Chicago vs. Minneapolis/St. Paul

Well, I have decided to move to Chicago in search of more opportunities and change of scenery. It has been quite challenging on many levels, but feel it is a good decision. While in search of new jobs and apartments, I have discovered a plethora of eating establishments. There are foods from just about every type of cuisine with the addition of Chicago's hot dogs, of course. Hot Doug's is one the more famous local hot dog eateries that I have yet to enjoy. Just about everyday I see people stand in long lines outside, even in the windy, cold weather, waiting for their fill. I was not sure what to think at first, but then I discovered on-line that it was part of the Slow Food Chicago movement (http://www.slowfoodchicago.org). This website is now my go-to page to find participating restaurants. Another restaurant making the list was Green Zebra. My friend Niki, former Sous Chef of Corner Table, and I decided to eat there a couple days ago to indulge in a complete vegetarian affair with fresh burrata topped with crispy lentils, butternut dumplings, mushroom bread pudding and poached egg over smoked applewood mashed potatoes. Yummmmmy. The food was absolutely delightful. Several people had told me beforehand that it is quite possibly the best vegetarian restaurant in Chicago. I guess I will have to eat my way through Chicago and decide for myself.

After my experience at Green Zebra, I could not help but compare the restaurant/food scene of Chicago to Minneapolis/ St. Paul.* The two cities have quite the food scenes going on, each with different high/low lights, thus it is difficult to say which has better food. One thing I do like more about Minnesota and the Twin Cities is the local food movement. I do not have exact stats on how many and how much food the restaurants source locally, but due to the larger number of farms in Minnesota, it would seem more likely. If you think back to a post I wrote a while back on what local means, I mentioned the term 'local' has various definitions depending on who you converse with. Therefore, I must clarify what I mean when I speak about local foods; I believe local foods should refer to the mileage, the distance the food traveled from growth to consumption within a 100-200 mile radius. Most Chicago menus and websites I have browsed print 'local' when they source mostly from Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio. Yet, there are a fair amount of farms in Illinois, especially in the growth of various berries, asparagus, squash and dairy production, much like MN. Perhaps I have it all wrong; I would love to be proven otherwise that Illinois is well on it's way to providing local foods to local restaurants.

*I guess I should also mention that I had the fortune of eating at the only two 3 star Michelin restaurants in Chicago, Alinea and L2O, since this plays a vital role in comparisons between the cities.

Here are some quick notes on comparing the two foodie destinations:

Twin Cities:

Fewer restaurants (obviously) with less variety

Less creativity, all the food seems alike

Cheaper prices

Ingredients travel a shorter distance in terms of 'local' eating

Easy to go out, [free] parking is available

More country style comfort foods

Quieter

Less busy overall

Chicago:

More restaurants with more variety

Menus differ between restaurants with more creativity

Expensive to eat out

Heaps of community style restaurants

Adventurous eaters, here's your city

Restaurants here have a longer history

Michelin Restaurants: for food and entertainment (might have to explain that in another post)

No parking, unless you want to pay an arm and a leg [taxi]

Of course, these are my observations and options....to each their own.

Tchau tchau for now foodies.

Adapting to the Midwest

It was not long ago when I sat on Lopes Mendes beach, soaking up sunny, 100 degree weather in beautiful Brazil. Often I think of my travels and reminisce on such days when the weather here in Minnesota becomes cold and gray. Thus, to bring the warmth back, I prepared one of my favorite comfort foods. Yesterday I made Split Pea Soup with all natural organic ham from Beeler's Farm in Northwestern Iowa. In my opinion, it is best to make several quarts at once and freeze the bulk for another rainy day, but in small portions. The recipe below makes about 1.75-2 gallons depending on your desired consistency.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

1/2 medium yellow onion [kept whole]

5 small/medium carrots, diced

4 celery stalks, diced

14 cloves roasted garlic

4 cups potatoes, diced

14 ounces frozen peas

2 pounds cubed, smoked ham

3 cups shaved brussels sprouts

ham stock

1 1/4 pounds green split peas, rinsed and soaked* [see note]

1 bay leaf

smoked paprika to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Garnish of toasted sliced almonds and celery greens

Preparation:

Rinse the soaked split peas and return to the pot stove filling with water to cover. Add bay leaf and half onion, cooking until peas are tender and naturally fall apart into a puree.

Meanwhile, in a pan, saute in oil [or butter] the diced onion until translucent, then add carrot and celery. Once cooked through, add the potatoes and fill with ham stock just enough to cover the vegetables. When the potatoes are almost soft, add the frozen peas and cook for another few minutes, puree all contents in a food processor until smooth with the roasted garlic. Put in a stock pot and keep on a low simmer. Add to that the cubed ham and shaved brussels sprouts.

Once the split peas fall apart, remove from heat and puree all but three cups for texture. Be sure to remove the bay leaf and half onion before pureeing. Add the peas to the stock pot with the soup. Mix well and heat slowly until the ham warms. Season accordingly with the paprika, salt and pepper until desired taste.

Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with chiffonade celery leaves and toasted almonds.

A nice boule of whole grain bread or Peasant loaf would suite this dish well.

Over the years, I have made several different versions of this recipe. When I have the time and I am moved to Chicago, I will search for past recipes and try them out to see how they compare. In past recipes, I believe I added toasted, ground cumin seeds and spinach.

While in Chicago, I was craving this soup and mentioned to Gil this was one of my favorite soups to prepare. Gil said he could make a better split pea than I, while Lori and Doug stood aside in hopes there would be a cooking show down for them to judge. Perhaps Gil and I will have to prove which one makes a better split pea once I move to Chicago. However, I may have to change a few things since his will be loaded with fat. We all know that fat is flavor, flavor is fat. Who knows, the two combined could be a match made in heaven.

* I prefer to soak the split peas to shorten the cooking time; however, whether it is worth the trouble is up to you. Soaking in cold water for 6 hours can save you 30 minutes in cooking time. Think of it this way, it doesn't take long to soak, so why wouldn't you? All it takes is forethought.

Soaking yellow split peas is another story. It will produce a more viscous puree than unsoaked and will save you one hour of cook time when soaked for 8-10 hours. Be careful though, over-soaking can cause germination and give off-flavors.

Eating with the Forecast

Hoje: calor calor calor

[Today: hot and humid]

It was far too humid to truly enjoy eating today, so instead, I decided to take part in drinking my lunch, local vinho, wine made by Italian ancestors in Maravilha. I do not believe I mentioned this earlier, but Maravilha in Portuguese means ´Wonderful´, and the vinho undoubtably portrays it to a T. There is most certainly a distinction to their wine as well. It is stronger in acidity, quite dry, has a quick finish, and has a sharp piercing note of grape and garam marsala combined.

Wine is not packaged in a glass bottle, but rather in a plastic bottle resembling that of a soda bottle in the United States. Rarely it is even labeled, and when it is, the wine is only labeled at red, light red, rose, and white.

Among other drinks I have come to enjoy are fresh fruit juices made daily. Yesterday for dessert, I had coconut! It was unbelievably fresh with a rounded fatty milk flavor. Eu gosto!!!

Often it is too hot to eat, so calories are consumed in large volumes by beverage. I love it! There is such an abundance of fruit to enjoy that your options feel limitless. I wonder what other fruits I will enjoy today....

A few days ago, I tried gioba. It´s a yellow skinned fruit with salmon pink flesh and seeds which resemble that of fenugreek, both in texture and appearance. Floral notes of rose with a texture similar to that of pears fill your senses. I think this would be best eaten seedless, for the seeds were not the most pleasant. It was a bit harsh to my mouth, and I did my best to dispose of them. However, there were so many. Later on in the day, I discovered my family had a paste in the fridge, geladeria, made of the same gioba fruit. The flavor was hightened with concentration and no seeds were present. Thus, this fruit requires a small amount of work in order for it to live up to its´full potential in taste [paste and ice cream is more enjoyable]. The lower picture is gioba, while the upper is an unripe persimmon.

Community Eating

Life in Brazil has shown to be hard, so they raise and grow most of their food. Even the tiniest of properties will have a small piece of land designated for food. Its amazing! The picture you see above is a cow my Brazilian family butchered. They love their meat, especially their beef. Everyday for dinner, we eat a grand meal with some kind of protein, usually containing beef. Along with this are black beans, rice with [green, young] corn, and lettuce. After we eat our lunch, everyone takes a siesta to recover from the meal. However, not I. During siesta, I use this time to write and practice my Portuguese.

When everyone wakes up from their seista, they typically partake in a communal event of drinking yerba mate, a green tea, called chimarráo. The picture below depicts the drinking vessel, special to chimarráo, with a long straw to drink from. The straws have a flattened mesh like sieve to prevent the tea from entering your mouth. Other things may be added for an enhanced flavor [chamomile, fresh bay leaves, etc.]. The means of drinking chimarráo is quite a social event, for there is only one vessel to go around. You pour hot water over the tea on the opposing side from the tea and continue to drink the tea until you finish. Then, you fill it again with water and pass it the next person going around the room. Thus, there is only one vessel per household. I love chimarráo not only for the social engagement, but for the taste too!

Another way to enjoy social eating is by having a churrasco, or BBQ. Below is a picture of beef over an open fire, which is located in the ´garage ´. I say ´garage ´ with question because it´s not the same kind of garage you or I would imagine [if from USA]. In Brazil, the garage is a place to socialize and sit down to enjoy churrasco and chimarráo, not a place for vehicles. Once the food is ready for consumption, the man of the house portions the carna into small portions and puts it on a plate with farinha de mendioca, a starchy potato like flour. Then, one person walks around the room to pass the meat with toothpicks.

These types of social events are exactly what I am in search of with every culture, because food is such an important part of our lives. Food is meant to be enjoyed and experienced with others, not to be abused. Perhaps we can return to our own cultural roots.

I wonder what I will encounter next???

The three frontiers

Today I returned to Maravilha where I rested from my travels to the place where three countries, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, meet. From Maravilha, we drove to Argentina, stayed in Wanda and explored the area of Itiapu and Iguaçu Falls.

The last picture is near one of the larger falls close to the top; the beauty was spectucular and overwhelming. Just below this section of the falls, there is a walk way to the middle where you get misted. Immediately, you want to throw your hands up in the air, close your eyes and feel the power of nature. Unfortunately, I was only able to get one perspective of the falls, that being the Brazilian side. Brazilians say it´s more beautiful than the Argentinian side, while people from Argentina say their side is better. I guess I will have to go back and decide for myself when the weather is more cooperative.

Being American in Brazil

Another day has come and gone, while I think back to what happened in only one day. It was such a hectic, fun, overwhelming, and interesting day. Why not start from the beginning? I met a new friend Daniella from the salon and visited her high school, but this was no ordinary day. It was their last day of class before summer vacation. There was a talent show to wrap up the year and they were all so excited a native English speaker from America was there to share it with. All the students were curious while Daniella and Daniel introduced me to each class. Then, at the beginning of the show in the gymnasium, the administrator of the school had everyone give me a warm welcome where I then stood up and said in my best Portuguese Bom dia, good morning.

It has been a real pleasure getting to know the people of Maravilha, who are so kind and friendly. I don´t think I have ever given so many hugs and kisses in three hours, let alone in one day. Every time a boy was google-eyed, Daniella would tell me, ´Very much teenagers´, and then laugh. After my visit, I went back to Elzira´s home to eat lunch, marrow, rice, black beans, lettuce, mandioca, and chuchu. With no time to waste, we then went back into the city to go to another school, only this one was private. Headway is its name. However, school was canceled to go to the movies. Instead, five of the teenagers took me out to ice cream. They love, absolutely love to eat sweet things, no question about that. In fact, Paula told me they, the kids, prefer to eat American like foods, fried and sweet. Once my new friends found out I cook, they immediately took me to the grocery store to buy ingredients for cookies. [I believe they think I only cook sweet things].

This was such a long, tiring day, so I´ll keep it short.

After the walking around the neighborhood, they brought me to Paula´s house to try new foods, see her home and dog, meet her family and then take pictures. What strikes me as funny is that they all think I´m 18, maybe 19! Wow, never has anyone thought so young of me. Perhaps it´s because my bust is not as big in comparison.

Once we took note of the time, we quickly scampered off to my massage appointment. It was just what I needed, alone time and relaxation.

Then back to Elzira´s home where her friend waited. He´s a pastor who is going to America to preach, so he wants to know if he could practice conversing in English. Tomorrow I will meet his wife for lunch, and afterwards, start planning a trip to Iguacu Falls. How exciting!!!

To finish off my evening, we ate fresh beef liver from the slaughter with onions! I cleansed my palate with fresh pomegranate from the tree only but 30 feet away from the house. Yummy.

...and today, going to the swimming pool with Paula.
[I also helped portion the remaining fresh beef cuts, got my yellow fever shot, and had fresh papaya.]

Tchau

Arriving in Brazil

I have only just arrived in Brazil, and I´m having quite the experience. After visiting in Chicago, I felt fatigue and needed rest, so I found myself asleep on every flight to Maravilha. It took four flights and an hour car ride to get where I am today. It´s beautiful and warm, not sunny though. Today it rained off and on the entire day, but that did not discourage me from exploring. My host Elzira showed me around her living quarters, talk about amazing. They grow and raise most of their own provisions. There are mandarins, pomegranates [but are different than the large red variety you see in America; they are smaller, have soft, pink seeds, and dry the skins to cure stomach aches], figs, peaches, chayote [chuchu in Portuguese], lettuce [various sorts], arugula, oranges, limes, cinnamon, mint, corn, beans, and tapioca, amongst several other things, which can be picked and eaten right here on their property. In addition, there are goats, horses, cows, chickens, goose, dogs, and bees [for honey]. There is a lake in the back yard with rolling hills and farms to gaze at while I attempt to take in Brazil. Breath by breath, I think of Brazil and how lucky I am to experience such a rich culture. These next two months are going to fly by, and I cannot wait to learn and explore what this beautiful country has to offer.

Earlier today, I met a young girl named Daniella at a salon. She invited me to her high school where she learns English. We spoke and decided that I will be her special guest for tomorrow at the school. Ahhh, I´m just so excited. It will be quite the experience.

....
Tchau