The Green Polkadot Handbag part 2 of 3

Over the years: Green Polkadot Handbag+me=so happy together

So happy together, in Marrakech. PS I have preserved lemons and smen (aged, spiced, butter) in my handbag along with a few msem pancakes from the breakfast buffet.

On the train coming home from London: the necessities of travel: a good book to read, a cucumber, bag of coriander leaves and a box of salt cod.

At the Fancy Food Show, NYC or SF I don’t remember exactly, nor do I remember which year, but its obvious this is the Pasta di Martino booth. Such wonderful pasta, from Gragnano, Italy, the home (since Roman times) of beautifully grown wheat and lovingly made pasta. Its name even means “grains”.

This cake! This delicious creamy ricotta cake (studded with candied fruit)! In NYC, I could only eat a little bite so of course, it was straight into my bag. I mean: this cake was fabulous, even the next day.

In Poland, not sure where—Wroclaw? Gdansk?—delightful dark rye bread. It was leftover in the bread basket from dinner at the restaurant (where it was served with smalletts, a sort of pork rillettes) and salt-cured cucumber pickles, ogorki kishonie. If i left the bread behind it would only get thrown away, right? And that would be a tragedy: such good bread. It fed me and everyone around me for days and days; what was stale I brought home to make things with it. Stale bread=kitchen treasure.

Okay: we were on a floating raft restaurant on the sea off the coast of Yantai, in China’s Shandong province, that we had to get to in a little motor boat, wearing life jackets and holding on for dear life. We were served grilled fish, steamed buns, stirfried vegetables, accompanied by platters of cucumber sticks and lettuce leaves. At the end of the meal, we had huge platters of cucumber and lovely leaves of fresh lettuce left behind. I think you understand I couldn’t let this happen. Cucumbers and lettuce, such a fresh snack to have on hand, or handbag, esp when travelling!

Korea or Taiwan? Regardless, how could I leave the little sweet buns behind? You never know when you’ll need (or want) it!

Mmmmmm….Athens….had to stash this nutty honey ball in my handbag for later. Only sensible thing to do.

Seoul! Oh God did I have fun in Seoul! And so did my handbag! If memory serves me well I had a gorgeous apple in my handbag (Korean apples are wonderful!) as well as a roll of gimbap and a little container of kimchee.

These are a few of my favourite things: dark chocolate, truffle salt, preserved lemon, mixed Indian pickle and a gorgeous homegrown cucumber. I see the corner of an airplane ticket poking out, who was I bringing these goodies to?

In Spaccanapoli, Naples—wandering the cobbled alleyways. in the bag at that moment was mortadella, olives, and a chunk of pane cafone, soon to be eaten. With joy.

Recipe not really a recipe:

Courtesy of my Green and White Polkadot bag. One of my favourite dips comes from the one I pulled together from the bits and pieces I had stashed from wandering the aisles of the San Francisco Fancy Food Show. I was headed to a party directly from the show and needed to bring an appetizer—I looked in my bag and the dip practically made itself!

Greek yogurt (full fat) from the Greek yogurt stand, about 10-12 oz/ 300g

a small envelope (1 portion size) of dried tofu-miso soup from the Japan stand, and

several squirts of good mayonnaise, from the stand selling excellent condiments.

I added green onions, thinly sliced, because I love them, and

toasted sesame seeds, for the same reason.

Stir the yogurt until it is smooth, then stir in the tofu-miso soup, a few squirts of mayonnaise, the onions and sesame seeds. Serve now or chill until ready to serve.

I was surprised at the interesting texture the occasional tiny pieces of dried tofu added to the otherwise smooth texture, and the super umami Greek yogurt-Miso dip was delicious with crunchy, slightly sweet, raw carrot sticks for dipping.