Binoy Nazareth Goes On a Rendezvous in Paris

Romantic. Ravishing. Rejuvenating.

In between adventures, food trails and the joys of exploring all things beautiful, I experienced a heart-stopping journey of romance at Paris, the City of Lights. This was something I had always dreamt of and in spite of a short transit, I was determined to absorb the essence of culture in a sophisticated and beautiful city. Paris je t’aime! This was the Oh la la moment I had been waiting for and it was time to display my principles of ‘aime beaucoup’ which means, ‘Eat well, laugh often, love abundantly’ and here was a chance to prove my ideals!

I think that every tourist loves to visit ‘Gay Paree’, a city with a 19th century cityscape, cultural and oh so cosmopolitan. Historic and everlasting, the environment of Paris brims over with romance, art, design, luxurious fashion, entertainment, media, music and gourmet food trails. Was I thrilled to be here or what!!?? Being a chef with aspirations of sampling rare and exotic cuisines, I was about to experience the second highest number of Michelin restaurants in the City of Lights. Continue reading “Binoy Nazareth Goes On a Rendezvous in Paris”

How to Make Vietnamese Crispy Batter Fried Eggplant Slices – Ca Tim Ran

Vietnamese or Chinese Eggplants are slender and longer, but firmer comparing to the large globe eggplants sold at an American market. Vietnamese and Chinese prefer using them in cooking comparing to the large globe eggplants because of its final texture and easy cooking. These slender eggplants usually grill and fry better as well.

Recipe for Vietnamese Crispy Batter Fried Eggplant Slices

Batter:

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup rice flour

3 tbsp cornstarch Continue reading “How to Make Vietnamese Crispy Batter Fried Eggplant Slices – Ca Tim Ran”

How Does Water Affect Vietnamese Culture?

Why do many tourists come to Vietnam? And What makes them book Vietnam vacations? There are many reasons. One of these reasons is the unique Vietnamese culture. So, what is Vietnamese culture?

This is a very large realm and nobody could say in one article. However, today I talk about the ” Water” function in Vietnamese culture. You may be surprised at my article. Now, we should see Vietnamese culture since the beginning. It dated back to over 3000 years ago when Vietnamese ancestors lived inside many limestone caves in the Northeast and Northwest of Vietnam. These areas are their first home. Time by time, their groups became so big and there were not enough space and food for them. This made them find new areas for living. In the end, they decided to move down the mountains to a delta. This place is the Red River delta at the moment. Here, they had better conditions for their life. There are many rivers, lakes, ponds( at the moment, on a research, one square kilometer of land there is about 1.7 to 2 kilometer of river). Therefore, they could find a lot of fish for food. This is also their first job – fishing. Besides, this area is very flat with full of water. It is good for planning different crops. Then, the second job began. That is wet rice cultivation. It was also the time Vietnamese culture being formed and it is being added upto now through about 5 typhoons per year. They have to get used to living with water. During this time, we call the Red River civilization or wet rice civilization. Continue reading “How Does Water Affect Vietnamese Culture?”

How to Make Vietnamese Lotus Seed and Longan Sweet Soup – Che Hat Sen Nhan Nhuc

Sweet soup, Che, is a very popular Vietnamese dessert. In this version of Che, buttery lotus seeds are combined with longans, a tropical fruit similar to lychees, producing a slightly smoky vanilla flavor. Our elders believe this help sooth their sleep and clear their thoats. For me, when serving cold, it’s a great dessert cool your body temperature in a warm sunny day or a warm sweet soup for a cold winter; it’s always a great treat!

Dried lotus seeds are usually taking a long time to cook, but quickly cook when boiled with baking soda. When shopping for dried lotus, choose the ones with their bitter green centers removed. They are usually located in the same aisle where the dried beans are at Chinese or Vietnamese markets. Continue reading “How to Make Vietnamese Lotus Seed and Longan Sweet Soup – Che Hat Sen Nhan Nhuc”

Discover How Easily You Can Make Vietnamese Shrimp Toasts – Banh Mi Tom Quet Nuong

Fun and delightful to eat, this dish makes an excellent appertizer, or hors d’oeuvre that can be served to any party. You can toast it in the oven and deep fry. I prefer to toast it in the oven because it’s less greasy. Enjoy!

Recipe for Making Vietnamese Shrimp Toasts – Banh Mi Tom Quet Nuong

Serves 4-5

Ingredients:

1/2 lb medium shrimps, peeled and deveined

6 slices of bread Continue reading “Discover How Easily You Can Make Vietnamese Shrimp Toasts – Banh Mi Tom Quet Nuong”

10 Reasons to Plant Organic

Nature, health, save money, no chemicals, better taste

The following 10 reasons will definitely encourage you to plant organic products instead of using chemicals in your garden or farm. By sticking to the organic option, you are contributing, in a positive way, to the wellbeing of our planet. You need to plant organic products for the following 10 reasons:

1 of 10 Reasons

Total satisfaction – if you plant organic vegetables you will be mentally happy that you are eating healthy produce from your garden itself. You can never be sure whether the vegetables and fruits that you pick up from the market are of good quality or not. This is the first of the 10 reasons to take up organic farming.

2 of 10 Reasons Continue reading “10 Reasons to Plant Organic”

Bait Fishing – How to Catch Catfish in Reservoirs – Details Here!

Catfish in reservoirs is not a natural occurrence. Although bait fishing for catfish in reservoirs is booming today because of original stocking and migrations of native river catfish into the reservoirs. Reservoir building during the 1950’s, and 1960’s and still today, has opened up a vast water areas for catfisherman. The original habitat of channel catfish, blue catfish, flathead catfish, and white catfish have always been in the river systems of the United States and they still thrive there today.

Reservoirs are water impoundments that get their water supply from rivers that have been dammed. These new water impoundments vary in shape, size, depth, water color, productivity, and potentially many other characteristics. The catfish populations as well as other species come from the migration of the species from tributary feeds, you can bait fish for catfish such as channel catfish, flathead catfish, and blue catfish in some reservoirs, but just about all the reservoirs in the USA hold very good populations of channel cats. Continue reading “Bait Fishing – How to Catch Catfish in Reservoirs – Details Here!”

The Benefits of Having Good Negotiation Skills

If you’re interested in the benefits of possessing good negotiation skills chances are you are a business person, seeking to improve your skills, a timid person, fed up with being at the bottom of the food chain, or the type of person who just likes learning new things.

Few people actually realize negotiating is nearly an every day part of life, the only thing which defines negotiation from “cutting a deal” is the perceived importance to the affected parties.

What exactly are good negotiation skills? We’ll explore this question in a manner a little more serious than negotiating “You can go out Friday night if you mow the yard”.

A good negotiator must be intelligent, which doesn’t mean you’re of Einstein IQ, sometimes just the opposite is true. A person must be intelligent enough to realize they are either ignorant of the subject, which is nothing to be ashamed about, nobody knows it all except a fool, or their knowledge is dwarfed by their opponent. One must be willing to research and perform his due diligence in order to understand the subject and be able to intelligently understand and converse about opponent’s proposals. Continue reading “The Benefits of Having Good Negotiation Skills”

Value Menu Medicine Is Here

Like one very large Mexican fast food chain and the creator of the ‘value menu’ concept, a lot of modern health care business centers and physicians from across the U.S. are now actually starting to show their prices to their customers (ie patients) before they see the doctor. Up until recently, primary care and health care practices were one of the only segments in the U.S. that rarely listed how much their fees were for their time, services and products.

The recent evolution of retainer based health care, concierge medical business models and direct primary care practices changed all of that. Concierge medical practices are becoming widely popular among a diverse population of people.

However, there is a population of people, mainly those in the media, who understand these types of medical models offered by visioneering physicians across America (and now growing across the globe) to be exclusive, elusive and let’s say it, flat out wrong. Continue reading “Value Menu Medicine Is Here”

Fiji – The New, Organic Culinary Hotspot

When I originally left Australia to work on one of Fiji’s iconic island resorts, I thought I’d be here for no more than 12 months. Train the locals, install new menus, sample the local cuisine and move on to the next assignment – probably to a more food-oriented Asia, as Fiji has never been known as a culinary hotspot. I really did not intend on getting so absorbed by an ancient culture or be so fascinated by their fresh foods and wild diet. We have plenty of world-class produce back home in Australia, but I quickly learned that Fiji’s culinary delights were unlike anything we have seen in Western kitchens for many decades. The local produce is majority organic, has not been genetically-modified, and the fresh food tastes like it used to in years gone by for people living outside Fiji. Fijian’s are surrounded by this abundance of unadulterated food fresh from the sea, the land and its rivers. Its mineral-enriched soil from its volcanic landscape provides for fertile ground that is the envy of the world, and with minimal commercial fishing, its oceans still provide an abundance of wild fish for both the local market.

Continue reading “Fiji – The New, Organic Culinary Hotspot”