Fried Dough Around the World

by Dave (Blogsmith Old) on

For dessert, we span the globe in search of fried dough – and discover that it’s a sweet sticky treat enjoyed by millions around the world – everyone just calls it something different!

The fun fried dough folks at Oso-Ono have compiled a history of the dessert – “From No Hole to Hole and Back” – highlighting the variations of dough that have evolved over centuries. Beginning in the Portuguese Azores and Madeira islands in 1445, fried dough – called malassada, is traced through the years.

With or without a hole, many ethnic communities lay claim to some form of fried dough: beignet (France), churro (Spain/Mexico), zeppole (Italy), poori (India) or paa thong koh (Thailand) – just to name a few. Here are photos, descriptions and sources for all the research done by this California company on 35 different types of delicious worldwide fried dough desserts. Yum.

Lascaux on Your Lap

by Erik Olsen on

The French caves of Lascaux was discovered by happenstance in 1940 by four French boys who stumbled upon it while exploring the area. They have since become one of the most treasured and studied anthropological artifacts in human history. For good reason. The caves radiant wall paintings offer a breath-taking and revealing view of what life as a human was like 18,000 years ago. Not to mention they show what incredible artistic talent our forebears possessed.

I confess, I’ve always wanted to visit Lascaux, even if I’ve sometimes wondered whether the caves were the equivalent of prehistoric funny pages (a sort of Far Side for Australopithecus). But while I have no immediate flight plans to France, I did see that a new book is out about the caves by Norbert Aujoulat, the research director of the caves for the last 10 years. Called Lascaux: Movement, Space and Time, the book contains 226 full color photos, maps and illustrations of the cave’s proto-artistic wonders.

Speak French Over Dinner

by Adrienne Wilson on

As many of us know the French can be pretty harsh when it comes to parading around their country with meager lingo skills. I’ve heard several horror stories dealing with this language barrier issue and few good ones from travelers that really made an attempt to speak some French. Since I haven’t experienced anything first hand, I won’t comment on the topic much.

However, I do want to provide the hungry traveler this great French language instruction from Slow Travel France on dining out. Nothing beats being able to navigate and fully comprehend a menu in a French restaurant and you’ll want to know if your waiter is calling you buttocks or whether you’re ordering the buttocks from some animal. Learn what cervelle (brain) or cuisses de grenouilles (frogs’ legs) and the correct way to pronounce them. David Ronnis who gives this nice language starter for Slow Travel also has some sample dialog found in a restaurant and breaks down the various types of restaurants, meals, menus, and formalities upon arrival. Good place to go if you really haven’t a clue.

Lance Armstrong and Bike Science

by Erik Olsen on

Lance “The Juggernaut” Armstrong did it. He won his seventh tour de France, an epic, unprecedented effort that will quite likely not be duplicated in our lifetime…or at least a few years.

Here is a very interesting story on NPR about bike science. It goes surprisingly deep. They examine Lance’s physiology, and ponder what is it about Lancenator that makes him such a superior athlete (does he process lactic acid quicker than the average pedal-pusher?). They look at the new bikes that dominated the Tour (hint: these aren’t your grandmother’s bikes), and they examine what forces of gravity allow you to keep a bike upright in the first place. Bike fans and neophytes will find this a fascinating listen.

How to Kiss French Style Sans Tongue

by Erik Olsen on

So I read this article on Worldhum all expecting to pick up some great French kissing tips. Perhaps glean some centuries-old secret about how to more adroitly maneuver your tongue to make the whole kissing experience more, well, romantic (I know, sounds kinda wussy, but you never know what you might learn and how certain tips might come in handy…so please no wise-cracks. At least I’m not reading Glamour or something).

Anyway, French kissing as we know it isn’t really what this article is about. And in the end, I’m actually glad that’s that case. Because the article helped confirm one suspicion that I’ve had for some time: that is the whole number of kisses per cheek thing is totally arbitrary. Yup, for years I’ve hung out with French friends, Norwegian friends, Czech friends, American friends who think they’re Czech, and always when you meet the women, there is that moment when you have to do the kiss thing. And I can NEVER remember, is it one, or two, or three kisses? The answer is: it depends.

Here is what the writer, Terry Ward writes about the requisite number of kisses. And keep in mind, this is just France!

It depends on the region… In the southern city of Toulouse, for example, two kisses is the norm, while in some Parisian suburbs you’ll be expected to give four and in the agricultural departement of Aveyron it’s three.

One country and there are four ways to kiss. How messed up is that? If there are any entrepreneurial types out there listening I have an idea. A GPS-based system for telling you which region of which country you are in, and how many kisses are thus required. Maybe the whole apparatus is embedded in your skull and the number is burned onto your retina every time you meet a new girl. Just thinking out loud, people.