Bubble Tea: So Many Flavors, so Little Time

by Jamie Rhein on

Each country I’ve lived in has some food or drink item I came to crave. So, when I think of that food or drink I think of that country. Like how eating Creamsicles and pork rinds reminds me of my childhood. (Okay, I have some southern roots and I can not recall the last time either passed my lips.) Bubble tea reminds me of Taiwan. When I left there I was sure that was the end of my bubble tea drinking days, since I hadn’t seen it before I moved to Hsinchu. As it turns out, bubble tea made it out of Asia and it seems it’s the latest creation to rival Baskin and Robbins ice-cream in the number of flavors possible. In Columbus, Ohio there are at least three places I know if that serve bubble tea-two of the businesses revolve around it. One, Bubbles Tea & Juice Company, is at the North Market, a swank boutique like eatery that stalls with various offerings ranging from organic meats to high end baked goods to ethnic foods and the other is near The Ohio State University campus.

The bubbles in bubble tea aren’t really bubbles at all but tapioca balls that are so sticky if you shoot them out of a straw at a window, they’ll stick. I have never done this but I know someone else who has. The balls are black and settle to the bottom of the glass, which in true Taiwan fashion is usually not glass but plastic. The tea is served either with milk or without and comes in different flavors: red bean, litchi, green tea melon, strawberry, you name it, someone is making it somewhere. In Taiwan you can get it cold or hot. I prefer hot myself. In the U.S., cold seems to be the temperature of choice.

Here are links to blogs and articles about Bubble Tea spots in Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Houston. Read them for flavor suggestions. Where do you go for your bubble tea and which flavor do you recommend? Here’s a link to a company, Boba.us where you can buy supplies to make your own.

“Man Bites Dog”: Dining on Dog Meat in Nigeria

by Willy Volk on

According to Nigerian “chef” Bassey Umoh, eating dog meat can improve your sex life. Other common beliefs concerning canine cuisine include:

  • It offers special protection against withcraft.
  • It prevents poison from killing a person.
  • It can cure malaria.

As a result of so much (mis-)information circling throughout Abuja, dogs are now becoming scarce in the capital city. In fact, many of Abuja’s dog owners complain that their dogs have gone missing, suspicious that they’re winding up in local dishes, like big dog pepper soup pot, which sells for roughly 80¢/plate.

Personally, I’d never dream of eating dog, as I would only be able to imagine the face of my own dear, sweet pup staring back at me. Further, I assume most Western travelers would have a reaction much like mine. For some Nigerians, however, eating dog meat is a question of culture. According to one man, “I hear they eat frogs in certain parts of the world. But I tell you, no matter how you cook or dress a frog, I can never eat it.” Well…okay.

According to this bizarre but informative piece on the BBC, dog meat is so ingrained in Abuja’s culture, that a substantial amount of slang slang has developed to support it, including the disarmingly amusing:

404: A dog is also called 404 after the French-built Peugeot pick-up van, a tribute to a dog’s ability to run fast.
Headlights: A dish with the eyes of a dog as the most prominent component.
Gear Box: Dog’s liver, heart and kidneys (usually more expensive than ordinary meat).
Tyre: A dog’s legs. Mr Umoh claims that eating a ‘tyre’ makes you a fast runner.
Telephone: A dog’s tail.
Sentencing: The act of clubbing a dog to death rather than slaughtering it.

Before you get all up-in-arms about Nigerains dining on dogs, be reminded that Nigeria isn’t the only place in the world where dog is eaten. Would you eat it?

[Via Neatorama]

The Japanese Tradition of Sushi Eating

by Willy Volk on

While you’re in Japan watching fatties bump bellies, be sure to stop at a “sushi-ya” and eat some hand-rolled heaven. Don’t know all the tricks to eating sushi? Check out this excellent, informative, and completely serious clip about how to eat it the right way! Among the important topics covered in the video are:

  • How to pass though a “noren.”
  • How to request a table for one person.
  • The difference between “ohtoro,” “chuutoro,” and plain-old “toro.”
  • And when you must say “maa maa maa maa.”

Now you know. You’ll look just a local.

[Via Pink Tentacle]

California: Tops in Culinary Travel

by Neil Woodburn on

A recent study of 2,364 American tourists by Edge Research has revealed what I’ve known for a long time now; if you want to indulge in culinary tourism, visit California.

The Golden State ranked at the top of the survey for both food and wine-related travel thanks to its wonderful wine regions and tasty food festivals. Florida grabbed second place in the food category while New York did so in the wine category.

The study, a joint effort sponsored by Gourmet Magazine and the International Culinary Tourism Association, also revealed that an estimated 27 million travelers “engaged in culinary or wine-related activities” in the last three years while traveling.

Wow! That’s a lot of drunk, fat tourists!

New York City Restaurants Rat Free? For a Price, Maybe.

by Neil Woodburn on

New York City is known for a great many things, but two of them have always stuck out in my mind: food and rats. Sometimes, you can get both in the same place.

A recent controversy has revealed that local health inspectors have been accepting bribes to ensure that a restaurant is up to snuff. This is very disappointing. I’ve always felt reassurance when eating in American restaurants that even the diviest are regulated by the health department. This is rarely the case when traveling in third world countries and, as a result, my domestic travels to New York have always included the piece of mind that basic hygiene is being respected and that rats aren’t scurrying around the kitchen. The last time I visited New York, however, I came down with food poisoning. And now I know why.

The incident which caused this uproar was a KFC restaurant in Greenwich Village. A day after a health inspector gave the restaurant a passing grade with only 10 violation points, a local news station broadcasted footage of rats running amuck within the fast food outlet. The health inspector was fired and a more thorough evaluation the next day uncovered 92 violations. The KFC was immediately closed.

So, next time you are chowing down in New York, don’t assume those little dark nuggets on the floor are spilt peppercorn. The restaurant just might have a rat problem.