Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Where I Have Been

All of last month, I was here. I was fortunate to have got the time off and I think I made good use of it, walking around the city one area a day. The following are foodie sights and scenes from my trip to New York City.

I met a few friends from the blogging world: Susan, Rajitha, Sandeepa and Paz, and spoke to a few others: Sig, Asha and Mallugirl. My operating principle was 'No Indian food' but I relaxed it in Sandeepa's case as I haven't had authentic Bengali food except in a couple of restaurants. My camera battery was dying and I used the dregs of its energy to take a picture of her rather than of the food she made.


Rajitha made all this great food for me one fine Tuesday. She picked me up at the subway station and we stopped off at the Indian store to pick up some supplies and then went on to her cozy apartment, but not before picking up some sweets. "I can't let you go without dessert, Sra, I have to buy you dessert. What will it be?" As I didn't want Indian, we opted for a Middle Eastern bakery near her place, where we picked up two pieces of each variety, and after this huge meal, steadily proceeded to demolish all but one. She has a great collection of world vegetarian cookery books, and I'm inspired to make the avocado, tomato and feta salad that you see in the foreground. Thanks to her, I tasted quinoa for the first time.


I met Susan downtown and we had a great day of walking and photographing, not to mention lunch and dinner. The crackers and biscuit that you see here are part of the meal she treated me to in one of the restaurants at Grand Central Terminal. We had different varieties of clam chowder and oysters each. That was the first time I ate oysters. For dinner, her husband Scott joined us and we ate at a French restaurant.


Paz took me on a walking tour of Harlem, treated me to some glorious cathedrals and chapels, and showed me a side of New York City that I didn't really expect. There was a wide choice of restaurants to eat in, and I picked Cuban because I had not tried the cuisine before. I must say the Zesty Corn (seen in the second tier), was the best and the most unusual.


My family and I went out to lunch at a Greek diner in Times Square where I ordered these dolmades. Initially, I didn't like these cold treats, but began to appreciate them after I tried a second one.


This and the next few pictures are from the Monday farmer's market at Union Square. I even picked up a printed recipe for peach salsa, samples of which were set out by the market organising committee. There were several other recipes available. I tried the salsa. Nice.


These are varieties of squash. I've only seen them in pictures earlier, and the ones right in the front, never before.


Peppers galore!


I never saw purple capsicum before, either. Nor for that matter, such light green ones.


Ahh! Fressshh!


I have never come across a cookie called Chop Suey before. Interesting, isn't it?


On a Sunday in NYC, there was a street fair near the restaurant in which my family was having lunch and a very involved conversation, I slipped away to see this street fair that I noticed earlier. There were several other foodie goodies on offer - kebabs, gyros, pita pockets, Italian sausage ... This was the most colourful food stall as far as I could see.

26 comments:

  1. I am on a blog break, but seeing your post about you enjoying in Newyourk I had to comment.
    Looks like you had such a wonderful time eating and sightseeing and also meeting up with fellow bloggers.
    I am so jealous :-)

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  2. Great food pics Sra. Rajitha's spread looks fabulous - I must make me that salad, it looks so fresh and crunchy. Now that you're back, keep those witty posts coming.

    Mamatha

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  3. Lovely post Sra... read every word and oggled at each picture. My camera has conked out... no pics for sometime I guess!

    I am sort of jealous of you now... you've met so many of favourite bloggers... and they also got to meet one of mine.

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  4. great writeup...You should probably do a travelogue!

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  5. Aahh...so that's where u've been. I was wondering why you hadn't posted for so long.
    Sounds like you had some wonderful "foodie" moments.

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  6. Oooh! what a wonderful time you had ! Thats a real great treat! Happy that you enjoyed a lot!

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  7. Cool pics and a nice write up as usual.:) That salad looks so yummy.

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  8. Happy, yes, I had a great time. I would be jealous too, if I had seen this on someone else's blog.
    Mamatha, will try, struggling with the jet lag now.
    Raaga, you're sweet. I've resumed cooking, taking pix, just need to think up the stories for the posts now.
    Rachel, I have some 600 pix - and all of NY! It will be quite a task to pick and choose. :-)
    Jayashree, I had a great time, yes
    Ni, yes, did a lot of things, really enjoyed myself.
    Vidya, it was yummy, so much that I can still remember sharply what it tasted like.

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  9. Oh you saved the best pics for the blog, huh? Everything looks great, I have never seen bell peppers in purple and light green either!

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  10. Sra...i know! we did demolish all the baklawas...and the loner..u did not like...guess who ate it...ME :D...i am yet to go to the Farmer's market in Union Sqaure..gotta go. And it was a pleasure to meet you....now i only hope i get to meet some more fabulous bloggers too :)
    Btw. Mamatha and Srividya..thanks :)

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  11. Well, I've never heard of Chop Suey cookies, either; had to look them up: coconut, raisins, nuts, and candied fruit...and American invention, if ever...;0

    Nice shots, Sra. Those little twisty chiles make my mouth water. So glad you have many happy memories. It was my pleasure to spend the day with you - so much fun. : }

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  12. Hey there, Miss New York!

    You did a lot in the city! Very cool! I'm glad we were able to get together. We've gotta do it again. ;-) I owe you some photos. I haven't forgot. Will send it very soon.

    Paz

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  13. wow, you lucky girl .. looks like yu had a lot of fun

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  14. How lucky you are to meet up so many people! beautifully written & thanks for sharing;-) i have never seen purple capsicums, nor have i heard of chop suey cookies!!

    next time, come to dallas;-)

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  15. It is so cool to meet blogger friends isn't it! I am glad you have great fun and those are some lovely pics.

    Siri

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  16. Lovely pics Sra...got to see NY through your pics :) The dishes look absolutely yummy!

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  17. You, lucky you!:)
    And I'm happy you had a wonderful vacation, and got to meet so many fellow bloggers. Looks like you had a wonderful "foodie" experience.
    I'm just waiting for the rest!

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  18. wow, looks like you had a great time Sra!

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  19. Sig, well, that makes two of us!
    Rajitha, I made the avocado-feta salad today, not as good as yours, but I managed to have lunch.
    Susan, I meant to look it up - quite fitting that the chop suey cookies are American, considering chop suey has American origins too?
    Paz, yes, we have to do it again. Looking forward to the pix.
    DEESHA, I had loads of fun.
    Soma, thank you. Dallas it is, next!
    Siri, It is, I had a great time.
    Homecooked, I have several pix, hope to put them up somehow or the other, sometime or the other.
    Aparna, it was great fun.
    Mandira, I did, didn't stir out of the NY, NJ area, but had great fun.

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  20. You are one lucky gal. I love those colorful pics and your informative writing. Its almost addictive. Keep writing.

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  21. Wow, that's some good fun you had Sra! Great that you could meet other blogger friends! Thanks for the virtual tour. Nice pics. :)

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  22. Good pics SRA..Next time, come to our side of the world

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  23. Looks like you had a great time. :) The Chop Suey cookies are very interesting. Did you try them?

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  24. The pictures just add to the charm of the wonderful time in NYC. which market was that?

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  25. Hey looks like I missed this post...great to read abt your exp...good to know you met so many bloggers!..and not a word was out all these days...:)

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  26. NY city is such a bustling city to visit.I go there almost every year to visit my sis.Must have been a great experience meeting all the foodies :)

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