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2008 » Issue January 9 » Food and Wine

Something I’ve noticed since moving to a village in Austria is how much closer we live to our food. On the way to and from the local elementary school, my daughter and I pass at least six properties that house livestock along with people. We hear our dinner squealing, observe the chickens as they mill about the front gates, smell the steer manure and pet the 3-week-old baby goats as their mother bleats nervously.

Just outside the village are the fields where grains and legumes are raised – corn for the pigs, rye and wheat for bread. The fields are small and locally owned. Not only do they yield livestock feed, they are fertilized with local animal manure. We know the farmers driving the tractors – they are our neighbors.

Soup and the teacup

Soup-worthy vegetables mark the advent of the new year’s colder months at farmers’ markets and in supermarkets. Roots and tubers – potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams, as well as parsnips and parsley root from the carrot family – are appropriately hibernal in their rough skins and muted palette. The less starchy bulb and stem vegetables that grow on or just below the ground – beets, celery root, turnip from the cabbage family, onions and leeks – lurk on shelves and in baskets like lumpy, bearded prehistoric gnomes. Along with squashes lingering from the autumn harvest, these root vegetables fortify hearty seasonal stews.

The belles of the modest winter garden, however, are leafy greens such as kale and chard. These abundant and nutrient-rich veggies add texture and a touch of freshness to soups and partner well with lentils or white beans and tomato.

Fish and chips by the sea, Mumbai style

The most famous monument in Mumbai – the Gateway of India – is the first thing visitors see if they arrive by boat. Built as a triumphal arch to commemorate the 1911 visit of King George V and Queen Mary, monarchs of the British Empire, which included India, the Gateway sports four turrets and intricate latticework carved into yellow basalt stone. Ironically, when British rule ended in 1947, the colonial symbol became a sort of epitaph – the last of the British ships that set sail for England left through the Gateway. Today, this symbol of colonialism has been “Indianized,” drawing droves of sightseers and local citizens. Behind the arch, steps lead down to the water. Here, you can embark on little motor launches for a short cruise through Mumbai’s splendid natural harbor.

I ate one of the best fish and chips meals ever at Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Hotel on Apollo Bunder Road, at the famous Sea Lounge cafe. The all-day diner offers scenic views of the Mumbai harbor and the historical Gateway of India. Bright lighting, wooden flooring and high ceilings add to the refreshing atmosphere.

Marvelous markets and fabulous food hidden Down Under

When comes to eating out, Sydney will spoil you with choices. Cafes line suburban and inner-city streets and cheap and cheerful bistros jostle for space alongside their more sophisticated fine-dining cousins. In the last few years I have seen more ethnic markets and restaurants opening as new immigrants move to the land Down Under. Add to this; inventive chefs and award winning winemakers and it’s easy to see why the city is rapidly becoming one of the world’s great “foodie havens.”

What better place to start your discovery than in the city’s major produce markets, the aptly named Sydney Markets in the suburb of Flemington, just 10 miles from the city center? These markets have their roots in the earliest days of European settlement in Australia. At that time, a few ragtag stalls would spring up on the wharves whenever there was food available. Choice was limited and it wasn’t always very fresh. Today it’s very different. Sydney’s produce, flower and growers markets are among the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and operate seven days a week.