We are changing it up this holiday season every which way. We started by taking our trip to London, Edinburgh and Prague over the Thanksgiving holiday. And while we kept to form with our NYC Cornell Club family gathering and will have the whole local family over on Christmas Day, we usually have done a New Years Party for the neighbors, but have chosen to substitute that with a neighbors’ holiday gathering here next Saturday. We tend to be big theme people around here and given that we were going over to the Christmas Markets of Europe to prepare for the season, it seemed only logical that our holiday party for friends should carry on with the globalization theme we seem to be pushing.
Ever since I’ve been on my recent weight program, I have become very partial to rice dishes. I’m not sure why that has anything to do with weight loss, but most of my dinners seem to involve some form of chicken or beef put on top of one of the various versions and flavors of microwaveable rice (I’ve pretty much stocked them all). That supermarket discovery (I’m new to that whole shopping process) caused me to suggest to Kim that it might be fun to have the food for our party be all about rice dishes of the world. That sounded very creative and quite appetizing to me. I got all bound up with the idea and explained to Kim that I could buy a bunch of little flags of the world and we could put a flag behind each rice dish which would indicate its country of origin. it sounded like a fine idea to me, but even as the words came out of my mouth, I realized that to some it might come off as dopey.
Apparently the idea struck Kim as more idiotic than anything. I tried to change her mind and in the course of the discussion, for some reason I can’t recall, our friend Joe (who is British by heritage and a nuclear fusion entrepreneur by occupation) got in the middle of the discussion. I’m reminded of an old Twilight Zone episode where a couple’s daughter mysteriously disappears under her bed one night. It causes the couple, who are in search of help, to brainstorm as to who to call. The husband snaps his fingers and says, “let’s call Joe, he’s a physicist…he’ll know what to do…”. It always struck me as a strange and randomly illogical suggestion. But then, it suddenly occurred to me…and I said to Kim, “let’s call Joe, he’s a British nuclear fusion entrepreneur…he’ll appreciate my rice idea…”. Big mistake. Joe, with that typically British wry sense of humor, could only come up with one comment. He thought it would be a “rice idea”. He then began referring to our holiday party as the Rice-a-Roni Gala. It seems my “Rices of the World” idea was becoming a neighborhood joke before I even got to execute on it.
As I demurred, Kim and I started over again on the proposed menu for the party. As most people who know Kim realize, she is a very kind person and no one knows that better than me. She suggested that we do a version of my rice idea, but that the focus shift off the rice and onto the global part of the program. She suggested that we do a global smorgasbord where rice could be one of the offerings. Such is the kindness of my lovely wife. It would mean that all those little toothpick flags that I had ordered from Amazon (yes, as you all know I would have, I had gotten out ahead of myself…again). So that’s what we are doing.
Allow me to describe the nature of our neighborhood. We have a very diverse global bunch of homeowners in the hood. Next door, to our north, are a family of Nepalese. They are the real deal and we have been to two “rice eating” ceremonies for their two children. It seems that the weening process in Nepal involves celebrating when children start eating rice (you see, I’m not as daffy as I seem…). Nepalese cuisine shares many similarities with Indian food due to geographic proximity and cultural exchange, but they still have some distinct characteristics. What they do share is a heavy reliance on the staples of rice and lentils. There’s Dal Baht, Chiura and Biryani to name a few. To our south we have a lovely woman with a Filipino heritage. Filipino food’s hallmark is a balance of salty, sour, and sweet flavors, often in the same dish…but rice is the foundation of almost every meal. There is Sinangag, Yang Chow fried rice, Bagong rice, and the ever-popular Arroz Caldo. We have an Irish couple (who thought they were Scottish) and a real Scottish couple who actually speak with brogues. Having just been in Edinburgh, I know that oats, barley and potatoes are more the foundation of that national cuisine (not to mention the weirder stuff like Haggis, Cullen Skink and Scotch Broth and Eggs) than rice…though let’s not forget about rice pudding… We have Chinese and Japanese folks in the hood, but since they come and go and keep mostly to themselves, the really exotic and familiar neighbors are a very dear couple to us who are Persian and Japanese, both born respectively in those two countries, and with names like Faraj and Yasuko, they too are the real deal. Persian (Iranian) cuisine is famous for its elaborate and sophisticated rice dishes—among the most refined rice traditions in the world. And Japanese cuisine has a deep, almost spiritual relationship with rice (gohan/kome), which is central to their culture. Take that, Joe, you British git…all you do over in England is adopt Indian curries like they’re your own…
Anyway, our new global menu now looks like this…
Meats: London Broil – British, Island Pork – Jamaican, Chicken Cutlets – Austrian,
Potato’s: Rosti Potatos – Switzerland, Kartoffelknödel (Potato Dumplings with Rahm sauce) – Germany,
Rice: Tahdig (Crispy Rice) – Iran, Fried Rice – China, Spanish Rice (with Anduille sausage) – Spain, Basmati Rice – Nepal,
Vegetables: Sag Paneer – India, Chop Chae (rice noodles with vegetables and steak) – Korea, Enchiladas (not really a veg, but what the hell) – Mexican,
Appetizers: Swedish Meatballs, Baked Brie – France, Humus/Pita – Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Scotch Eggs – Scotland, Marmite/Vegamite on crackers – England/Australia,
Desserts: Buche de Noel – France, Italian Christmas Cookies, Meringue cookies – Australia/New Zealand, Babka (Chocolate & Cinnamon) – Ukraine/Poland
It strikes me that we have accomplished all our goals with this menu and utilized many of the 180 little toothpick flags I have in the kitchen drawer. I will note that rice is being given a more prominent role than I thought it would…and I suspect that is a testament less to my brilliance or even Kim’s kindness to her husband, but mostly due to the significance that the food group plays in the global panoply of national cuisine. So, our global gathering is something we are both enjoying the preparations for and very much looking forward to having a really rice time with.