recipe for cauliflower and olives that looks delicious...and I hate cauliflower.

The recipe I want to try right now: fennel and crabmeat salad with bottarga or maybe the red cow with porcini mushrooms and perhaps some bitter honey parfait -semifreddo kin mele rankidu- to really indulge...

Photo credits, top to bottom, all Flickr photostreams: Ultaricus, Giselanto, Staou, Alisem LeChamp, Chri, SinXFoto, Gratius, ChristianoCani, Mrs Castavet.

The Butter Man

I'm beginning this series of culinary-related posts not with a cookbook but rather with what I'm tempted to call a "children's tale", though this short story is really a timeless anecdote for kids of all ages.

In The Butter Man, the protagonist Ali narrates to his daughter the story of how a year of drought and ensuing hunger -which arrives little by little- affects his family in the Atlas mountains. A mother wisely advises her son to go sit and wait for the butter man to bring him the precious sweet butter he so craves. Everyday Ali wonders when the Butter Man will arrive, until, one day...

You'll have to read it.

Sometimes I feel that children's literature is too fantastical, too sheltering. This story not only amuses, but teaches a lesson without moralising. It deals with a very real, and very serious issue in a way that children can easily understand.

The art by Julie Klear Essakalli is in the naive style and some of the landscapes remind me of the geometric patterns and bold color combinations or berber rugs.

And when I realized that Julie Essakalli is the one of the people behind Zidzid Kids, which I first learned of through Maryam's blog (I believe), I was really kind of giddy because I've always liked their shop.

This was a first children's book for her and the authors, Elizabeth and Ali Alalou. Bravo!

Images courtesy Charlesbridge, the publisher.

Key words, people...

A lot of friends have been encouraging me lately to write more about the nature of my inter-racial, inter-cultural marriage. Ok.

So let's get this topic off to a bang, shall we?

Starting with the descriptive introductions:

If I tell people my husband's an immigrant, then I know this is the first mental image that will come to the fore:

Yes, they imagine the sombrero too.

But if I tell them he's Moroccan, then people are more likely to get this stuck in their brains:

We'll just ignore for the moment the fact that this guy is about twice my husband's age, from the Gulf, and that assuming all Arabs ride camels is like assuming all Australians ride kangaroos to school...

Sadly, though, some people seem to think Morocco is a lovely tropical isle in the Carribean where people smoke lots of hash, an idea that makes them ask me if he can hook them up and also conjures up hazy images like this:

Though Bob look-alikes are readily found in Morocco's southern climes. Here, for example.

Now, if I tell people he's a very funny immigrant, then I can see their rolodex of put-'em-in-their-box images coming around to settle on:

I stole Cosby's joke, hombre!

But then I say, no no he's a funny Moroccan, in which case we get:

Azhar Usman from the Allah Made Me Funny Comedy Tour.

He is funny, but no cigar.

So to avoid all these convenient visual stereotypes I usually say something like:

"uh, well, actually he's a former professional actor-cum-lawyer-cum-garage mechanic-cum-masseur-cum-law student who likes to throw down rhymes on tort law and contracts to Dr. Dre's hip hop beats and in another life would've been a motorcycle racer."

This description tends to leave 'em with:

Sources: Mexican. Arab. Bob. Mencia. A. Usman. Punctuation.

Lalla Loves: Los Mantones de Ángeles Espinar

I've got a series of gourmand cookbook posts (have you tried Sardinian bitter honey? Or Turkish-Jewish boreks? Perhaps you'd enjoy some authentic pizza armenienne and bouillabaisse in Marseille's View Port?) coming up but in the spirit of keeping up with the posting, I wanted to share these images from the Flamenco Fashion Show (SIMOF) in Sevilla back in early February.

Spanish designer Angeles Espinar is best known for her beautiful hand-embroidered mantones (Spanish shawls).

Always one of the shows to see at Salon Internacional de Moda Flamenca, the designer continued to live up to her reputation as one of the best manufacturers of these accessories in Spain.

Love those cordoban hats paired with the slinky fringe...

Some of my favorites, for their colors and embroidered detail:

Yellow for Laila

And a gusty move:

For closeups and other interesting articles on Spanish culture, check out Diario de Sevilla.

Barack Likes Tacos - OR- Three Degrees of Seperation: Me & Barack Obama

What a coincidence.

The same day I stop at the Students for Barack stall on campus to get my "I already voted for Obama" stickers (our Oregon primaries are still pending), my boss, Mrs. C, comes into our office and proceeds to tell my colleagues and I that her husband just called her with the lamest excuse ever for being late:

Driving up to Portland from Eugene (about 4 hours away) he stops at a little taqueria joint in Woodburn (no-where'sville + a Fry's electronics store -about 1 hour away) to get a late lunch.

As he's ordering his ca-ca-carrrrrne asada tacos Mr. C sees all these photographers coming in when he turns around...

THERE'S Barack Obama!

Obama chatted up the taqueria's patrons -sometimes in Spanish- and when he got done ordering tacos for him and his mates he came over to Mr. C, the only gringo there (pre-Obama-arrival) and all alone, introduced himself, shook his hand and asked his name. They even had a chat. Then Barack's handlers pulled him along to the next table BUT in my exclusive and intensive interview with Mr. C in the hallway outside my office as he waited for his wife to collect her stuff, he commented:

"He was so charismatic. Very soft -not weak, but nice. He felt genuine. His handlers seemed like good people, I think he's surrounded himself with good people."

So there you have it folks. You heard it here first and now you're at four degrees of separation from Barack Obama!

Pics courtesy the Barack Obama photostream on Flickr.

A Little Slice of Heaven in Ibiza

These sun-soaked images make me want to pack a teeny suitcase with my toothbrush, bikini, sunglasses and sunscreen and leave the country with no forwarding address...

The breathtaking Ibizan guesthouse Fata Morgana was designed by architect Rolph Blackstad in 1990. Blackstad really had a flair for creating a timeless moorish style -a rememberance of Ibiza's ancestry perhaps?

Every space feels inviting and I only wish I could have found an image of the full scale Moroccan-style salon with its banquette-lined white walls and the large arched windows or the shaded lounging platform you can only reach by swimming to the other end of the infinity-edge pool.

I love how these bright colors pop off the white -reminds me of a recent Sartorialist shot.

The owners' only caveat for guests: "No dance parties or raves allowed."

How Ibiza.

This fountain and the arches recall the Alhambra's beauty in a paired-down-to-the-essentials manner.

A girl can dream, can't she?

First image courtesy Circumvista. Bedroom image courtesy RentAVilla. All other images from The Villa Book.

You can see more Ibizan houses in a spectrum of styles in the book Ibiza: A Mediterranean Lifestyle.

De la Renta gets his flounce on

Flamenco dress styles have often inspired Oscar de la Renta over the years and his Pre-Fall 2008 collection combined this season's trend for painterly impressionistic florals and his own penchant for Spanish-style ruffles:

Two other great designs from previous collections:

Hard to beat boleros and black lace.
Spring 2007

Fall 2001

All images courtesy Style.com.

Oye! Punks vs. Emos en Mexico!? Que?

I'm so out of it. For a long time, even after I'd heard the word "emo" and even unwittingly experienced emo "music" in passing, I still hadn't figured out that is was somehow related to the look all those kids hanging around my apartment building were going for with their tight jeans and chin-length greasy hair combed over their eyes...Until one day I asked my stylester friend Winona and she promptly pointed to these gad-abouts and said "THAT's Emo!"

Oh.

I'm still working out the difference between Emos and Hipsters. Apparently the latter are less depressed; maybe even "gleefull" at times... I await the scientific reports.

So when I read on Ask a Mexican! about the Emo-pogroms taking place in Mexico City I had to find out more:

"Riot police have taken to the streets of several cities in Mexico to ... defend emo kids?

A series of attacks on dyed-hair, eye-makeup-wearing emo kids began in early March when several hundred people went on an emo-beating rampage in Querétaro, a town of 1.5 million about 160 miles north of Mexico City.

The next week, shaggy-haired emo teenagers were harassed again by punks and rockabillys in the capital, prompting police protection and a segment on the TV news. Most recently, a Mexican newspaper reported that metal heads and gangsters have warned Tijuana's emo kids to stay away from the town's fair next month.

"They're organizing to defend their right to be emo," wrote Daniel Hernandez of LA Weekly on his personal blog, which has provided stellar coverage of the whole affair." -Source

I feel completely out of the loop again...Why so much hate for emos besides their relentless "I'm too cool for trends" trendy fashion? Come on, even NPR reported on this...where have I been?

I think Gustavo Arellano says it best in his answer to this question in his weekly Ask A Mexican! column:

Dear Mexican: Lately, I’ve been hearing how punks and metalheads in Mexico are trying to beat up emos because it’s been said emo makes Mexican culture look bad. As a metalhead, I support this because I don’t see the point in being emo since they are very sensitive and the guys dress like girls, but I still believe everyone has the right to be whatever they decide to be, no matter how bad it seems to people. What’s your perspective on this issue—do you think it’s a good thing or a bad thing? And do you agree that the emo trend is a poison to the Mexican culture?

Mosh ‘Til You Die

Dear Wab: The emo riots that have spread across Mexico for the past month have been a source of joy and frustration for the Mexican. On one mano—as I told Wired reporter Alexis Madrigal for his fine story on the madness—I’m loving the clusterfu*k that feuding Mexican emos, metaleros, punketos and other modern types presents to the gabacho mind, which still largely thinks Mexico is one giant, continent-spanning sombrero. I personally don’t like emo, but not because I think it’s somehow not “Mexican”—last I checked, the punk and metal movements that spawned the movimiento anti-emo didn’t originate south of the border, either. And those pendejos going after wabs in Dashboard Confessional T-shirts embody the worst tendencies of the Mexican character: intolerant of anything it doesn’t consider “Mexican,” preferring to bully weaklings instead of facing the big niños, and hopelessly outdated. Oigan, anti-emo folks: Hating emos is so 1998. Porque no you guys go after a true Mexican plague—like, say, your immigrant-producing economy?

While one part of me just wants to laugh at how ridiculous this all is, the other part of me just thinks how ridiculous this all is...How 'bout you guys all agree to disagree and then have a big battle-of-the-bands fest come Cinco de Mayo? Surely the mariachis' gritos will drown you all out*?

____________

First image courtesy Mexican Reporter, second image courtesy Wired Blog.

*And Gustavo Arellano is now going to come hit me on the head with a giant sombrero.

Fashion, Folklore and Fería

Olé!

I can't believe I almost let April get away without blogging about the Feria de Abril!

"The Seville Spring Fair, Fería de Abríl de Sevilla, is held in the Andalusian capital of Seville, Spain. The fair begins two weeks after the Semana Santa, or Easter Holy Week.

The fair officially begins at midnight on Tuesday, and runs six days, ending on the following Sunday. During past fairs, however, many activities have begun on the Saturday prior to the official opening. Each day the fiesta begins with the parade of carriages and riders, at midday, carrying Seville's leading citizens which make their way to the bullring, the La Real Maestranza, where the bullfighters and breeders meet.

For the duration of the fair, the fairgrounds, a vast area is on the far bank of the Guadalquivir River, are totally covered in rows of casetas (individual decorated marquee tents which are temporarily built on the fairground). Some of these casetas belong to the prominent families of Seville, some to groups of friends, clubs, trade associations or political parties. From around nine at night until six or seven the following morning, at first in the streets and later only within each caseta, you will find crowds partying and dancing "Sevillanas", drinking Jerez sherry, or manzanilla wine, and eating tapas." -Wikipedia

Dad and son duo

There are lots of ferias around Spain, -Barcelona and Jerez, for example- but the one in Sevilla is probably the most well known internationally. But really, who could resist live music, good food, a parade you get to participate in and dancing in the streets, day and night, no matter where it is? That's my kind of party!

It's a whole family affair...

I'm sure she could do sevillanas as soon as she could walk...

These girls have got some long legs...

As much as I adore the flamenco dresses, I just love these Andalucian riding outfits on women -I think it's a great twist on feminized menswear.

Maps on paper fans, what a great idea!

Even the horses get dressed up.

See? Dressage...

Dressy...(for a horse, that is!)

See now, this is why you have to have Flamenco Fashion Week in early February, so all the ladies have to time get their and their daughters' dresses made...

Sevilla looks beautiful by day...

But even more incredible by night...

Adios!

_________________________

I did this post about 6 months ago and didn't take down photo credits, most of which I found on Flickr; so if this is your photo, let me know and I'll be sure to credit you! Thanks for the lovely shots.

Dear François-Henri Pinault

Dear Mr. P -

I'm sure you're very busy, what with your mega-corporation and spending time with the beautiful Salma Hayek and your new baby and all, but if you have some time, you might want to check in with the U.S. branch of your mail-order catalogue La Redoute.

Now, I know major multi-national companies have to choose their products carefully to best suit a particular country's market, but in the case of the U.S. line of your famous French catalogue La Redoute, I get a little ticked off.

Let's backtrack, shall we? I like La Redoute* for its sometimes bcbg (not Max Azria), sometimes bobo flair. I know some people say the quality is not always great, but hey, you get what you pay for, and you ain't gonna get Oscar de la Renta through a catalogue...You know that, I know that.

And I've ordered several things from you (through them- though if you'd like to send me a pink peasant blouse personally, I'd be down for that) which are cute and I get compliments on...BUT when I see that your marketing guys have hardly updated their website with new additions for the Spring/Summer season (!!Getting kinda late!) and THEN I take a spin around your Greek, Spanish, French and Swedish sites just to check out what they're selling over there, OMG!

Can you PLEASE explain to me HOW it's possible that in all these countries they have cute plus size AND maternity fashions - neither of which are sold here through their States-based branch? What, you think American women don't like to look good too, perhaps? Or that we don't have any plus sized or pregnant women over here? Perhaps a picture should remind you:

Hopefully you recognize at least one of these people.

Please note that at one point your teeny tiny wife was both pregnant and plus sized...

Here's a heads up: Your wife is (a naturalized) American. She's pretty stylish. If my math is correct, this makes American women stylish. A large number of them, at the very least. Style is an approximate, not an exact, science, after all.

Let's take shoes -nay, just sandals- your company offers as an example of my disgruntlement:

I could get these from your Spanish site:

Or these from your French site:

(This pic courtesy HoneyPieLiving on Flickr)

OR I could get these from your American site:
I could get this at Payless.

Actually, I could probably get something a lot cuter at Payless...

Believe it or not, we Americans actually like cute sandals...I know this is hard to believe but I swear it's true. Vogue says so. So we might even buy some of your shoes if we could get 'em...

Because your American branch people haven't updated the site in so long, I get the impression that the U.S. branch of La Redoute might be closing down; I genuinely hope this isn't the case because you do have selections that would do well in our market if ONLY you would make them available *hint, hint Mr. Corporate-Type*.

But hey, it's your money.

___________________________

*You've never heard of them? Everyone in France knows them, it'd be like getting the L.L. Bean catalogue here, but "more so"- i.e. if L.L. Bean were trendier and sold furniture, baby cradles, silverware and bridesmaid dresses...