“Visa Wellington on a Plate”, set for August 9 – 25, becoming the largest culinary festival in New Zealand Santa Monica, CA – July 2, 2013– Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city, has a boasting culinary scene led by stars such as Peter Gordon, a rapidly developing craft beer industry, and an edgy new world style that thrives on innovation. Thus, it is no wonder that it is about to host what is becoming the largest culinary festival in New … [Read more...]
My Personal Experience of Record Breaking Extreme Heat in Death Valley
Similar to the International notice for the Mavericks Surf Competition in Central California, I sent out our annual 48 hour window of notice to friends, family and acquaintances from around the world on Thursday June 27, 2013 - indicating temperatures were forecast for record highs in Death Valley, California USA. This was a tough sell for a number of reasons - especially because it is always a last minute notice, it is quite early in the season … [Read more...]
Saul Bolanos: A Modern Day Alchemist
John M. Edwards finds out that Costa Rican Artist Saul Bolaños’s Medium Is Hot Costa Rica, a coffee democracy in a sea of banana republics, is known more for its number-one export than its art. So perhaps it is only natural that Costa Rican photo-artist Saul Bolaños decided to fuse the two and extract art from the ubiquitous bean. His CAFEGRAFIA®, sepia-color photo images made real by coffee, explore the offbeat flight paths of Central … [Read more...]
Independence Days: The Firths of Fourth and Fourteenth
John M. Edwards switches two similar independence holidays around, “when” left intentionally vague, while storming the Bastille crowd on the 4th of July and watching the Hudson fireworks on the 14th of Juillet. In Paris, I finally managed to go by “bateau mouche” (boat fly) to one of my favorite sights on the Seine: the original little lady, a smaller prototype of “The Statue of Liberty”—a colossal gift from France which was shipped over to … [Read more...]
Let Les Bons Temps Roules in Red New Orleans
John M. Edwards discovers New Orleans unique cuisine to be out of this world, not just Creole and Cajun clichés (“Gumbo” and “Jambalaya”), but also, well, nothing beats an Oyster Poboy! At the legendary Napoleon House in New Orleans, Lousiana, I found myself expectantly dreaming of a dressed “Oyster Poboy,” especially since they had not even one of them on their menus. (Hurricane Katrina had literally wiped out many of the oyster beds way back … [Read more...]
Sometimes You’re Not Lost. And THAT’S the Greatest Lesson of Them All
“Can you do me a solid, Madame Laveau?” I whispered, so close I could have sworn I felt her lean in. There was no response. Not yet anyway. The months before heading to New Orleans was a chaotic mess. I had lost my job. Or rather, my career. A career I had studied for. A career I took pride in. I’m a teacher. But as I left the office the day I was let go, I remembered what my former boss said to me before my dismissal: “Your. Students. Love. … [Read more...]
Gastronomical wonder at my fingertips
“Chicas! ¡venido a la cena!!!” Quima’s voice travelled through the corridor and my eyes sprung open! Thank goodness - dinner was served. I looked at my watch: 9:23 pm. We’re making progress, at least from the usual 10 o’clock. Sometimes I wondered how my gastric juices could hold out for so long, but maybe I was starting to get accustomed to Spanish standard time. Breakfast at eight AM, a snack at eleven, heavy lunch at two, Tapas or merienda … [Read more...]
Encountering the COTONOU fetish tradition
As a young school boy growing up in the cosmopolitan city of Lagos, the thought of visiting neighboring Benin Republic fiercely fascinated me. In our history class during my secondary school days, we'd been taught about the great Dahomey kingdom which, at its loftiest height, extended to parts of Badagry which is now located in present-day Lagos, Nigeria. Now an Anthropologist whose core research interests lie in cultural evolutions, I was quite … [Read more...]
Touring Napa Valley: Tasting wine where it’s made
There’s something to be said for having an affordable bottle of rosé on a Friday night – particularly one that is low in calories but still tasty – Blossom Hill is a good example. But to learn more about appreciating wine, the best thing to do is visit the country where it was made – because like olives in Greece, biltong in South Africa or surf and turf in California – it just tastes better! Blossom Hill is made in California (and a bunch of … [Read more...]
Brac Island, Croatia – July 2013
Brac (pronounced 'brach') Croatia is an easily accessible island (about 50 minute ferry ride from the city of Split on the mainland). A visit here is well worth a day trip...at minimum. For the adventurous, renting motorbikes is a must. The island has some beautiful beaches as well as more intimate private bays. Picturesque villages dot the shoreline around the island and small cut off roads often lead down to these villages or connect them below … [Read more...]
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