Quite the prodigal

A kid at Duke who has his own molecular gastronomy restaurant… in his dorm room [NYT]

Cool New Food blog

Pretty awesome new blog… Food Karma Alert. A food chemist (yay chemists!) explores the food industry – safety practices, labeling, etc. I’d love to find out some more about sustainability. But definitely check it out. And he’s a DC-based fella. =D

Mul naeng myun

Photo courtesy of LA Times

What a way to close out the summer. I stopped at the Lotte Plaza in Ellicott City for some Korean food. Rather than ordering my usual favorites – dul sot bi bim bap, soon doo boo chi gae, or bulgoki I got mul naeng myun. I’d been craving it since I’d read about it in an LA Times article. I had a Korean roommate who used to make it from a packet, and I always loved it.

It is the soupy version of a Korean buckwheat noodle dish. Unlike the image above, it usually comes out in a metal bowl, ice cold. I’d like to think that it could get cold enough that a layer of ice would form on the outside much like a julep cup. Even better is when they put slushy ice in the bowl to chill it further. The broth, traditionally made with a mix of chicken and beef broths and water (mul) kimchee juice is more sour than meaty. But still the broth manages to be sweet and light. It is usually topped with slices of tendony brisket, lightly pickled cucumbers and daikon, thin slices of Asian pear and half of a hard-boiled egg. A dry version, bi bim naeng myun is also available, and is very similar to bi bim bap.

I sat and sipped the light broth and enjoyed the interplay of slightly sweet and mostly sour flavors. It cooled me inside and out, and unlike most Korean dishes – not spicy.

Poignant lyrics

I really adore the Avett Brothers. They have an amazing lyric in their song called The Lowering, that describes how today went from feeling light and happy in the morning to angry and frustrated.

So if ever someone one says to you,
“Life isn’t fair, get used to it.”
Then you should say, “Well it might be, if folks like you would let it be.”

This city can grind you down.

Changing minds

I watched The Devil Came on Horseback at the Avalon Theater tonight. It’s a documentary based on the story of Brian Steidle, who went to observe and photograph whether or not a ceasefire was being maintained in Sudan. It obviously wasn’t with what can only called genocide occurring in Darfur. The beginning of the film was choppy, but in the end we watch as Steidle moves from belief in the American system to disillusionment with the world’s inaction and his decision to do as much as he can to save Darfur. For more of his story you can read his WaPo op-ed

Just to catch you up on the topic, for nearly two decades there was a conflict between the Muslim Arab North and the animist Christian African South. A ceasefire agreement had been reached, but this agreement did not extend to the Darfur region in the west, who wanted to share in the wealth and economic opportunities available in Khartoum, the capital. The Darfur region is also a part of Christian-African south. The government, run by Arab tribesmen didn’t want to share anymore than they had to, and trained, equipped, and sent Arab tribemens and government forces into the Darfur region to push people off the land, take their resources, and systematically slaughter them. It is exceedingly apparent that something needs to be done, yet real action has yet to be taken. There is no question. For more information about what you can do go to the Save Darfur web site.

It was interesting that as I left to go to the documentary this evening, my roommate asked me what I was going to see – The Devil Came on Horseback. And then she asked if it was related to The Devil Wears Prada. While slightly humorous, it made me realize that people have their narrow point of view. I think it was said in Hotel Rwanda, people say atrocities on TV, and then go back to eating their dinner. The people who are interested in causes and fighting for causes are usually already engaged in them. And the people who aren’t are happy to continue in their bubble watching E! and MTV. How do we begin to engage these people and change their minds? How do we stop them from turning their backs on things that are hard or sad? Or is it even a matter as deep as our character? I don’t really have an answer. Maybe it has to be real to them. To not simply feel sympathy, but empathy or experience.