I've Been Absolutely Terrified Every Moment of My LIfe

“I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life -- and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.” Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia O'Keeffe is telling me to stop creating anti-self propoganda (and I like to imagine that she is telling me this over a cup of nice black tea), which makes me smile. There's a lot of things in the world that suggest that I cannot do something and reassurance by someone like Mrs. O'Keeffe is always pleasant. I don't think that a lot of people understand this factor, the fear factor, in their own lives. This quote is a favorite of my Auntie - she said she's such a fearful person, she was glad Georgia O'Keeffe could understand. haha.

I can't help but also laugh a little at myself, especially when I think of all the terrifying questions that come at me everyday - "Am I happy?" "Is this person right for me?" "WHERE am I going?" "Can I DO this?" The reason why I laugh is most likely because, as I look at those questions now, the answer should be "YES," or "TO BE DISCOVERED," ...or at least a "yes" would suffice. Am I terrified? Yes. Should that stop me? No - unless it's something like sky-diving; that's a matter of good sensible judgement.

There's no fault in a person who believes in themself - though it can be the hardest thing to do sometimes; what a shame. I measure myself against the people around me and sometimes I think that I'm not enough; that I can't catch up. In reality though, who cares if you can catch up or if you're better? Isn't this all just a matter of opinion? It's like food, your mom can be the greatest chef to you but the world says Emeril can do it better. It can be discouraging to have the entire world think that Emeril cooks kimchee chega better than your mom (very discouraging) but in the end, your moms kimchee chega tastes better than Emeril's and what's the world going to do but make room for your dissent, for your happiness, your satisfaction with your own opinion.

I followed a Twitter post today by WeBlogTheWorld that led to another provocative quote, "If you hear a voice within you saying 'you are not a painter,' then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced." Vincent Van Gogh

So I will continue to eat and then blog about it (among various other life ambitions).

Bon Appetit.

I Tasted Genius

There are only so many different kinds of food available back where I come from, ie MI; there's italian, the fancy italian, american, the fancy american, korean, japanese aka sushi, and the occassional Thai and high-end 'French' restaurant. There is only ONE Ethiopian restaurant in my hometown as far as I know, and I'm sorry I missed out all these years!

After journeying to Dukem Ethiopian restaurant, I discovered that Ethiopian food is one of the loveliest foods I've tried in awhile...Just reminiscing about the dinner makes my mouth water. I say loveliest because that's how the food is, the tastes just melt ino your mouth. The food appears very basic in appearance, ground beef, chick peas, kale, etc. ...but then you actually eat the food and there's a literal explosion of mmmmmmmmmm in your mouth (as my food-crazed auntie puts it, that's because of the enormously fattening ghee butter that Ethiopians cook with).

Unfortunately, I don't remember what was ordered - but I'll get back to you on this, my knowledgeable french counterpart had ordered for the group, and I'm sure he'll remember. (And, as a note, you should really go to an Ethiopian restaurant as a group, the nature of Ethiopian food calls for group get-togethers; 2 people will hardly suffice.)

A few fun facts, the food that is pictured is actually sitting on a large, round, spongy flatbread called injera. After you clear enough of the dish you get another special treat - you get to eat the injera that was below the food and has soaked up every amazing bit of flavor (and ghee butter). Also, you eat with your hands (specifically just your right hand if you'd like to be polite); you use pieces of injera that's given alongside the dish to scoop up the various wat (stews) that you've been served.

The flavors, the minute they enter your mouth, will seem recognizeable and homey. The Ethiopian taste can't be considered complex or overwhelming for the average tongue (avg. college tongue at the very least) but more along the opposite. The food is very simple and each individual flavor can be sifted through and soaked up by your tongue; however, simplicity shouldn't be used as an undermining factor. The basics are always refreshing when done right, and the food was cooked superbly for its price. Everything seemed to melt in my mouth and ghee butter or not, it was worth the calories!!

The only downside, inja swells in your stomach with water and makes you full faster - I so desperately wish I had been able to eat more.

As you can see, me and my friends had no qualms about the extra calories.

Dukem: The service may be a little...frenetic, the space is packed, and the food is excellent. Everyone in this loud space seemed to be enjoying the night and the food itself sits as an exceptionally warm invitation for your friends to gather together and genuinely enjoy themselves.

Conversations with my Food-Crazed Auntie

Recently, while driving to the metro station early in the morning with my auntie, I had a conversation with her about edible animals. Naturally, you might think we were talking about cows or chicken or sheep; rather, the edible animals we discussed were those ones that live in our houses with us - pets, and nuisance animals - geese, rats, insects. This cemented my belief that she was a food-obsessed Asian like myself. She had spotted some geese along the roadside and had said to me, "You know, we should really do something about the geese; I've always thought we should shoot them and eat them."

While I listened in partial shock to what she was saying she continued with, "I mean really, what a waste! They're not supposed to be here and they're infesting the area...you know, that's the type of geese that they use to make peking duck. Peking duck is about that size, you know?"
Well, no, I didn't know this. But since I do now, it's a good subject for discussion. Why don't we just shoot and eat the geese? (My Auntie brought up the fact that we could feed a lot of homeless in DC with the number of geese available - some Canadian senators have apparently thought the same: http://tinyurl.com/lzhmcx) Would they taste bad? Their diet, I imagine, doesn't encourage the average appetite. Still, people have eaten far less appetizing creatures.

Why not eat geese? Or your friends' pet bunny - they always look so plump. (And yes, I have said to my friends with pet bunny's, "that looks delicious.") Or insects - amazing sources of protein. I can't say they look pretty or appetizing....but for a country that is indoctrinated in beef culture, it's a step around certain sources of food like beef. Beef gobbles up resources, emits significant amounts of harmful gases, and itself suffers many pains before being packed into those shiny plastic and styrofoam packets that we see in our grocery stores today.

Hello World

Welcome to The Global Food Campaign,
I'm currently in D.C. interning; there is a lot of potentially delectable dishes to be eaten (on a budget: a usual for me), what should I look at? Where do you want me to look?

Thus far, I've traveled to Annandale, VA and tasted food at the Korean barbecue Honey Pig. Put Simply: It was worth it.

Honey Pig: Loud. Open 24/7. Young Crowd. Good Alcohol. Dirty. Authentic. Packed. ....Fabulous.

As you can see, it was an open-space-esque restaurant with all customers packed into one large area. This is not for the private diners; it's for the diners who just want to eat - with a hungry horde surrounding. It sounds, and maybe even looks, less magnificent than it really is though. Personally, I got the feeling that I was back in Seoul; eating at one of those glorious hangover street-teraunts at 2am. With the strong (but not that strong) smell of korean barbecue, the ability to see every other delectable dish around you (you're practically sitting on your neighbors), the noise of a pack of hungry Koreans, the no-nonsense and-of course-impatient Korean-only speaking waiter, the grill-in-the-table configuration, and a bottle of beer, I had one of the best, dirtiest and most authentic korean street-teraunt experience of my life (thus far).

The food was good, passable; the gleaming highlight would be the manageable price and street-teraunt atmosphere. You should think about bringing a friend with you; at the Honey Pig, the more there are, the more certain that you'll enjoy this meal. The dish I tried gets 4 stars for authenticity - your average Korean family will have eaten/will be eating/will know how to eat this: hot bulgogi right off the grill, rice, spicy paste, and a large leaf of napa cabbage. Simple and delectable = the average korean dish.

You'll get plenty of banchan (korean side dishes) for the price you pay, the apple banchan was a new one for me; a sweet and refreshing change from the spicy kimchi and "soy-sauced" spinach. As you'll notice from the picture, you also get a salad for an appetizer. I'm not much for greens, but my friends devoured the bowl. The salad appetizer was crisp and full of interesting greens.

잘 먹으세요. Enjoy - the first Global Food blog!