Argentinian tapas in Mendoza

To celebrate our final day traveling together, Masha and I went on a leisurely bicycle ride through Mendoza's wine region in Argentina. By leisurely I mean that I was huffing and puffing the whole way and complaining that it wasn't as beautiful as Napa (it's hard to deny my roots sometimes). After only making it a few kilometers we stopped for a light lunch and ended up with a nine course meal and a bottle of local Malbec.

Homemade bread with various vegetable spreads

"Chicken loll pop with scented acid cream with fresh aromatic herbs" and Patagonia prawns sautéed with olive oil and garlic served with green garlic sprouts and roasted pork ribs served with green tomato chutney

Lamb pie with fresh mint served with fire-roasted eggplant spread and pumpkin soup with toast and Roquefort cheese

Almacen del Sur, Maipu, Mendoza, Argentina

Our day ended with a visit to a nearby winery where we ended up being escorted out by the local police who claimed that a wind storm prevented us from riding our bicycles back, and insisted on driving us on their motorcycles, lights flashing, back to the bicycle rental place where a glass of Malbec awaited us. A lovely day pretending not to be backpacking.

Meat, hot dogs and French fries in Bolivia

On my last night in Bolivia I had grown tired of Bolivian food. To be fair, I was tired of it after approximately 6 hours in Bolivia. I've been traveling for 8 months now, and for all of it I've been eating almost exclusively local cuisine. In Bolivia, though, I gave up quickly on local fare and shamefully, started eating at tourist restaurants. I was eating spaghetti more nights than I wasn't. Even that was turning sour though, when I was most recently served a bowl of stringy egg noodles with a sauce that most closely resembles Kraft's Macaroni and Cheese "Cheezy Sauce" while claiming to be amatriciana.

The cuisine of Bolivia appears to consist almost entirely of meat and French fries. I've been traveling with a vegetarian recently, a member of the group my father famously refers to as "liars." My new pal has been a vegetarian for many years, but decided to forgo the disorder while traveling in South America due to the complication of sticking to a vegetarian diet. We now go from restaurant to restaurant while I look in vain for anything sans French fries or containing a green vegetable while she happily tucks into meals that consist of meat and potatoes with a side of meat and French fries and meat. This is my sort of vegetarian.

On my last night in Bolivia we went to the Alamo in Tupiza. The place was decorated like a tourist restaurant, and reports claimed that they served pasta and Mexican food (a surefire mark of tourist-only clientelle). But when we sat down and looked at the menu, there were only a few things on it. All meat, and all costing between 10-15 Bolivianos (less than $2). The Mexican food and pasta had been taken off the menu, the prices were half of the tourist joints down the street and the large majority of the tables were occupied by bona fide Bolivian families.

I wasn't pleased to be dragged into yet another meat shack, but when I was told that one of the dishes was stir-fried, I decided to go for it and was pleasantly surprised. They called it "migas." Unfortunately I didn't get any great pictures because of the lighting, but as you can see it's a masterpiece in terms of aesthetic sensibilities and contained an entire serving of vegetables. It was the first meal I had in Bolivia that I felt pleased with, and I secretly relished the squiggles of mayo on the beef stir fry. The vivisected hot dog with a dollop of both ketchup and mustard as a centerpiece was a particularly appreciated touch.

The Alamo, Calle Avaroa 703, Tupiza, Bolivia

Is there a doctor in the house?

Check out this little pucker that I found in my soup in Hoi An a few weeks ago. Anyone willing to venture a guess on what it might be? The mind reels.

Whatever the offending item might be, it was served with blood. Overall, soup seemed like the sort that would benefit someone with a cold. Absolutely riddled with iron and vitamins, and possibly a buttonhole.

The soup was the accompaniment to a plate of chicken rice. Not the most thrilling meal of my life, but for $1 and the opportunity to sit on a 4 inch plastic chair, I didn't say no.

And when I saw that I was only charged 2,000 dong more than the locals (in Hoi An, most tourists can expect to get charged triple for everything), I rejoiced. You can't win them all, but losing by 2,000 (about 11 cents) in Hoi An ain't bad.

Kare-kare, or peanut butter for dinner

If you've ever wondered how to get more peanut butter into your system, look no further than the Philippines. Kare-kare is a traditional Filipino stew that's usually made from oxtail and tripe (and sometimes goat) with what is often called "peanut sauce." After a short investigation, involving both oral interviews and Internet searches, I ascertained that the primary ingredient is actually peanut butter.

I liked it, and I don't usually consider myself a peanut butter person. However, I categorically dislike anyone with a peanut allergy on principle and I like peanut candy. So I guess you could call me a peanut person as opposed to a non-peanut person.

In addition to oxtails, the dish is served with eggplant, green beans and some sort of choy-vegetable. On the side it comes with bagoong alamang, or salted shrimp paste. I think the function of the bagoong alamang is to balance out what is a sort of cloying peanutty sweetness of the kare kare. Much to my embarrassment, though, I can't stand salted shrimp paste straight. In a curry is another matter, of course. So I skipped the bagoong alamang and just stuck to the peanut butter. I would say, though, that I think this dish would be a lot better as part of a larger meal than an entire meal. This amount of Jiffy can be a little much.

This wondrous meal came from Max's Restaurant, a traditional Filipino chain that is older than the country itself (ie. it opened before the colonizing Americans bastards formally left, and was originally a place for American Troops to get their fried chicken on). Max's motto is "The House that Fried Chicken Built" so I guess I know what I will be ordering next time.

One more Korean BBQ

Korean BBQ in Korea

Now, I know this may sound stupid, but when I first sat down in a Korean restaurant in Korea I thought to myself: I can't believe I am eating Korean food in Korea!

So here it is folks, bulgogi in Korea. Yum.