Some times life can get really busy, and it is hard to find time for yourself. It feels as if people are pulling you fifteen different directions, and you have to navigate all of these requests at once or fall further behind. During these hectic times of the year, there is some times a small reprieve that is given to you, and you want to make the most out of that time. It helps to get away for a bit and see a different perspective, but it is not always easy to get that perspective with the time that is given to you. A whole change of environment and culture is not just right around the corner, but if you can squeeze in that change of scenery, I would highly recommend it because it will do you a lot of good.
I am lucky to have this as an option in my life at this time. Right now, I am living in Amman, Jordan, and though I love the country, and people a lot, I do need that escape from time to time so I can get a new perspective on the place I am living. The best opportunity to get this dramatic change for me is to hop on a short flight and land on the island of Cyprus where I exchange an Arab culture for a European one. Within a short time I can look at green fields instead of desert landscapes; I can drink good wine instead of mint tea; I can eat Greek inspired cuisine instead of Lebanese.
It is not just these small things that allow me the escape that I am looking for by taking that small flight. It is also a completely different culture with a completely different vibe. Now, I love the people of Jordan. They are friendly and have a great pride in their culture, but as somebody that comes from a different part of the world, I still feel a little like an outsider. Though traveling a short distance away, I will still feel like an outsider, but now, I am able to go around and marvel at the unique sights that have not become commonplace because I see them everyday. It becomes an exotic vacation where I am creating memories instead of making it through the week so I can enjoy the weekend.
I also get to partake in unique experiences by making this little trip. These always seem to be a part of those places that are a short distance away. In Oregon, it is the mountain lakes, and beautiful hikes that the state has to offer. Colorado has those hikes as well as some of the best skiing that the world has to offer. Cyprus has a bunch of quaint European towns to explore as well as a wine country that is fun to travel through and from time to time experience what it is like to try my hand at making some of the wine.
No matter where you live, I am sure there is some place nearby that allows you the opportunity for you to escape your daily grind. I feel lucky that this place is Cyprus for me. It is nice to escape if only for a long weekend. It makes going home a pleasurable experience again because I can get away for just long enough to make me realize how much I have when I get back.
Until next time, I hope you get to enjoy that close by escape as well.
There are people in this world who are in the know. They usually live in the southwest part of the United States, and they enjoy a certain brand of Mexican food that can only be found in that part of the world. Of course, these people enjoy all kinds of Mexican food, whether it is authentic Mexican, the Cali blend, or the famous Tex-Mex. But to those in the know, the best type of Mexican can only be found in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. This is because a certain kind of Mexican delight can only be found in this part of the world for some reason.
This delicacy is known as Green Chili. For those in the know, they already knew where I was headed. If they were already residing in one of those three states, they might start thinking about having come green chili for dinner, and for those living outside of these three states went through an odd rollercoaster ride with their emotions. At first, they would be excited as they would be brought back to memories of when they were able to enjoy this entree, but then they would get sad because they would not be able to find any place where they could have some. Even if they had a recipe for this simple meal, they would be discouraged because the place where they were living might not have the right kind of chilis to make this for themselves.
For those not in the know, green chili is a simple pork based sauce that is made with chilis, flour and a little water. Some people have made it with chicken and there are some wonderful vegetarian versions out there as well. Mexican restaurants in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona usually keep a batch heated up in the kitchen, and they will smoother any dish that you want with it. This simple added feature turns any Mexican dish into something distinct and unforgettable. It is the dish that is the one that anybody visiting the region should look for. Those who have come out here, and have tried it, know what I am talking about.
It is surprising to me that it only resides in this part of the world, and I do not know why it has not been brought to other places. I have had kimchi in Jordan, hummus in Japan, and Pho in America, so I don’t understand why this dish is impossible find outside of where I grew up. Finding Mexican food around the world is not hard, and most of the time it does a pretty good job. Still, it misses that one thing that makes it Mexican for me. So I ask those owners of these Mexican restaurants around the world to add green chili to their menu. It might not sell right away because there are not many people in the know, but after people try it, the word would spread, and they would have a hard time keeping it around. Also, I would be able to enjoy this dish outside of the United States which would be the thing that would excite me the most.
As for right now, I am back in Colorado, and am enjoying it again. I will have to have as much as I possibly can while I am out here, and try to find a way to make it when I move back to Jordan. Until then, please give me a scoop of that green chili on my Mexican and I will be in heaven.
Until next time, keep on finding those local treasures, and having great adventures.
I knew I was in a different country when I was riding in the bus from the airport to my hotel, and our tour guide started to point out some of the landmarks that give the people of this country great pride. The first was the grave sight of Ho Chi Minh, sitting behind a large field of grass where he first declared independence of his people from their oppressors, the French. The second one was a statue of Lenin as he proudly strode out to bring the people of this world the idea that would once and for all destroy the class system that kept people in poverty all around the world. I was no longer in the Capitalistic societies of the West. I was in Vietnam, the bastion of the Communist people that would eventually topple other great Democracies of the East. Or at least that was the lesson I learned when I was back in high school. I am wondering if that is that same story holds up today.
Those lessons always had me picturing a war torn country filled with grimy streets, and hot treks through dangerous jungles. It was a place that nobody in their right mind would want to go to visit. There was some truth to those images that I conjured up in my mind during my high school days. Vietnam had been ravaged by war for over 50 years, and at that time was just getting over a conflict with China in order to maintain their independence. It was in economic ruin, and had a long way to build back the country that got displaced during these conflicts.
But the Vietnamese people are resilient, and they put together a plan to put their country back on track. It involved a Communist view of the world around them that was closer to what China was doing rather than the Soviet Union, even though they built their country with the help of both of these superpowers. It meant returning to a simpler kind of life, but one where the people were in control of their destiny, and not some foreign government making bigger decisions for this smaller country. It didn’t look impressive at first, but it was a move in the right direction.
Vietnam also had a rich traditional history to fall back on. Though this is rooted in the principles of Confucianism, it has its own take on it. The deep rooted belief in Buddhism was repressed during these years, but hints of it can still be found around the country, and the practice is starting to appear again in the more remote parts of the country.
And let’s not forget about the food. I was sitting in a meeting once, and somebody who never had eaten the food before was trying to describe it. They claimed that it was very similar to Chinese food, and that is not at all correct. Though it does have this feel, there is a big French influence to it as well. And then it uses these spices that you cannot really find anywhere else in the world. It creates its own cuisine that you can only find in Vietnam, and its influence is spreading to many places around the world. It is becoming almost as ubiquitous as Thai, or Korean food, and it just adds to another choice for those of us who love meals from this part of the world.
All of these things combined together to punch a hole in the philosophical understand that guided the economic vision of this developing country, and opened them up for the wonderful world of tourism. And for those of us who have traveled anywhere in the world, it is impossible to prevent Capitalism sneaking into the mix when a place is opened up for tourism. There are sights that need to charge people to visit them. There are stores that need to sell souvenirs for those visitors to take back home with them. There are restaurants needed to feed them, and transportation experts to get them to all of these things. This only can run on the principles of Capitalism.
But it has also created one of the most beautiful destinations in the world. There is so much to see and so much to do in Vietnam that it is taking over as the number one destination sight in southeast Asia. Even the small villages are taking advantage of this fact by creating homestays where visitors can find a comfortable place to lay their head, eat wonderful home-cooked meals, and enjoy some of the local traditions. The last time I was in Vietnam, I went to one of these homestays where I was given a bed hidden by a curtain, and asked to join the family’s evening ramen meal. They have since grown into more elaborate experiences where it gets harder and harder to book during the busy tourist months because of the increased desire to stay there.
There are also natural wonders to explore. The one that attracts more visitors is Ha Long Bay in the north. In this cove among the various islands, people can be found enjoying cruises, hiking to the top of the islands, exploring caves, fishing for squid, and kayaking between the islands. They also harvest pearls in specific locations, and have many docks built so people can stop by to enjoy a quick bite to eat, or find a souvenir to bring back home with them. Even though this is a natural wonder, there is always a place where you can see money be exchanged.
It is in the heart of the cities that this really becomes evident. The last time I was in Hanoi, tourists flocked to the Old Quarter to learn about the history of the country at one of the various museums there, and to eat while sitting on a small plastic stool at one of the many restaurants that inhabited its labyrinth. The Old Quarter is still at the heart of Hanoi, but after coming back, those restaurants have upgraded their furniture, and raised their prices. Some of them have even extended their offerings by teaching visitors how to make some of Vietnam’s signature dishes by offering cooking classes. All they ask is that those tourist bring their money so they can enjoy these experiences.
Vietnam is still a developing country, and is still run by a Communist government. It is pulling from the spirit of its people, and a rich cultural heritage to pull itself into the realm of being a developed first world country, and I do believe that it will happen in my lifetime. I think back to those history lessons of my youth that talked about the dangers of Communism, and how it would eventually bring about the destruction of the world. My teachers told me the story about how the United States involvement in Vietnam was key to making sure that this did not happen though they do not like to admit that we lost the war. Communism won, but it did not spread to the rest of the world like it had been predicted. At the same time, I do not believe that the growth of Vietnam is dependent on Communism. It is its bizarre blend of economic policies between Communism and Capitalism that has turned it into the country that it is today. It is this strange blend that will allow it to continue to grow into what it will eventually become. I can’t wait for my next visit out here to see what that will look like.
Until next time, keep on finding those experiences.
I have done some extensive traveling in Europe, but most of the time I have spent out there have been during the Summer months when the crazy crowds from all over the world pack the streets and tourist sights. Once, I was able to make out during Christmas time, but the markets during this time of the year also attract a large crowd. One of the nice advantages to living so close to all of the locations is that I do not need to save up large chunks of money and plan a long flight during my off time of the year to get out here, and the fact that I am traveling during the off-season changed the dynamic of these locations significantly.
The spots that would be packed with people now only have a few that can enjoy it the way it was supposed to be enjoyed, and I did not have to fight through all of the crowds at each of the tourist sights to catch a glimpse of what brought people there in the first place. The weather is also more enjoyable. For instance, I have heard people complain that Rome is hot and dusty, and during the summer months, it probably is. But in April, the cooler spring air makes the environment green and a lot more enjoyable.
It does not mean that Rome did not cater to the tourists that did make it out during this time of the year. The food was still spectacular; it is just not as hard to get into the restaurant that you want to get into, and enjoy the experience that they have to offer for you. There are plenty of food tasting and wine tasting opportunities that will have to be booked way in advance if you find yourself out here during the height of the tourist season.
The options for hotels open up as well. I know that I could have booked a fancier place than the one that I stayed at, but I am having to go back to the more modest accommodations. Now that the world is pulling itself out of the Covid pandemic and things are starting to open up again, the prices of hotels are going back to where they used to be. I can no longer find that five star hotel that is giving out insane deals just so they can remain open. It was fine though because I also went back to my old ways of traveling by spending less time in my hotel room, and more time exploring the city I was in. There are still some great places that are available at this time in great locations that are affordable and still comfortable. I stay in a converted monastery that still had the chapel and old art work still hanging on its walls.
Rome is a great city to explore at this time of the year as well. Every corner that I turned that was another sight to see, each of them boasting the might that this part of the world used to display. If I came back during the height of tourist season, these spots would still be there, but there would be some many people crowding into the sights that I would not be able to get the picture that gave off the lonely feeling that these ruins display, and would have to wait longer to get the pictures that have the minimal amount of people ruining the picture that I wanted to take.
Rome is a great city and definitely worth visiting. I know that many people do not have the opportunity to see it the way that I was able to see it over a long weekend in April, but if you are able to make this possible, I believe that this might be the best way to visit.
It may not be one of the first cuisines that people think about when walking about the best food that this world has to offer, but Thai food is often high on many people’s lists. It would definitely make it on my top three, and living in Thailand, I learned about so many new dished that never make their way on to the menus of the Thai restaurants invading America.
You are guaranteed to see pad thai and pineapple fried rice on many of those menus and those are regular staples on many of the menus in Thailand, and yes, these are tasty dishes, but when I discovered all of the other ones available out there, I realized that many American had no idea the culinary delights they were missing out on.
When eating Thai meals, it is important to recognize that it is a family affair. Many dishes are ordered at a Thai restaurant ant they are brought out and placed in the middle of the table. A heap of rice is put on your plate and then you dig in, passing dishes around and trying a bit from each culinary delight. When I was at a restaurant I knew I was eating, but there were a couple times where the meals were designed for us at some of the hotels we stayed at and I was introduced to a couple new dishes in the process.
There are a lot of dishes that can found everywhere in the country such as somtam, a spicy green papaya salad, or tom yum soup, a spicy shrimp soup with a hint of coconut milk. They can be found from the southern beaches to the northern mountain with the only thing that each dish has in common is the fact that the word, spicy, is used in the description of the dish.
There are some regional dishes as well. My favorite would have to be a northern Thai dish called khao soi. It is a rich brown curry usually served with pork, but you can find options with chicken if that is what you prefer. It is topped off with fried rice noodles to give the dish the impression of a mountain filled with winding mountains which is what the name of the dish actually translates to. This is one of those menu items that I don’t think will be found in the United States at a Thai restaurant because it has not made its mark on the rest of Thailand yet. There were a couple of places in Bangkok where I could find a good imitation of this dish, but the best version remained at the small stalls, and mom and pop establishments in Chiang Mai.
The curries are delicious out in Thailand, and can be made to order with varying levels of spice. They can be served with rice or roti, a flatbread designed to scoop out the sauce, meat, and vegetables hiding just below the surface. It became a joke with my friends when we talked about how this option would be taken away when we traveled back to the United States. The Thai restaurants would only have names on the menu such as red curry or green curry, and not even allow their guests to attempt the name of the dish. I am sure I will find a version of my favorite, panaeng curry, but I will just have to hope that is what it is until it arrives in front of me, and I am sure it will never reach that level of spice that I had become accustomed to in Thailand.
There is always the street food as well. This is the main way that most people eat in Thailand. They go down to the main street in their part of Bangkok and look at what food options are available and pick the one that they are most interested in. I will admit that it is a little nerve wracking the first time you do it because you do not know how fresh the food is you are picking up, but there is a trick to finding the best food. Watch the crowd for a bit. See where most of the people go, and then you know that they are moving through their supply fast enough that the food will be fresh by the time you order, and it must be good if so many people are eating there.
Thailand is not just a great spot for its own cuisine, but it also specializes in all the other styles of food as well. They do a great job as well. If I got bored with Thai food all of the time and as long as I was in the bigger cities, I could find Italian, Mexican, Bar-b-q, Korean, Japanese, and Swiss. They put a little twist on it to make it their own, but the food was just as good as if you were getting it in the country where it originated.
I would have to say that they did breakfast the best. There is nothing better than going to a good breakfast place and having them make a fantastic meal for you, and in downtown Bangkok, there is an endless supply of them. I would always want to go back to the one that I just enjoyed, but would rarely do it because I would find another one that would be just as good or maybe even a little better.
The point being is that Thailand is a foodie’s paradise. They know how to cook out there, and combined with the pandemic, it made it a struggle to stay in some form of shape without having to buy a whole bunch of new pants. I will find the food like this again in other places, but nobody will be able to do Thai food like they do in Thailand, and for that reason, it will be one of the things that I will miss the most about that country.
I know a lot of people think about vacation and they get this image in their heads that all they will is find a hammock somewhere, nestle into it with a good book and ask the closest waiter to bring them another smoothie. And yes, a beach vacation involves a lot of that, but every once in awhile, you need to remove yourself from the hammock and see other parts of what the island has to offer. Koh Lipe has a nice section of the island devoted to this other activity and it is the perfect place to head to as the sun starts to sink in the sky, and things start to cool off, Walking Street.
Depending on which side of the island you find yourself on, it is either really easy to find or rather difficult. If you are on the Pattaya Beach side, there is a big entrance marking the street right across the sand from the plastic dock where the boats will drop people off at. But if you are on the Sunrise Beach, it is a little more difficult to find. First you have to locate the Anda Resort and then walk through its grounds and the nice big pool where everybody is relaxing. You then look for the big entrance to the right of the resort that will indicate you have made it to the bustling part of the island. You will have to watch out for the motorcycles on this street because it is one of the main thoroughfares but if you keep looking to the left, you will eventually find walking street and will be a lot safer.
Walking Street has a lot of shopping opportunities, but more importantly, it has all of the best restaurants. None of these establishments look over the ocean, so in order to attract the tourists that make it to this island, they have to try a different approach; they have to have good food. There are a variety of food options from vegan and vegetarian dishes, to Spanish tapas, American cuisine, Italian, seafood, and of course, a bunch of Thai restaurants. Two of my favorites so far are the Elephant which has a great bar and some really good burgers, and the Box which is a Spanish tapas place with a chef that came from Spain to add some authenticity to the dishes. If you call ahead, you can even get him to make a paella for a larger party.
It is not just the night life that makes it a fun place to visit. There are many sites that will keep you turning your head every minute, and of course, if you pay close attention, you will come across those minor details that prove that you are in a tourist destination. It is always one of my favorite things to read signs that have been translated from the native tongue into English in order to attract more customers. I don’t know if these mistakes are made on purpose in order to bring people in to have a little laugh, or if they discovered the magic of the mistake after it is made. Either way, it is always something to look for, and for some reason these are usually the places that have the most amount of customers.
Walking street is the place to make it to during the nighttime while in Koh Lipe. It gives this small island a little bit of everything you look for when choosing a getaway vacation. You have your beach living during the day, and vibrant nightlife when the sun goes down. It is a site that must be checked off your list if you ever make it this far south in Thailand.
It can’t all be about the beach and playing in the water. There has to be a time to fuel up, and the Nai Harn Beach part of Phuket has a lot of options of great food all over the place. I have not really found the street food stalls that you would expect to see in a city of Thailand, but enough of the restaurants serve good Thai food that I do not feel like I have to worry about talking much about that. It is all of the other cuisine that is made available out here that makes this place a gastronomical heaven.
To start off with, I have not eaten many lunches out here. I have been moving a little slow in the mornings; it is vacation after all. And the resort that we are staying in, Nai Harn Beach Resort, serves the best breakfast buffet I have ever seen. They will make omelettes, or eggs benedict for you fresh, and the rest of the food is so well prepared that it is hard to believe that you are eating at a buffet. I am usually so stuffed afterwards that I am not hungry again until mid afternoon, so there is no reason to think about lunch.
Dinner has been a different story, and I have thoroughly enjoyed every place we have been to. The highlights have to be Rustic and Blue, a favorite of ours from Chiang Mai. We have been to that place at least four time during our visits to this northern part of Thailand, and we were really excited to see that there was another one in Phuket, right by the place where we are staying. The food is western cuisine with a heavy dose of seafood dishes in the Phuket version of the restaurant, but there are still enough of the other favorites to make it a comfortable. My favorite is the grilled cheese sandwich with maple bacon and jalapenos.
There is also the Green Tamarind Burger which took a little longer to find, but it was worth the search. The food there is obviously burgers, but could easily be the best burger I have found in Thailand. They make their own buns, and they have fresh ingredients that just make the burger a juicy treat to eat.
And if you are in the mood for Italian, there is Trattoria del Buongustaio. This is right next to the Nai Harn Beach resort, but it is not associated with the resort. The owner is always around helping the customers, and the food has an authentic Italian flavor to it. Most of the food comes with fresh seafood, and has a little bit of a kick to it that reminds you that you are in Thailand.
It has been one of my favorite experiences in this part of Phuket, and I am glad that it has opened up more so I could experience it. It makes me just as excited for the rest of the trip and I hope that the country stays open long enough for me to experience it, but with new Covid cases confirmed up north, it might end sooner than usual. If that is the case, at least I was able to have these moments in Nai Harn Beach.
I recently talked about my staycation to downtown Bangkok being like a greatest hits album where I didn’t take any pictures because I have been to all the places I went to before. Therefore, it was pointless to take pictures because I was already so familiar with these places. But there was one place that I do want to talk about, Toby’s. I have never been here for dinner, and I have heard that they have some amazing Italian food, but I have been here a couple of times for breakfast, and it might be one of the best places for breakfast that I have ever been to.
How do I describe it? To go back to the analogy of a greatest hits album, there is always one song on it that stands out above all the rest. Yes, you still love all of the songs on the album, but there is the one song that everybody gravitates to. It is that band’s best of their best. It is the “Satisfaction”, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or “Joker” on the album. And this is what Toby’s is.
Toby’s is a small restaurant on Sukhumvit Soi 38 and you really have to have your eyes open to see the place or you can easily drive past it. But there are hints that you are close. There is usually a group of people gathered outside waiting to get one of the few tables the place has. Cars are collected on this sleepy street near to the entrance of the place. And your stomach will start growling because it knows the treat that it is about to experience.
The bacon platter with eggs done over medium
And yes, this place is worth searching for when you are hunting down a good brunch. The food is fresh and obviously prepared there. Most of the time, the dishes come with a selection of fresh fruit, unless you get the bacon platter (yes, they have a platter dedicated totally to different kinds of bacon), and this still comes with a bacon jam that I would recommend smearing all over the two eggs that come with the dish. But the best dish that they have for breakfast has to be the French toast. I have always enjoyed this dish and I have had some amazing versions of it, but the one here is made with crumpled corn flakes that gives it a crunchy coating that is so good. And instead of topping it with butter, they give you a scoop of vanilla ice cream that makes this entre more of a dessert that you will come back to time and time again.
It was the perfect spot to complete my greatest hits tour. It filled me up with the great food that this city has to offer before sending me back home and the reality of life. I will come back again someday, but for now this was a great way to enjoy a weekend in Bangkok.
I have spent a lot of time this summer talking about the place where I came from, and mentioning the place where I am moving to, but I have not really talked about it, and why I am excited about moving there. So I thought I would give a little time to talk about the things that I am looking forward to about the relocation to Bangkok.
First of all, I am looking forward to the food. I know that Korean food is the trendy thing worldwide, but I have never been a fan of this kind of food. I like the spices and I do enjoy the community spirit that is created by going to a Korean bar-b-q, but it has nothing that I have ever craved. I do enjoy what they have done to fried chicken, and I do not think that any culture can compete with this improvement on an American staple, but I cannot eat that every night unless I want to end my life by exchanging cholesterol for the blood in my veins. Basically, for the last four years, I have struggled eating.
My wife and I would always talk about our favorite foods in the world, and if there was one type of food that we had to eat for the rest of lives what would it be. Of course Italian always comes up for me because it has always been my favorite style of food, and my wife always talks about Japanese food because of the variety and the unique flavors that they explore in that country. And even though we both agree with each others’ main choice, we both agree whole-heartedly with Thai food. On my recent trip out there to scout out places where we would end up living, I even experienced new flavors that I did not know existed with this cuisine and it turned into one of my favorite Thai dishes. This just means that I have not tried everything that Thai food has to offer. I am excited to explore these options even more.
Which brings me to the next thing I am excited about, the street markets. There is a big one right next to the place where I will be living. It is not as big as the Chatuchak Market in central Bangkok, but it will still be a nice addition to the neighborhood. Apparently, it is only open during the weekends, but it will be the perfect place to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables. And the amount of fresh fruit that will be out there excites me a lot. I was able to get fruit in Korea, but it was heavily dependent on the growing season. When I arrived in the summer was when I could get green apples, but they disappear soon after I got out there. Berries would not be available until late in spring, and yes, I could get a watermelon, but I would have to spend up to $30 for it.
The fruit should be more readily available in Thailand, and the variety should always be there available at the markets and delivered that morning from the groves. I look forward to going to the market and searching for the perfect fruit and vegetables of the day and creating a meal with them later in the evening. I will not always have to wait until the weekend to make this happen either. Where we are moving has a mango tree in the front yard, and twice a year I should have a supply of fresh mangoes in which to eat and cook with. I see myself perfecting the best mango salsa by the end of the first year.
A lot of this is due to the thing that I am having a love/hate feeling towards, and that is the weather. It is going to be hot and humid, and this will never change. My two favorite seasons in Korea were autumn and spring. If you are ever visiting Korea, this is when you want to go because the weather is perfect and the changing of the trees, whether it is the shedding of the leaves or the blooming of the cherry blossoms, is spectacular. I will really miss that about Korea.
What I will not miss about Korea is its bitter winter. I have seen my fair share of bitter cold winters, but I have never experienced anything like the ones in Korea. The temperature drops and stays there. I used to look at the outside, not wanting to venture out because I knew it meant bundling up so my skin would not be ripped away by the dry frigid wind. It wasn’t even pretty because it rarely snowed in the winter to hide the dead tree and lawns. It was just cold. I will not miss that.
But I am not also a fan of extreme heat. I am a runner, and trying to run while it is hot and humid is harder than when it is cold and bitter. It just saps all of the energy from me, and I feel like I am wading through the air rather than slicing through it. I know I will eventually acclimate to this because it is never going to change, but I will miss the colder times of the year. I know this even before I make it out to Thailand because as I said earlier, the milder times of the year are my favorite. It is still not enough to dissuade my excitement for this move, and it is this weather that makes all of the other things I am excited about possible. It is just a minor thing, and I know that I will be able to make the adjustment.
So as the time pushes closer when I will finally get make that last leap, I am starting to get excited about what the changes will be for me, and I can’t wait to share them with the rest of you.
Some people will see this picture and instantly know what I am going to talk about; whereas, others will look at it as some kind of Mexican food that they are not yet familiar with. Of those people who recognize this dish, not all are from Colorado, and it is true that this type of burrito is not only in Colorado and can be found everywhere in the Southwest. It is also a very popular dish in New Mexico, and Arizona, and has even found its way into some of the western parts of Texas. But this particular burrito comes from a great Colorado chain, Santiagos. So for today, I am going to claim that it is a Colorado thing.
What makes this burrito different from other burritos that you can find is that it is smothered in green chili. Now many people will automatically think of the can of Hatch green chilis that you can find in your local supermarket, and yes this is used to make green chili, it is not the same thing. It is really hard to describe what green chili is to somebody who has never has it. The best way I have found to do it is to describe it like a red chili you would normally associate with a chili cook off, except it is made with pork, spicy peppers including green chilis, and does not have any beans in it. Some call it a stew; others call it a soup; and still others call it a condiment. None are exactly right, and yet in some way, they all are correct. Either way, when ever you get an opportunity to put it in a bowl, on a burrito, on a plate of french fries, or a piece of fry bread, you do it because what you will get is one of the best meals you have ever had in your life.
Now many places in the Southwest make their own version of this delicacy, but I find the one at Santiagos to be the best. I am sure I am going to have a list of other places that make a better green chili in the comment section below, but I still find this one hard to beat. It goes great with the breakfast burrito that they serve there, but if you put it on any of their items, you won’t be disappointed. You can even get big bowls of it to take home which is just as good as eating it at any of its many establishments throughout Denver.
Green chili is one of the things that I look forward to every time I am back at home, and I am confused a little bit by the way it has never moved beyond the borders of this part of the world. I don’t understand why something so delicious can only be found in this part of the world. I plan to bring it to Thailand when I go out there. I am even plan on growing green chilis so I can have this dish any time I want and share it with my new friends out there. But the next time you find yourself in the Southwest, seek out this dish. You will understand what I mean after you have tried it once. It will become one of your favorite dishes too.
John Collings 