March - Stockholm & Fish Soup

Besides in Bocas del Toro, Panama, where dolphins careen the Caribbean and old Panamanian men shuttle you around on water taxis, the best fish soup that will ever, ever grace your taste buds is in Stockholm, Sweden. 

This magical mixture of tomato, seafood, spice, and garlicky goodness can only be found at the underground market called Östermalms Saluhall. This place is the mecca of the fresh. The holy grail of Stockholm's finest (people and food). The ferry building of Sweden, if you will. 

Like a savory symphony of the sea dreams and cream, this soup was brimming with chunks of smoked fish and mussels, baby shrimp and garlic aioli. Complement that with a slice of fresh, crusty wheat sourdough and you've got Europe's best fish soup! 

Smaklig måltid!

January - Barcelona, LA

In Germany you're always given a large plate of meat and potatoes and some mostly overcooked albeit tasty rotkohl (red cabbage) to consume. Barcelona's tapas culture is quite fascinating - I'd way rather choose 4-5 small plates than 1 large one.

It was near the Iglesia Santa Maria del Mar in the Born area of Catalonia that I fell in love with padron peppers. 

As someone who despises the very idea of a green bell pepper, I was delightfully surprised how the bitterness of these peppers had transitioned to a smokey, savory heaven. (with the help of some piecy, flat crunchy salt flakes). We also ordered shrimp croquettes in a garlic cream sauce, salami sticks and peppered cheese with walnets. And a Tempranillo, of course. 

Mmm. 

I returned to California in mid-January for a brief visit to my family. 

Sushi is Los Angeles is a must - so I consulted one of my favorite sushi partners, Mr. Arash Davidi, and he took me to a divine little hole in the wall off Ventura Blvd. in Encino called Revolving Sushi Cho Cho San. 

Pictured here is the Double Double Rainbow roll.

Mmm. 

I wanted to hang out with my cousins. So, a cookie creating content ensued. 

I think Keda won. 

Twelve Months of Deliciousnesssss

This has been the best year of my life. Since I obviously cannot maintain a travel blog the way I would like, I propose a 12 day project to make up for my lack of dedication. 

In browsing my photo library,  I can safely say that I have more pictures of food than anything. Duh. Perhaps it is my current engagement with food porn (theoretically and practically) that is driving me to want to capture what I am writing about. Right now and for my master's thesis next semester, I am studying the phenomenon of food as a language in which we, as a perpetually-connected, individually-hobbied and food media-obsessed culture communicate identities and social status. Using the consumption theories of Bourdieu and Veblen (who saw food preferences as social status symbols) and the current literature on the 'pornification' of society, my idea is to examine pictures on foodie's blogs (including their 'food porn') as visual artifacts of a culture obsessed with food who use frames of authenticity and exoticism to negotiate and promote their their identities. 

At any rate, since I failed to keep my blog consistent, maybe this 12-day project of  my year in food will serve to sum it all up. What will follow are 12 posts of traveling (intermittently betwixt grad school classes, paper-writing & learning German), of 12 months of me eating cultural diversity of Europe (and a bit beyond), tasting parts of the world with fresh taste buds, inhaling different beverages and enjoying my senses... 


mmmm, ok, here we go.