Author Archives: Val

Smoke ‘Em If Ya Got ‘Em!

Smokin’ Willie’s BBQ Truck San Fernando Valley, California Gourmet food trucks are popping up like diesel-powered weeds in southern California, so although I was gracious about having been offered the opportunity to preview one of the newer BBQ-themed trucks, the … Continue reading

Posted in Trippy Food (Tasty flora and fauna), USA | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Mystery Date

Dates Shields Date Gardens, Indio CA I drove up to a fruit stand in Indio, California and asked the proprietor if he had dates, to which he replied, “No”. I then asked if he had nuts – he responded with, … Continue reading

Posted in Trippy Trips (On the road and overseas, things to see along the way), USA | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Selling Brazil by the Pound

Brazilian buffet Libra By The Pound, Culver City CA When I received an invitation to try Marcelo Ahn’s new Brazilian eatery, it was described as “Brazilian buffet”. I couldn’t get the image out of my head of a mutant cross … Continue reading

Posted in Brazil, Trippy Food (Tasty flora and fauna) | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Bird’s The Word

Ostrich Africa and elsewhere The ostrich is a laughable bird, with wings too weak to lift its body and a light-bulb shaped head on the end of a fuzzy snake of a neck. Of course should you choose to laugh … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Colombia, Trippy Food (Tasty flora and fauna), Trippy Trips (On the road and overseas, things to see along the way), USA, USA | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

There’s A Fungus Among Us

Wild Mushrooms (worldwide) There are a variety of reasons mushrooms aren’t universally prized for their incredible flavor – for starters, commercially grown mushrooms are generally cultivated in soil rich in animal manure (and no, they don’t “taste like crap”, although … Continue reading

Posted in Trippy Food (Tasty flora and fauna), USA | Tagged , , | 8 Comments