Mumbai “dabbawala” culture

by Abha Malpani on

I never thought I’d be sitting in Madrid, wishing that there was some “dabbawala” to bring me cheap, homemade, Indian food.

“Dabbawala” literally translates to “guy with box”; in this case the box is a tiffin full of food. In India, although fast food is popular, Indians always crave home cooked Indian food and often choose it over street food or McDonald’s. Hectic working schedules make this practically impossible if you don’t have someone cooking for you every morning. Even if you do, the food is cold by lunch time and it doesn’t taste the same when reheated.

The joy of getting hot, home cooked food delivered to you like you’ve specified, at exactly the time you want, is priceless. Mumbai’s dabbawalas make it happen for a fee as little as Rs.250 a month (just over US$6). The food is collected either from homes or from a catering service, then taken to a point where they are color-sorted (the guys are generally illiterate), grouped according to location, and then delivered by train.

More than 200,000 lunches are delivered by about 5000 dabbawalas everyday with an amazing accuracy of menu and time; a recent survey says that they only make one mistake in every 6,000,000 deliveries. There is no day off for the dabbawalas, they have never gone on strike and harsh weather conditions — especially monsoon season — have never stopped them from doing their job well.

What has been awed about the dabbawalas is how they function so accurately, without the use of any modern technology — only recently they have begun accepting orders via SMS. The success of their system has called much attention from business schools as well as tourists and now they have a “Day with the Dabbawalas” itinerary where you can spend a day in Mumbai helping them out — something Richard Branson did on one of his visits to India.

They have been in business for 125 years and it’s one of the systems that truly represents how efficient an Indian city can be, if it wants to.

Prague 101: How to order Czech dumplings

by Iva Skoch on

Whenever friends from abroad are visiting Prague, they always want to eat dumplings. The problem is, they just want to be able to say they have had dumplings so they order them randomly as a side dish to–say–schnitzel. See, that doesn’t really work. Schnitzel is dry, dumplings are dry. Now, if you ordered a side of steamed cabbage/sauerkraut to smother your dumpling in, you could MAYBE get away with that…but it is a strange combo.

We are talking about “side dish” dumplings here, typically either bread or potato dumplings (not about dumplings filled with fruit — that’s dessert). The advantage of dumplings is that they soak up the sauce, so they should always be ordered with a “saucy dish”, for example:

  • goulash
  • svickova (roast tenderloin & sour cream sauce) – see picture
  • vepro-knedlo-zelo (pork roast with cabbage; cabbage is just wet enough to pose as “sauce” here)
  • Beef with creamy dill sauce, mushroom sauce, tomato sauce…you name it.

Sauce is the magic word. So please don’t walk into a restaurant and order a chicken fillet with dumplings. You would like it about as much as a hamburger with rice.

Oregon Truffle Festival

by Jamie Rhein on

Here’s something I didn’t know. Truffles are at the peak of their season this time of year in Oregon. Frankly, I didn’t know truffles grew in Oregon. The word truffles actually makes me think of Piglet in Winnie the Pooh. Didn’t Piglet search for truffles? Or is that something else?

Truffles do grow wild in Oregon in large amounts and for the third year, this mushroom delicacy is being celebrated by the Oregon Truffle Festival in and around Eugene. Here it is being honored by its presence as an ingredient in many culinary delights, among other things. There is a Grand Truffle dinner which is already sold out. Curious how much it costs? $150. Truffle growers are the main focus on Saturday, but on Sunday the general public has their truffle time.

The main open to the general public event is the Festival Market Place on Sunday, January 27 . It’s $15 to get in, or $20 and a wine glass if you want to add wine tasting. There is a mix of wineries, other gourmet food producers and truffles to savor. You can buy truffles, watch truffles being cooked, listen to talks about truffles and taste truffles. This looks like an event that is perfect for warming up a cold day. Quite lush and elegant, I’m sure. I’d bring a wine glass.

Eat well in New York. You can afford it this week

by Iva Skoch on

One of the delightful things about New York this time of year is Restaurant Week. Some of the best New York restaurants offer prix-fixe lunch and/or dinner menus a “bargain” deal of $24.07 (lunch) and $35 (dinner). Over 200 restaurants participate. You shouldn’t wait to make a reservation — you can actually do it online now. The best restaurants fill quickly.

New York holds Restaurant Week twice a year – one now and one in June. I like the one in the winter better because New York relatively tourist-free an–besides–eating well is one of the better ways to survive the New York winter.

What the pho? Or, how to order beef noodle soup in Vietnam

by Catherine Bodry on

I’m generally pretty good with languages, and often have few problems communicating the basics in a new country after I’ve been there a few weeks. I thought this skill was relegated to the romance languages only, but when I traveled solo in China, necessity forced me to pick up a sizable chunk of Mandarin.

So when I left China for Vietnam, I was feeling fairly confident in my language abilities. And I was also hungry for some phô. For those of you who haven’t tasted this beefy delight, get thee to a phô shop immediately! (In fact, I’m pretty sure there’s a chain called “What the Phô.”) In this dish, beef is simmered in broth with cinnamon, star anise, rice noodles, and a bunch of other savory stuff, then served to you with a side of fresh sprouts and herbs. Fill your bowl with these, some chiles and fish sauce, and you’ve got the best bowl of soup you’ve ever had.

You’d think I could master the simple phrase “phô bo” (beef noodle soup) — pronounced in English as “fuh buh.” I had a month in Vietnam to perfect it, and I ordered the soup daily, yet I could never get it right. Vietnamese has 6 tones that go up,down and around — as far as I could tell — and every time I ordered pho bo (with different tones each time) I was met with confused looks. I tried rising, then falling: “Fu-UH BU-uh” Nope. Short, then long: “Fuh Buuuuuuuuh.” Huh-uh. Even though I was at a noodle shop that served only pho, even though I was getting all the consonants right, they still had no clue what I was saying. Thankfully, most of the vendors seemed to understand “beef noodle soup.”

And that’s about as far as I got with Vietnamese.