Why Tipping Abroad can be Insulting

by Neil Woodburn on

Tipping in foreign countries is something I always struggle with. Most guide books will tell you what the tipping custom is for particular countries and yet, tipping is so inbred in Americans like myself that it is tough not to do so in those countries where it is not customary.

I’ve come across many articles about tipping in foreign countries, but one which came out last Sunday in The Los Angeles Times dug into the topic a bit deeper. It tackled the negative aspects of tipping where tipping is not expected.

It’s easy to assume that any member of a wait staff would be happy with a little extra money tossed in their direction but this is simply not the case. The article by Rosemary McClure explains how insulting and degrading a tip might be despite the best intentions of a visiting foreigner wanting to help out some underpaid waitress. This is particularly true in Asia where, according to McClure, a tip implies “that the person you’re tipping isn’t hospitable enough to provide service without a bribe.”

Ouch! Now I get it.

Spare a few moments and check out this article. It will not only help you save money, but face as well. And what’s better than that?

Baked Bean Museum of Excellence and Captain Beany

by Jamie Rhein on

Perhaps you have a can of baked beans in your kitchen cabinet. There is one place in Wales where baked beans have taken over the place. At the Baked Bean Museum of Excellence in Port Talbot there are 200 items that pay tribute to this every person’s foodstuff. The guy who owns this museum, Captain Beany (I kid you not, this is his legal name) filled a two-bedroom flat with cans of baked beans of various sizes and baked bean paraphernalia as a way to draw attention to his fundraising efforts and earn his place on the list of eccentrics who do good work. Plus, the museum is a tribute to the concept that just about anything can be interesting.

Captain Beany’s love of baked beans started somehow with the music group The Who and the photo of Roger Daltry that was taken while he was sitting in a bathtub of baked beans and used for the 1960s album cover The Who Sell Out. Inspired, Captain Beany, (then Barry Kirk) sat in his own bathtub of baked beans in the Aberavon Beach Hotel lobby in Port Talbot in a fundraising stunt. There’s a lot to this guy who has transformed himself into an oddball superhero. He’s earned awards from the department of tourism for promoting his town. If you go to the museum you get a personally signed certificate that says you were there.

Cheap Grub in Iceland. Honest!

by Neil Woodburn on

“Budget” and “Iceland” are rarely spoken in the same sentence.

As much as I love this Nordic country, it unfortunately remains the most expensive place I’ve ever visited. Occasionally, my brother and I opted for hot dogs from a hot dog stand in Reykjavik to cut costs, but otherwise we paid small fortunes for a sit down meal in a restaurant.

Jonathan Finer, writing for the Washington Post, was equally shocked at the restaurant prices but was able to find a couple of budget alternatives. In Iceland’s Costly Capital, Two Cool Bargains, Finer points hungry travelers in the right direction.

At Saegreifinn (above) he was able to walk away with just a $45 bill for two entrees of seafood, soup, and two bottles of local beer. Right next door at Hamborgarabullan (Hamburger Joint) Finer discovered burgers, fries and milkshakes for two people priced at just under $30.

Sure, it still sounds expensive, but “budget” is a relative term. And in Iceland, $30 for hamburgers is a great freakin’ deal indeed!

One for the Road: Mediterranean Summer

by Kelly Amabile on

After four years of intense internships at restaurants in Provence and Italy, American chef David Shalleck was debating a return to the US when an interesting opportunity presented itself. A wealthy Italian couple challenged him to serve as chef aboard their yacht for five months, using only local ingredients from port cities and never once repeating a meal for the couple and their guests on board.

The result, no surprise here, is Shalleck’s new book, Mediterranean Summer: A Season on France’s Cote d’Azur and Italy’s Costa Bella. Accompanied with a super sleek interactive website and a foreword by Mario Batali, this book is sure to be a hit with fans of fine dining and European elegance. Readers can live vicariously through Shalleck as he whips up gourmet meals from the galley of a luxury yacht on his regatta through the Riviera. With stops in Amalfi, Sardinia, Corsica and Saint-Tropez, Shalleck captures the culture of world-class Mediterranean dining in this culinary adventure.

The book officially hits stores on May 22.


The World’s Best Canned Food?

by Willy Volk on

Neil recently mentioned where to go to find the signature dishes of some European countries. Sometimes, though, even the most die-hard travelers are not at liberty to just zoom off to foreign lands to hunt down dinner.

My wife and I love Indian food. To us, no other country’s food has so many enticing smells, appealing colors, curious tastes, and varied options. Indian food is our favorite “foreign food,” and we’re lucky that there are some good Indian restaurants within a few miles of our house.

On some nights, though, we don’t have the time or energy to go out and get Indian food. What do we do when we’re craving curry or masala and don’t feel like going out to get it? Simple. We bring the Indian food to us.

Recently, we stumbled on Jyoti Indian food in the “ethnic foods” aisle of our local supermarket, and we decided to give it a try. I’m always a bit reluctant to try canned food, but this was excellent. In fact, Jyoti is undeniably the best canned food I’ve ever eaten — and it’s better than some restaurant-cooked Indian food I’ve sampled, too.

During our first Jyoti dinner, we ate the Delhi Saag (spinach and mustard greens). We added some tofu to the mix, warmed it through, and ate it with rice and bread. It was incredible: a little spicy, but not so hot that our tongues or lips were on fire. Since we’d added the tofu, it made enough that we even had leftovers the next night.

Last night, we sampled the Matar Paneer (peas and Indian home-style cheese). Again, we cooked some rice and heated some bread — my wife had even found some organic samosas for us to try! — and loaded up our plates. Amazingly, it was even better than the Saag — and I hate cooked peas.

What’s up next? Don’t know. I think I’d like to try the Madras Sambar (lentils and vegetables), or perhaps the Classic Masala Sauce, but I’m going to poke around the shelves at the grocery store and see what looks best. Fortunately for us, our supermarket carries a large portion of Jyoti’s catalog on its shelves. I have a feeling we’ll be sampling many more dinners.

In a nutshell, if you like Indian food, you really need to try Jyoti. the only way it could be better is if it were delivered by a real dabbawala.