DJ Trava

Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

The most common type of espresso machine is the manual variety. It uses steam to generate pressure to push water through the coffee to create an espresso shot. You simply press a piston lever which activates the steam. While these are more difficult to use than the automatic versions, they are usually the favorite of coffee lovers who insist that only manual models offer the minute control and adjustments needed to brew perfect shots.

Automated machines have been around for nearly fifty years. These machines replace the piston with a motorized pump that creates pressure by heating the water. These machines can have different heating elements, extra boilers, or even dual-use heating elements. They can sometimes be found in coffee houses and restaurants that offer steamed milk for specialty coffee drinks .

Of course, there’s more to quality espresso machines than their internal mechanisms. One of the great appeals of these machines is their decorative features. Manufacturers have turned the machines into works of art, with stainless steel bodies and chrome, brass, or even gold finishes. Wooden or other decorative handles are also common and some larger machines may sport design features such as figurines.

Food, one of my favorite subjects. I’m rather distraught at the idea any country could attempt to ban something so wonderful as a variety of it. Don’t get me wrong, I love Italian food but not being able to break away and have Sushi, Thai, German, or a variety of other ethnicity of food would probably drive me insane. Let us not forget also that all food evolved from any time a culture mingled or began importing a new ingredient from a neighboring or allied country. It’s one thing to be strict about regional labeling like the argument over if it’s really champagne if it’s produced in the United States, but trying to enforce a nationalized menu to preserve your culture is ridiculous. recipes are constantly evolving. Do you think the first tomato sauce had garlic in it from the beginning?

Recently in the town of Lucca, Italy the council banned any new ethnic food outlets from opening within the ancient city walls. Since then, it has spread Milan, where the Northern League party brought in the restrictions to protect local delicacies from the growing popularity of foreign food. This has of course met opposition from many of the leading chefs, who have referred to this trend as gastronomic racism.

The authorities in Lucca and Milan were applauded for cracking down on non-Italian food by the Minister of Agriculture, a member of the Northern League. Who claims to view it as a way to safe guard tradition and the local culture. He does make a concession to ethnic food sellers that they should, if they remain in business, use only Italian ingredients. An interesting concept, I look forward to seeing how one would make a rice dish using only rices that are grown in Italy. I’m sure that this support in no way stems from the fact he’s in charge of a public office that gets money from localized agriculture.

I’ll be sure to keep myself to countries that have no qualms of allowing in new flavors. I know when I travel I prefer to eat local cuisine as part of the experience but sometimes I crave something a little different and it would be unfair not to be able to seek out a restaurant to meet these cravings.

Three days here, and after all the talk about how we were going to find out how the rest of the world thinks about music, all we’ve talked about is curry.  My friends are convinced that the best Indian restaurant in Singapore is this one, and it’s because of their curries.  I am arguing that it could be any one of the dozens of Indian restaurants here, but we just happened to stop at this one first.  Chau, the other big ego in the band, is arguing that this isn’t coincidence.  He feels that since we’ve woken up in a pure state of touristic consciousness, our path is unfolding in ways that are already predetermined.  All we have to do, he argues, is keep doing what we’re doing.

This is an old argument between us.  I can tell that the other band members are as irritated as me, although they certainly do a good job of pretending that they’re enjoying every moment of the food.  It keeps popping into my head that we’re actually eating Chau’s car.  He sold his ’73 Impala so we could have room and board while we’re here.  This baigan choka, then, I imagine, is the dashboard mat.  He’s busy eating his rear-view mirror while we’re deciding what we should do for the rest of the day. So far, the only good idea is to eat more curry.

We’ve been playing together for only two years, but we argue like bands that have a history that lasts at least a decade.  I think this might be a testament to our staying power, but I also know that my thinking is delusional.  It doesn’t seem to matter all that much.  Later on this afternoon, we have a meeting with a band we met last night, because we want to see how we sound if we mix.  It’s a good day.  This is a very good day.  Whether or not free will will win out over determinism is an issue that might not be resolved this time around, but there’s little doubt that we’re living a dream we always had.

A few years ago I traveled to Manhattan to see one of my favorite groups of musicians.  Sigur Rós is a band from Iceland, and their debut album was Ágætis Byrjun.  This is one of those albums that at the time, the music stores just could not keep in stock.  Something about the sound they make, just moves people, and that was incredibly obvious a their New York show in 2001.  I was lucky enough to have found a room at one of the 5 star New York hotels, which was located within walking distance of Irving Plaza, the venue for their one and only New York show on their tour schedule.

They were originally booked to play at the Angel Orensanz Center, but the show sold out in under fifteen minutes, and was moved to Irving so as to accommodate a larger audience.  When I got to the Plaza, an hour before the showtime, the line to get into the show wrapped around the block.  It took so long for the fans to file in that the went up a half an hour past the scheduled start time, but no one minded one bit.  It was one of the calmest concert experiences I have ever had.  And it’s no wonder, when they took the stage it was more akin to a performance by a symphony, than that of a pop band.  The lead singer and guitar player is Jon ThorBirgisson.  The drummer is Orri Pall Dyrason, bass-player is Georg Holm and the keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist is Kjartan Sveinsson.

They took the stage quietly and as the audience held a collective breath, they began to play.  The beginning of their songs starts, and gradually they add layer upon layer, and when the song is finished, the layers slowly disappear.  Again, the audience held their breath, and the applause was given only when it was completely silent once more.  This was the first time I actually saw people faint from inspiration at a rock show/symphony.  The sounds that filled Irving Plaza that night have literally haunted me, with the emotion and the sweetness of this incredible music.  I anxiously await a time when I will see them again.