Ethnic Food Fair Grub

What a nice four day weekend (for those of us that had one). Nice and sunny - almost felt like summer was upon us.

Before Lotus and Shogun's most excellent BBQ soiree, we went to Balboa Park's International Cottages for their Annual Ethnic Food Fair. We've gone every year, sampling bits and pieces of our favorite cuisines.

We went early again this year, around 10 am'ish to secure a prime spot near the Organ Pavilion. The food booths were being set up and we could smell the sizzling food cooking at some of them. Our first hit was the House of Puerto Rico where we bought two 'pastelillos' (meat turnovers - their version of an empanada) which were $3 each. What I liked was that these were freshly fried. The crusts were golden brown and fork tines had sealed the edges quite nicely. Inside was spiced ground beef , olives and peppers. Bert then hit up the House of Panama for their version of an empanada ($3). The crust was kind of soft and colored yellow in parts (perhaps from turmeric?) . The filling was a spicy chicken I believe. Having Panamanian food was a first for us.

While TC and I sat on our portable mat on the grass lawn, Bert headed for the House of India for the sole purpose of buying a pair of 'samosas' (also a type of turnover, but this was pinched in a triangular type of shape); those were $2 each. The filling for the samosas was curried potatoes and peas. No beef there, if you know what I mean. I also strolled over to the Argentinian booth and procured their version of an empanada ($3) and stopped by a forlorn boy who was manning a dessert table solo by the House of Hungary. I bought a trio of pastries from him for $2. One pastry was a tiny glazed trianglular puff pastry turnover filled with apple; it was dusted with powdered sugar, which TC enjoyed. The other two pieces were slices of some sort of strudel; one was apple-cinnamon while the other had poppyseed filling. Later Bert had his turn at the House of Argentina when he got his much desired 'choripan' which is an Argentinian sausage sliced lengthwise and filled with chimichurri and served on a crusty French bread roll. According to
Wikipedia: "geChimichurri is a sauce and marinade used in Argentinian and Uruguayan cuisine. Chimichurri is made from chopped parsley, dried oregano, garlic, salt, pepper, onion, and paprika with olive oil. Vinegar can be added for more "bite". It is usually the only seasoning for steak and chorizo sausages."

We also got a fruit bowl ($3) from the House of Mexico which consisted of slices of watermelon, jicama, cucumber and pineapple which was drenched in lime juice. The vendor was about to sprinkle chili powder on it (man, my mouth is watering as I type this) but I asked her not to because it was for TC. Our last purchase was a bowl of vanilla ice cream served with fresh strawberry jam (I forgot what the Finns called it) from the House of Finland for $2. We all shared the ice cream while watching Peruvian dancers on stage.

So...we ate light because we were anticipating the BBQ later that afternoon. Remember these food items were little samples so we didn't really have a huge meal. It was fun looking around and seeing so many happy people who were willing to share their culture with everyone. A lot of people were smiling and hawking their wares from their food booths. It was great hearing different kinds of music and seeing all of the old folks in their national costumes. Next year, we will try to sample food from the Houses we didn't go to such as: Lithuania, Columbia, Peru, Turkey, Israel, Palestine, Iran, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Austria, France, and such.

Can you believe, the House of the United States was selling hot dogs? I know it's not exotic to us Americans, but I'm sure for some foreign visitors, it might have been. So I'm not knocking the hot dog, okay? I was disappointed that the House of Scotland didn't have Haggis on it's menu. But the beef stew they had looked pretty good. I think the House of Philippines shouldn't sell pancit, rice, adobo and lumpia. Instead they should serve diniguan (lovely pork blood stew with chili peppers) and balut (unfertilized duck embryo still in its egg - yum yum). That should win some fans over to Philippine food! Hey, any hardcore Asian would win Fear Factor because of the wierd food items people consume there. Shark fins? Birds nests? Snakes? Rats?

In all, Sunday was a great day to have fun and eat great food at one of the most beautiful parks in the U.S. and hang out in the company of great friends...

By the way Lotus, those bulgogi lettuce wraps are really good. We're still trying to finish the leftovers. Bert just had some right now with the kojuchang (hot pepper paste). Korean food rules!

Movie I STILLwant to watch: "Art School Confidential"
Movie TC wants to watch: "Over the Hedge"
Movie Bert wants to watch: "X-Men 3 - The Last Stand"

CD in my car stereo: Guns 'N Roses' KICK ASS debut album, "Appetite for Destruction" (which I change to something more child friendly when TC is in the car)

Show I'm currently hooked on: VH-1's "Supergroup" and the Heavy Metal series from last week that I haven't watched yet.

Book that I'm reading or skimming: Frommer's Hawaii (gotta check out the shit before we go)

Days of work left: 13