New Foods

I’m sitting in a small restaurant, located in a strip shopping center at the edge of Conroe, Texas. It’s a family-owned place, clean but sparsely decorated. I’m not sure what the theme is supposed to be. There are paintings of geishas and farmers in rice paddies, Chinese junkets and paper lanterns, the ubiquitous Buddha, statues of koi. The menu features hand-rolled sushi, sashimi, and a dozen varieties of pho. The bottled chili sauce is labeled in characters I can’t read, with translations in English and French. The clientele is an even mix of middle-class white couples, Asian families, pierced college students talking about their church youth group, and a grey-haired man, sitting at the sushi bar in a Harley Davidson t-shirt, who is the right age to have participated in the Vietnam War. There are several dozen places just like this all over the Houston area. Heck, there are three near my office that we rotate for lunch.

I’m culturally Texan, even though I’m a military brat and lived in several states growing up. My dad lived in Japan, Thailand, and Guam while serving in the Air Force, and has talked about some of the food he ate there, but either he didn’t bring back a taste for Asian foods, as many GIs do, or my mom wasn’t inclined to learn to make them. I’m unaware if he even asked her. We ate typical Southern food with Texas influences – no turnip greens, but meat loaf and chicken-fried steak, fried chicken and mashed potatoes, stacked enchiladas, pot roast, casseroles. Cornbread and biscuits. Sometimes we had spaghetti, which bears almost no resemblance to authentic Italian-style pasta dishes, outside of the noodles (sorry, Mom, but it’s true. Yes, I know you like it, but that doesn’t mean it’s authentic.) It wasn’t until I left home and started traveling on my own that I was exposed to other cuisines: a French restaurant near my college campus, a trip to New Orleans that fostered a love of authentic Cajun foods, working with an Indian man who introduced the joys of curries and raita. Tapas (I’m never eating pancreas again, and you can’t make me). Souvlaki and pirogues and really smelly cheeses. Persian and Thai. And suishi and Vietnamese noodle soups.

The coastal cities, the New Yorks and the San Franciscos, received most of our immigrants and got to experience the aromas of their foods long before Middle America did. Our soldiers brought back their acquired fondness for oregano and soy sauce, as the English military took home their taste for Indian and Chinese cooking. And barely 30 years after an ugly war in Vietnam, I’m surrounded by their noodle houses, breathing in the vapors of basil and lemongrass.

Baby Grows Up

I think I passed a milepost yesterday.

My youngest son called about some random thing, and we ended up in an hour-long conversation about skepticism, rational and critical thinking, evolution vs pseudosciences such as Intelligent Design and creation ‘science’, Fundies, and Life, the Universe, and Everything. We were able to relate the conversation back to our trip to the Amaz!ng Meeting last summer, and hearing Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson speak.

When your son uses terms like “ontological argument” and knows what it means, you feel that he probably won’t end up his days delivering pizzas and voting for wealth redistribution.

A Day in Arles, Ste Marie de la Mer, and Les Baux de Provence

Today we spent in the car. We drove to the Mediterranean this morning, to the small city of Saint Marie de la Mer. It’s famous for having the actual bones of the mother of St James and St John,and the bones of the sister of the Virgin Mary, along with their servant Sara. Supposedly they were put into a boat after the crucification, without sails or oars, and ended up in this place 2000 years ago. A church was founded here in the 9th century, and miraculously their bones were discovered in 1448!!! Sara was an Egyptian woman, and is venerated by Gypsies as their patron saint. While we walked around the tiny place (and saw Sara’s actual bones) there were many men and women lighting candles and praying before the shrine. It was very strange.

We then drove to Arles, where Van Gogh spent much time painting. We used my National Geographic guide book and followed a suggested route seeking the Arena and the Amphitheater. It so happened that the government of France is restoring these monuments. The Arena was half done…on one side, it was the gray and black decaying edifice, and on the other side, they have blasted it back to the original white limestone. It will be beautiful. We visited the Church of St. Triomphe, which (supposedly) contains a relic of St. Stephen, the first Christian matyr, as well as numerous relics from other maytrs. It was built over 1000 years ago. After a nice refreshment of sangria on a tree-lined medieval street, we then headed for Les Baux de Provence, where we climbed endlessly to the ramparts of the top hills. The quilt-patch photo below is of the orchards and vinyards that can be seen from the top. The original lords of Les Baux believed themselves to be descendants of one of the Three Wise Men, and generally reeked havoc and ignored the Pope and king of France right through the end of the Middle Ages. We spent over 3 hours wandering and climbing. Because we were tired, and the grocery markets close at 7 pm or so in France, we feasted on an egg frittata and pan-fried potatoes, all things we could find in the pantry.

A Day in Arles, Ste Marie de la Mer, and Les Baux de Provence

Today we spent in the car. We drove to the Mediterranean this morning, to the small city of Saint Marie de la Mer. It’s famous for having the actual bones of the mother of St James and St John,and the bones of the sister of the Virgin Mary, along with their servant Sara. Supposedly they were put into a boat after the crucification, without sails or oars, and ended up in this place 2000 years ago. A church was founded here in the 9th century, and miraculously their bones were discovered in 1448!!! Sara was an Egyptian woman, and is venerated by Gypsies as their patron saint. While we walked around the tiny place (and saw Sara’s actual bones) there were many men and women lighting candles and praying before the shrine. It was very strange.

We then drove to Arles, where Van Gogh spent much time painting. We used my National Geographic guide book and followed a suggested route seeking the Arena and the Amphitheater. It so happened that the government of France is restoring these monuments. The Arena was half done…on one side, it was the gray and black decaying edifice, and on the other side, they have blasted it back to the original white limestone. It will be beautiful. We visited the Church of St. Triomphe, which (supposedly) contains a relic of St. Stephen, the first Christian matyr, as well as numerous relics from other maytrs. It was built over 1000 years ago. After a nice refreshment of sangria on a tree-lined medieval street, we then headed for Les Baux de Provence, where we climbed endlessly to the ramparts of the top hills. The quilt-patch photo below is of the orchards and vinyards that can be seen from the top. The original lords of Les Baux believed themselves to be descendants of one of the Three Wise Men, and generally reeked havoc and ignored the Pope and king of France right through the end of the Middle Ages. We spent over 3 hours wandering and climbing. Because we were tired, and the grocery markets close at 7 pm or so in France, we feasted on an egg frittata and pan-fried potatoes, all things we could find in the pantry.

At the Pont du Gard

Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast of eggs, fresh melon and, of course, bread, we headed to the Pont du Gard. (www.pontdugard.fr) I have always wanted to see this magnificient Roman monument – what a testament to the feat of engineers. I did notice that the French are being dragged into the 21st century and now have English posted alongside French in their newer museums. That is certainly not the case with most sites, although you can sometimes sometimes find brochures in other languages.

At the Pont du Gard

Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast of eggs, fresh melon and, of course, bread, we headed to the Pont du Gard. (www.pontdugard.fr) I have always wanted to see this magnificient Roman monument – what a testament to the feat of engineers. I did notice that the French are being dragged into the 21st century and now have English posted alongside French in their newer museums. That is certainly not the case with most sites, although you can sometimes sometimes find brochures in other languages.

At the Uzes Market

We visited the market in the medieval town of Uzes on Saturday. Although a bit rainy, we had a great time. Here are some random shots from the day:

At the Uzes Market

We visited the market in the medieval town of Uzes on Saturday. Although a bit rainy, we had a great time. Here are some random shots from the day:

After Market

Although it was still raining a bit, we ventured into Uzes for the weekly market. This is what rural France is all about. The central walled part of the ancient city was full of street vendors selling food, cheese, wines, fish, clothing, linens, truffles, pottery, and fresh flowers. We shopped at an outdoor stand offering 20 kinds of olives, bought a wheel of fresh Brie, a bottle of truffle oil, several chunks of various homemade saucissions (dry sausages), a beautiful cantelope and baby artichokes. For lunch we had pizza, French-style: one was tomato sauce with cheese and 'mashed cod' and another with sausages and baby goat cheese. And wine.

Afterwards, we went to Carrefours, which is a huge supermarket. In short, the French are more serious about their food. There were three aisles of cheeses, alone. We bought scallops, with the roe attached, vegetables, bread, makings for sauces, lots of fresh butter and eggs. And wine and beer and pastis. Below is a sampling.

After Market

Although it was still raining a bit, we ventured into Uzes for the weekly market. This is what rural France is all about. The central walled part of the ancient city was full of street vendors selling food, cheese, wines, fish, clothing, linens, truffles, pottery, and fresh flowers. We shopped at an outdoor stand offering 20 kinds of olives, bought a wheel of fresh Brie, a bottle of truffle oil, several chunks of various homemade saucissions (dry sausages), a beautiful cantelope and baby artichokes. For lunch we had pizza, French-style: one was tomato sauce with cheese and 'mashed cod' and another with sausages and baby goat cheese. And wine.

Afterwards, we went to Carrefours, which is a huge supermarket. In short, the French are more serious about their food. There were three aisles of cheeses, alone. We bought scallops, with the roe attached, vegetables, bread, makings for sauces, lots of fresh butter and eggs. And wine and beer and pastis. Below is a sampling.