Mochi in Copenhagen?

When I set out on my bike to visit the Taste the World festival in Copenhagen's Nørrebro neighborhood, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I wondered how it might compare to other international food festivals I've attended in the past.  The aim of the festival was to celebrate diversity, and was held as a part of the city-wide Copenhagen Cooking festival. A variety of cultural organizations participated, with some selling specialty foods to sample.  

After living in the greater Los Angeles area throughout college and in Santa Monica after that, I have been spoiled by having almost every international cuisine at my fingertips on a daily basis.  In fact, it's one of the things I loved most about living in Los Angeles.  With access to a car, you can travel the world through your stomach without leaving the county limits.  But if there's one thing I didn't think I would find at an international food festival in Scandinavia, it was mochi.  Nevertheless,  I found myself standing in front of an entire table of it.  

I discovered the sweet rice treat rather late in life, at the end of college.  This was before tiny versions of mochi became popularized as toppings in frozen yogurt franchises across Southern California.  Ever since developing a taste for it, I've been making up for lost time by sneaking in trips to Little Tokyo, driving to downtown LA specifically to spend $2 here and $2 there on mochi ice cream or mochi with red bean.  I've long dreamed and schemed and hoped to one day visit Maui for New Year's, where my friend April's family pounds rice for the mochi each year by hand to make the traditional Japanese version from scratch.  April's mom Janice has even generously shared some of their prized peanut butter chocolate mochi during her visits to California.  This version is a longstanding family favorite they buy at a local shop on the island.  So you can imagine my delight when in the middle of this festival in Europe, I see the smiling folks at the Buddha's Light International Association selling mochi for 10 Danish kroner each.  

I couldn't quite believe my eyes.  I first purchased only one individual mochi, feeling a bit skeptical.  But after tasting it, it didn't take me long to make my way back to the table for more.  Unfortunately, I came to the festival unprepared and didn't have that much cash on me, or else I may have ended up buying their whole supply.  But it's probably better off this way.  I don't want to assume anything, but just like my childhood offered no exposure to frikadeller (Danish meatballs), I doubt that the average citizen of Scandinavia gets access to mochi very often!  Better that I leave some for the rest of Copenhagen.  When you've lived in Los Angeles, it's a strange but beautiful phenomenon that a lot of international foods actually end up tasting like home to you.  I'm not sure peanut butter chocolate mochi will ever catch on in popularity here, judging by most Danes' opinions on peanut butter.  But even so, this sesame mochi will certainly do the trick!  So thank you to the Buddha's Light International Association for bringing mochi to the festival that day.  And delicious mochi at that.

More scenes from the festival: 

Ribs and potato salad: favorite recipes from Grandpa Russ

Though I was born in fitness-obsessed California, land of kale salads and year-round swimsuit season, there's nothing I love more than a great big plate of ribs.  While I enjoy a fresh quinoa avocado salad like any Californian living in the age of Whole Foods, sometimes I need something a bit more red meat-oriented to satisfy me.  From a young age, I developed an appreciation for a good plate of barbecue, aided by my grandfather Russ who is famous for his ribs recipe.  

The chef himself!  Pictured above with my cousin Celia

He was nice enough to make his famous ribs for me as a farewell before I left California to do some traveling.  Any quick visit home can become overwhelming as you try to consider everything you should do, not to mention your favorite home cooking to eat while you're in the area.  But without me even asking him, my grandpa knew exactly what I needed at the dinner table!  Before leaving the country, what I needed was a big old American plate of ribs.  

And he didn't stop at the ribs!  Rib dinners always include the famous family potato salad as accompaniment, a salad that has been around for so long that at this point, it tastes definitively  like my childhood.  

The potato salad process follows a similar routine each time.  Russ always makes two potato salad bowls: one with green onions, for the whole family, and a smaller one for himself without the garnish.  And we do the same for him!  (He'll only eat onions if they're cooked into a dish, but never on top!)  There's always enough potato salad for everyone to have a generous scoop, and then some.  Baked beans, coleslaw, and watermelon are the usual suspects when it comes to sides.  

For this particular meal, we also ate plentiful amounts of guacamole as an appetizer, as this is a requirement before any transatlantic journey away from the state.  The guacamole is my mom's famous recipe, and it is the stuff of legends.

Mom's famous guacamole

As if it couldn't get any better, we enjoyed the leftover beer kegs from my brother's recent wedding.  It was the perfect culinary sendoff!  Thanks to my family for gathering around to enjoy some ribs.  You are the best!

Family food traditions from Louisiana

This August, I traveled to New Orleans to attend the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC.)  After attending IFBC in Seattle, I was excited to engage in another conference, this time in "the City that Care Forgot."  As a food enthusiast, the incredible food culture within Louisiana is reason enough to make it a destination.  If you're a serious eater, you have an obligation to go here.  However, serious eating aside, I also had a not-so-hidden agenda to travel here to discover the state where my grandparents were born.  My mom was equally intrigued to explore and made the journey with me. Many of the dishes I grew up eating have their roots in Louisiana.  While few of my Southern California peers grew up eating red beans and rice with tabasco, in New Orleans I found myself getting acquainted with an entire population for whom this is a staple.  It was a somewhat surreal experience: my stomach allowed me to feel so connected to a place while still being such a stranger to it.  We were in Louisiana for almost two weeks (mostly in New Orleans, with a short stay in Lafayette.)  Upon our return, we attended a family reunion, which was the perfect way to celebrate our roots, and extend our vacation!  Before I post more about my trip to IFBC & throughout Louisiana, I thought it would be fitting to post some pictures of the food culture at our family picnic.  When it comes to my curiosity about the Crescent City and the Pelican State, family is where it all began...

Like every great family reunion, this one started out with a Bloody Marty!  It's like a Bloody Mary, but with a whole lot more 'kick', not to mention garnishes that will knock your socks off (including shrimp slathered in chimichurri.)  Are you thirsty yet?

It's a beautiful day for a Bloody Marty!  Here's one pictured above with some Zapp's Cajun Crawtators potato chips (a brand made in Gramercy, Louisiana, but conveniently sold here at home at Cost Plus World Market)

Breakfast of champions!

Above, olive, onion, artichoke heart, and pickled asparagus garnish.  Below, Marty, the creator of the Bloody Marty!

 While the Bloody Marty kicked things off, the gumbo making was an all-day process.  The pictures below might explain why there are very few vegetarians in my family...

Gumbo ingredients: andouille sausage, ham, chicken, shrimp, and more!

Chef Randy takes a break from his gumbo to showcase a shrimp for the camera!

Next came the crawfish boil!

Some people dressed up especially for the occasion...

Each family had their own tent with even more food-- in this family, we like to make sure no one goes hungry!  

My mom, representing our family at the tent.

Pre-picnic, Mom worked tirelessly to cook up these homemade pralines for everyone to enjoy!

Mom's pralines!

Don't forget the Tabasco!  

Inspired by our visit to New Orleans, we ordered muffulettas from local Gardena sandwich shop Giuliano's.  My family has been nibbling on their Giulio & Torpedo sandwiches ever since I can remember.  

Though muffulettas are not officially on the menu, Frank at Giuliano's let us make a special request for them!  Muffulettas are meaty Italian sandwiches dressed with olive salad: a mixture of olives, olive oil, cauliflower, celery, carrots, parsley, oregano, garlic, sweet peppers, and spices.  The Giuliano's version of olive salad is a blended version that you can spread on the bread like a condiment.  You can also opt to order the more traditional version online at CajunGrocer.com-- this version has more of a salsa or relish consistency.

Here's Dad hanging out at the tent with some Zapp's crawtator chips!

My Aunt Susan, my grandfather Russ, and I made my grandpa's famous fish stew recipe.  We stirred and cooked  under the strict supervision and direction of my grandpa.  This stew starts with a roux (the fat and flour base used for making gumbos) and ends with delicious results.  While traditionally this is served over rice, it's also great over pasta because of the tomato content in the sauce.  Chili paste and black pepper give this stew a nice kick-- which is just how we like it!  This is easily on my top 5 of favorite family dishes.

Here's a few pre-picnic photos of us making the fish stew, a meeting I have deemed "Fish Stew School."  If my grandpa had a cooking school, I would pay to go to it. He is a mean cook, that grandpa of mine!  Sometimes, I think he missed his calling as a Food Network personality.

This time, we used wild Alaskan cod and shrimp for the stew.  You can use other white fish too.

Above, we're just starting to stir the roux.  Below, that's me in Fish Stew School!

A lot of family members put love and care into cooking traditional food for the picnic.  Below, cousin Julie made Aunt Cora's mini-pies from an old family recipe.  Cousin Debbie made tasty boudin (sausage), which was quite impressive!  It was also such a blessing because we never had the chance to try boudin during our visit to Lafayette due to time constraints.

Aunt Cora's pie: this one has blackberry filling

 Great Aunt Joyce and I at the picnic

 Family and food-- that's what it's all about. Thanks to everyone who made this a memorable and delicious day!