No...Thank You, Cilantro

Caitlin and I took a trip to Seoul this past weekend to meander the art galleries and to see Miso, traditional Korean stage. While in the largest city in South Korea, we took full advantage of the foreign food presence. It was a gift to the taste buds to eat something that did not taste like fish, sesame, or cabbage. On Sunday night before coming home, we ate at the Taj Restaurant. We ordered the Tandoori Chicken, Dal Makhani (black lentil curry), and Tandoori Khumb Aloo (vegetable and yoghurt stuffed mushrooms and potatoes).

Before getting on the bus home, we stopped in the foreign grocery mart to pick up, to us, what are a few pantry rarities - black beans, pita bread, hummus, wholegrain cereal, cumin, cloves, chick peas, lentils...but I have to add that my favorite pickup was a freshly-picked batch of cilantro. This is my favorite herb and I have been pining for that robust scent it gives off when you slice into the leaf. I brought my own seeds to grow the herb but I have to wait until the spring to cultivate them because they would otherwise fail indoors.

So, the first thing I did when I got home was pick up four avocados and get to the guacamole-making...



Mmm..fresh dirt still on the leaf.





There is nothing like a break from Korean food than a big ol' bowl of Guac to get you through the week. I know that the avocados are not in season and they probably lost a little bit of their luster on the shipping journey from New Zealand, but I could not resist a familiar taste. I know its a sustainbility sin not to buy local, but I can guarantee that I get my spinach from the patchwork just down the street.

A petition for creating a national sustainable food and agriculture policy can be found here.