Lake Titicaca - Peru - Taste Curator

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Lake Titicaca – Peru

Feb 09. 2016

TC2016 Lan

fare0120@live.com

Lake Como, Italy

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#earthday reminds me of a brilliant way this charming town of @sanmigueldeallende of México go green. All the shop owners unanimously decided to nix electrical retail signs and replaced them with colorful ribbons to tie on their front doors to bring attention to their shops. As we leisurely walked along the retail strips, we were struck by the beauty of these bright, beautiful ribbons of various colors gently dancing in the wind in front of every shop, which at first we thought it was because of some kind of holiday going on. It wasn’t until we asked a shop owner of its significance that we found out why. What a charming way to go green, and to express the individuality of every shop. The stores are able to save so much electricity use, thus decreasing overhead cost and #carbonfootprint at the same time, which helps the environment is by decreasing power plant emissions. To generate electricity, most power plants burn coal, crude oil or other fossil fuels. Now that’s inspiring! #reducingcarbonfootprint #gogreen #savetheearth #savetheearth🌎 #environmentallyfriendly #environmentallyconscious

In honor of @earthdayjax here are some of my fave ways to go green, by these 3 local pioneers: 1) @tutemtea located next to Hong Kong Bistro and owned by the same people, this place is the first #bubbletea in Jax to use paper #jumbostraws and reusable plastic cups & lids. Die-hard bubble tea fans may not like anything that rocks the boat from the usual disposable plastic cups and straw with their typical sealed on lid. Although paper straws can be annoying bc they get soggy after a while, but who sips bubble tea anyway? I usually finish mine in less than 5 min :) And they use real fruits in their teas, not the powder kind. 2) @minibardonuts for having straws made of- get this, straw! Not only they look so cute and natural, they’re #biodegradable and never get soggy like with paper straws. Oh and their #donuts are made to order, in perfect mini sizes, with a many gourmet flavors. Definitely my favorite #donutshop in Jax. 3) @leafandbeanjax #organic Cafe: Not only they use fresh organic ingredients to help reduce their carbon foot-print, but they are environmentally conscious in their methods of reducing waste, with their degradable green plastic straws & utensils and paper plates. Let’s support these businesses so they can stay successful, and inspire others to go #green too. #foodiesofjacksonville
#natedoesfood #annaeatzjax #folioweekly #eatdrinkjax #eatjax #ilovejax #jacksonvillemagazine #jacksonvillemag #jacksonville #jackaboutjax #edibleneflorida #tastecurator

Testing out just arrived truffles for my VIGLO popup dinner next weekend. Truffle makes any ordinary dish extraordinary, even my left over fried rice #freshtruffle #freshtruffles #trufflefriedrice

Aren’t they lovely? They’re both from the same family but different parents. Can you guess what they are?

Chef @titoq4 of @bbsrestaurant made me this curry sauce that was out of this world delicious, so I rubbed it on my pork chops, which gave them an umami burst of flavor. Thanks chef Tito, will have to get your recipe later #truecooks #instachefs #instachef #jaxchef #jaxchefs #jacksonvillechefs #jacksonvillechef #fancyhomecooked #porkchops #bakedporkchops #roastedporkchops #delicious #foodstagrams #foodiesofjacksonville #jaxfoodie #jaxfoodies #homechefmeals #thetastecurator

This is how I French my lamb chops. Instead of using my knife to scrape off the meat around the bone from beginning to end, I like to make a vertical cut of the membrane along the bone first and follow that cut to peel the meat/fat off the bone, which makes the job cleaner and faster. Best of all, it’s less damaging to my knife, since I do very little scraping only towards the end. And don’t throw away the meat & fat trimmed from the chops; use them to make sauce or stock. #frenchlamb #frenchrackoflamb #kitchentechniques #frenchlambrack #thetastecurator

Voila, my crispy sage chicken skin, cut into rectangular strips to garnish my gourmet Vietnamese “banh nam” crawfish & pork belly tamale. I learned this trick of using heavy skillets to flatten the baked chicken skin from @elevenmadisonpark #cookbook, except chef @danielhumm used fresh truffle for his chicken skin, creating beautiful brown marble veins on the skin. Having been a fan of crispy chicken skin for a long time, this simple but brilliant technique gave me a gorgeous way to use chicken skin in an artistic way. Thanks chef @danielhumm #chickenskin #crispychickenskin #chickenchicharron #crispysage #chefsgossips #army_of_chefs #professionalchefs #foodartchefs #gastroart #highendchefs #chefsalert #cookniche #theartofplating #thebestchefawards #chefstalk #chefsofinstagram #chefstime #chefselection #thetastecurator

My roasted pork belly game is strong. The secret is in pricking the skin with lots of tiny holes all over the skin. Then coat the skin with a thick layer of baking salt on top before roasting. The salt dries the skin to make it crispy later. After roasting time is done, then scrape & discard off the salt, and broil for 10 min or so. Can you hear the crunch sound of the crispy skin? D.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s! #porkbelly #roastedporkbelly #roastedporkbelly🐷 #crispyporkbelly #crispyporkskin #thetastecurator

I usually grind a bunch of fresh lemongrass and store in little zip lock bags and freeze them so I could have lemongrass at my disposal anytime. I love lemongrass, its smells and flavor, and put it in a lot of my dishes. #freshlemongrass #lemongrass #bestseasoning #bestherb #bestherbs #thetastecurator

It’s been a while since we had dim sum at Hong Kong Bistro on Beach blvd. I have always loved their food (Dim sum on weekends and classic Hong Kong dishes for lunch and dinner), but thought they should have increased their hot dim sum carts on the weekends so all customers could enjoy hot dim sum plates, and not just the ones closest to their kitchen door. Well it seemed they listened and now hot carts were wheeling around all over during the weekends. The food was delicious, authentic Hong Kong dim sum with friendly service. #bestdimsum #asianfood #tastecurator

I had a blast as a VEGAN judge for the GastroFest this past weekend. I got to taste bites from 12 venues (I know, it’s a tough job but someone had to do it). Being an omnivore, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the vegan dishes. Everything was super delicious, it was hard to pick a winner. 1) In the end, I picked “Dirt Cup” as first place because of its taste, presentation & creativity: a delicious root veg dip with local olive soil and homemade pita. Congrats to chef Mike and his team at Well Oiled Events. 2) Jax beloved chef Dennis Chan explained to me the reason why he chose to make Indian samosa & naan as his vegan dish entry when his restaurant serves Chinese food- because when he heard that GastroFest lacked Indian food, he volunteered to make some. Now doesn’t that sound just like the chef we all know and love, always ready to help out? His samosas were crunchy on the outside with perfectly seasoned potato curry on the inside. 3) Third place was Jamma Jax’s Thai tofu bun. The flavors were clean with a beautiful presentation. This dish looked like it belonged in a fancy Thai restaurant than at a food fest. Well done, Jamma Jax.
Other delicious vegan entries are listed below (in no particular order). Some I ate before remembering to take pix. “Girls Gone Green” Veg Nachos-So yummy and their booth totally rocked! Notice I brought my own paper plate, utensil and plastic cup to be green :). ”Ibex Ethiopian Kitchen” Delicious Rice, Potato Curry & Collard Green. “Hot Dog Party” Vegan Dog, even more delicious than a meat one. “Hyppo Pop” Strawberry Popsicle, which I’m a big fan. ”Sun-Ray Cinema” Twankie, a more improved Twinkie that’s baked, not fried. “Manny’s Cuban Food Truck”- Abuela’s Seasoned Beans & Rice with Sweet Plaintain & Yuca Chunks. Trust me, Manny’s is the real deal for Cuban food. “Luvin’ Oven”’s great use of Vegetable Quinoa. ”Bellwether” vibrant and well seasoned Rotini Pasta salad. “Bistro AIX” Couscous and Greek pasta salad. Brilliant use of Israeli couscous for extra al dente bite.
Thank you Erin Thursby for giving Jax community such a delicious & quality food fest. #gastrofest2019 #jaxfest #foodfest #foodfestivals #foodfestival

55 tix sold out in less than a week. Thank you for your support. Five weeks count down until my VIGLO (Vietnamese with global influences) popup dinner on 4/28. So honored to be working with BB’s Restaurant, Jax dining institution since 2000. #thetastecurator #popupdinner #popupdinners

San Miguel de Allende is full of charming restaurants like Laposadita, with #rooftopdining and impeccable service. The food was good, but sometimes when the setting is nice, everything tastes better. #authenticmexican #authenticmexicanfood #sanmigueldeallenderetreat #sanmigueldeallendeguanajuato #sanmigueldeallende #nicelunch #mexicanrestaurant #mexicanrestaurants #authenticmexicancuisine #tastecurator

One of the #bestmeals we’ve had in @SanMigueldeAllende was from a street cart: 3 #softtacos with #choppedsteak , #chorizo , and #porkkabab cooked in an open fire #rotatinggrill . All three tacos for $2.50 USD, #delicioso #tastecurator #authenticmexicanfood

Had the best meal in Guanajuato, Mexico at @loscamposgto, such a charming restaurant and everything we ordered was delicious 1) sweet corn & jalapeños fritters: 2) Have you ever had “huitlacoche” before? It’s a luxury ingredient in Mexico that’s formed from a fungus that grows in the corn, has a smoky and earthy flavor, and a taste like mushrooms mixed with corn. We had it in this pork tenderloin dish with wild mushroom & huitlacoche powder. So good. 3) Chicken meatballs seasoned with hoja santa, and a very nice black mole sauce. 4) Chili relleno stuffed with pork, ancho chili sauce, barley, the super delicious #huitlacoche and cheese. We enjoyed the meal so much but didn’t know what we were eating until our hotel chef Omar Rodriguez Fonseca at @casarofo explained to us all the best & exotic ingredients in Mexico. Chef Omar was so gracious and knowledgeable, and we ended up talking food & ingredients with each other for long time. He explained to me about huitlacoche, Mexico’s #gourmetingredients , and also #escamoles which are eggs from ants that are supposed to be a delicacy, often regarded as Mexican caviar. They are tiny, light-colored eggs, harvested from #magueyplants , that look like white-corn kernels or pine nuts; even have similar texture as pine nuts but crunchy if fried. Thanks chef Omar for an education in #mexicanfood #authenticmexicanfood #tastecurator

I fancied up my simple tofu and ginger syrup dessert: dry fruit crunch, turmeric cracker with red bean sea salt gelee, mango gelee, grape & candied ginger, and matcha KitKat #tofudessert #turmericcrackers #fancydessert #asiandessert #asiandesserts #tasty #eat #foodpic #foodstagram #yum #amazing #foodpics #dessert #desserts #sweets #thetastecurator #asiansweet #asiansweets #thetastecurator

My simple #lychee #redradish salad in champagne #meyerlemon yuzu vinaigrette. Guess what is that little green thing on top that looks like a beautiful ribbon? #simplesalad #lycheesalad #healthyaperture #findingvegan #thetastecurator #healthyfood #healthyfoods

Vietnamese caramelized short rib is one of my fave dishes to make, but this time I added garnishes inspired from the meal I ate at @restaurant_gaa in Bangkok whose chef @arorgarima is the first female Indian chef to recently receive a Michelin Star. We ate there BEFORE the restaurant received the star, so it feels great to support a restaurant before its stardom. It was an incredible tasting menu, which I will post pix for the meal later. But I remember admiring how beautiful the the rib looked as soon as it arrived to our table. I’ve never seen ribs plated like that before, with such vibrant color blocks of vegetables & herbs. While her toppings were pomegranate seeds, chimmichuri, and brunoised pink onions, mine are slightly different: persillade, brunoised jicama, and pickled brunoised purple cabbage, over roasted caulilini, beet powder, and a spread of black garlic. But it’s a similar look and it was inspired by this brilliant chef. #chefsgossips #army_of_chefs #professionalchefs #foodartchefs #gastroart #highendchefs #chefsalert #cookniche #theartofplating #thebestchefawards #chefstalk #chefsofinstagram #chefstime #chefselection #thetastecurator

Whole roasted #sucklingpig has been done for hundreds of years in many countries. In China it’s served at traditional weddings to signify double happiness. The Vietnamese too, both in Vietnam and in the States, still consider whole roasted pig a must at any engagement party or wedding. In the Philippine, Puerto Rico, and Cuba, they call it #lechón. In Serbia and Montenegro, a roasted pig called #kafana, is a traditional meal for special occasions. In the Deep South they call it #pigpickin and whole roasted pig can also be found in Hawaii. But the BEST I have ever had was in Segovia, Spain, a place that’s world famous for suckling pig, where they use milk-fed baby pigs called #cochinillo. I know it sounds terrible and my daughter at first refused to eat it when she saw the whole cochinillo on our table. But after one bite (something she was taught as a kid to taste everything once before deciding if she doesn’t like it), she couldn’t stop eating it. That meal has ingrained in my mind as the best meal I’ve ever had in my life, and I’ve decided that cochinillo will be my last meal on earth. Yes it was that good; its skin was paper thin and evenly crispy, and its meat was so moist, flavorful and so clean tasting. You just knew the meat was high quality, unlike any suckling pig I’ve ever had. Since this lunar new year is the year of the pig, we decided to have a whole roasted pig at our house party to raise money for our non profit foundation, and hired this man who marinated it for 5 days before roasting it in his brick oven. We served it in banh mi sandwiches with condiments that guests could self serve. It was an amazing experience and our guests loved it.

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