The Latest from the FlipKey Blog |  |
| Brick Lane and Vegetable Curry Posted: 05 Oct 2011 06:01 AM PDT
I’m the first to admit… I’m not a huge fan of London. Don’t get me wrong; it’s an amazing city, with endless cultural and historical sights to visit, an amazing pub culture, and the added bonus of being an English-speaking city in Europe. But for me, London is too big: I arrive, and before I’ve seen half of what I wanted to see, it’s time to go. My long weekends there from Paris used to be overwhelming, until I decided to stop trying to see the whole city: now, I pick a neighborhood and wander, and I start to understand why London – like Paris and New York – is just another series of small towns masquerading as a big city. My best friend from Paris moved to London a year after we graduated university, and I immediately started planning several weekends a year there; with the just-over-an-hour long EuroStar ride, it seemed silly not to. It was she who first introduced me to Brick Lane: her apartment was located in this “Little India” of sorts, where the language spoken around us as we walked was, more often than not, not English, and the scents that permeated the air weren’t of fried fish and ale, but cumin, turmeric and coriander. Most of the Brick Lane population is Bengali. You’ll find Bengali restaurants, sweet shops, and an incredible supermarket called Taj Stores (112 Brick Lane). I like to poke around in the extensive variety of spices, dals and flours, imagining all the possibilities in the kitchen. While the food is predominantly Bengali in Brick Lane, the availability of produce and ingredients indigenous to most Indian cuisines is extensive, so select what looks interesting to you and start experimenting in the kitchen. To start, try a simple Vegetable Curry. From there, the possibilities are endless! Vegetable Curry Soak the chana dal overnight in cold water, covering the chana by at least two inches. In the morning, rinse the chana dal and cook it in unsalted water for about an hour, until tender. Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the white parts of the spring onion and the salt. Cook, stirring continuously, until slightly colored and softened. Add the garlic, chili pepper and spices. Cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and fry for 1 minute. Fill the tomato paste can with water and deglaze the pan with it, stirring to pull up all of the browned bits. Add the carrots to the pot, reduce heat to low and cover. Stir occasionally, adding water if necessary to keep the curry from sticking. After about 10 minutes, add the chana to the pot and stir. Cook, uncovered, for about 20 more minutes. Serve with basmati rice and reserved spring onion tops as a garnish. Emily Monaco is native New Yorker, living and writing in Paris since 2007. She loves discovering new places and, of course, their local cuisines! Read about her adventures in food and travel at tomatokumato.com or follow her on Twitter at @emiglia
|
| Pick Your Own Fall Getaway: Eco-Friendly Apples and Pumpkins Near NYC Posted: 04 Oct 2011 11:08 AM PDT Here in the Northeast, it’s fall harvest time! Those of us in the city are itching to breathe some of that crisp country air and reap the bounty of the season. Get ready to choose a weekend, round up your friends or family members, find a car (sometimes the hardest part of an escape from New York City), and go pick some apples or pumpkins. Here’s your guide to doing it sustainably, so your delicious, non-urban experience is all the more pure. Apples
If you’re concerned about the chemicals used to grow apples, you should be. It’s not all that easy to grow fruit in the Northeast, so most farms use pesticides, herbicides and other substances. Even the most eco-friendly farms must use some chemicals for their apples to survive the climate; this means that, rather than looking for strictly organic operations, you’ll usually be looking for “low-spray” and “sustainably grown” alternatives. A 90-minute drive north, near Fishkill, NY, you’ll find Fishkill Farms. Its pick-your-own apple orchard is home to low-spray varieties, and has been certified by the Eco Apple program. Fishkill Farms is so gung-ho about sustainability that it has gone all out to meet organic standards; its official organic certification is on the way. About two hours from the city, Mr. Apples in High Falls, NY, offers minimally sprayed apples, with no herbicides used in the soil. This orchard offers fun features like a mystery apple variety (that sprung up all on its own) and historic educational displays. The pick-your-own bounty also includes pears and pumpkins. Nearby, in Stone Ridge, NY, the Stone Ridge Orchard has also been certified by Eco Apple. Besides picking your own apples, you can stop by the farm stand for pumpkins, melons, cider, baked goods and more. For something a little different, look into leasing a tree from Little Dog Orchard in Clintondale, NY (less than two hours from Manhattan). The orchard recently decided to forgo all pesticides, herbicides and fungicides—so the surface of the apples might not look pretty, but you’ll know you’re not ingesting anything you don’t want to. With the lease-a-tree program, you invest in a specific tree and choose a time to go harvest the bushels of fruit.
Pumpkins aren’t as much of a health concern as apples since the skin is so thick and you don’t eat it anyway. But if you care about the environmental impact of what you buy, you’ll want to go for organically grown pumpkins this Halloween. One place to pick them yourself is Organics Today, an organic farm in East Islip on Long Island—about an hour’s drive from Manhattan. Besides the pumpkin patch, you can enjoy seasonal delights like hay rides, apple cider, cider doughnuts and pumpkin pie, every day until Halloween. Mr. Apples (mentioned above) also offers pick-your-own pumpkins and other kid-friendly activities. So hurry up and get out of here, before the pickings get too slim! Joanna Eng is a New York-based writer and editor who covers travel, green living, food, careers, entrepreneurship, and more. Her travel experiences have ranged from hostel hopping in Mexico to staying with distant relatives in China to renting a beach apartment in New Jersey. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The FlipKey Blog - Vacation Rental Market News, Travel Tips, and Big Ideas To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment