Greedy Gyal

Lord have (Gra)mercy!

The Tavern came near the top of most guides of best restaurants in New York City. It is well known for “farm to table” sustainable eating. I looked forward to eating there but worried about how it would fare, coming the day after my visit to Daniel. Malcolm, my dinner companion, and I arrived just after our allotted time of 9:30 and were greeted by pleasant but not very warm reception staff. We were asked to wait in the cold reception area as the table was being prepared.

We looked at the menus on offer and both chose the tasting menu as we weren’t enthused by the dishes on the a la carte menu. Tasting menus can be a bit of a minefield as they often include as many as seven intricate courses. By the end of the meal, you can be a bit jaded by the taste of yet more heirloom something, shavings of something else and foamed another thing, and just uncomfortably full.

Having said that, the food on offer through Gramercy’s tasting menu was mainly superb, with each of the savoury courses being better than the one before, lifting you on a crescendo of excitement almost to the end of the meal.

Unfortunately, this was brought to a discordant end with the most disastrous of desserts.

The good

The food was definitely the high point of our meal as it should be. The menu and courses were well designed and executed. The liberal use of seasonal vegetables was complementary and interesting.

We started with an amuse bouche, which was a buckwheat puff with pimento cheese. At this time of year, squash is in season and appears in some form on most menus. It made an appearance in our second dish of king crab with apple, yuzu and squash.

The third dish was vegetable chowder, a creamy celery flavoured soup, with scallops and caviar.

Scallops with Vegetable Chowder

Next up was halibut with roasted cauliflower and capers.

Halibut

The recent trend of roasted cauliflower dishes is very welcome. Cauliflower is not my favourite vegetable but roasting brings out its nutty, caramel notes, which was in excellent contrast to the capers and a lovely accompaniment to the fish.

The final seafood course was squid ink tagliatelle, lobster and bell peppers.

This was a marvellous dish. The tagliatelle was home-made, delicious and appropriately al dente. The pepper broth was complex and rich with an Iberian influence that worked beautifully with the sweetness of the lobster.

The final course and the only meat course was roasted duck breast, mushroom, brussels sprouts, pancetta and hazelnuts.

As good as the lobster was, this took it up another level. The duck breast was tender and tasty, with the skin nicely crisped.

The pancetta added richness and the hazelnuts crunchy contrast. It really is a victory of a tasting menu to keep you interested to the end.

Duck breast

The bad

At top end restaurants, where the food is consistently amazing, it is often the little things that determine how you rank the restaurant.

From the bread that wasn’t warm, on one of the coldest days of the autumn, to the waiters, struggling with the mixed language menus, who were completely unintelligible, the Gramercy failed somewhat.

Initially, I found the headwaiter veered between being unctuous and downright creepy. Like an overly controlling husband, he chose our wines for us. He did let us taste before choosing but being offered an option would have given less of an impression that the wine was pre-selected for everyone having the tasting menu.

However, as the meal went on, he seemed to relax. The wine he chose was good, although not as good as at Daniel the previous evening. He was attentive and handled questions (and complaints) efficiently. I do feel though that senior waiters should know how tagliatelle is pronounced, not Taglia Tell, William’s Italian cousin.

The downright disastrous

The dessert, and final course, was pear pannacotta, pear puree and tapioca. This was served in a glass and was topped by coffee granita rendering it visually unimpressive.

Wet yoghurt

The pannacotta tasted like wet yoghurt and wasn’t well set, which may be why it was served in a glass.

The watery bland granita on the top of the dessert amplified the impression of the dessert’s wetness.

I can understand the use of a granita for variety and texture. I think placing it on top of what is meant to be a creamy dessert might not be the best idea. The dessert could have been deconstructed with the granite on the side perhaps, giving that textural variety without the impression of a melted mess. It just wasn’t in the same class as the rest of the meal.

I really can’t remember whether I finished the dessert or not but can see no reason why I would have.

Overall, I think I enjoyed dinner at Gramercy. The food really was very good. However, somehow this was almost overshadowed by bad acoustics, average to incomprehensible service and an awful dessert.

The journey home

As we stepped out of the Gramercy, we hailed a yellow cab. The driver had the dubious honour of topping our indistinct waiter. Not only was he incomprehensible, he also did not appear to know where he was going. Unfortunately I fell asleep, to wake up in desolate, unpopulated surroundings that didn’t even look like New York. I’ve obviously watched too many episodes of CSI as I became convinced that we were taken somewhere off the beaten track for God knows what reason. My demands to be let out quickly turned to “I’m calling the police” as I realized that I had no idea where we were. I think the cab driver managed to feel even more panicked than I did. He had mis-heard and instead of taking us to 125th Street, he was heading to 25th Street. When Malcolm realized that we were going the wrong way, he reiterated one hundred and twenty fifth street. The cab driver in a futile act of bravado then decided that 125th street did not exist. At this point, I ratcheted the crazy up to new heights. “It’s a big street in Harlem! You’ve written off a huge portion of African American history”. We finally got there, with the cab driver hysterical and close to tears. I think he was amazed when Malcolm, by now dying of embarrassment, handed him the same fare that we’d paid on the way down. I’m not sure he’ll be heading back to Harlem in a hurry. Either that or he’ll install GPS….

Tags: Gramercy, New York

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Categories New York

New York! These streets will make you feel brand new! Big lights will inspire you!

29 Nov

New York Soundtrack

Empire State of mind – Jay-Z and Alicia Keys:

The A train

So I arrived in New York one early afternoon mid-week and took the A train to Harlem. Apparently it’s the quickest way.

I’ve planned a whistlestop tour of some of New York’s finest restaurants, bars, markets and street food. I’ve arranged to stay in Harlem, using AirBnB. At £67 per night, this is reasonably good value in New York. I was a little nervous though as it felt a bit like going back to being a student and having a flat share.

420

I’ve picked a bad week. New York is freezing. Buffalo is under 5 feet of snow. Having hopped out of the subway at West 125^th street and after several cold consultations of the map, I arrived at a slightly “bruk down” looking building. Surely that’s not it? It’s not quite the Harlem brownstone that I had envisioned. I climb the 3 flights of stairs with a feeling of mild trepidation.

Thankfully, the flat is nicer than it first seemed. I met our host, settled in and began to get ready for dinner.

Just as I was bracing myself to catch a cab in the cold, I was arrested by a mellow scent familiar from life in Brixton. Hello? Of course I couldn’t resist asking my Guyanese host if that was what I thought it was. He confirmed that it was and showed me the number “420” on the blackboard in the lounge. I guess not all things about student life were bad.

“420”

Daniel

I felt very lucky to book a table at Daniel Boulud’s Daniel at 60 East 65^th street.

Daniel

Unfortunately jet lag kicked in and I forgot my camera so ended up taking pictures with a phone. I apologise for the fuzziness in advance.

Dress code blues

Something that I have found surprising about New York so far, is that the high end restaurants seem to all stipulate business casual wear. This is in contrast to London, where you can turn up in jeans and sneakers (as I have done on several occasions) if you so desire. This had my dinner companion scrabbling through his luggage to try to find suitable attire. He just about managed but I did wonder if we’d be turned away on arrival. Far from it.

We received a very warm welcome although he was definitely the least well dressed of the men dining that night.

The Food

The food on offer included a price-fixe menu for $125 (one starter, main and dessert from a wide selection); a 7-course tasting menu or a la carte. As the range of choices was excellent and having almost died having tasting menus in Australia, I went for the price-fixe.

I chose lobster to start, pork for the main. My dinner companion chose scallops and cod.

The lobster came in three ways: butter poached; rolled with Hawaiian hearts of palm, wrapped in blanched romaine lettuce; and in a small light curried lobster samosa.

The scallops were seed crusted with Aleppo seeds and came with a birch reduction and flavourful celery mousseline.

The pork included chops and belly with delicate shards of crackling. Treviso ragout cut through the fattiness of the belly and the harissa jus gave the chops a zingy edge. The pork chops were so surprisingly tender, they could probably be cut with a spoon.

Pork

The Atlantic Cod was slow baked, in order to cook without drying. It was coated in yoghurt and grilled. It was served with spinach and a lemon balm and liquorice “foamed” emulsion.

Cod

Wine

I’ve never understood why you are sometimes offered a choice of wines before you’ve even had a look at the food. I resisted, chose my starter and main and asked if the sommelier could come across and give us a hand in finding a wine to match. I like to do this as it helps to engage. A good sommelier will know the wine list inside out, sometimes producing a choice that you wouldn’t have made but that may well work better.

This was such a case. We ended up with half a bottle of an Austrian Gruner Veltliner.

This had a full and floral bouquet but wasn’t quite so perfumed on the palate. The rounded, full flavor worked well with the food that we’d chosen: it stood up well to the pork and the butter poached lobster but didn’t blow away the cod. The wine was described as being fun by the sommelier and that was an accurate description. Before the starter had gone, we were already contemplating the second and third halves of the bottle.

The extras

Before the meal began, we had a selection of canapes and an amuse bouche. The canapés included 3 broccoli inspired tastes: broccoli soup with crème fraiche; smoked trout with a broccoli slice and broccoli quiche. I love broccoli and this was certainly enjoyable.

I wish I could remember the amuse bouche but it was so greedily inhaled I’d forgotten what it was by the time I stared sadly at the empty plate

The accompanying bread rolls were so tasty and flavourful, they could almost be considered a course on their own. The cheese rolls were full of umami that they almost tasted Marmite-y. The layered brioche rolls were sinfully buttery, only the fear of not finishing the rest of the food stopped me from eating about four.

Dessert

I strove for comforting simplicity, choosing a simple chocolate fondant with caramel ice cream. The second dessert was a work of art. It included a tempered chocolate tube with a layered “drawer” which could slide in and out. It was made of layers of cake, praline and mousse.

This dessert was technically excellent, cleverly conceived and just plain good fun.

Chocolate “drawer”

Post dessert

After dessert, we were offered petit fours, despite not having coffee. I greedily galloped my way through these but my stomach drew the line at the Madeleines. Sensing my hesitation at jumping off the greedy cliff, the waiter proposed packing them up to go. I was delighted not to leave my little friends behind.

Madeleines

I wonder if everyone gets quite the same treatment at Daniel?

The food was delicious and varied with a lot of choice on offer. The sommelier and waiter made the service feel not only exceptional but personal and special. This makes it one of, if not the best restaurant experiences that I’ve ever had.

We’re off to an exceptional start in New York. Long may this continue!

Tags: 420, Daniel, Daniel Boulud, Harlem, New York

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Categories New York

Et tu, Brixton?

13 Nov

Brixton Village

Lowlight

I’ve been trying to avoid blogging about Brixton Village. I have liked that spot in the old Granville arcade, ever since there was hardly much more than Federation Coffee and Etta’s… Long before it became the next “new” thing in Brixton.

Anyway, I’ve been trying but now accept that I must fail. I have to write about the nonsense of my recent Saturday experience there.

I haven’t been to Fish, Wings and Tings of late.

Not because the food is awful. It isn’t, although it isn’t spectacular either.

Not because of the scintillating view of steaming Brixton market rubbish at the front either, although that is challenging.

Brixton Village Saturday rubbish, next to Fish, Wings and Tings

It’s just that I’ve got fed up of the never-changing menu, (chicken or goat? goat or chicken?), which has less variety than the Caribbean takeaway on Coldharbour Lane. However, against my better judgment, I took a Trinidadian friend who was visiting from Scotland.

It all started off smoothly – the saltfish accra (or codfish fritters, as it has been boringly described) was very tasty – but then it all went badly wrong. The waitress got our orders wrong. Both. In and of itself, this was not a disaster. It happens in all restaurants at one time or another. Unfortunately the wrong food was brought to us twice, as if we could not possibly know what we ordered. We politely sent it back both times, saying that we hadn’t ordered it. The waitress then came out and aggressively demanded to know what we’d ordered.

As my friend put it: “Yuh know Brixton reach, when you’re given grief for your Trini accent, in a Caribbean restaurant, by a French waitress!” I won’t be going back anytime soon.

Highlight

Fortunately, Brixton Village somehow still has the ability to charm you when you least expect it. On Sunday we wandered down to The Agile Rabbit just as they were closing. The chefs made us fresh thin and crispy pepperoni pizza while we waited and were then generous enough to share their staff food with us when we looked at it longingly.

The Agile Rabbit – Thin and Crispy Pizzas

I’ve worked in several large London restaurants and don’t remember having such simple staff food that was that nice – spinach and ricotta ravioli in butter, with an ephemeral tease of nutmeg. Who says the best things in life aren’t free?

There are still some superb spots in and around Brixton Village – Federation Coffee continues to produce the best coffee south of the river, despite being overrun with yummy mummies – however, there are way too many glorified takeaways trying to charge restaurant prices for ordinary food and really poor, if not downright disrespectful service. Brixton is one of the coolest spots south of the river. We deserve better.

Environs – The Wine Parlour

One of the successes of Brixton Village has been the improvement of the gastronomic sites available nearby. For example, the Spanish restaurant and deli, Brindisa, has opened its doors on Atlantic Road just near to Brixton Village. For me, though, the highlight is the independent “Wine Parlour”, which is tucked away on the corner of Vining Street and the very busy Atlantic Road. It’s a funky spot with good quality wines, displaying a range of styles at a range of prices.

Inside the Wine Parlour

They have a good quality “Enomatic” wine preservation system. It stores the wines for up to 8 days and allows you to pour as little as 25 ml at a time. Basically, this means that small independent wine bars, such as this, can offer a wide range of fresh wines by the glass, without needing to increase the price to cover increased waste.

Enomatic Wine Preservation Syste

One or both of the proprietors is always there and I’ve always found the service good and their suggestions helpful. Chix in particular, runs the store with a fun, friendly but firm hand –that means she is able to talk me down from my near tantrum-throwing to get an outdoor patio spot with exceptionally good grace and charm. Add to that, it is an interesting location on a busy road, where you can watch the road rage outside in cool comfort. Additionally, if you’ve had enough, you can step out to their little patio and relax in the summer sun.

Outdoor patio at night

I’ve never been a fan of Champagne et Fromage in the Village – something seems quite wrong about its self-conscious pretense in the grittiness of the market. The Wine Parlour manages to avoid this, largely because of the laid back, easy attitude of the owners and staff. It is definitely worth a visit.

Tags: Brixton, Brixton Village, caribbean, wine parlour

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Categories ENGLAND

Tour de York

3 Aug

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the Yorkshire dales recently – well the “dale” of York in particular.

This is an unusual area in terms of food culture.

Jay Rayner, in his review of Le Langhe restaurant, (http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/mar/23/la-langhe-york-restaurant-review) described York as an area punching below its weight and that, for the most part, feels about right.

For an area that smells either of conching chocolate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conching) or “fertiliser” (i.e. manure) being laid in the fields, the foodie offering is surprisingly limited.

In my next few posts, I will do a whistle stop tour of the food in York itself. Following this, I will cover a few high-end restaurants in Yorkshire as a whole.

I have bribed, threatened and cajoled my colleagues to accompany me on this wild adventure, so keep an eye out for the extras.

Talking about “whistlestop” tours, it would be remiss if I didn’t say something about Le Grand Depart of the Tour de France, also known as the Tour de Farce since both Mark Cavendish and Chris Froome were laid low in the early stages.

This took place a few weekends ago. The locals definitely joined in the spirit of the race: There were many painted yellow bikes hanging from buildings around York,

Hanging yellow bicycle

and many, including my friend Richard and his family, came out on the Sunday dressed “a la Francais”.

Richard’s family, French style

I stood out on a relatively cold (it is York!) summer’s morning to watch Froome et al “fly past” at what was for them, a snail’s place.

Despite the limited duration of my view (36 seconds if my camera timer is to be believed), I got some great photos and it was surprisingly exciting to see them go past.

Not quite flying….

Almost more amazing though was the hundreds thousands of pounds worth of bikes, wheels and spare parts being carried by the support vehicles. I guess this is nothing compared to the value of the cars destroyed during the F1 race at Silverstone later that day but….

There were tens of support vehicles loaded like this

Since watching the Tour that morning,

Froome found it difficult to remember which way is up;
Hamilton continues to pin the voodoo doll of Rosberg with limited success; and
Pele has applied for German citizenship

On to the food!

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Categories ENGLAND

The opening of Carnival

21 Mar

Camboulay

A re-enactment of the Camboulay riots can be seen, along with the key carnival figures (described below) at the opening of carnival on Carnival Friday at Piccadilly on the east side of Port of Spain.

Before emancipation, when there was a fire on any sugar plantation, slaves from neighbouring plantations were drafted in to help extinguish the fires.

After emancipation, the congregation of the ex-slaves carrying burning sugar cane, drumming and stickfighting became a key way of celebrating emancipation. Eventually, these processions shifted to carnival time and became an integral part of the carnival celebration. The word camboulay was derived from the French for burning canes (cannes brulees).

Preparing to fight

The Camboulay Riots were riots by the descendants of freed slaves on the island of Trinidad against attempts by the British police to crack down on aspects of the celebration of Carnival. The riots occurred in February 1881 in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and spread to the southern cities of San Fernando and Princes Town in February 1884 causing loss of life.

As part of the ban on Camboulay, drumming was also prohibited, leading to the development of the tamboo bamboo as a replacement percussion instrument.

Tamboo Bamboo

As part of the Carnival there were often clashes between groups of revellers carrying sticks and lighted torches. While the confrontations started in song duels between the chantwells, they often worsened to physical violence. Although they were banned by the British authorities, it was only when Captain Arthur Baker became the head of Trinidad’s police force in the early 1880s that they determined to end the canboulay as a threat to public order.

Stick fighters in battle

In 1881, Trinidad’s police force clashed with revellers in Port of Spain who had banded together against the police. This caused resentment amongst the ordinary people of Trinidad who valued the festival despite the clashes.

Due to the feelings of the population, the then Governor Sir Sanford Freeling confined police to barracks in order to calm the situation.

The “Governor” allowing Canboulay

The riots are still commemorated today and Camboulay music is an important part of the music of Trinidad and Tobago notably the use of steel pans which were the descendants of percussion instruments banned in the 1880s. The “chantwell” or chantuelle who was also an integral part of the celebrations was the forerunner of the calypsonian.

The Key Characters of Carnival

Pierrot Grenade

The Pierrot Grenade is a descendant of the Pierrot known for his elegant costume and fierce fighting prowess with a whip or bull pistle, and was followed by a band of female supporters who fought on his behalf against other Pierrot groups..

Pierrot Grenade was a finely dressed masquerader and deeply supreme scholar/ jester proud of his ability to spell any word in his own fashion and quoting Shakespearean characters as Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony and Othello at length. Pierrot Grenade, is a satire on the richer and more respectable Pierrot.

During the opening of carnival, it is the Pierrot Grenade who narrates the history of the riots.

Dame Lorraine

Dame Lorraine

The Dame Lorraine was a mas character played by the 18th and early 19th century French planters, who would dress up in elegant costumes of the French aristocracy and parade in groups at private homes/yards and Carnival Sunday night.

The liberated slaves recreated these costumes, complete with elaborate fans and hats in their own fashion, using materials that were readily available, such as assorted rags and imitative jewellery-type items..

The major Dame Lorraine performers through the years however, were descendants of the French planters and persons of some respectability, who hid behind masks, mainly of the fine wire mesh variety, and found their way into the downtown Old Yards, where they paraded and danced for all and sundry.

Jab Jab

The name of this mas is derived from the French patois for ‘Diable Diable” meaning a pretty devil mas resembling a mediaeval jester’s costume. The costume consists of a Kandal or satin knickers, and satin shirt which are divided into panels of alternating colours with points of cloth at the waist, from which bells hang. On the chest, there is a shaped cloth panel which is decorated with swansdown, rhinestones and mirrors. Stockings and alpargatas are worn on the feet, while the headdress consists of a hood with stuffed cloth horns. The Jab Jab has a thick whip of plaited hemp which he swings and cracks terrifyingly. These whips can reduce the costumes of other Jab Jabs to threads. Big men noticeably flinched when the Jab Jabs crack their whips. Yessss. I know which side of that whip I’d rather be on.

Jab-Jab

Jab Molassie

Jab, French patois for Devil, and Molassie, the French patois for Mélasse (Molasses), is one of several types of devil mas. The simple costume consists of short pants or pants cut off at the knee, with a wire tail, mask and horns and a pitchfork. The jab malassie would carry chains, and wear locks and keys around his waist, and carry a pitch fork. The whole body is smeared with grease or mud, red, green or blue paint. The jab molassie “wines” or gyrates to a rhythmic beat that is played on tins or pans by his imps. While some of his imps supply the music, others hold his chain, seemingly restraining him as he pulls against them in his wild dance.

Jab Molassie

Fire!

Moko Jumbies

Moko Jumbie

Moko Jumbies are also known as “Dancing Spirits”. The name is believed to come from “Moko”, a West African God and “Jumbie”, a local term used to describe a spirit or ghost. They are stilt walkers who roam the streets, often in packs, during carnival. The good ones can get almost horizontal. Did you ever wonder where they got those stilt walkers from during the Barcelona Olympics opening ceremony? Er…. Trinidad!

The Baby Doll

The baby doll masquerader portrays a gaily dressed doll, decked out in a frilled dress and bonnet. In her arms she carries a doll which symbolises an illegitimate baby. The masquerader stops male passers-by and accuses them of being the baby’s father. It is amusing to see how flustered some guys get when asked….

Baby Doll

The Jamette

La diametre – This is a character whose behavior is diametrically opposed to decent members of society. She is a loose woman and often one who fights alongside and for the Pierrot. One of the most dreaded insults you could get from a teacher at school, was that you were behaving like a “little Jamette”!

The Jamette

Tags: Canboulay, Carnival 2014, Trinidad

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Categories Carnival 2014, TRINIDAD

A brief history of carnival

19 Mar

Carnival originated as a pagan festival in ancient Egypt which was subsequently celebrated by the Greeks and then the Romans. The popular festival was adopted by the Roman Catholic Christian church in Europe as the festival of Carne Vale.

I always thought that the word Carnival was made up of two Latin words, carne, meaning flesh and vale, meaning farewell. However, the Wikipedia entry for Carnival suggests that this is a popular myth and that it may instead have come from “Carne Levare” or the removal of meat. In any case, in the Catholic calendar carne vale, farewell to flesh, is a feast celebrated on the Sunday (Dimanche Gras), Monday and Tuesday (Mardi Gras), before Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and fasting.

The Carnival festival was introduced to the Caribbean by European colonizers from Spain and France. In particular, Carnival was introduced to Trinidad around 1785, as the French settlers began to arrive. The tradition caught on quickly and lavish masquerade balls were held. The wealthy planters put on masks, wigs, and beautiful dresses and danced long into the night.

Obviously banned from the masked balls of the French, the African slaves would hold their own version of these carnivals in their backyards, using their own rituals and folklore, but also copying the behaviour of the European planters at their masked balls.

The use of masks had special meaning for the slaves, because for many African peoples, masking is widely used in their rituals for the dead.

On emancipation the freed African slaves transformed the festival into a celebration of the end of slavery. African dance and music traditions transformed the early carnival celebrations, as African drum rhythms, large puppets, stick fighters, and stilt dancers began to make their appearances in the carnival festivities.

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Categories Carnival 2014, TRINIDAD

Th re-start

19 Mar

So, with trepidation, and after much time, I continue my blog with a section on Trinidad and Carnival.

This is such an important topic for any Trinidadian that it must be written with due care and attention.

This year (2014) I’ve been in Trinidad for just over 2 weeks. This allows me a good “run-up” to carnival and a “cool down” afterward. It is possible to do carnival in a week but this will mean missing the shows which are such a big part of the entertainment.

I have judiciously picked shows and bands to cover a good spread of what carnival has to offer, starting with UTT’s Sparrow Anthropology on Friday 21 through 3-Canal, pan-yards, Little Carib, the opening of carnival, J’ouvert, Minshall Mas right down to the Savannah and Ariapita Avenue house-hopping on Carnival Tuesday.

Before I get into the detail of the events though, I will start with an introduction to carnival

Tags: Carnival, Trinidad

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Categories Carnival 2014, TRINIDAD, Uncategorized

Vietnam: Cu Chi Tunnels

3 Apr

Towards the end of my trip to Vietnam, I joined a group tour of Saigon and Cambodia. On our last day in Vietnam, the group headed about 70km North West from Ho Chi Minh City to the Cu Chi tunnels. The Cu Chi tunnels are an underground network of tunnels built in the 1940s when the Vietnamese fought the Japanese during World War II and the French afterward. They were used during the Vietnamese War (or the Americans War as the Vietnamese call it).

Tunnel structure (Source: bbc.co.uk)

At its peak, the tunnel network covered up to roughly 250km from the Saigon river to the Cambodian border. The tunnels are usually built on three (or sometimes four) levels (see diagram above).
Level 1, the level closest to the top, is the entry level and was used by snipers, who would pop up and shoot at “the enemy” and then disappear far down into the tunnels.

Now you see him……

Now you don’t…..

Level 2 is for living and cooking and Level 3 had several meeting rooms, hospitals and even theatres. It was possible to build these tunnels because the earth in this area is very hard (reddish clay, very hard due to the presence of iron oxide) giving a stable structure.
The tunnels were of significant strategic importance as they crossed the main land and river routes, allowing interception of American supply routes.
The tunnels were shallow and narrow and, apparently during the “American / Vietnamese” war, Mexican soldiers were tasked with entering the tunnels because they were the only ones that could fit. However, if soldiers managed to get inside, they were met with several different styles of booby trap to ensure that if you managed to escape one, the others would surely finish you off. The booby traps were nasty and included planks of swinging nails, collapsing trap doors with foot-long spikes.

Watch your step!

The floor trap collapses, trapping the leg with spikes

A basic floor trap

Biting Jaws

Easy in, not so easy out

The spikes themselves had barbed endings ensuring that they created more damage on the way out than on the way in. Frustrated with their ability to penetrate the tunnels, American troops resorted to bombing. As a result, Cu Chi is the most bombed, shelled, gassed and exfoliated area in the history of war.
On the third / fourth levels of the tunnels, there were workshops where un-exploded American bombs, seized by Vietnamese soldiers, were broken apart and re-constructed into several smaller scatter bombs and re-used. Shoes were made from truck tyres and so on.

Vietnamese “soldiers” cutting unexploded bombs to extract the explosives….

To create smaller “scatter” bombs

Our guide, who fought in the Vietnam war, spent 15 days hiding in the tunnels. I could barely spend 15 seconds inside.

The tunnels had been widened to allow “visitors” to fit more comfortably. I entered from the living area, in which the coal pot was going.

Cooking took place in the tunnels

It was hot outside and even hotter inside. The “smoke” from the cooking caused my eyes to burn and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. (Smoke from cooking underground was channeled and extracted, at night, from the tunnel in several areas resembling termite hills which were far from living areas.)

Termite Hill?

The tunnel ceilings are low so that most people cannot stand upright and must crouch in an uncomfortable position.

The widened tunnel is still small and narrow. The Vietnamese did not have torches either.

Although smaller visitors to the tunnels find walking through the tunnels not too difficult, it must be remembered that they have been enlarged. Moving through the tunnels would have been a pretty nasty experience for even the smallest individuals.

Tags: Cu Chi Tunnels

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Categories Ho Chi Minh, VIETNAM

HCMC: Foodie Tour

17 Mar

Later in the evening of the HCMC sights tour, I joined XO tours again for their night time foodie tour.

I had already had Pho, pronounced (Fah), arguably the national dish of Vietnam, in Ha Noi but it was at the mini-chain, Pho 24. It was nice but not great. Fortunately, my colleague Jason had kindly given me some tips of what he considered to be the best Pho places in HCMC, Pho Anh and Pho Hoa, where the Pho was truly delicious.

Pho from Pho Hua on Pasteur Street

District 1 – Bún bò Huế

However, the guys at XO insisted that Bún bò Huế, which we tried in District 1, would be better. The name derives from Bun (rice vermicelli), Bo (beef) and Hue, where this style of soup originated. The soup has different noodles to Pho (cylindrical rather than flat) and is made with beef and pork. It is similar in style to Thai food, with a balance of sweet, salt, sour and hot. The broth is prepared by simmering beef bones and beef shank with lemongrass and then seasoned with fermented shrimp or fish sauce and sugar for taste. Spicy chilli oil is added later during the cooking process and at the end, along with herbs and other condiments.

Bun Bo Hue

District 5 – Chinatown

Our second stop was Chinatown, at the Binh Tay market, a short bike ride through traffic, from District 1.

View from the bike on the way to Chinatown

This is a huge market in District 5, which sells wholesale goods and therefore is not focused on foreign tourists. There are several sections to the market, each selling a different type of goods, such as household items, dried goods etc.

Binh Tay Market, Chinatown

District 8 – Lau De 3Q – Do it yourself BBQ

Lau de 3Q

We then moved on to an outdoor barbecue in District 8, where we tried, among other dishes, barbecued goat breast. (Note that the number 3 is pronounced “Ba”, so 3Q is pronounced Ba-Cue – i.e. BBQ.) The goat is softened by marinating in fermented tofu and then barbecued directly at the table. Marinated Ochro is grilled alongside this and it is served with a dip of more fermented tofu and chilli oil.

Barbecue in action

Ochro, fermented tofu and chilli oil, green kumquat with chilli salt

We also had barbecued squid and prawns and of course, frog legs

Frogs Legs

District 7

We next passed through District 7, with its wide tree-lined streets, where a large expat community lives.

As there are hardly any police in the area, I was able to jump on the bike.

Crazed bike rider

District 4 – Seafood (and duck embryos)

Finally we ended up at District 4, where we stop for seafood among other things. We had barbecued quail, crayfish cooked in chilli salt,

Crayfish with Chilli Salt

scallops with lemongrass and chilli,

Scallops

Very revolting duck embryos, which I refused to eat,

Duck Embryos

and Clams in spicy broth.

Clams

We also had the nicest desserts that I had in Vietnam – coconut jelly, served in a whole coconut.

Dessert

First, the coconut water is set with agar-agar – it was sweet so may have had sugar added. This is then topped with coconut cream, also set with agar-agar. The result is an attractive, light dessert, with clean flavours.

Coconut Jelly

I went back to the hotel, having enjoyed the food in Saigon. Well except for the embryos…

Tags: HCMC, Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon

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Categories Ho Chi Minh, VIETNAM

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) – The Sights

15 Mar

XO XO

Having learnt from my time in Ha Noi, when I found the city difficult to penetrate, I decide to sign up for two half day tours in HCMC with XO tours (http://xotours.vn/). XO Tours are a small company, whose tours usually include a lead tour guide, with detailed and in-depth knowledge, an assistant who rides alongside and the female bikers, who also have good local knowledge. I sign up for “The Sights” tour in the morning, and “The Foodie” tour in the evening.

The Sights

I arrange to meet my driver at the Opera House.

The Opera House

After meeting her, I jump on the back of the bike with my heart in my mouth and set off for Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office.

My driver

Notre Dame is a catholic church built by the French in Saigon. It has Sunday mass in English and Vietnamese. Unusually for a church, its doors are not all open. Our guide explains that as several generations of a family may live in a single house, young couples are always looking for a place to meet. The side doors to the church are kept shut to avoid any untoward incidents.

Notre Dame

Inside the Cathedral

The Old Post Office can be found opposite the Cathedral. The building was constructed in the early 20^th Century and was designed by the French architect, Gustave Eiffel.

The Old Post Office

Inside the Post Office

Reunification palace

The Reunification Palace was also known as the Independence Palace and was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was the site of the end of the Vietnam War during the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates.

Reunification Palace

In 1954, after the French surrendered to the Việt Minh they withdrew their troops from Vietnam. According to the Geneva accords, to which France was a signatory, Vietnam would be divided for two years, until 1956. The 17th Parallel would act as the temporary border until a vote based on universal suffrage was held to establish a unified Vietnamese government. North Vietnam was under the control of the Việt Minh communists, while South Vietnam was under the anti-communist State of Vietnam. Instead, in September of that year, the Palace was handed over to the prime minister of the State of Vietnam, Ngô Đình Diệm, by the French.

In 1955, Diệm declared himself president of the newly proclaimed Republic of Vietnam (after a fraudulent referendum) and renamed the building the Independence Palace.

Diem was widely hated and in February 1962, two pilots of Diệm’s Vietnam Air Force, rebelled and bombed the palace, instead of going on a raid against the Việt Cộng. Diệm and his family escaped the assassination attempt. As it was almost impossible to restore the palace, he ordered it demolished and commissioned a new building in its place.

Diệm and his ruling family moved to what is now the Ho Chi Minh City Museum. However, he did not see the building completed as he and his brother (and chief adviser) were assassinated after a coup d’état led by General Dương Văn Minh in November 1963. Legend has it that they had negotiated their peaceful release but his brother was incapable of acting in a civil manner and began abusing Van Minh’s troops as he was being released. One of the generals lost it and assassinated them both.

In April 1975, a tank of the North Vietnamese Army bulldozed through the main gate, ending the Vietnam War. In November 1975, after the negotiation convention between the communist North Vietnam and their colleagues in South Vietnam was completed, the Provisional Revolutionary Government renamed the palace Reunification Hall.

Pittman Apartments

The famous picture, shown in the link below, was thought to have been of the final evacuation of the US Embassy at the fall of Saigon. In fact, it was the last chopper leaving the “secret” CIA headquarters, the Pittman building.

http://mcgarnagle.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/saigon-helicopter-large.jpg

Clearly the long line of people waiting would not get on this helicopter. They waited for hours but none returned. They had worked for the Americans in Saigon and would be classed as traitors for doing so. No-one really knows what happened to those people afterward. If they managed to survive, they would not be admitting the work that they had done.

This is a picture of the Pittman Apartments today. The building is very likely to be demolished to make way for a shiny new building of the new Saigon, like that shown across the road.

The roof at the Pittman Apartments

The link below is an article written by the Dutch photographer Hubert van Es about that day and the subsequent events.

http://www.mishalov.com/Vietnam_finalescape.html

Jade Emperor Pagoda

This is a Taoist Pagoda, built by the Chinese in . It is also known as the Tortoise Pagoda. People buy tortoises at the entrance to the pagoda and release them into the tortoise ponds, to signify the release of life. Unfortunately baby tortoises are often eaten by any larger adult tortoises that may remain in the pond.

The Turtle Pagoda

Tan Dinh Market

We went to the Tan Dinh Market in Saigon. They were selling food items (frogs, clams, herbs, fish pork, dried shrimp), dry goods as well as clothes and souvenirs. We stopped at a stall to have some yoghurt, which was delicious and slightly sweet and crème caramel, served the Vietnamese way with black coffee.

Creme Caramel with coffee and ice

Thich Quan Duc

At our last stop, we visit the statue of a monk, Thich Quang Duc, who burned himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11 June 1963. The 6.3m bronze statue features Thich Quang Duc sitting in a flame and was built in 2007. Quang Duc was protesting against the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government led by Ngo Dinh Diem. Photos of his self-immolation were circulated across the world and brought attention to the policies of the Diệm government. After his death, his body was re-cremated, but his heart remained intact.

Thich Quan Duc

Coffee!

Having survived my first day driving through Vietnamese traffic, I celebrated with a fabulous Vietnamese coffee at Trung Nguyen coffee shop near the corner of Le Loi and Pasteur.

Vietnamese style iced coffee

Tags: Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, XO Tours

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Categories Ho Chi Minh, VIETNAM

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