In memorium: A.Cooke Pie and Eel Shop 1899-2015 They had been queuing for weeks, for hours on the weekends, the lost tribe of West London. Shepherds Bush, massively multi racial and as diverse as anywhere in diverse London, culinary home to falafel joints, Syrian flat bread stores, Eritrean sour dough pancakes, Sichuan hot pot, and American Five Guys burgers, … Read More
Food Under Financial Fire: Eatin’ in Athens
It’s a rare day when I find myself on the road for work with neither headscarf nor flak jacket — but reporting on the Greek financial crisis was an excellent change of pace. Light clothes, sandals, tap water I could drink, street food I could eat… all without fear of dysentery or gunshots. I had many excellent dishes in Athens, … Read More
Outside Beirut, Home-Cooked Hospitality
It doesn’t take long to escape the traffic- and dust-clogged streets of Beirut. Just an hour spent bouncing around in the car will get you high into the hills, overlooking the corniche and the coastline, above the congestion and pollution. There you’ll find cedar trees (immortalized on the Lebanese flag), deep valleys and beautiful stone homes perched perilously on the … Read More
Tunis: Dine in the Souk… Or Eat with the Locals
Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, has one of the most amazing souks in the Middle East: a warren of stone streets lined with perfume shops, shoemakers, cafes, and countless souvenir hawkers. There is an amazing restaurant in the middle of the souk – Dar el Jeld – and if I hadn’t been working so hard, for such long hours, I would have … Read More
Quick Snack: Cereal… with a Treat
Presented nearly without comment…. Methinks many people in this unnamed hotel in Antakya, Turkey, are NOT eating cereal. These flakes must be several years old. This bug is slightly newer, but had a very nice life in the plastic tube of breakfast-y goodness. Perhaps he ate himself to death. Thankfully, I saw him before I ate him. But there may … Read More