Delhi street food vendors benchmark good health practices and urban planning

March 14, 2005

This Delhi street vendor has set up a much needed no smoking zone right in front of his stand (located in front of the state emporia across the street from the Hanuman Mandir near CP). I believe he is selling little packets of flavoured chewing tobacco.

debra at 18:30 | Comments (0) | post to del.icio.us

In the hood

March 12, 2005

I have arrived safely in Delhi and my students and I are playing a little game in which we hit the streets rather intensively and then find little havens in all different forms to come back to our senses. The streets here are LAUNCH pads, and you need a place, a peace, to come down every now and again. For our little group of 6, the time limit seems to be 45 minutes per jaunt. But we’ve been exceeding this quite a bit.

Tomorrow I’ll try to find an internet cafe where I can upload some of the amazing images. Finding such a place is proving difficult, we may have to resort to moblogging with telephone. Poo.

debra at 15:40 | Comments (1) | post to del.icio.us

Black Beauties, wafting truffles from Occitania

March 7, 2005

It wasn’t a conventional Valentine’s Day gift, but I do think it should become one. I am lucky enough to have dear friends that live in a part of the world where these elephant-skinned nuggets grow underground. Fortune would have it that 2 days before their arrival up here in the Polar Circle a local Occitanian Truffle Fête was in full-swing. and JT and Kristi were wise to bring a bag filled with the little nodules.

They present me with the bag, grinning from ear to ear. I put my face inside, and inhale deeply.

I am confronted with the most glorious, heady aroma, a combination of rich, loamy earth, wafting diesel fuel, fresh ground peanut butter, and fart. Now in just the right combination, that’s a good thing.

Here’s what I prepared for the 3 of us the very next day:
– Knolsla (celeriac cole sla) with truffled mayonnaise and beet ravioli
– Truffled Chicken in salt crust with ‘basically raw broccoli’ and truffle butter
– Pots de Crumbly Crumble (truffle-free)

Never have I received such a wonderful Valentine’s Day gift; I was given an object but got an evening-filling experience. Thank you JT and Kristi!
(Please read more… )

debra at 21:42 | Comments (6) | post to del.icio.us