I asked several Dominicans for advice on where to try good traditional Dominican food in Santo Domingo and they almost unanimous responded “Adrian Tropical” without a moment of hesitation. This place is a fiercely beloved institution of which locals are extremely proud. Brightly illuminated on the Avenida George Washington along the tourist-friendly Malecón boardwalk, the restaurant is relatively easy to find.…
Guiding us back to Santo Domingo after our day at Juan Dolio beach was our Dominican friend Benjamin the sunglass salesman who took a rainy, warm afternoon off to show us around his hometown and to make sure we get back to our hotel unharmed. Before getting on the bus, he had taken us to try yaniqueque…
Breakfast at our all-inclusive luxury resort in the paradisical coast of Punta Cana was a leisurely and drawn-out affair. Greeting us in the restaurant was an endless array of anything and everything we could possibly imagine craving from 7:30 to 11:00a.m. before a day spent lounging by the pool or beach. There was a bar of fresh fruit…
I had done my research. I already knew about the frituras. But to test the accuracy of this suggestion, that the traditional grab ‘n go breakfast in Santo Domingo is actually fried slices of bologna with plantain and, in some cases, spaghetti, I asked the dudes seated outside our neighborhood colmado. They had, after all, proven very useful as bullshit detectors before.…
Fried dough. Just about every cuisine in the world has its own version. Call it fry-bread, call it beignet, call it a buñuelo or puri. In Hungary it’s lángos and its sacred. No summer afternoon at Balaton Lake is complete without it. It’s almost always the cheapest snack a region can offer, yet it is also often…
Despite the grim disposition of some of its people, Budapest is all around a cheerful place during the holidays. Many of the main squares (Deák, Ferenciek, Vörösmarty) tote jingle bells all month and light up with colorful booths selling traditional Yuletide merchandise: gingerbread figures, wool slippers, Christmas tree decorations. But I tend to walk right past these on…
“Well, I expected more. Frankly, it’s overhyped,” comes the grim testimonial of the malcontent Eastern European, no doubt a cheaper one would’ve impressed him more because “less good” means “more real” and “more real” is the only praiseworthy attribute by his ideology, because the linear correlation between price and value is a myth to him and he likes…
On trips there are always some specialties I don’t have time to try and passing them on the last day en route to the airport I feel the sting of a million tiny heartbreaks. I promise to myself or whoever is by my side that I will be back for those things but so often that has not been…
During my time in Istanbul I came across a surprisingly long list of things with an identical Hungarian counterpart. One of these was pickle culture. In both Hungary and Turkey pickled veggies are considered a necessary side to greasy, saucy meats as they help with digestion and break down excess fat. In Hungary pickles are…
In the most ancient of Hungarian folktales when the youngest of three sons sets out to explore the world, his mother packs for him “hamuban sült pogácsa” or biscuits baked in the ashes of a familiar fireplace. On my most recent trip to Hungary I encountered several homemade versions among the hors d’oeuvres served before the Christmas…
That Best Bite 