Passionately Curious

Passionately Curious: The delectable path of food writer, Richard Sterling

The award wining food and travel writer opens up about his love of culinary adventure.

By Aly Abaquin

Perhaps there is no perfect word nor phrase to describe oneself when he is fulfilling his dream or simply following his bliss. But wait have you heard of the phrase Passionately curious?

These words put together make an extremely powerful meaning.

Remember Albert Einstein uttered this “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." What does it mean? Einstein encouraged inquiry. "The important thing is not to stop questioning and curiosity has its own reason for existing”

Passionate Curiosity is one characteristic renowned food and travel writer, Richard Sterling possesses.

Sterling is a travel food, lifestyle journalist, the principal author of Lonely Planet's World Food Series.
His writing is provocative and testosterone-edged, but poignant and hilarious, and when asked where he gets his inspiration? Without a blink of an eye he said PASSIONATE CURIOSITY.

“Passionate curiosity about the world as I said I grew up in a rural place. A very good place to grow up,” But very narrow place not much range of experience and then I was sent to Asia and the world just opens up and so I always had a great curiosity on everything that I see, eat and drink.”

New York Times dubbed him the Indiana Jones of Gastronomy for his willingness to go anywhere and court any danger for the sake of a good meal. He has been honored by the James Beard Foundation for his food writing, and by the Lowell Thomas awards for his travel literature and has authored a dozen books and scores of magazine articles.

In this short interview, Richard Sterling takes us into the inner working of his heart, his soul and stomach.
He shares his most compelling stories from a lifetime of travel and adventure. Whether breaking bread with a murderer in Baja dessert or enjoying shipboard dalliance with a mysterious new acquaintance on the South China Sea.  Sterling shares his most memorable adventures.

When asked to recount just one Sterling replies: I was in the Philippines a restaurant in Zambales province called Three Roses. I was excited to try this new culinary adventure and three Filipino friends took me there as their guest. I was excited  until they've place the  dish before me.  It was a dog. All I could see was every dog I ever own seated in the table growling at me. It was quite a trauma. I finally ate it. It was delicious but the dogs are barking in my belly all night long.”

Sterling has a bevy of equally captivating tales. Some of which he chronicled in his book : The Fire Never Dies:One Man's Raucous Romp Down the Road of Food.
He joined the Navy by the age of 19 and had not dropped the anchor since. Sterling is still sailing the horizon that keeps the flames of his soul alive. Passionate about food when he landed in South East Asia, he claims  to have found in a "culinary Disneyland.” the writer immediately fell in love.

Aside from dog is there any food you won't eat  despite having an iron stomach? “I don’t care for tofu, to my mind it is tasteless, odorless, colorless. I would rather eat spam a perfectly good food substitute.”

Then I concur food should be tasted and chewed so that every morsel and bite is an adventure to itself.
Amongst  hearty laughter we chat  like old friends. Both foodies, who  love to travel & write, the conversation was smooth, light -at times endearing.

So I continued to pry. Having said that, i followed up the question quickly with If you where a dish what will you be and why?

“I think I would be something spicy and a lot of sauce. Something like a Vietnamese Curry.” Indeed the guy has Gusto, Spunk and Spice. He is quite tall and debonair in stature and has many things to offer. Remember he is fueled with enormous amount of creativity and passion that commands attention.

Spurned by the idea that food makes strong bonds with family, history and culture. I asked him what his comfort food is?

His smile and twinkle in the eyes are reminiscent of that scene from the movie Ratatouille.
As always a true blue American he said “When I go the United States something I always want to have within a day or two of my arrival. I go to a Bar and grill a very simple place and have a cheese burger and a draft beer. Hopefully thankful Hank William Sr. is playing at the jukebox.”

I was also curious if this award winning travel journalist is a cook. Julia Child said be a fearless cook are you one aside being a fearless diner?

He confirmed that like Julia he never apologizes on the food he cooks
“Sometimes a dish that I create does not come quite the way it would. They do not know that. I prepare dinners and sometimes things not what you hope to be. I personally disappointed but served it forth….Enjoy!”

He continues to share with all the travels his biggest challenge on the road was loneliness.
“There is this profound loneliness if you’re a stranger in a strange land. All by yourself even though you’re having a lot of fun…. It’s fascinating to see new people and eat new food and experience the new country. Just can’t shake it off for the day. You have to work thru it. Alright I would be lonely in a day or two but shake if off and continue.”

His advise to aspiring travel writers like myself is: “If you want to be a good writer you must read great writers. Great writer will rub-off on you.”

You’ve gone around the world and become successful. Is there anything else that you would like to fulfill?  “I want to do the same thing, continue  exploring the world through my eyes, my mouth, heart, stomach and sharing it to others through my writing.”

Sterling is currently writing a new book about working and living in Vietnam.  Inspired by Rudyard Kipling's "Mandalay" & Paul Theroux’s Great Railway Bazaar

His highest aspiration is that people will be inspired to eat adventurously and also feel inspired to travel through the pages of his books.

Like his adventures, Richard Sterling is heart-felt, sensitive, yet hard-edged and witty, creating a unique view of this man’s Passionate Curiosity: the very core of his being.

 The article in its condensed version appeared in East West: Gastronome : Feb 2010

 

With the famous Richard Sterling.

Other books worth reading  from Richard Sterling

Photos: courtesy of Mr. Richard Sterling

All books available at http://www.amazon.com/

Eat all you can madness

DIN KY: Eat all you can madness

By Aly Abaquin

Are you looking for that satisfaction of getting big value for your money? Well one resto in HCMC is up to give you a wide selection of vietnam’s gastronomy buffet style: eat all you can. Its full moon and as they say madness strikes everyone when there’s a full moon: EAT ALL YOU CAN MADNESS that is.

Din KY is located in 48-50 Le Thi Hong Gam dist 1 and for 145,000 vnd ($7)per person: eat all you can and yes folks it is open 24 hours at that.

I with a friend in tow tried and tested this very popular vietnamese restaurant that can house a huge number of people a good choice for Big Bigger Biggest get together, parties and the likes.

Do not be shy for the buffet of 100 dishes are plenty and ready to serve hungry mouths. A marathon of eating is now on the loose as we partake to see what is in store for us. Good thing we did pass out on lunch for this day we are ready to dive in to this smorgasbord disneyland of vietnamese cuisine.

The atmosphere is so festive as we see families celebrate their kids birthday, from mother, father , brother, sister, auntie, uncles, grandma and grandpa all in attendance shall we say all the clan is here to give the celebrant a bright b-day. We also see foreigners being treated by their vietnamese friends and so groups of people acquaintances, employee, employer outings and or just friends enjoying beer & food galore.

The menu is a dazzling array of large serving of Pho, hot pot, appetizers, fish ,seafoods from ban xeo to rice meals. From Veggies to carbs all present.

The place is chaotic, happy, dizzying, dashing frenzy of people looking for each dish that caught their fancy. You’ll surely tend to divide and conquer as I and a friend are on a food trip so to speak. We just partake what we like to eat and not be gluttons in the process we select to taste test everything in tiny bite size pieces then and go back to our favorites so to savour the buffet. The pictures will tell you what we go for.

Why not take yourself to a foodie adventure. I will bet my bottom dollar that its gonna be a wild and memorable one. As we did experience it one full moon ago.

ADDRESS: 48- 50 Le Thi Hong Gam, Dist. 1

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

PHONE: (84-8) 3829 4112

E-MAIL: buffetngondinky@yahoo.com

HOURS: 24 hours

TET & Banh Chung

TET & Banh Chung

By Aly Abaquin

The making and eating bánh chưng during Tet is a well-preserved tradition of Vietnamese people. Bánh chưng is a traditional Vietnamese cake which is made from Glutinous rice, mung bean & pork.

Traditionally, in making the bánh chưng, all members of the family gather with different tasks, from washing the lá dong, mixing the pork with spices, preparing the mung bean and most important wrapping all ingredients in square form (Ban Chung) or cylindrical form (ban Tay) and carefully boiling the cakes for ten – twelve hours in a boiling cauldron.

The Taste of the glutinuous rice with mung bean are very heavy to the stomach and we suggest to have a tea handy. One slice is enough to make you full.  The Cake is also an offfering to the buddhist altar for more bountiful new year and is a great way to greet the new Year!

Or simply called  the Tet, which means the first morning of the first day of the new year, is the Vietnamese New Year. The celebration lasts for 7 days. Like the Chinese, the Lunar New Year is one of the most celebrated holidays.


Preparation for Tet starts weeks before New Year's Day. Homes are cleaned to get rid of bad fortune associated with the old year. Families paint their homes to give it a new look. Everyone gets new clothes and new shoes. Pay your debts and resolve differences between family and friends.

A special ceremony called Le Tru Tich is held at the mid-night hour (Giao Thua) on New Year's Eve. The ritual involves firecrackers and gongs and other festive items that make loud noises to usher out the old and welcome the new.

In HCMC, Saigon tourist has held the successful flower market to welcome the new year and this is also the most awaited event for locals and well as for tourist. An explosion of flora & fauna. Disneyland for landscapers, an array of different flowers from orchids, daffodils, exotic flowers etc are all present.

Think of the Rose parade but in this case its not mobile but stationary along the Central district in Nguyen Hue.  

Like the Chinese, Vietnamese people are very careful about what they do on New Year's Day. The events on New Year's Day determine your luck for the rest of the year. Therefore, everything and everyone you are in touch with on New Year's Day should symbolize good fortune. Don't visit people who are in mourning because they are associated with death. Children should not fight or cry on New Year's Day.

Homes are decorated with Hoa Mai, a yellow blossom that represents spring for prosperity.
Family members exchange gifts or give li xi a red envelope with lucky money  and pay homage to the Kitchen God. They also visit local temples to pray for prosperity and good health.

So this year of the tiger i wish all you the best of health & wealth.
Be Brave and courageous this year!

FRUIT CANDY TREATS!

Fruit Candy treats

by Aly Abaquin

  In vietnam fruits are being candied ,diced, sliced and wrap individually  in cellophane and sold in markets.

  This natural goodness are either aired dried or candied in brown sugary goodness.

  Jack fruits, durian, sampaloc, ginger and lime fruits are the best prefered sweet treats.

  All naturally being sold in markets  or placed in a Glass menagerie of  row and rows of

  good fruit candied  treats. Sweet treats that are nutritiously organic.

Vogue : Behind the Sun glasses of Anna Wintour

Vogue : Behind the Sun glasses of Anna Wintour

By Aly Abaquin

Vogue Magazine is the bible of the fashion industry and the September issue is the magazine’s Holy Grail. You cannot talk about VOGUE without mentioning the elusive and  enigmatic editor- in chief Anna Wintour

The most powerful woman in fashion the name strikes in terror, intimidating and for some commands a loyal band of friends & admirers for 21 years a divorced mother of two has been a editor of vogue.

She is portrayed as the Dark Vader in frock of the fashion industry or the worst Nuclear Winter BITCH Persona as paparazzi revered her photos more so than a Movie Superstar and Top notch Royalty. While Actors and Actresses like to befriend her as well.

This so-called bitch, ice flow, perfectionist, needy and cold are harsh adjectives/blurbs comments from Critics but she is the Fashion industry’s most feared, revered and powerful woman where Conde Nast the Publisher of Vogue holds her the personification of Vogue or simply put “Her majesty the Queen herself”.

She is the inspiration behind the Miranda Priestly Beastly character from the Devil wears Prada movie & novel. Now the legendary Anna Wintour hidden behind her trademark bob and sunglasses has allowed us to scrutinize the inner workings of her magazine.

With unprecedented access, filmmaker R.J. Cutlers new film THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE does for fashion what he did for politics in The War Room, taking the viewer inside a world they only think they know. Every August a record-breaking number of people can’t wait to get their hands on the September issue of Vogue.

Did you know that the 2007 issue was and remains the biggest ever, weighing over four pounds, selling thirteen million copies, and impacting the $300-billion global fashion industry more than any other single publication.

That said this documentary has also earned nods from film critics in the Sundance Film Festival 2009 and included in “Excellence in Cinematography Award Documentary” category.

The September issue is a rare behind the pages look on how Vogue is made. The film is documented to show the power and collaboration of the Vogue team that makes fashion magic and thrown you into fantasy haute couture in this recession laden times .

An intimate, funny and surprising look at Anna Wintour and her team of larger-than-life editors as they create this must-have Bible of fashion, Cutler explores the untouchable glamour of Wintour’s Vogue to reveal the extraordinarily passionate people at its heart. He takes us behind the scenes at Fashion Week, to Europe, on shoots and re-shoots, and into closed-door staff meetings, bearing witness to an arduous, entertaining, and sometimes emotionally demanding process. At the eye of this annual fashion hurricane is the two-decade relationship between Wintour and Grace Coddington, incomparable Creative Director and fashion genius. They are perfectly matched for the age-old conflict between creator and curator. Through them, we see close-up the delicate creative chemistry it takes to remain at the top of the ever-changing fashion field.

As we mortals try to wear Anna’s sun glasses and try to see her passion for the magazine and the inner minds behind sophistication and fantasy of Vogue. Vogue is the leader in the field and consider as the glamorous girlfriend of any 20’s 30’s & 40’s fashionistas in the world, whether in Milan, Paris or New York.

A Fashion Icon and acts as Cheerleader, Power broker, Consultant and the Queen BEE as she decides who is in or out and cuts out designers from the pages of Vogue if not master Perfection or not her cup of tea.
“LIFTED OUT” is the term as she express discontent.

She is also the Fairy God Mother to new designers - remember John Galliano: House of Dior and selling his couture masterpieces like hotcakes for a 6 figure tag price. As if you can afford them? Only if you are privileged and have a $200,000 dollar clothing allowance that is.

She is influential and help choose the new generation of designers. The film gives us the new inside track of the most hottest designer to look for.  As Ms.Wintour makes judgment to any designer’s collection on fashion week that makes or break them.
Indeed she is powerful and capable of all the power of any Queen and her millions of constituents has seen her in the 21 years of her throne.  Elizabethan Golden age sort of.

Vogue still lives & breathes like a VAMPIRE in this 21st century even stronger and healthier in its 840 pages September edition and the film entirety gives us a clear vision behind those dark glasses.

Indeed an eye opener of how the fashion industry prosper and thrives. Now move over PRADA with TWILIGHT anyone?

P.S.
Okey folks whats the connection with my food blogs??? Well  as i was watching this movie i was munching this Jack fruit snack. That is i just happen to like this movie and blog on a review and sold it in a  vietnamese publication for translation yippee!!!! ;) Kudos to Vogue!!!  VINAMIT jack fruit snack was awesome!!!

Street Sweets: Ban Ran

Street Sweets: Ban Ran

By Aly Abaquin

For only 1,000 vnd .05 cents practically FREE SWEETS !!!

This Ban ran as the locals calls it is a deep-fried glutinous rice ball from northern Vietnamese cuisine. The bánh means “cake” and rán means “fried.” Its sold practically on the side streets and it’s a way to taste Vietnam Street Sweets that is if your adventurous.

The  outer shell is made from glutinous rice flour, and covered all over with white sesame seeds and poured over with a transparent glassy sugary syrupy goodness. Molding its shape glistening in bright sunny day.

Enticingly YUMMY as you eater outer was tempted to try one day! Sugary Sticky but finger licking good.

As I told my foreigner friends to try one and we did tried 10 pieces good for that afternoon Tea.

This unconventional doughnut that is filled with sweetened mung bean paste, and scented with jasmine flower essence. Making every bite crunchily sweet and boy is it heavy in the stomach so take a hot jasmine tea or Lemon Tea to balance it off.

Bánh rán is very similar to a Chinese fried glutinous rice ball called zin dou or “Buchi“ which is a standard pastry in Cantonese cuisine.

The Chinese version is generally slightly sweeter and uses fillings such as lotus paste or black bean paste and the shape is rounded and full of sesame seeds.

This pastry surely puts your afternoon delights in place. So sticky delicious. Topped of with vanilla and make it ala mode. Great idea right!!!

Acoustically yours : Vietnam idol finalist Ngoc Anh

Acoustically yours : Vietnam idol finalist Ngoc Anh
By Aly Abaquin

You might be wondering why I’m writing music now instead of food blogs but there is a connection to this story line. As Acoustic Music and smoothy mix together perfectly combining when you talk to the owner of NHEN a new cafe for the arts that allures every one to relax and listen to pure acoustic sound by this Vietnamese idol.

I chance upon meeting Vietnam’s First runner-up on season 1 of VIETNAM IDOL. Yes, Virginia in Vietnam they also have the Vietnam idol reality show in-fact this franchise of the  American idol  is doing so well that it is on season 3 and is discovering raw talented singing personas.

Vietnam can sing too. Meet Mr. Ngoc Anh. Acoustically yours.

Ngoc Anh lights up when he speaks of his craft singing and when he foretold his journey over dinner with me and his companion.

Although he finished only as a runner up as Phuoung Vy won the title for Vietnam idol Season 1.

His journey begins as this bright eyed and diminutive inspiring barrio lad auditioned in Hanoi with just plain T-shirt and jeans and WOWWED the audience of his soulful voice that merits the judges approval.

He is an Engineer by profession and a Son of a hard working farmer from the northern part of Hanoi. Can you imagine the journey he took and the courage to follow his bliss.

The passion for singing was honed during when he and his siblings would sing while doing chores in the farm tending irrigation or simply helping out his father in their daily chores in the rice fields. Even his brother was chosen to the top 30 of Vietnam idol.

So there singing is in their genes and from a humble beginning of a farmer boy now a singing sensation in Vietnam Idol. His ballad in the first recording after Vietnam idol and the “Ngay Hom Qua La The”, Ngoc An idol CD are love songs accompanied by violin and an orchestra.  Are must have in this season of giving.

I’ve listen to them and even if it is in Vietnamese I could feel the heart and soul of the singer.  Music is indeed a universal language. You are moved to his vocal prowess and his heart is represented in every song. While the second album entitled “GIAT MINH” is a rock glam musical assortment of things. His versatility is shown as he can do ballads and rock. Well looks like the adam lambert of Vietnam kindda.

Now presently he just opened a Coffee shop called NHEN translated it is literally spider.

Its ambience is a little bit gothic, hallooweeny with spiders web and mask all over. The younger set love the floor mats sitting on the second floor as they sing out their songs and sip their smoothies.

The smooties are very good this part of town. Located in the vibrant Phu Nhuan District between the centre Dist 1 and Tan Son Nhat International airport, along the the hipsterazzi Street and hidden in the short alley of 288/5 Huynh van banh. P.11 Phu nhuan-TP.HCM.

Every Friday is acoustic nights as alum from Vietnam idol sing their signatures and I was awed on the culture artsy folksy night of sounds. It thrives to break the mold of the music scene in HCMC as this is more local. The dark enclaves interspersed with passionate people adds whiff , calm and adds color to this pulsating urban atmosphere of Vietnams music scene. Not underground but pure acoustic nights and love for the performing arts.
Saturday’s is a bit different and it offers a light drama/ comedy ensemble as you sip your smoothy with laughter and colorful people strut their dramatics.

So let Nhen spin a web across you as you will experience good music and let the vietman idols allure you to their craft as I did and can’t help it either that I bought their cds and let them sign it as a remembrance.


Nhen Coffee & Tea
288/5 Huynh Van banh
P.11 Phu Nhuan- TP HCM
Tel no. 08 221 06115
Cell : 0906 68 68 56
nhencoffee@gmail.com