EatingAsia

On the Turkey's Black Sea Coast, Autumn's Bounty

No doubt about it, we are very, very behind. Behind in posting from our autumnal travels in Turkey and from our rainy season time in Chiang Mai. And in posting from Hanoi, and Kelantan before that, and from Taiwan before that.

Where have the last five and a half months gone?

It's almost Thanksgiving (we'll be spending it in Chiang Mai, where we find ourselves once again). To make up for our absence, we're offering a great recipe for Turkey Day leftovers, and a story and slideshow to go along with it. Autumn's abundance on show in markets on Turkey's eastern Black Sea coast, and comfort food from Sinop: islama, an over-the-top dish of butter and broth-soaked lavash (or yufka) topped with turkey (or chicken) and crushed walnuts.

Jump to the story and slideshow, our latest for food and wine website Zester Daily, here.

(And it's still a great dish, even if Thanksgiving isn't in your near future.)

Beyond Pho in Hanoi

Banh da, delicious chewy rice noodles made with green tea

A good pho is a great thing, but the iconic Vietnamese noodle soup is far from our favorite thing to eat when we're traveling in the country. Even up north in Hanoi, the home of pho, we can always find something else to distract our palates. On our trip to Hanoi last month, in fact, we didn't eat a single pho.

But we did eat a load of other tasty noodle specialties. Read all about them, and view Dave's mouthwatering slideshow, in our most recent article for Zester Daily, here. And if you're heading over to Vietnam or anywhere else in southeast Asia and are new to this site since April, you may want to have a look at our article on eating street food safely in the region while you're at it.

"You Shouldn't Eat Poop...

Grilling skewered meats, vegetables, and bean curd in a Chengdu alley

But if you're going to eat it make sure it's cooked."

Sound advice from American food safety expert Douglas Powell, whom I interviewed for our latest contribution to Zester Daily, on staying safe while grazing Asia's streets.

I get a fair number of emails from folks seeking advice on to how avoid getting sick while eating, well, like we do. Honestly, advice based solely on our personal experience is of limited use to the average traveler. In this piece I tried to get beyond what we do to stay healthy (though there is some of that too) and bring in a little science.

We hope Dave's slide show will inspire you to hit the region's streets hungry. The article is here.

Since we're talking beautiful images of street food, this seems as good a time as any for the sort of gentle reminder we try to limit to just a few times a year:  We draw no advertising revenue from EatingAsia. But all of the images you see here or in our Zester Daily slide shows, or on Dave's brand-spanking-new professional website, or his photography blog or Photoshelter galleries, are available for purchase. Just hit the "Email me" link in the upper left hand corner (you can also purchase directly from the site on Photoshelter).

We also conduct private food outings and photography walks in Kuala Lumpur (for a limited time only), Penang, and Chiang Mai.

OK, enough of that. Now, hit the street and eat!

A Taste of Luang Prabang: Or Lam

If you've visited Luang Prabang you probably know aw lahm / or lam, a spicy stew of vegetables and grilled or smoked meat that's thickened with sticky rice and pounded boiled eggplants. In our latest piece for Zester Daily we delve into the dish's back story, and offer a recipe adapted from Food From Northern Laos: The Boat Landing Cookbook. Read it here.

We love this super savory, comforting dish. Give it a try -- it's not overly complicated, and is perfect paired with sticky or plain white rice and a Laos-style dip (find a recipe for the latter here).

Where Breakfast is THE Meal of the Day

Say 'cheese' - otlu peyniri (herbed cheese) is the centerpiece of the Van kahvalti

When we headed to Turkey we had vague notions of making it to Van, in the far east. Those thoughts took on a certain urgency after we sampled the breakfast spread at Van Kahvalti in Cihangir (in Istanbul's Beyoglu district).

Turkish breakfasts are enormous, and wonderful, to start with. Van kahvalti (Van-style breakfast) is just that much huge-er and more over-the-top (cheese and clotted cream in the same meal). At the center of any Van kahvalti are local cheeses, and first and foremost among these are otlu peyniri, a lovely white cheese flavored with herbs foraged in the spring and preserved in brine.

We did make it to Van, and we're dying to go back. We delve into the Van kahvalti phenomenon, visit Van's cheesiest market, talk otlu peyniri, and ponder the Istanbul's relatively recent Van kahvalti craze in our latest piece for Zester Daily.

There's a slideshow of course. And info -- with a recipe for kavuk (a delicious wheat flour concoction) -- on how to breakfast the Van way. Read it here.

An abridged Van kahvalti, delivered: kaymak and honey, bread, warm milk, cheese (wrapped)

The Price of Progress in Chiang Mai

'Kanom Under the Stairs' is the popular name for this decades-old kanom (sweets) stall, which is located in Warorot Market ... under the stairs

We love Chiang Mai.

We love Bangkok too; we lived there for eleven all too brief months in 2002. But over the last few years Chiang Mai has really grown on us. Travelers who knew the city way back when (and resident Thais as well) love to complain about its sprawl, its pollution, its traffic. I'm sure it was a different place 15 or 20 years ago. What Asian city wasn't?. But we think that, despite its obvious warts, Chiang Mai is still wonderful. It's got its own personality, a lot of soul, and a heart as big as a northern Thai's.

Unfortunately there are those who'd like to turn Chiang Mai into the Bangkok of the north. You've heard this story before, in other contexts: 'modernity', progress, big is better, old is bad, development must be favored over community. In Thailand it also means money politics; those standing to benefit from urban re-development are almost always politically hooked up. 

In the name of progress, which in this instance can be defined as 'more room for more cars', the Chiang Mai municipal government has proposed to widen a number of roads in the city. It's laughable, really. On the morning we left it took us 12minutes in weekday rush-hour traffic to get from the other side of the Ping River to Chiang Mai's airport. That is not traffic that justifies slicing up neighborhoods and turning thoroughfares into ring roads.

Two of the roads set to be widened cut through an old neighborhood known as Gat Luang. If you've visited Chiang Mai and spent time at either Don Lamyai Market (known for its flower sellers out front), Wararot Market (with its kanom jeen nam ngiaow sellers in a 'cellar' food court), or the brilliant, grilled pork-scented night market that sets up on the street between the two, you've been to Gat Luang. Perhaps you can imagine what widening its two main roads by 16 meters each will do to the now pedestrian-friendly neighborhood.

While we were in Chiang Mai we spent several days in Gat Luang talking to people in its markets and shops and on the street about life in the 'hood and in the markets and what widening those roads will mean for the community. This isn't a case of a couple of farang (us, in other worlds) going all silly and nostalgic over the redevelopment of two dirty old markets. Most markets are bigger than themselves. These two markets are the core of a neighborhood, and most of the people who live and work here object to the road widening plan.

The question is, do they have the power to do anything about it?

You can read my story and view Dave's Gat Luang slideshow at Zester Daily. (Be sure to hit 'captions' on the slideshow.) A couple more shots of the markets at Dave's blog as well.

Organics in China? Slowly, But Surely, Yes

City dwellers become weekend farmers on an organic farm outside Chengdu

I'm mired in deadlines and rewrites, but Dave and I have a new piece up at food and wine website Zester Daily -- which includes a slideshow -- about an organic farm outside Chengdu where we spent an enjoyable -- albeit chilly -- morning last month. The family that runs the farm is part of a budding movement, one that we look forward to further documenting on a return trip to China in the coming months.

Since this is a food blog it bears noting that our visit ended with a home-cooked vegetarian meal that was truly one of the best that we ate in while Sichuan. If you find yourself in Chengdu you can do the same. But you can read about that over at the Zester.

Have a great and delicious weekend, everyone!

Who needs meat? Our visit to an organic farm outside Chengdu finished with a tasty vegetarian meal

Philippine Duman: An Artisanal Product Par Excellence

It takes at least twelve hours to transform one 800 square-meter of rice into duman, a cool season specialty made in Pampanga, a Philippine province about an hour's drive north of Manila. We were lucky enough to observe the amazing production process. Read about it, and view Dave's slide show (be sure to go to full screen, and select captions) over at Zester Daily, a newish site devoted to the culture of food and wine.

While you're there, have a look around. Zester Daily was founded by a former LA Times reporter, benefits from the skills of seasoned editors, and counts some great writers and photographers among its contributors, You'll find us there at least once a month.