A Moveable Feast [book review]

This month's Kitchen Reader book is A Moveable Feast, a collection of short pieces about food and travel. These are two topics that belong together. Travelling is often about trying new foods or enjoying a familiar food in a new context. These 38 little essays tell about small moments or big events; each one focuses on a particular place and the tastes that go with it.

The book is basically an encouragement to try local foods when you travel. As one writer puts it, "Every traveller's mantra is (or should be): Eat what your hosts eat, and then you'll understand them a lot better." The book is published by Lonely Planet; they know a thing or two about travelling and eating well.

The story that stuck with me the most was a very funny piece called "Long Live the King" by John T Newman. The writer is an American who was visiting the tiny Banda Islands, part of Indonesia (here's a map). They were previously known as the Spice Islands. While there he learned about the "queen of fruits" and the "king of fruits".

Spice: A History of Temptation by Jack Turner

Spice: A History of Temptation by Jack Turner is an overview of the role spices have played in history. I have learned from this book that spices were a big driver in the European exploration of the New World and Asia. The book focuses mostly on the spices native to Asia: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, mace, ginger, and pepper. These grew only in Asia, and in the case of nutmeg and mace, on only the five tiny, volcanic islands of the Moluccas.

Sunrise Breakfast

For my birthday this year I got the most amazing present - a sunrise breakfast with my husband as part of our holiday to Bali, Indoneisa. We were staying at a hotel with beautiful beach frontage, and he arranged for us to have a sunrise breakfast on the last day of our stay. The day before it happened, I found myself wondering, What would be served at an intimate table for two at sunrise?

8 Strange Potato Chip Flavours That You Might Not Want to Eat

I have been travelling in Bali recently. (More about that in another post, including the Balinese cooking class we went on!) In Asia I have learned that the flavours people consider normal in snack foods vary around the world. For your pleasure, I have been snapping with my phone in grocery stores when I see unusual flavours!