The Four Seasons
From a child's point of view, there were hardly any seasonal changes in Vietnam. It went from really hot, humid and sticky - your body drenched in sweat from the moment you got up til late into the night when perspiration gives you a slight rest, to rain, rain, rain!
Vietnam is tropical with a wild rainy season from May to October; the rest of the year is sweltering hot. The one good thing is that fruits are allowed to ripe perfectly to a sugar sweet state.
My parents often complain about the bananas, mangoes, and a host of other fruits here in the United States. They are never sweet enough; never soft enough; never ripe enough! Come on, I'd say to them, maybe you should buy from better markets!
My parents are notorious for buying fruits and letting them sit on a large platter which rests on the altar in their apartment for weeks. Before they are ready, the fruits serve as an offering to the dearly departed - my paternal grandmother, and to Jesus, Mary and Joseph. And then, just when the fruits have more freckles than Howdy Doody, only then do my parents think that they are in good shape to be consumed. Molds are another sign that the fruits have fully ripened.
Although I was born and grew up (well, the first six and a half years of life) in Vietnam, I have always despised the heat. People would say to me, "but how come?" My answer is pretty much the same to all their wonders, I had air conditioning and was not overly subjected to the outdoors and to the heat.
This, of course, is maybe a curse. When the temperature in the Northeast hits the 80s, I must sustain myself by turning on the air conditioner immediately. No breeze will do no matter how well they blow. I have very little tolerance and patience when it comes to HEAT!
But don't get me wrong, I love living in the Northeast and I love living in a four seasons climate. No matter how drastic one season becomes, there is always the promise that the next season is around the corner. That there is always spring and fall to look forward to; always winter and summer and all their glories. The joys that each new season brings are invaluable to me and make life just a little more worthwhile.
Another great thing about seasonal changes is that food changes also. At least this is true for the Japanese. I must confess right now that I am fortunate to be married to my husband. Coming from two very different countries with very different palates, our joint venture has been nothing but educational, cultural, and extremely rewarding both in life and in the kitchen.
Our family loves to eat. We eat everything! I can't say this enough (and maybe in the coming entries I will go into details as to the specifics of what, how, and where we flock to to get our fave meals)...but mostly, our foods revolve around Vietnam and Japan, fused with all the goodness of what we take from America..making our meals delectable and united.
Oh the joys of eating foods that are in season. In America, we look forward to Honeybell oranges from Florida in January and early February. Shad roe in early April from the upper Hudson River Valley, watermelon riped and heavy with juice, apple picking starting in September here in the Northeast, to heritage turkeys in November - the list goes on and on.
Well, maybe shad roe isn't on everyone's list, but Do give them a try if you are ever lucky enough to find them. Actually, it is only in recent years that the shad have returned to the Northeast in abundance, thanks to different groups of environmentalists who aimed to take the river back from the polluters.
The shads swim upward of about 100 miles upstream to lay their eggs. They adjust from saltwater to fresh water; spending one to two weeks of their lives to spawn in the early spring. Did you know that George Washington was a commercial shad fisherman in 1771? I only know this fact because a friend of ours was a part of one of the groups trying to keep the Hudson River waters clean.
This spring I was sooo happy when I saw shad roe at our local Stop & Shop. I stopped in my tracks, pulled my produce-laden shopping cart backwards, and brought my eye level to that of the roe. Yes! Shad roe! At $16.99 a pound, I asked the lady behind the counter to give me three hefty pieces.She put on her disposable plastic gloves, placed a sheet of waxed paper onto the scale, and unwillingly plopped the three roe down. Mind you, not that she didn't want to part with them, she was just overwhelmed that I came along and desired them. Just her luck!
"You gonna eat them?" she asked.
Lady, if you knew what it took for the shad to lay these eggs; what it means in general (never mind how delicious they are), you wouldn't be asking me such a question.
I did nothing fancy to prepare them. I just put some unsalted butter in a hot pan and fried the shad roe. When they were browned and cooked, I glazed them with a little japanese soy sauce and voila! We ate the protein-rich roe with hot rice and some vegetables and simple miso soup.
You extract from yourself in order to share with others. The shads did their part and I did my mine's with respect to their journey. My children learned an important lesson that came with their meal.
It was a very rewarding culinary evening in my life with the food from my America.
Vietnam is tropical with a wild rainy season from May to October; the rest of the year is sweltering hot. The one good thing is that fruits are allowed to ripe perfectly to a sugar sweet state.
My parents often complain about the bananas, mangoes, and a host of other fruits here in the United States. They are never sweet enough; never soft enough; never ripe enough! Come on, I'd say to them, maybe you should buy from better markets!
My parents are notorious for buying fruits and letting them sit on a large platter which rests on the altar in their apartment for weeks. Before they are ready, the fruits serve as an offering to the dearly departed - my paternal grandmother, and to Jesus, Mary and Joseph. And then, just when the fruits have more freckles than Howdy Doody, only then do my parents think that they are in good shape to be consumed. Molds are another sign that the fruits have fully ripened.
Although I was born and grew up (well, the first six and a half years of life) in Vietnam, I have always despised the heat. People would say to me, "but how come?" My answer is pretty much the same to all their wonders, I had air conditioning and was not overly subjected to the outdoors and to the heat.
This, of course, is maybe a curse. When the temperature in the Northeast hits the 80s, I must sustain myself by turning on the air conditioner immediately. No breeze will do no matter how well they blow. I have very little tolerance and patience when it comes to HEAT!
But don't get me wrong, I love living in the Northeast and I love living in a four seasons climate. No matter how drastic one season becomes, there is always the promise that the next season is around the corner. That there is always spring and fall to look forward to; always winter and summer and all their glories. The joys that each new season brings are invaluable to me and make life just a little more worthwhile.
Another great thing about seasonal changes is that food changes also. At least this is true for the Japanese. I must confess right now that I am fortunate to be married to my husband. Coming from two very different countries with very different palates, our joint venture has been nothing but educational, cultural, and extremely rewarding both in life and in the kitchen.
Our family loves to eat. We eat everything! I can't say this enough (and maybe in the coming entries I will go into details as to the specifics of what, how, and where we flock to to get our fave meals)...but mostly, our foods revolve around Vietnam and Japan, fused with all the goodness of what we take from America..making our meals delectable and united.
Oh the joys of eating foods that are in season. In America, we look forward to Honeybell oranges from Florida in January and early February. Shad roe in early April from the upper Hudson River Valley, watermelon riped and heavy with juice, apple picking starting in September here in the Northeast, to heritage turkeys in November - the list goes on and on.
Well, maybe shad roe isn't on everyone's list, but Do give them a try if you are ever lucky enough to find them. Actually, it is only in recent years that the shad have returned to the Northeast in abundance, thanks to different groups of environmentalists who aimed to take the river back from the polluters.
The shads swim upward of about 100 miles upstream to lay their eggs. They adjust from saltwater to fresh water; spending one to two weeks of their lives to spawn in the early spring. Did you know that George Washington was a commercial shad fisherman in 1771? I only know this fact because a friend of ours was a part of one of the groups trying to keep the Hudson River waters clean.
This spring I was sooo happy when I saw shad roe at our local Stop & Shop. I stopped in my tracks, pulled my produce-laden shopping cart backwards, and brought my eye level to that of the roe. Yes! Shad roe! At $16.99 a pound, I asked the lady behind the counter to give me three hefty pieces.She put on her disposable plastic gloves, placed a sheet of waxed paper onto the scale, and unwillingly plopped the three roe down. Mind you, not that she didn't want to part with them, she was just overwhelmed that I came along and desired them. Just her luck!
"You gonna eat them?" she asked.
Lady, if you knew what it took for the shad to lay these eggs; what it means in general (never mind how delicious they are), you wouldn't be asking me such a question.
I did nothing fancy to prepare them. I just put some unsalted butter in a hot pan and fried the shad roe. When they were browned and cooked, I glazed them with a little japanese soy sauce and voila! We ate the protein-rich roe with hot rice and some vegetables and simple miso soup.
You extract from yourself in order to share with others. The shads did their part and I did my mine's with respect to their journey. My children learned an important lesson that came with their meal.
It was a very rewarding culinary evening in my life with the food from my America.
posted by cream cheese dreams at 11:05 PM
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