Food, Indirectly

Cooking

At the Fulbright offices, we’re spoiled with a chef that cooks the most amazing food. He’s an amazing, funny man. His late wife was the previous chef, but she tragically passed away in the earthquake. A friend and I asked for the opportunity to observe our chef as he prepared our lunch one day. We learned how to make around six dishes (a typical  Nepali-style lunch for us). They all used simple ingredients and only a few spices. The food is so good, I couldn’t believe it was made with so few ingredients, particularity the chutney. He did kick us out for around an hour (cooking our lunch takes three hours) so the staff could eat breakfast. We asked him not to do anything without us, but when we came back, things had definitely been cooking. He claimed to only have made rice, but he had suspiciously locked the door when he kicked us out. Clearly, he’s slyly hiding the secret of the incredible flavor from us!

Coconut Curry

Here are two recipes you can try really easily (all you need is a blender/food processor):

Spicy Chutney (this stuff is incredible):

Puree a pinch of salt, 3 garlic cloves, 10 stalks of cilantro, 2 green chillies, 1 tsp of oil and 3-4 tomatoes.  

Salad dressing:
Puree 2 garlic cloves, 1 tsp sugar, salt, pepper, juice of one lemon, 2 Tbsp oil

Let me know what you think of the recipes!

Farmers’ market

I recently stumbled upon the most incredible farmers’ market. I’ve been to some of the best markets in America (Ithaca and Madison) and I think this one rivaled the very best. The most amazing, freshest food was there. Chocolates, baguettes, fancy cheeses, bagels, parsley; I was in heaven. Unfortunately, the next time I’ll be able to go back is in July, but I will dream about that food for the next few months. The market was 80% expats, and it was strange to feel so removed from the Nepali culture for a few hours.

Networking Reception

Fulbright held a networking reception and dinner to honor their current Fulbright Scholars. Normally, anything that has “networking” in the title stresses me out (I feel forced to be outspoken) and I get tired of those sorts of events really quickly. However, our chef (the same one who gave the les

Friends cooking

son) had been cooking up a storm all day, making his delicious take on American food (spicy fried chicken, pizza, hummus). I ate a lot of food, talked to a lot of really interesting people, and then ate a lot more food.