Keep Calm and Carry On: The Diary of Foodie and Gourmet

I have recently begun to binge watch the UK food show Come Dine with Me on Youtube. I’ve known about this show for some time, but for some reason, I have become hooked on it now. I can’t seem to satiate my obsession and I devour episode after episode. For those who may be unfamiliar, Come Dine With Me is a competition show. The general premise is: four strangers spend four nights together and each night one of the contestants plays host, serving up a three-course dinner. The other dinner guests judge the host on a scale of 1-10 and the winner of the competition wins £ 1000. Simple, straightforward, and hilarious! There have been spin-offs of the program , and each version has their own variations ( Couples Come Dine With Me, Celebrity Come Dine With Me , etc…) and other countries have also adopted their own version of Come Dine With Me . Step 1: Prepare your meal Step 2: Charm your guests Step 3: Judge your host and see how you measure up against the competit...

Last night, after watching the NT Live performance of "Frankenstein" with my parents, we stopped for a post-theater ramen dinner. It was getting late, so we didn't want to eat too much, but after watching so much "A Mind Of A Chef," we were craving ramen! We originally intended to go to Momofuku, but it was wayyy too crowded. Luckily, Rai Rai Ken was located right around the corner, so we were still able to have ramen! 218 E 10th St, NYC Rai Rai Ken is a true hole in the wall ramen place filled with locals. The flavor of the ramen is authentic and it's so low key. Exactly what we wanted.  I feel like I'm back in Tokyo Trying to choose a ramen was agonizing. So many choices, what's a gal to do?!  My mother opted for the shoyu ramen Dad and I both ordered the wonton shoyu ramen Ramen varies from region to region in Japan. In Tokyo, shoyu ramen is quite popular and I'm sure that subconsciously influenced my decision. I d...

A few weeks ago, I was reading about Bletchley Park, to help me prepare for my upcoming lecture, when I stumbled upon a brilliant piece of British radio comedy. It was totally serendipitous and I am so delighted by this gem.  Hut 33 is a wonderful radio comedy set at Bletchley Park in 1941. To quote the BBC website, the story revolves around "three code breakers who are forced to share a droughty wooden hut as they try to break German ciphers. Unfortunately, they hate each other." Hut 33 constantly finds itself in problematic and hilarious situations, but somehow they always come through. It is, in my opinion, a stellar example of British comedy at it's best. Witty, biting, well written --- you couldn't ask for better. I was amazed that in my four years of researching Bletchley Park, I have only now stumbled upon "Hut 33."  L-R: Robert Bathurst voices Charles, Alex McQueen voices Josh, and Tom Goodman-Hill voices Archie As the BBC summary says, ...

Recently, I have been watching "The Mind of A Chef" on Netflix. Simply said, I am totally addicted to this show --- but that will be another blog post. The first season of this show follows David Chang, the chef behind Momofuku. In one episode, Chang's dessert/pastry chef, Christina Tossi, shows how to make a banana cream pie. Watching her segment was like love at first sight. Although I love bananas, I'd never had a banana cream pie, After watching Tossi assemble this wondrous dessert, I was hooked on the idea. You could say that I became obsessed with this recipe. For a week, it was all I could think of and I finally caved. Lucky for me, I had some bananas that were going bad, so I took that as a sign that it was the perfect time to attempt this recipe.  One thing I learned about making this Momofuku Milk Bar Banana Cream Pie: it's a lot harder and more time consuming than it looks! It took me a couple of hours, but it's totally worth it! I will war...