Inkwatu » international

Bosnian Food Store and Bakery

Hilton Kean Jones — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 09:51:15 +0000

How many times have you passed an interesting looking shop and kept telling yourself, “I really want to check that place out,” but then never do? Happens to me all the time. I finally stopped to explore such a little place that I’ve passed countless times but never entered, the Balkan Food Store and Bakery (6837 4th St. N, St. Petersburg; 727-526-1341). I’m glad I did. I spent a long time just browsing the shelves before narrowing down my choices to what I finally bought: a pastry and a jar of fig marmalade.

Here’s a quote from a St. Pete Times article on the Bosnian Food Store: “Asilan and Zahide Osmakac are among several shopkeepers who have opened in recent years to serve immigrants from Eastern Europe with products they miss from their homeland, including fresh breads. Their burek is made from a rope of dough filled with meats or cheese throughout. Small kifles are like curved hot dog rolls. A lovely, light round loaf is called lepine.”

It’s impossible, of course, to visit someplace with the word, Bosnian, in its title without reflecting on the troubles that part of the world have had for centuries. This Tampabay.com (St. Pete Times) article, Balkan community split on Karadzic, has important information to absorb about the implications, locally, of those conflicts. I still don’t understand the issues involved in the history of that region of the world. But…I do enjoy east Mediterranean food! I figure as long as I avoid foot-in-mouth comments, smile a lot, and keep to the reason I’m there (food), I don’t need to understand all there is to know about Bosnia and the Balkans. If you’d like to know more about the political issues of this part of the world, I highly recommend the CIA World Factbook…uh, yes, that CIA. Don’t be afraid to check out the Factbook; it’s a marvelous resource from a fascinating government agency. I also enjoy the Flags of the World link at their site.

The simplest items on the Bosnian Food Store and Bakery shelves speak of issues I need to research much more to even begin to understand. For instance, the fig marmalade I bought is a product of Macedonia. Until working on this post, my knowledge of Macedonia ended with reading about Alexander the Great when I was a kid. Little did I know there is a naming dispute about the use of the term, Macedonia, and the modern date state, the Republic of Macedonia! So, once again, until I read more, I’ll not ask questions, just enjoy the food.

Regardless of the issues, I’m now permanently hooked on fig marmalade. (I’d never had it before) Its taste, for me, eclipses all other marmalades (with the possible exceptions of kumquat marmalade). Here’s a Greek-Recipes.com recipe for fig marmalade that looks like a mere mortal could make it, if you can get 1 kilo of fresh figs.

The Bosnian Food Store proprietress and I were only able to communicate by single, isolated English words and sign language. That was plenty good enough. I have absolutely NO impatience with immigrants who have difficulty speaking English because–halting though their command of a new language may be–it far, far, far exceeds any ability I’ve ever achieved in a second language. I have nothing but respect for their making their way in an alien world. However, in this particular instance, I was left not quite knowing the name of the pastry I had. Was it lepine, mentioned in the St. Pete Times article above, or was it burek? Because what I bought had white cheese scattered throughout it, I’m tempted to say it may have been the burek. However, all the pictures I’ve seen of the burek (and the recipes) seem to suggest that it’s a heavier pastry than what I had, which was light and fluffy. Against that, though, is the fact that I could find no mention of lepine containing cheese! So…

Guess I’ll have to go back, buy another one, and ask! Lepine? Burek?

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Escape to Tahiti

Hilton Kean Jones — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:27:34 +0000

Have you ever wanted to run away from home? Join the circus? Run a hot dog stand (we’ve talked about this before)? Sail away to Tahiti (you know: Bernstein’s “Trouble in Tahiti,” going native like Gauguin, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Bali Hai“)? Of course; me too. Usually, my escapades are limited to day dreaming over a travel book. Just as one can gain a surprising amount of pleasure from drooling over the pages of a beautiful cookbook—the huge ones like you find on discount near the entrance of Borders—one can also vicariously experience the remote location of one’s desires in a good travel book.

As a kid, I remember reading Thor Heyerdahl‘s Kon Tiki: Across The Pacific By Raft (1950) and Aku-Aku: The Secret of Easter Island (1958). At the same age, I also read multiple books about snorkeling. One in particular stuck in my mind. It was a non-fiction account of a family, with children my own age, who moved to an island in the Caribbean. It was filled with beautiful underwater photos of their snorkeling adventures.

I never made it to Easter Island. I never became a snorkeler. I never made it to the Caribbean…yet. (Although I have stayed in a Holiday Inn Express!) But, I know my motivation to visit the places I did manage to visit was fueled by those early travel books. Such books still have a place in my life and I hope they do in yours too.

I was pleased to have recently made the acquaintance of an honest-to-goodness travel writer, David Stanley. Stanley, who is described as “the dean of travel writers,” writes primarily for Moon Handbooks, although he has also authored books for Lonely Planet. Just on the South Pacific region alone, he has three titles with Moon Handbooks: Moon South Pacific (Amazon link), Moon Fiji (Amazon link), and the title I want to discuss here, Moon Tahiti (Amazon link). Here are just a few of the features that attract me to this book:

• maps of entire islands and villages that are clearer than usual;
• wide ranging discussion of the cultural aspects of French Polynesia;
• constructed the way one actually uses a guidebook;
• ordered like the actual travel experience (planning, arrival, etc.);
• visually intelligible layout;
• budget options for every situation;
• an examination of each island group and island;
• historical perspectives;
• vital services and health references;
• practical technical charts;
• additional reading broken down into important categories;
• discussion of language skills;
• information on the arts;
• a discography of folk music of the area;
• good Internet links for further exploration;
• some user content (feedback provided by past readers);
• based only on un-sponsored, anonymous visits.

Those are things that are meaningful to me, the kind of things that catch my eye and make me choose one guidebook over another. But, that list, long as it is, falls short of describing all the features he provides. There is so much to recommend in this book and, I assume, other Moon Handbooks by Stanley. A lot of thought and many years of first-hand experience went into the creation and design of this book. I wish I had had as useful a book for other places I’ve visited. Be sure to visit David Stanley’s South Pacific website (http://www.southpacific.org/) for more information on that region and on other Moon Handbook titles.

Next post, we’ll continue this theme of escaping from the cares of our world by visiting the N. E. Taylor Boatworks in Cortez, Florida. There, they refurbish very large boats including ocean going sailboats capable of crossing the Pacific to Tahiti. The opening picture in today’s post is of just such a boat I photographed at the Taylor Boatworks. The flowers pictured above are plumeria (or frangipani). These, I shot at my sister’s home in Hawaii, but they are equally common in all the South Pacific islands, including Tahiti, as well as here in Florida. The following picture I took from the very southern tip of the Big Island of Hawaii, looking directly toward Tahiti and our shared, pacific dreams.

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SPIFFS — 2nd Annual Asian Pacific Rim Festival 2008

Hilton Kean Jones — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:22:08 +0000

This past weekend, October 11th and 12th, SPIFFS (the St. Petersburg International Folkfair Society) presented its 2nd Annual Asian Pacific Rim Festival 2008. I was fortunate to be able to attend their first one last year. It was a good beginning and this year was even better. I hope this becomes successfully established and as much of a community tradition as SPIFFS’ larger, annual International Folkfair (see SPIFFS — St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society).

SPIFFS (330 5th St. N., St. Petersburg, FL, 33701; 727-552-1896), lists a significant number of Asian member organizations:

• Suncoast Association of Chinese Americans
• The Fiji Club of Central Florida, Inc.
• Filipino-American Club of Pinellas County
• V.I.C.A.S.- Volunteers of India Culture & Art Society
• Korean American Association of West Florida, Inc.
• Laotian American Association of Florida, Inc.
• Florida Hmong Community Association
• Polynesian Connection Club of Vaepopua
• TACO (Taiwanese American Cultural Organization)
• Thai Association of Tampa Bay
• Tongan Cultural Organization of Florida, Inc.
• Vietnamese-American Association of St. Petersburg

By far, the most extensive presence at the fair was the Thai Association with multiple tents, flower collections, carved fruit, steam tables of an entire Thai menu, and gifts. I confess a fondness for Thai culture, attitudes, and cuisine. It pleases me to see how their presentation at the fair has expanded.

I’m not sure exactly what portion of the St. Petersburg population is Thai, but I suspect (along with Vietnamese) it is one of the groups with the highest representation.

According to the 2000 census data (see Hello St. Petersburg), this is the composition of St. Petersburg’s Asian population:

Asian: 6,640 (2.7%): Asian Indian: 867 (0.3%)
Chinese: 544 (0.2%)
Filipino: 798 (0.3%)
Japanese: 151 (0.1%)
Korean: 317 (0.1%)
Vietnamese: 1,910 (0.8%)
Other Asian: 2,053 (0.8%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 130 (0.1%)
Native Hawaiian: 27 (0.0%)
Guamanian or Chamorro: 13 (0.0%)
Samoan: 13 0.0%4,858 (3.9%)
Other Pacific Islander: 77 (0.0%)
Some other race: 2,661 (1.1%)
Two or more races: 5,397 (2.2%)

Announcement: Asian Pacific Rim Festival 2008

Hilton Kean Jones — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:47:06 +0000

Last year, I went to the first of these events. It was terrific. You can bet I’ll be at the second one which in just a few weeks. I wanted to call it to your attention now so you’ll have advance warning and perhaps go. I know you’ll enjoy it. The food and entertainment are not to be missed. Hope to see you there…!

SPIFFS 2nd Annual Asian Pacific Rim Festival 2008 poster

Saturday, October 11, 10am-10pm
Sunday, October 12, 11am-8pm

Go to the SPIFFS website (http://www.spiffs.org/) for complete details.

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New York Street Food

Hilton Kean Jones — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:30:54 +0000

Street Food

Street food has an indelible emotional impact on our memories. I shared some photos of my recent trip to New York, in particular photos of street food vendors (some of which are included in this post) with family and friends. I got several nice notes back in which they recounted early memories of street food in New York. One friend said that some of his earliest memories involve his grandmother buying roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes from vendors for them to munch on while spending an afternoon in mid-town Manhattan. Another, my sister, told me that her earliest memory of anything was of eating a hot dog with sauerkraut on it from a street vendor in New York. I have a similar memory of eating a sauerkraut dog on a New York street corner as a child.

Intense memories. And not just from childhood. From a recent trip to Asia, I still have almost photographically detailed mental images of street vendors and their food. From my youth, I can still taste the salted boiled peanuts I would look forward to buying when we visited our Mississippi relatives. So, it’s no surprise, when trying to think what I could blog about on my NYC trip, that I chose the street food that’s available on almost every corner.

Halal Food Carts

The overwhelming majority of vendors sell halal food. The term, halal, has, as that Wikipedia article describes, various meanings. In brief, in the USA, it means the dietary laws followed by Muslims which are similar to, but not the same as–or interchangeable with–Jewish kosher dietary practices. Every major city on the planet, New York, London, Paris, etc., has numerous halal restaurants. I’m not Muslim, so the spiritual significance of the dietary practices are of only background interest to me. For me, it’s the taste, and halal tastes great.

Every time I’ve had halal food, in a restaurant or from a street vendor, the person serving me always eagerly asks, “Do you like it?!” It seems to be of genuine importance to them that someone who is not Muslim enjoys this food. And, I’ve had a similar experience with every culture’s food I’ve eaten: Native American dishes, food from a large number of different Asian nationalities, various African cuisines, the amazing number of different Mexican, South and Central American culinary traditions, Indian/Pakistani styles, and the different European cuisines (which have an huge variety all their own). Each time the purveyor of foods was intensely interested to know if I, who am not a member of their culture, enjoyed their food. Each time it was easy to answer Yes. Each time they were pleased and answered with a huge grin. Remember “ping pong diplomacy”? Maybe falafel diplomacy would be even more successful.

The halal street food menus were primarily a choice between chicken or lamb or a mix of the two. The meat was served either on a soft pita bread–a la a Greek gyro–or over yellow rice with lettuce. Some of the stands served a sausage which, of course, must have been something other than pork. I wished I’d thought to ask their composition at the time, but I didn’t. If someone knows, please comment. Whether one has the chicken, the lamb, a mix, and on bread or over yellow rice and lettuce, one also has a choice of white sauce (again, like on a Greek gyro) or a really hot red sauce, or both. It’s a full and very satisfying meal, and eaten sitting on a bustling street corner in Manhattan, a special treat.

Fruit and Juice Stands

The fresh fruit stands are something that we desperately need here. Imagine a typical scorcher day here and being able to stop for a second and bite into a juicy peach, or a toss back a handful of blueberries. I realize that Tampabay area made the street vendor hall of fame a few years back with our hot dog stands manned (wrong word) by models in t-back thong swimsuits. Nevertheless…we could do with some fresh fruit stands.

I’m not sure if there’s any connection to the fruit juice stands in NYC, but halal dietary laws forbid the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The only predominately Muslim nation I’ve visited is Malaysia. There, as well as on Malaysian Airlines which I was fortunate to travel, a wide variety of fresh fruit juices were always available, I suspect, because of the dietary restrictions. Malaysia also has a sizable minority which is Buddhist, for whom the consumption of alcohol is considered less than ideal. Regardless of the reason, it would be delightful if the world had more fresh fruit and juice stands.

I get a kick out of watching the endless variety of people and their different attire standing in line: locals blue jeans and t-shirts, tourists with cameras, business men and women dressed for success, some men in baseball caps, some women with scarves, big purses, little purses, high heels, flip-flops, work boots, wing tips, designer fashion, off the rack…all standing in line. There’s something almost philosophical about queuing up. It dramatizes our common humanity: ultimately, we all have to humbly stand in line. (That’s a good thing, not a bad thing.)

Hot Dogs and Knishes

Of course, the archetypical, hot dog cart still is omnipresent on New York street corners. Kosher dogs, of course. And, knishes (“knish” is pronounced “ka-NISH,” rhymes with “dish”). Knishes are kosher stuffed pastries, sort of like our empanadas here in the Tampabay.

Another allure of street food is its sense of carefree freedom…from the vendor’s point of view. Some of us want to run away and join the circus. Others want to run away and have a hot dog stand. I actually knew such a person. He even went so far as to buy a stand which, as I remember, never left storage until another friend of his used it to try out the fantasy. It wasn’t as carefree as either person had hoped, and nowhere near as lucrative as they’d projected. It was hard, hot, exhausting work with a sometimes difficult general public. Last I knew, the stand was back in storage.

Jamaican Jerk

There’s a couple more things I’d like to try next time I get to go to New York. One is to try this Jamaican jerked food stand. But, also I want to see if I can find some other nationalities of street food. I didn’t make it to Chinatown this time, but I don’t remember ever seeing any Asian street food there. There must be some, somewhere in the city. Same for Indian/Pakistani street food. Is there any? I think I saw a Russian or perhaps Turkish street food vendor down in the lower east side, but I didn’t have the chance to determine for sure. Next time…! If anyone knows where to find other types of street food in NYC, please let us know.

Bagel and Donuts

I avoided the bagel and donuts stands because of all the starches, but others–why is it always the thin people?!–were busy filling up on them. The donuts and pretzels and bagels all looked very fresh. I wonder where they’re made, what the supply chain is for the various foods for all these stands. Obviously, the street food stand itself is just the tip of an iceberg of logistics and preparation that makes it possible. The friend I was with wondered, too, about the pecking order for stands and what rules governed the various positions. It would seem that some people had to move from time to time, getting to share key locations, whereas some people never had to move…a complex web of unknown dynamics.

Setting Up and Moving Around

From time to time, a stand would be closed up and moved, just a few feet, exchanging places with another stand. Sometimes a stand would be closed up and taken away entirely. Once, I saw three in a row, being dragged by hand into location from some warehouse. I never saw a stand being pulled by a car or truck, although there were some stands with built-in propulsion. One company seemed to service most of the stands with halal supplies. The following little 30 second video I cobbled together from a series of still shots I took as a vendor went about his morning chore of setting up his stand. It was fun to watch, although I think I might have annoyed him, considering a gesture of impatience he finally made. Nevertheless, he let me continue.

Open Until the Wee Hours

It seemed that some shops stayed open until late, late, late at night. One in particular, near the Avenue of the Americas, one that always had long lines anyway, would have an even longer one late at night. For sure, the emotional tone surrounding the food carts and the streets themselves change after dark. There was a blog theme I admired during the Beijing Olympics which limited itself to shots of Beijing after dark–a lovely idea. Since each city has its own unique personality after dark, I may try applying that idea to St. Pete some day. For sure, the emotions you see in these after dark street food scenes are different than the sunny smiles of the pictures that opened this article.

There’s something about the body languages in the final shot (below) that reminds me of Edward Hooper’s “Nighthawks.” I guess it’s because the “Nighthawks” involves food, late at night, isolation within a teeming metropolis, and expressive body language. It was late (well…late for me) at night when I took that picture, after emerging from a subway while walking back from the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center) where we watched the city transform from day, through dusk, into night–in itself, an emotive display.

During this trip, I got to see Hooper’s “Gas” at MOMA. I haven’t been to NYC very often. Every time I go, I go determined to make it to the Metropolitan. I never make it past MOMA. My only consolation is that I’m assured I’ll never see all of the Metropolitan in one lifetime anyway (sort of like the British Museum which is cosmic in its vastness).

A friend who has been to New York often suggests that a good motto when visiting that city is to tell yourself, “I’ll do that next time.”

Next time…I’m getting a knish.

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Atlanta: International Farmers’ Market

Hilton Kean Jones — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:04:50 +0000

All photos in this post are of
the Gwinnet International Farmers’ Market in Atlanta

International Markets

What to Expect

All too often, we pass by the opportunity to try something new, not because we’re afraid, but simply because we don’t know what to do, or what’s expected of us. We don’t like making some little mistake that betrays our ignorance or that puts us, or someone else, in an awkward position. It’s simply a matter of unfamiliarity. So we drive on by the interesting looking store, or we glance over the unusual menu item and, once again, for the hundredth time, take the known instead of the unknown.

It’s understandable. Unless you’re a veteran culinary adventurer, when you walk into an international market, you’re going to be confronted by what may be for you a bewildering array of canned foods and beverages with names you’ve never heard of, if you can even read them. You may see packages of foods with, if you’re lucky, at least one word in English you understand: seaweed, for instance (yes, the stuff you have to step over on the beach).

There will be strange utensils, forbidding pots and pans, and even small stoves and braziers in shapes and designs you can’t quite figure out. As you pass the produce department you’ll see fruits and vegetables that seem as if they’re from an alien planet. Farther back, in the meat department, you’ll discover that much of the seafood is still living and that the fowl hanging there look all too recently alive.

But, that’s the fun part. Then comes the real test. If for no other reason than you don’t want to appear cheap, you want to buy something…anything! What to buy?! That’s what I’m after, today: helping the inexperienced international shopper/eater. I want to give you a few ideas of what to buy when you visit an international market. [If you already enjoy and know a lot about international foods, please add your own suggestions for novice international shoppers in the comment section. Your comments & suggestions will definitely be appreciated.]

Things to Try

Here are some things to try. I’ve tried to come up with a short list of foods to buy that you can prepare at home with the kitchen gadgets and supplies you already have. At most, you might need to buy a prepared spice. The cooking times on all of these are extremely short. In fact, most ethnic cooking times, especially Asian, are lightening fast, which is why it’s helpful to prepare your ingredients before you start (what the French call “mis en place” because there are no leisure moments once you put the first item in the pan to cook!

Noodles

Asian noodles come in more varieties than western noodles. One of my favorites is the soba buckwheat noodle. Prepare these by just bringing to a boil until soft, drain, and put into any hot broth or soup. My other favorites are rice noodles and cellophane noodles. Soak (not cook) these in hot water until they’re soft, then dump into your skillet after you’ve cooked up some veggies (and maybe a little meat) in any sort of sauce and mix well. This is how the Italians add their pasta to the dish by mixing the noodles right in the skillet–not American style “Italian” where the sauce is poured over naked noodles.

Other good noodles to buy are the soft, fresh refrigerated wheat noodles that are used for lo mein dishes. You can use these just as you would soba or rice noodles, adding them to any stir fry or soup. There is no “wrong” way to do this. A friend once used a wonderful expression: the “Food Police.” Don’t be afraid of the food police. Don’t worry about the exact kind of noodle you buy or about trying to prepare them “authentically”…just try it. Remember, don’t be afraid of the Food Police!

Kelp

Seaweed hasn’t been part of the American diet until sushi invaded the country. But there’s more to seaweed than the thin sheets of nori that are wrapped around a makizushi roll. There’s a staggering variety of seaweeds that I don’t pretend to be an authority on. I just buy various kinds at random and try them in soups and in salads. From the big wheels of pressed seaweed, I tear off a handful, rinse it under the faucet, and tear into smaller clumps that I drop in soups just before serving. The large hard planks of seaweed I cut into smaller pieces with kitchen shears and add to a soup or stir-fry at the beginning to give it time to become really soft.

Also try prepared seaweed based seasonings. I highly recommend them to you as your starting point for getting acquainted with seaweed–in part because the seaweed seasonings are easy to use and have added flavorings, such as sesame, with which you will already be familiar. Try this: buy some Nori Furikake and use it to coat some cut-up chicken or fish before you grill them. Or, just shake some on top of some rice. Don’t be surprised if you see other variations on the shelf right next to the Nori Furikake. I promise you’ll be back to try those, eventually. Or, you might try a low calorie, low carb snack such as Tao Kae Noi which are small thin sheets of highly seasoned, pressed seaweed. There are many varieties of these kinds of snacks as well. That’s fortunate, since they are totally addicting.

Mushrooms

Other cultures use a greater variety of mushrooms than western foods do. In fact, once you get started on eating new foods, you’ll probably reach the same conclusion I have, that the same ol’, same ol’, mid-America menu is extremely limited. A good place to start with the variety of mushrooms that exist is with the packaged, dried mushrooms. The exact kind doesn’t matter. Just take a handful of the dried mushrooms out of the package and soak them in hot water until they’re soft. Add them to any dish you’re preparing (doesn’t need to be an Asian recipe). I suggest the dried mushroom because they keep a lot longer. Even refrigerated, fresh mushroom spoil rapidly, so if you buy the dried ones, they’ll be good for a long while.

Fruits

No matter how much I love it, I would not start exploring Asian fruits with durian (mentioned in my Atlanta Super H Mart post). But, I definitely would recommend you look for Asian pears. They’re super crisp with a brisk taste. They usually come individually wrapped in little stretchy perforated foam “socks.” They’re more round than pear shaped. In fact, if you were to buy only one item on your first foray into an international market, I would recommend you start with an Asian pear.

If you’re interested in an Asian fruit that doesn’t spoil quickly and that is a nice treat at the end of a dinner when you’re having guests over, try canned lychee (pronounced “lee-chee”). Extremely sweet, just chill in their canned juice and serve two or three to a person. They’re too rich to eat more than a few.

Beverages

As you walk along the aisles of strange and unfamiliar canned items, you’ll discover a greater number of different canned beverages than are available in typical western stores. Many are fruit juiced based, such as jackfruit juice, in cans or cartons. There are mango drinks, papaya drinks, many different kinds of coconut milk based drinks. And—my weakness: canned teas. Yes, you can make your own tea at home (and should!), but a cold can of unsweetened green or oolong tea is better than anything. And you can drink a 6 pack of them and still be able to hold a coherent conversation. There are a variety of brands, some including ginseng (an herb that gives a gentle energy boost), but my favorite brand is Itoen (Itoen Green Tea and Itoen Oolong Tea).

If you’re interested in what kinds of bulk tea to buy, to make either home-brewed hot or cold tea, I recommend these websites which explore the types of teas which range—basically—from white tea (which is completely unfermented), through green tea, on to oolong tea, through black, to the wine-like pu-erh tea. Each of the basic types have their own unique flavor and, research is beginning to show, their own unique health benefits. See The Tea Farm (I order from them, often) and In Pursuit of Tea.

Tofu & Soy

Although most of us aren’t going vegetarian, we’re discovering that a meatless meal once a day stretches the food budget. One way to do this is with tofu. If you’ve tried tofu and hated it, try some of the prepared grilled tofu which has a prepared spicy coating (look in the refrigerated section where other soy items are kept). Cube it and drop and mix into salads. I think you’ll like it. Or, stretch an avocado with silken tofu to make truly wonderful guacamole. Try adding little chunks of extra firm tofu to soup or to scrambled eggs!

Ultimately, the secret to using tofu is to realize that it’s totally tasteless. It adds protein to a dish that has a strong flavor all its own. The tofu will take on that flavor. If there’s no flavorful sauce, the tofu won’t have any taste. It’s not your fault…no one would like tofu just by itself! Tofu can also be fried, but I leave that to the restaurants who are set up to do it that way.

Miso paste, a soy product, as is tofu, is a paste that one ads to water to make a protein rich, flavorful broth soup. A friend of mine makes a gentle breakfast of miso soup for himself every morning. Also try crumbling up just a couple southern style good ol’ boy fried pork rinds from the 7-Eleven and throwing them in your miso soup at the last minute. Adds extra flavor and interest.

Doing Your Homework

Vegetables

When it comes to vegetables, I suggest you actually begin your international shopping spree by doing some “homework” in area restaurants. Try some new vegetables and/or new ways of preparing old ones at different types of ethnic restaurants. When you find one you enjoy, track it down at a local market. Go to this page: Urbanspoon. You may have noticed their icon at the bottom of many of my posts, linking to my reviews on their site. They also have a good list of area restaurants for the Tampabay area by ethnicity.

Yuca

In Tampabay, we are fortunate to have many well prepared “foreign” vegetables at any one of the many good Latin restaurants. Start with yuca, a root vegetable not to be confused with yucca, a cactus-like shrub. You can find yuca on any Latin menu in Tampa.

Rice

Try a Korean restaurant, an authentic Chinese restaurant, an Indian restaurant, and a Thai restaurant, then compare the rice in all four! The Korean rice—my favorite, actually–seems to stick together the most; the Thai about the same, Chinese less so, and the Indian almost not at all. This isn’t only due to the manner of preparation, but also the exact variety of rice and where it was grown.

Other veggies

While you’re conducting your rice experiment, try these vegetables in each of those ethnic restaurants: in a Korean restaurant, try the kimchi (fermented cabbage) and the jeon (Korean potato pancake). They are very mild, very fragrant, very delicious. At a Jewish deli, such as the Lucky Dill in downtown St. Pete (277 Central Ave.; 727-895-5859), compare the Korean potato pancakes with their cousins the Jewish latkas (Jewish potato pancakes).

In any authentic Chinese restaurant such as ABC Seafood in St. Petersburg (2705 54th Ave. N., St Petersburg, FL 33714; 727-522-1888), ask for a side dish of bok choy, however they want to prepare it. In an Indian restaurant, try any dish with cauliflower in it. If you’ve always hated cauliflower you might change your mind when you’ve had it prepared Indian style. In a Thai restaurant, try a casserole that has eggplant in it. Thai and Chinese dishes made with eggplant (usually using the narrow, long Asian style eggplants) are THE way to learn to enjoy eggplant. In a Vietnamese restaurant, try the green papaya salad.

Don’t stop with Asian restaurants! In a Russian restaurant (yes, there is one in St. Pete: Russian Nights), try the shchi (cold sauerkraut soup) or borscht (beet soup). In any of the numerous Greek restaurants in the area try the dolma (stuffed grape leaves) or the spanakopita (spinach pie). In a Middle Eastern restaurant try the baba ghannouj, hummus, jajik (cucumber salad), or falafel. I usually think Asian cuisine is my favorite, but I just realized that’s not entirely true, actually…I think it may be Middle Eastern cuisine that is my favorite!.

The operative word in this entire post, is “try.” Just try these dishes. If you really detest them, don’t even bother to finish them. But, if you come up with a “maybe,” then try them again in a different restaurant. If you decide you like the dish, find an international market, buy the item, look up the recipe, and try it at home. All foods—especially ethnic foods—have their origins in the home. They are meant to be prepared by mere mortals (not highly trained chefs). The suggestions above, I’ve not picked arbitrarily. They’re dishes that I can pretty well predict you’ll enjoy, that are available in almost all restaurants of that particular nationality, and don’t involve ingredients that will scare you.

Prepared Spice Pastes

Canned goods really shine, especially in international cuisine, with prepared spices and pastes. There will usually be an entire part of an aisle devoted to them. Don’t be afraid to ask for advise as to which to buy. Most of the spices will actually make suggestions as to what to prepare with them, such as meat, or fish, or vegetables. When in doubt, ask. With any of the spice pastes, put a little oil in the bottom of your skillet. As it begins to heat up, add your spice paste and “cook” the spices a little, then add your ingredients.

Seafood

Remember how it is that kids get turned off of their veggies: mainly it’s because the vegetables are prepared so poorly…same when it comes to any new foods The trick, definitely, of learning to enjoy new foods is excellent preparation. For a long time, I was of the mind that I hated squid until I had some GOOD calamari at Bernini’s, a fancy restaurant down in Tampa’s Ybor City. That experience changed my mind about calamari, and now I seek it out elsewhere. Try calamari as a way to begin widening your tastes for new seafoods.

Nifty Products You Might Even Find at Publix

The free market system has finally awakened to the new market for international foods because of the burgeoning immigrant population. Although the international markets are not about to be replaced by Publix, “regular” supermarkets have expanded their ethnic selections. Publix, for instance has an English section where you can get REAL Mars bars, HP Sauce (try this on any fried fish!), and various English canned desserts. For Indian foods, Sweetbay’s now carries at least four different kinds of lentils and a huge variety Patak’s pastes and pickles (hot relishes). There are a number of prepared Thai meals—not all that good, but OK in a pinch. As well as Jewish items and some Mexican food supplies beyond taco shells!

Online Ordering

If you don’t live near a market that carries international foods, almost all of them can be ordered online. Here are just a tiny, tiny sampling of what’s available online.
spices
• Penzeys Spices
Thai
• Temple of Thai
• Thai Market Online
UK
• British food – shipped around the world
• UK Goods
World
• World Food
• ImportFood.com
Indian
• Pataks

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Atlanta: Seoul Gardens Korean & Japanese Restaurant

Hilton Kean Jones — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:31:23 +0000

This post, the one before it, and the next one, all concern three Asian culinary treats I recently explored in Atlanta with my son who lives there. The last post mentioned kimchi and banchan. Those, of course, were a part of our meal at Atlanta’s Seoul Gardens Korean & Japanese Restaurant (5938 Buford Hwy NE, Doraville, GA 30340-1332; 770-452-0123).

We’d been to another restaurant in this same building ages ago, long before it was a Korean restaurant. At that time, it was a typical suburban Friday’s inspired fern bar. The Seoul Gardens owners who bought the building transformed it into a quiet respite from Atlanta’s traffic. The privacy provided by the booths create an intimate atmosphere. But the open, at-table barbeque grills enliven the ambiance. A very inviting place. As my son might say, “A good place to take a date.”

This was our second time eating at Seoul Garden and we both had the same dish again: Bulgogi. I’d become addicted to bulgogi at the Sa Ri One in Tampa (discussed much farther down the page), so I’d been anxious to compare the dish with how it’s prepared at Seoul Gardens. They were obviously made from entirely different recipes. The two versions were so dissimilar, I would never guess they were named the same. The Tampa Sa Ri One version has a heavier sauce and is a lot spicier. The Atlanta Seoul Gardens version has no sauce, but is sweet, and had obviously been marinated much longer. I love both versions! I truthfully don’t know enough to compare either version to how it might be authentically made in Korea.

It should be no surprise that the recipes for bulgogi available on the Internet are as varied as my two experiences with it; however, they all seem to share a few basic ingredients: soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, pepper and onions. Plus, one unusual key ingredient to be revealed shortly!

A few, representative recipe links:

http://mylittlecyberspot.aminus3.com/image/2005-04-04.html
http://www.recipezaar.com/157213
http://www.bigoven.com/160319-Bulgogi-recipe.html
and countless others!

maangchi.com is a vast website about Korean food that simply must not be missed. It’s the definitive source of information about, and photos of, Korean food. She also has a blog. Here are a couple other Korean food blogs I subscribe to: Seoul Eats, whose author I quote a little later, and Food Korea. You might also enjoy this interesting article of observations on the Do’s and Don’t’s of eating Korean barbeque.

When I lived in Honolulu, a friend introduced me to the whole at-table barbeque thing. The number of Korean barbeques in Honolulu is staggering. Check out this list at Chowbaby. My favorite one in Honolulu had, as does Seoul Garden in Atlanta, at-table grills: shallow wok shaped grills set into holes in the centers of the tables. Sometimes these grills are heated by gas (as it was in my Honolulu favorite), sometimes, electricity. At Seoul Garden, the meat is brought to the table for you to grill yourself. At the Honolulu one, the meats were available in a long buffet of various raw meats, from which you chose the meat to take to your table to grill. A buffet of raw meats is a little intimidating, even to a guilty carnivore such as myself. (All due respects and acknowledgments for that expression, “guilty carnivore,” the title of one of my favorite, non-Korean-food blogs: Guilty Carnivore. It’s such an inspired title, it sums up my own food attitudes: I would love to be a vegetarian but just can’t, for whatever reason.)

The experience of getting to cook your own meat at your own table is a lot of fun. One bit of clarification. Bulgogi is a Korean barbeque, but not all Korean barbeques are bulgogi! (For a further discussion of syllogisms, see Aristotle). See this Wikipedia page for a full discussion of Korean barbeque. Further, the times I’ve had bulgogi it was served as an already cooked entree. The at-table barbeque meals I’ve had were all non-marinated meat Korean barbeques. Bulgogi is definitely a marinade in all recipes I’ve seen.

I asked Daniel Gray of Seoul Eats for clarification of this. Here is what he wrote: “Bulgogi is a marinated thinly sliced beef that’s grilled. It is a form of Korean BBQ. Essentially anything on the grill is BBQ. As for spelling, EVERYTHING is misspelled in Korea. The Korean name “Lee” is really pronounced “Eee” but people spell it like, “Rhee, Ree, Yee, etc.” I’ve seen bulgogi spelled “pulgogi” here. [Daniel is in Korea teaching English as a second language.] Real bulgogi is meat marinated with Asian pear, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, and a little wine. It’s all about the Asian Pear.”

To my knowledge, there is no sit-down Korean restaurant in St. Petersburg, but there are at least 5 on the Tampa side of the bay. My absolute favorite at which I’ve eaten many times is Sa Ri One Korean Restaurant (3940 W. Cypress St., Tampa, FL 33607;813-874-2911). I’ve also eaten at Coreawon (926 East Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33612; 813-866-8262), but since I tend to favor smaller, cozier, family owned and operated places, I prefer Sa Ri One.

I’ve eaten several times at Matoi Sushi (602 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, FL 33609;813-871-3233). Although the name stresses sushi, they have a rather large number of Korean dishes, all good. There are two other restaurants I have yet to try but intend to soon. The first is Rice Restaurant & Lounge (7525 West Hillsborough Ave., Tampa, FL 33615-4103; 813-889-7766), which has the at-table barbeques. A very web savvy restaurant, they publish PDFs of their menus and even provide an off-site link with excellent information about Korean cuisine.

The other Tampa restaurant I have yet to try is Soul of Korea (7612 N. 56th St., Tampa, FL 33617; 813-989-9030‎). I’m also trying to track down a restaurant out on Waters where a Korean friend took me and a visiting educator from Korea for a lunar new year’s dinner (with the traditional new year’s soup). It was packed and I was the only non-Korean eating there. (A sure sign the food is good.) If I can ever relocate this place, I’ll report on it…after I finish having some more of that spectacular soup! If you know the name of this restaurant or even if it’s still in existence, please comment!

St. Petersburg does have Dong A Market (2600 30th Ave. N., Saint Petersburg, FL 33713; 727-321-3300), which carries some packaged Korean meals. I haven’t yet tried Dong A.

One parting, additional comment about Atlanta’s Seoul Gardens: their fried rice is simply—without exaggeration—the best I’ve ever had in my life. I can’t explain it. The flavor is elusive and multi-layered. I had no idea such a simple dish could be so good. I have a new quest: discovering other restaurants with fried rice as good as that at Atlanta’s Seoul Gardens.

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Atlanta: Super H Mart

Hilton Kean Jones — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:00:41 +0000

Please take just a second and click on this link: Super H Mart. Thanks! Neat, huh? That’s the main page for a Korean grocery store chain that I truly, truly wish had a branch in Tampabay. Now, if you haven’t already done so, return to that link and in the upper right hand corner, click on the word, “English” and explore the site a bit. [Patiently waiting while Leroy Anderson’s “Syncopated Clock” plays in the background...can’t remember how it goes? Sure you do: listen to a sample of it HERE.] I hope you enjoyed your exploration of the Super H Mart website; I certainly enjoyed exploring a bricks-and-mortar store of theirs when, recently, I visited my son, who lives in Atlanta.

My son shares my enthusiasm for things Asian, including Asian food. We spent one whole day together trooping around part of the city, checking out different international markets and restaurants. I don’t know if he shares my enthusiasm for durian—the fruit pictured above near the entrance to Super H Mart. I absolutely adore durian in every form, including milkshakes. The only problem is, its smell is so foul (!) that there are signs all over hotels in Asia prohibiting taking any to your room! Even when just having a durian milkshake in a restaurant, other nearby customers glare at you and, when you order it, the waiter always asks, “Are you sure?!”

The Super H Mart has a food court that, as you can see, is extensive. What you can’t see so easily is that all of the foods are Korean cuisine. Even Korean restaurants—which, sadly, are few in Tampabay (although there are a couple to be covered in the future)—never offer as wide a selection of dishes as this food court. One could eat there daily for a month and not repeat a choice. All the foods are freshly, and continuously, prepared.

Even though my son and I limited our adventures to just a small section of Atlanta near his home, we still didn’t even begin to scratch the surface. Atlanta is definitely a cosmopolitan city. Although the U.S. Census Bureau gives the Asian population of the city of Atlanta as only 1.9%, judging from the number of commercial establishments, it seems much larger. That may be because there is a relatively large number of foreign born citizens in Atlanta (6.6% of the population) who, perhaps, have an intense interest in preserving–duplicating even–the familiar resources of their original homelands.

Whatever the reason, Atlanta’s diverse population is very much in evidence, especially when it comes to food. For that reason, today’s post, and the next two, are going to cover three gems from Atlanta’s bounty of wonderful ethnic culinary treasures.

Pictured above are live (very much alive) crabs that one may choose, take home alive, and boil alive for supper. Live seafood is not at all unusual in Asian markets. Nor, for that matter, unusual in Asian restaurants. At China Yuan over in Tampa—to be covered in a coming post—you can ask for the live, swimming eel of your choice to be prepared for your dinner. Of course, live lobsters are commonplace in even non-Asian seafood restaurants. Buying and boiling live crustaceans was a common event along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi when I was a youth. It still is in certain parts of the coast and over in Louisiana.

Although there is a world-wide shortage of rice, there is certainly no shortage of rice steamers at the Super H Mart. I think it may be time to replace my own soon…wonder if there’s an under-the-counter model to conserve countertop space!

This sweet, wonderful woman agreed, happily, to pose for us and to be pictured in my blog. She was selling an assortment of fresh, sweet sticky rice cakes. If you ever have the chance to try sticky rice, please do yourself a favor and buy extra. You’re more likely to see it advertised as mochi (the Japanese word for it) than as hangul (the Korean word) or even “sticky rice.” Asian desserts are excruciatingly SWEET! Mochi is no exception. I enjoyed it far too often while living in Hawaii where it is much too readily available to us carb addicts.

Hey…what do you expect?! It’s a Korean supermarket. That’s an entire wall of kimchi! Kimchi is fermented and highly seasoned cabbage. Wonderful stuff. (Do take into consideration that that opinion is from someone who likes to drink sauerkraut juice!) Kimchi is just one of the many vegetable side dishes (usually at least 6) that are served with all Korean meals. These dishes are called banchan. Banchan is THE primary reason I enjoy eating at Korean restaurants. (Talk about getting your fiber!) Coming soon will be more on my ethnic culinary adventures in Atlanta with my son, including an outstanding Korean restaurant there…and lots of kimchi!

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Nuevo Vallarta

Hilton Kean Jones — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:51:58 +0000

This restaurant is in an unlikely location—housed in the restaurant portion of a Howard Johnson’s motel refurbished in 2005—but the Nuevo Vallarta (9359 US Highway 19 N., Pinellas Park, FL 33782; 727-577-3746) passes the two main first-glance tests for a promising restaurant: (1) lots of cars and (2) I’m the only customer speaking English!

The food is good. There are many Mexican restaurants, but most are just one notch about Taco Bell (some are a notch below). Nuevo Vallarta means it when they say authentic.

I’m not an authority on the many, many different styles of Mexican cuisine, but just based on my time living in, and numerous visits to, US/Mexican border-towns, and my experiences with good restaurants there, I can safely say that the food at Nuevo Vallarta makes me homesick for the Southwest.

They have a full bar with margaritas by the pitcher and more imported Mexican beers than I knew existed. (I can see the advantage of being attached to a motel!) I started eating there well over a year ago and I have a certain affection for this enterprise. It’s family owned and operated. It’s such a pleasure to see everyone in their family pitching in. They have a good product. I hope they continue to thrive.

Their menu includes a vegetarian section, all the usual Mexican dishes, plus a number you may never had heard of. My favorite dish is the chicken fajitas. That’s standard fare, I know, but they pull (shred) the chicken in an authentic style. Its marinade gives it an elusive but addictive taste.

This restaurant isn’t near my usual stomping grounds. It’s just north of Wal-Mart, way, way up Highway 19. But, whenever I make the monthly trek up to Costco, I pass right by it. That’s when I treat myself. I highly recommend Nuevo Vallarta to all you other budget shoppers.

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Vesak

Hilton Kean Jones — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:30:22 +0000

Buddhism in America

In Hawaii, although government offices are not closed, Buddha’s Birthday is a state holiday celebrated on April 8th. I wish this were true for the remaining states in the union; it would ultimately bring a greater recognition of the plural nature of our country and, perhaps, even encourage some to look at the ideas presented by Buddhism.

Although Buddhism is not exclusively an Asian experience, it does have its greatest presence in Asia. When Asians move to other parts of the world, they bring their Buddhist traditions with them. Although the Tampa Bay Area doesn’t have an Asian population as large, proportionally, as Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, or San Francisco, according to the 2000 census it does have an Asian population of 77,296, or 2.00% of the total metro population (I’m sure that’s increased by now, 2008).

That 2% retain their heritage as evidenced by the significant number of Asian temples in the area. That 2% includes folk of Indian heritage for whom the predominant religions are Hindu, Jain, and some Buddhist (see the faith page of the Indian community’s ezine, Khass Baht). That 2% also includes Vietnamese, Chinese, Southeast Asians (Lao, Thai, Cambodian), Koreans, and Japanese for whom the overwhelming prevalent religion is Buddhism. An earlier post reported on the Thai Buddhist temple in Tampa, Wat Mongkolratanaram. So, it should be no surprise that Buddha’s birthday is well celebrated in the Tampa Bay Area! Here’s a list of the Buddhist organizations in the Tampa Bay Area.

Tampabay Ecumenical Vesak Celebration

The name for the Buddha’s birthday holiday is Vesak and it celebrates, not just his birthday, but the three principle days in his life: his birth, his enlightenment, his death. Vesak is celebrated on different days in different ethnic Buddhist traditions and there were a number of different celebrations of Vesak in Tampa Bay reflecting those different traditions. However, this past Saturday (May 31, 2008) there was an ecumenical celebration sponsored and organized by Samadhi Buddhist Meditation Center (SBMC) at the Chinese Community Church (4600 78th Ave. N. Pinellas Park, FL 33781).

Also participating were the Clear Water Zen Meditation Group, the Dhammawheel Meditation Society of Clearwater, Nichiren Shu of Tampa (Japanese), the Mahabodhi Society of India, different Tibetan traditions, the Ehipassiko Buddhist Center (Sri Lankan/Canadian) and the Middle Way Buddhist Association, (Chinese Chan/Pureland) founded by Lily Lee and Tom Lacey.

The program for the Vesak celebration began with video before the event regarding the Buddhist relief effort in Burma. During the films, attendees perused several tables of items for sale–imported religious articles and craft items made by members of the community–all proceeds going to the Burma relief effort. (My favorites were hand painted cards by the Malaysian artist, Bee Khoon.) The actual ceremony began with the awesome tolling of a very large bowl gong 108 times by the Clear Water Zen Meditation Group. Then there were a series of different presentations by different speakers representing different traditions (see the program listing at the end of this article). The ceremony concluded with distribution of holy water and bathing of the baby Buddha.

The Heart Sutra

A special sutra was chanted by everyone in attendance: The Prajna Paramita Hridaya (called the Heart Sutra — translation). The Heart Sutra is perhaps the most meaningful of all the Buddhist scriptures to me, personally, and the video embedded at the top of this post is my absolute favorite melodic setting of this mantra. This particular mantra is at the very heart of Mahayana Buddhism for it is concerned with the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara (Guan Yin in Chinese Buddhism). Mahayana Buddhists, myself included, take, in addition to the Triple Gem vows, The Four Great Vows which express our intention to become bodhisattvas ourselves. My own personal, down-home interpretation: we’re doing this for all of us since we’re all in this together and we’re gonna keep coming back to help until everyone gets their act together!

Here, by the famous Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, is a MUCH better explanation of the ending of the Heart Sutra, words often used as a mantra, words I’m sure everyone has heard at least once in their life: “Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha.” (Gate is pronounced “gah-tay”–rhymes with “hay,” what cows eat, and has two syllables.)

Thich Nhat Hanh: “Gate means gone. Gone from suffering to the liberation of suffering. Gone from forgetfulness to mindfulness. Gone from duality into non-duality. Gate gate means gone, gone. Paragate means gone all the way to the other shore. So this mantra is said in a very strong way. Gone, gone, gone all the way over. In Parasamgate sam means everyone, the sangha, the entire community of beings. Everyone gone over to the other shore. Bodhi is the light inside, enlightenment, or awakening. You see it and the vision of reality liberates you. And svaha is a cry of joy or excitement, like “Welcome!” or “Hallelujah!” “Gone, gone, gone all the way over, everyone gone to the other shore, enlightenment, svaha !”

For more on the Heart Sutra see this post (that’s an excellent blog overall) and Tam Bao Buddhist Temple.

Burma benefit

As I mentioned earlier, proceeds from the sale of items at the Vesak celebration went to support the Buddhist relief effort in Burma. The videos shown before the ceremony were part of the efforts of another of the Buddhist groups represented at this Vesak celebration, the Buddhist Peace Fellowship of Tampa Bay which is a chapter of the national Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Here is a link to Burma Campaign UK videos, including some of the videos shown before the Vesak ceremony. They are not for the faint of heart. Even more intense is this PowerPoint presentation, For Peace, from the Buddhist Peace Fellowship website. But, if you can handle it, the intensity of the videos and presentation are testament to just how important it is to work for peace, whether you are a Buddhist or not.

Program

Here’s a copy of the program from Saturday’s Vesak celebration.

108 Bell Chimes by Clearwater Zen Group
Welcome Speech by Venerable Bhikkhuni Sudarshana Peliyagoda, Abbess & President of Samadhi Buddhist Meditation Center
Opening the Altar by our Chief Guest, Venerable Siri Sumedha, and Lily Lee of Middle Way Buddhist Association
Pali Chanting by Samadhi devotees. The group is comprised of Bonnie Castellano, Gina Castellano, Clair Denney, Charley Denney, Jason
Chanting of Heart Sutra in English by Clearwater Zen Group
Meditation Session by Venerable Dhammawansha, Abbot & President of Dhammawheel Meditation Society, Clearwater
Chanting of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo by Erin Lauer of Nichiren Shu, Tampa
Dhamma Talk by our Chief Guest, Venerable Kahawatte Siri Sumedha, Assistant Secretary General, Mahabodhi Society of India, and Incumbent-in-Chief, Saranath Mahabodhi Center, Saranath, Varanasi, India
Tibetan Chanting by Venerable Dharma Master Tashi of Tibet
A modicum of Buddhist insight from Clair Denney, a practicing Buddhist
Relaxation Music by Susan Patricia Golden, Founder of Universal Music Way
Dhamma Talk by Venerable Upananda, Abbot of Ehipassiko Buddhist Center, Calgary, Canada
Devotional Music by Elli Kelly, a spiritual practitioner soothing the wounded hearts through devotional music.
Dana Offering to the Sangha by Dorothy Smiljanich
Devotional Drumming by Marvin A. Sotoamaya
Blessings from the Sangha
Dedication of Merit by Venerable Upananda
Bathing the Buddha by everybody (Please, line up when announced)
Distribution of holy water (Please, receive yours in person from the Sangha after your turn of bathing the Buddha)
Refreshments, Vegetarian dinner and social time

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Inkwatu » international

Bosnian Food Store and Bakery

Escape to Tahiti

SPIFFS — 2nd Annual Asian Pacific Rim Festival 2008

Announcement: Asian Pacific Rim Festival 2008

SPIFFS 2nd Annual Asian Pacific Rim Festival 2008 poster

Saturday, October 11, 10am-10pm Sunday, October 12, 11am-8pm

Google map to England Brother’s Park

New York Street Food

Street Food

Halal Food Carts

Fruit and Juice Stands

Hot Dogs and Knishes

Jamaican Jerk

Bagel and Donuts

Setting Up and Moving Around

Open Until the Wee Hours

Atlanta: International Farmers’ Market

International Markets

What to Expect

Things to Try

Noodles

Kelp

Mushrooms

Fruits

Beverages

Tofu & Soy

Doing Your Homework

Vegetables

Yuca

Rice

Other veggies

Prepared Spice Pastes

Seafood

Nifty Products You Might Even Find at Publix

Online Ordering

Atlanta: Seoul Gardens Korean & Japanese Restaurant

Atlanta: Super H Mart

Nuevo Vallarta

Vesak

Buddhism in America

Tampabay Ecumenical Vesak Celebration

The Heart Sutra

Burma benefit

Program

Saturday, October 11, 10am-10pm
Sunday, October 12, 11am-8pm