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. 

MOST MAGICAL DAY OF MY LIFE

From Dubrovnik, we went with our hostel guide (Dubrovnik Backpacker's Club) on a Wine Tasting and Oyster Outing! OH BOY, it was an unforgettable trip! 

THINK about this equation: My best friend and I, traveling in Croatia:

6 girls

+ 1 nature-loving Croatian (Ivi) 

+ ancient ruins (Ston)

 

+ 100 sweet, succulent oysters @ a 300 year-old oyster farm (Mali Ston Bay)

+ 1 Minivan

+ 4 wineries  and tasting rooms

+ donkeys at a petting zoo on a vineyard

+ the most gorgeous landscape in the universe

+ 1 amazing sunset swim

_________________________________________________________________________

 = 

MOST MAGICAL DAY OF MY LIFE

The only downside was that during the sunset swim (incredible) I happened to step on a sea urchin: this left me with 13 spines in my foot. Ouch. 

The oysters, however, were the BEST I've ever had. No lie. 

Balkan Breeze: Montenegro, Kotor, Dubrovnik

Once in Montenegro, we wanted to find the fastest way to get to Croatia. After trying to speak something that ended up a combination of sign language and poorly pronounced Croatian (from our travel books), we took two buses across Montenegro, from Bar to Budvah finally to Dubrovnik. On the bus we drove through the old Balkan medieval city of Kotor and finally up the Dalmatian coast to Dubrovskees. 

In Dubrovnik, the orange rooftops rule

this tightly-guarded guarded jewel

This city felt so old - the city center was a fortress built in the 1300's to ward off the Venetians and other enemies who desired to conquer Croatia's incredibly rich and dramatic coast. Inside of the old city (above)is one of the oldest synagogues in the world, as well as one of the oldest pharmacies (apotheke) in the world too! You can opt to walk the city walls, which is what we did, which gives you a bird's eye view of the city below and the Adriatic Sea outside of the walls.  


We stayed in a hostel that was run by a family with 6 kids - the mother Milka would make fresh French toast every morning and a traditional Croatian dinner each night. The kids, most notably the oldest son Ivi, leads day excursions to say, Bosnia (for waterfalls and traditional cuisine), or the one that we went on: Wine and Oyster Tasting with a visit to a donkey farm and botanical garden....

BOO Hamen Bari

From Kos, Greece, we took a cheap RyanAir flight to Bari, Italy. We were the only non-Italians on the flight; we also were the only non-Italians in all of Bari. 
True. 
I was so excited to go to Italy - the food, the wine, la dolce vita, yeah? NEIN. 
Bari does not fulfill your expectations of Italy - it's kind of like the East Oakland of Italy if you catch my drift. While some parts were kind of pleasant – like the Swabian castle or the granita coffee,  the majority of the city was rundown, ramshackle and plain sketch.

As you can see, Bari thinks it's life is an asshole. :(

Even the Italian food was sub par. 

But, Flat Stanley really enjoyed it. A bit too much, I'd say. Baaad Stanley.

The sun setting into the evening was quite lovely. The sky melded into the sea and reflected the city's lights on the Bari Harbor. 

We did met some really nice and helpful Albanians, most notably Limi, who bestowed his graces and views about karma on us in just enough time for us to miss the ferry to Croatia. 

Limi: "Here, have another beer!"

Allie: "Ok! As long as we don't miss our ferry to Croatia!" 

Limi: "Don't worry - of course you will!"

FAIL.

After an intense realization that we should have checked in 2 hours prior to departure, we stayed in Bari for another night. 

Luckily, we found an alternative route and ended up taking a ferry to Montenegro instead.

Whoooo! Spontaneous trip through Montenegro!!

Greece is the WORD

I met Allie in Greece. 

It was a glorious reunion. 

For those of you who don't know Allie, she is my best friend in the universe and the star in my heavenly sky; we've known eachother for 15 years and everyone mistakes us for sisters, including 13 different people on this trip alone. On our trip we had a guest; his name was Flat Stanley and he accompanied us all over Greece and Croatia and London. 

In Greece, we were in the Dodocanese and the Cyclades islands, so we didn't make it to Athens or the mainland. However, we did manage to touch down on 6 different islands: Rhodos, Santorini, Paros, Naxos, Koufonessia and Kos. 

Here is a map of what we did: 

1.Right on Rhodos

Huge Turkish influence with an immaculate fortress old city

 and amazing stone and rock streets! 

(They felt good under my Birkenstocks. :)

2. Pleasurable Paros 

Humble and down-to-earth locals, mind-blowing views whilst ATV-ing 

and sensational calamari! YUM!

3. Easy-Peasy Koufonessi 

  a teensy-tiny, non-touristy

romantic island

with more goats than people, and 

more dead people than living ones, and 

 secretive, untouched caves, and

 the most gorgeous cerulean and aquamarine beaches imaginable. 

4. Naturally, Naxos 

An artsy island close to Paros with sprawling beaches

 and the Apollo's Gate ruins readily apparent at the coastline 

(that's Flat Stanley!)

5. Supposedly Sweet Santorini

famed island with sweeping views of a volcanic crescendo

but very touristy and catered mostly to partiers 

(we were special guests at a foam party near Perissa beach)

and lacking proper beaches 

(volcanic rock! CRAZY!)

6. Casual Kos

a low-maintanence, heavily British-influenced island close to Turkey. 

Happy Hour was f**king awesome.

All of them were special and beautiful - I mean, come on, it's Greece! I still do not like feta cheese (what is wrong with me???), but I have a newfound love for squid and octopus, which I never really liked before. 

I'd have to recommend Paros and Koufonessi, personally, especially if you're looking to relax. 

For the record, we met 8 Michaels in Greece.