The vibrant colors of the market are stunning. Your descriptions of the meals are a reminder of how cooking with a very short list of good quality ingredients can be more satisfying than some of the over-complicated meals out there. To be surrounded by such abundance of fresh ingredients and stop yourself from trying to use it all at once. But also how much easier it is to be disappointed by too much salt, or the wrong cook on the veg, or...when there's nothing else to hide behind. What a treat to get to explore in this way!
I did in fact buy too much at the local markets several times... more than I could eat before it started to go bad. I got much better at restraint by the end of the semester.
Thanks for the explanation about the different restaurant “levels”. I always wondered about that and have been confused, because as you said, sometimes it’s hard to see any difference due to owners choosing whatever classification they like!
Amazing photos and narrative, Jean! One of these days, I would love to be able to study (and salivate over) all of this in a big book. Thanks for all that you put into this.
Thanks Margo! The book is coming... I'm working on three of them at the moment. One of the reasons for starting the Substack (at the advice of other food writers) is to boost the visibility of my writing and to be able to show an agent that people are interested.
The vibrant colors of the market are stunning. Your descriptions of the meals are a reminder of how cooking with a very short list of good quality ingredients can be more satisfying than some of the over-complicated meals out there. To be surrounded by such abundance of fresh ingredients and stop yourself from trying to use it all at once. But also how much easier it is to be disappointed by too much salt, or the wrong cook on the veg, or...when there's nothing else to hide behind. What a treat to get to explore in this way!
I did in fact buy too much at the local markets several times... more than I could eat before it started to go bad. I got much better at restraint by the end of the semester.
Thanks for the explanation about the different restaurant “levels”. I always wondered about that and have been confused, because as you said, sometimes it’s hard to see any difference due to owners choosing whatever classification they like!
Amazing photos and narrative, Jean! One of these days, I would love to be able to study (and salivate over) all of this in a big book. Thanks for all that you put into this.
Thanks Margo! The book is coming... I'm working on three of them at the moment. One of the reasons for starting the Substack (at the advice of other food writers) is to boost the visibility of my writing and to be able to show an agent that people are interested.
If you're being a conscientious enough traveler (and not a stupid American) that someone asks you if you are a local, the answer is always YES!