A Taste of the Ciudad

December 10, 2010 | Location: Mexico | 3 Comments 

“Be careful,” they say. You listen to one too many warnings about traveling to Mexico City, and you think you’re entering a drug warzone choked by pollution and traffic.

But walk the streets of “el DF” for a day, and the smiles and the sunshine melt your fears away. You travel down one more quaint, beautiful street filled with flowers, vibrant colors and happy couples kissing, and you wonder where all the thugs and drug dealers are hiding. And soon, you start smiling, too.

Welcome to Latin America

Mexico City is our landing pad in Latin America. Despite millions of Canadians visiting sunny Mexico every year, Helene and I had yet to set foot on Mexican soil, for some reason. To tell you frankly, we were a bit scared. We feared Mexico would be too americanized; as America’s northern neighbor, you can definitely say this of Canada, after all. We feared we wouldn’t be able to escape the tourist hordes.

But then my best friend Frank, who traveled on three continents with me, dispelled our apprehensions with his trademark tact and finesse:

“If you don’t like Mexico, it’s ‘cuz you’re dead.”

Bless you, Frank. We must be alive, because we love Mexico already.

The World’s City

Helene and I might be new to Latin America, but there’s a lot that felt familiar the second we walked the streets of Mexico City. Flashes of Shanghai, Kolkata, Bangkok and Damascus all jumped at us, blended in with new smells, new sounds, new faces.

Yes, Mexico City is crowded; but less than Hong Kong or Chennai. Mexicans are generally polite, so it’s always a surprise to hear a con permiso instead of getting elbowed in the gut. It’s polluted, yep; less so than Kolkata or Shanghai, though I feel it in my lungs whenever I go for a run. There’s traffic aplenty, but they do slow down most of the time if you jump in front of them; it’s a refreshing change from the aggressive charge of Arab drivers in Aleppo or Beirut.

Far from the asepticized cities of its northern neighbors, Mexico feels alive and vibrant, crowded with bustling market stalls. Everywhere you go, the smells of tacos al pastor mask the diesel, while the nasal litany of a tamal vendor competes for attention with the wails of police sirens.

Food, Food, Everywhere

The most pleasant surprise about Mexico City is the sheer amount of street food available. In its density and smells, the ciudad shares the enviable company of food cities such as Istanbul and Bangkok.

We followed our backpack foodie instincts, and dove right into the street food, gringo concerns be damned. Agua de alfalfa, a blend of alfalfa greens, pineapple, lime and a bit of sugar, has risen to my top three favorite juices of all time, and I drink it at the drop of a hat from the corner restaurant near our hotel. Once I tried my first taco al pastor, savored its juicy, grilled pork meat and fresh pineapple, drenched in spicy salsa verde, I began to drool every time I walked past the shawarma-like grilled pork meat.

Mexico City is noisy, crowded, polluted, and filled with music, laughter, and the tantalizing smell of food at every corner. No wonder we feel right at home.

Where to Go

Street stalls selling tasty Mexican staples can be found all over the city. Follow your instincts and a few street food principles, and you’ll get a world-class foodie experience. A set meal called comida corrida is available in most sit-down restaurants and even some street stalls; it provides a more complete meal experience, including a soup or consommé, rice or pasta, and a main dish. Some corridas even include dessert and tortillas, most for less than $5 USD.

There’s a reason it’s called “tourista” – you get it by eating tourist food, not local delicacies!

Safety

Is Mexico City dangerous? Mexicans and foreign residents we met all agreed it’s generally very safe. That being said, it is not absurdly safe like some Asian cities such as Tokyo or Damascus: you’ll need a dose of common sense and the ability not to attract negative attention to yourself. Listen to local advice on what is safe and what to avoid, and you’ll learn to adapt to the city’s pace in no time. In general, the tourist areas such as Centro, as well as the more upscale areas such as Coyoacan are safe, even in the evening.

Ignore the tourist drama queens who claim there’s a mugger waiting for you at every corner. Listen to locals, and you’ll soon learn to enjoy the city safely, just like them. No one would claim all of New York City is safe, yet millions of tourists enjoy it every year. The same can be said of Mexico City.

Meanwhile, Offline…

November 22, 2010 | Location: Canada | Leave a Comment 

Hello everyone! Yes, we’re still very much alive.

When I last wrote, Helene and I were on the tail end of our Middle Eastern trip. Nearly four months later, I’m happy to report that we’re picking up our wanderings where we left off.

Tomorrow, Helene and I board a plane for Mexico City, from whence we will explore Mexico, and eventually the rest of Latin America.

But first, let’s catch up… Here’s what I’ve been up to in the last few months.

Wandering the Middle East

Following our visit to Syria, Helene and I parted ways briefly while I continued to explore the Middle East on my own. I visited Lebanon, Jordan, as well as Israel and Palestine.

I had an amazing time in the region, and I left a large piece of my heart back in the souqs of Syria and the meandering stone paths of Jerusalem. Everywhere I went, kindness and open-hearted curiosity arose from strangers of all ages, religion and income level. The countries of the Middle East are safe, welcoming and amazing to discover, and I long to go back.

At the same time, for the first time in my travels, I found myself unable to write about my experience. I was not lacking for beautiful encounters and wonder-filled meals; but there was a deep human experience here, and it took me months to process it.

That’s not to say I will not write about Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Palestine on this blog. I’ll keep these stories as a complement in our upcoming travels. Stay tuned.

Back to Nature

After a few weeks back home in Montreal, and processing the immensity of our travel experience, I decided to visit a place which, in many ways, was farther away from my life than India or Syria.

I spent a month on an organic farm in Alberta, with my friend Jerry Kitt, owner of First Nature Farms, where I worked as a volunteer farmhand. I expected hard, physical work, and got plenty of that. But I also had a unique opportunity to take care of animals such as chicken, turkeys, pigs, cows and buffalo. This taught me a great deal about the origins of our food, and the extraordinary people who raise it for us.

When I think back on my time at the farm, I miss the physicality and the exhaustion of a long day of good work. I miss the rebels, the iconoclasts and the free thinkers that populate rural Alberta. And most of all, I miss the pigs, playful and energetic, who chewed my shoes into nonexistence as I fixed their water feeder.

The Backpack Runner

Back in Montreal, I found myself in Mattersville, the home of my great friend and traveling companion, François. François runs barefoot, and I soon caught the bug. Running entered my life, and turned it upside down.

For the last two months, I have run over 100 km on tracks, streets, hills, and forest hiking trails. I have run two 5K races, in Montreal and Oka.

Running is my new love; so much so that I have considered launching a parallel blog to this one, The Backpack Runner.

Expect to hear about my running in the periphery of this blog.

The Future

Helene and I have decided to keep traveling for the foreseable future. We still have some money saved up, and before it runs out, we`re planning on finding somewhere to settle down for a little while.

My criteria for a good place to live are simple: it has to be somewhere warm, where I can run every other day, and eat fantastic, simple food that make me want to blog about them here.

You’re up, Mexico. Let’s see what you’ve got.

Shout-Out

I want to give a very special shout-out to my best friend François, who opened the doors of his home while I returned to Montreal for a few months.

François went so far as to let me use his bed, and moved into a tiny side-room which, he insisted, was perfect for him, and allowed him to get in and out of the house without waking me in the morning. But most importantly, he never complained about my presence, and after months of living with me, still hugged me hello as if we hadn’t seen each other in months.

François, you humbled me with your generosity, and you humble me still with your friendship. Every time a stranger offers me kindness, shelter or a bite to eat, I will see the echo of your soul in their smile.

United in the Joy of Ice Cream

August 6, 2010 | Location: Syria | 3 Comments 

Shoppers from all over the Muslim world converge on Souq al-Hamidiyya, in the Syrian capital of Damascus. The shopping street runs from the medieval ramparts of the Old City to the west, all the way under the ruined arch of the temple of Jupiter, to the Umayyad Mosque plaza, 400 meters inwards.

As you walk from the ramparts, tourist souvenirs slowly give way to tacky sexy lingerie. But as you approach the magnificent Umayyad Mosque, the belly-dancing outfits fade away, and  prayer beads and embroidered Qu’rans take their place.

And in the middle of the tin-domed promenade, an unlikely shop attracts record crowds: Bakdash, reknown throughout the Middle East for its amazing arabic ice cream.

Believe the hype: this is, hands down, the best ice cream in the world.

Ten Centuries of Ice Cream

It’s no happenstance that Syrians hold the key to magnificent ice cream. The origins of the dessert can be traced back to the Persian Empire, and the Arabs were the first ones to incorporate milk products into the Persian recipe. As early as the 10th century, ice cream was eaten widely in the city of Damascus, as well as in Baghdad to the east.

The variation known as ‘Arabic ice cream’ differs from Western confections; in addition to fresh cream, the confection contains mastic, a resin native to the region; and sahlab, an extract from the orchid plant.

The traditional method of preparing Arabic ice cream involves churning it with long, heavy paddles, by beating down on them with force.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aITYIzuBKCo[/youtube]

Once the ice cream has been throroughly beaten into a thick, elastic concoction, one step remains: rolling the ice cream in a mixture of crushed cashew and pistacchio nuts.

Minarets and Ice Cream Cones

The resulting ice cream is the kind you end up obsessing about. I sure do, long after I’ve left Syria. It’s slightly sweet, elastic yet utterly soft. You pick up a spoonful, and the ice melts in your mouth into the complex flavors of fresh cream, mixed with pistacchio and cashew.

Bakdash’s ice cream is one of the dozens of wonders hiding within the maze-like streets of Damascus’s old city, filled with tiny alleys, friendly vendors, coffee and narghile shops, bakeries, and elegant courtyards. It’s a joyful counterpoint to the somber magnificence of its mosques and Medieval stone ramparts.

When you sit at Bakdash’s long common table, you rub shoulders with Arabs and Muslims from all over the world, from young Lebanese fashionistas, to burqa-clad Iranian grandmothers on pilgrimage.

Wherever they are from, whatever brings them to Damascus, they all soon dip their spoons in the icy confection, and when the taste of pistacchio and cream touches their tongue, they all nod in silence.

For the next five minutes, children on a hot damascene day, we are all united in the joy of ice cream.

Where to Go

Bakdash lies on the wide promenade called Souq al-Hamadiyya, which stretches westward from the Umayyad Mosque plaza. Start from the main entrance of the mosque (the one on the west side), and walk west, under the Arch of Jupiter, and through the market. You’ll find Bakdash to your left.

Ice cream at Bakdash comes in either plain or fruit flavor, and both are highly recommended. A bowl of fabulous ice cream will set you back 50 SYP, or roughly $1 USD.

Home and Heart

May 28, 2010 | Location: Turkey | 8 Comments 

It was Byzantium when the Greeks founded the city in 667 BC. It later became Constantinople, poised at the edge of the Roman Empire, overlooking the Asian shore. Its fall in 1453 at the hands of the Ottoman Empire signaled the end of the Middle Ages, and the city remained firmly in their hands until, nearly five hundred years later, the Arab Revolt destroyed the Ottoman rule from within.

With such history, you wouldn’t be faulted to expect a somber, beautiful city, drenched in history and drama; visit only its historical quarter of Sultanahmet, and that is exactly what you’ll get. But sprawled across on the other side of the Golden Horn lies a more modern, fast-beating heart of Istanbul: one filled with a Balkan energy and friendliness, where good food goes down better with aniseed spirit, and where young Turks live busy, cheerful lives.

This is where Helene and I spent the most of our three weeks in Istanbul: not in the tourist district that lingers in the shadow of the Blue Mosque, but near the vibrant terraces, restaurants and markets of Beyoğlu; thanks to Caroline, a friend from our Shanghai days, who welcomed us into her apartment as if we were family.

Istanbul Days

As we settled into our temporary home in Istanbul, Helene found herself yearning for the simple pleasures of home cooking. And so, every Sunday for the next three weeks, we visited the Beyoğlu market, a sprawling farmers’ market, sprinkled with clothes and home accessories, that stretches all the way down one of Istanbul’s many hills. Here, we haggled over fruits and vegetables, and sampled fresh olives. We bought varieties of cheese, wielding the few mispronounced Turkish words we had managed to grasp.

Even the lure of cafés began to dull as we settled into our rhythm. Soon, I was practicing with Caroline’s Turkish coffeemaker, and working hard to improve my coffee’s foam as Helene drank all the cups I could muster.

Long walks along Istanbul’s main commercial street of Istiklal Caddesi provided us with pleasant afternoons. Istiklal, stretching from Taksim Square to Tünel, is nearly always impossibly crowded, and its side-streets offer dozens of terraces and cafés to while away the hours.

One of our favorite stops was the famous Inci, alleged birthplace of the profiterole, where the chocolate-drenched pastry melts in your mouth.

Istanbul Nights

Istiklal Caddesi might be busy during the day; but when evening comes around, the wide pedestrian street takes on its true purpose, and it soon fills up so completely that you have to shoulder your way past its twisting alleys, filled with diners and revelers.

Our favorite evening stop was Üstad: a locanta, or traditional Turkish restaurant. “Chez Jean-Jacques” is how Caroline called it, due to the maître-d’s resemblance to French singer Jean-Jacques Goldman. “Je suis Jean-Jacques,” he said to introduce himself. And later: “Your second home in Istanbul is here.” From the nose up, he did indeed make a solid Goldman impression, but his warm hospitality and humor were all Turkish.

In Turkey as in most of the Middle East, mezze, appetizer-sized dishes, occupy a central position in the meal. They go together fabulously with rakı (aniseed spirit), so much so that they often become the de-facto meal on a night of drinks. Rakı is drunk diluted with water, and even then it packs a solid punch; fortunately, the savant blend of spices of the mezze, as well as the delicious fresh bread, make it go down easy.

As in many places in Istanbul, Üstad’s service was exemplary, both friendly and efficient, and willing to throw in the occasional gratuity to truly make you feel welcome. “This is the country of service,” Caroline told us. And indeed, the Turks could teach the French a lesson or two about professional courtesy and hospitality.

Istanbul Modern

A lot of travelers visit Istanbul to explore its past; but although the previous centuries have dotted the city with architectural marvels, its present is worth a visit all by itself.

Of all the cities we visited in our world trip so far, Istanbul is the city that made us feel the most at home, whether we were deciding on that week’s supply of olives, or stumbling home after a night on the town. We could imagine ourselves living here, at least for a while, discovering one more café, walking down another sidestreet in search of the perfect döner.

Home, after eight months on the road, turns into an elusive concept; but Istanbul has captured our hearts. And as the saying goes, that’s all the home you need.

Special Thanks

A big thank you to Caroline, who welcomed us into her Beyoğlu apartment for a staggering three weeks, from which we could convince ourselves we were not tourists but residents, at least for a little while.

Thank you also to Romain and Ece, friends of a friend, who showed us a very Turkish welcome and shared with us their passion for local Turkish products.

Where to Go

Istanbul is a fabulous city to explore as a local and not a tourist; if you do not have the benefit of a friend in the city, consider Couchsurfing, as Istanbul features an enthusiastic, friendly, and very active community of couchsurfers. Otherwise, there are numerous hostels near Istiklal, away from the usual tourist ghetto of Sultanahmet. Check out Neverland Hostel, down the hill from the boulevard but in a very interesting neighborhood nonetheless.

Inci can be found on Istiklal Caddesi, past Galatasaray Lisesi towards Taksim. Look for it on the left side of the boulevard as you walk towards Taksim Square; you’ll spot the crowded doorway soon enough.

Üstad lies on the northern side of Istiklal, on Kameriye Sokak. If you meet Jean-Jacques, tell him Daniel and Helene say hello!

Coming Soon: Turkey, Syria, Lebanon

May 22, 2010 | Location: The World | Leave a Comment 

Greetings from Beirut, Lebanon!

There has been no shortage of great meals and encounters in the last few weeks – quite the contrary. Helene and I have been traveling and enjoying life, and I’m afraid the blog has taken the sidelines.

But don’t despair: further adventures of the Backpack Foodie in Turkey, Syria and Lebanon are coming soon!