This next excerpt is one of my favorites! Although this particular memory is from Bergen, it represents many happy shrimp moments with family and friends. Bonus pictures at the end!
Rekesmørbrød in Oslo, Hønefoss, and Bergen.
This past semester I completed a “food writing” course at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. For my final project I created a book that illustrates the most influential cities in my life and the dishes that represent each place. Each page describes how these places have influenced my palate. Some dishes taught my tongue a new taste, while others strengthened relationships or created traditions. But what they all have in common is their strong influence over who I am today. They hold a nostalgic presence– each page revealing a new food experience– dishes working together to collectively define me. Flipping through the pages begins to outline my own foodways– what I eat and how that’s influenced by where I’ve been.
It’s my intention that if you are familiar with the dishes, your own food memories flood into mind when viewing this piece. If you are unfamiliar, I hope you will be enticed to try something new. I strive to bring forward nostalgic notes while tempting taste buds. These pages will reveal a bit about myself, but I also hope to provide a mirror for you to reflect on your own food journey– to begin imagining the dishes that define you.
I have decided to share a few pages of the book on here– in lieu of travel posts since we are all stuck at home these days. In celebration of my last week of classes at MIAD, I am starting with Milwaukee, Wisconsin! Hope you all enjoy, and I’m looking forward to sharing more of the book!
Since my mom has work projects in Hawaii, she makes it over to Oahu frequently. She often takes friends and family along with her on these work trips, and I was one of the only people that hadn’t been to Hawaii with her yet. Last December we took a family trip to Hawaii before the holidays, and I finally got my Hawaii experience.
The trip was filled with good food and tropical cocktails. We ended most every night at our favorite beach bar, The Barefoot Bar. Although we didn’t keep an exact count, I’m confident we had over 20 Tropical Itches– a MaiTai-esque cocktail served with a bamboo back scratcher. Kayla’s coworker recommended a must-go Poke place called Ahi Assassins, and it didn’t disappoint. Its sketchy motel-like exterior only added to the experience. It was by far, the best tasting Poke I have ever had. We also had excellent Shabu Shabu, a Japanese hot pot dish with thinly sliced meat, and veggies dipped in hot broth.
Since it was both Lars’ and my first time on the island, we hiked up Diamond Head, one of the popular tourist hikes of Oahu.
My favorite part of the trip was snorkeling at both Hanauma Bay and Paradise Cove. I hadn’t been snorkeling since our trip to Thailand back in 2005. I enjoyed it more than I had expected to. Within the first 30 seconds of being under the water in Paradise Cove, a sea turtle swam right up to me.
A sea turtle nearly bumped me on the nose!
The rest of our trip was spent hanging on the beach, walking along Waikiki, and soaking up the sun.
I’ve finally made it to the last phase of our India trip– Mumbai. But before I get into Mumbai photos, I need to share one last Goa picture that I forgot to include on my last post. Now you understand why cows on the beach made for an interesting time.
We left Goa to began the last leg of our trip. I was worried about returning to a big city because of how sick I got in New Delhi due to the air quality. However, the air quality in Mumbai was much better– probably because it’s on the coast. One of our first stops in Mumbai was the Gateway of India.
The main event of Mumbai was meeting more family. My dad’s two cousins, Suddah and Maddu live in Pune, right outside of Mumbai with their families. We met up for a late lunch, but not before going on a Lost My iPhone trek across the city.
Kayla, dad, Lars and I spent the morning walking around Mumbai, stopping in a store to buy some sweets. As we headed back to the hotel to greet the cousins, my dad felt around his pockets and realized his phone was missing. Naturally, we thought he was making a not-so-funny joke… but after a few minutes of him wide-eyed and persistent, we realized it wasn’t a joke. The cousins were due to arrive at the hotel in a matter of minutes, so we frantically made our way to the lobby. I opened my phone and logged into Find My iPhone with dad’s information. Lars dad and I hopped into the hotel taxi and chased the blinking blue dot through the city of Mumbai. It finally stopped moving and we were able to catch up to it. We approached a line of parked tuktuks and I jumped out of the car trying to locate the beeping phone. As I approached the tuktuk that was beeping, the driver sat up from the backseat where he was napping. He was obviously confused to see the family he had driven hours before, back unexplained. I reached into the tuktuk and grabbed the phone which had been tucked under the back cushion. I still can’t believe we managed to get dad’s phone back off the streets of Mumbai.
Paan, loosly meaning “leaf” is a combination of betal leaf with areca nut. Although it’s often chewed for its stimulant and psychoactive effects, there are many different types, all with different purposes. The type we tried was more of an after dinner “sweet” treat. Watching them prepare it was quite interesting.
Our trip to India was great– even though it took me years to properly document it. I just about ready to head back for round two!
Alexandra Upadhyaya 