EYW Blog

“Local food” is the name of the game here at Eat Your World. But what is local food? Sure, we define it every which way on our FAQ page, some of it being quite obvious: native dishes, locally produced foods. It’s the gray area surrounding our definition of “traditional,” however, that always keeps the hunt interesting:

If not actually invented there, it is traditional to that place (i.e., historically eaten there, perhaps because the place was settled by immigrant group A two decades ago, or because a dish has long been served by a local institution so as to become a part of the area’s culinary landscape).

For this reason, we count Middle Eastern food as “local” to Detroit and...

Papri chaat: a tour favorite [photo: Sam Kolich]

For years now, Scott and I have taken our friends, and friends of friends, on an informal food tour of our deliciously diverse neck of Queens: Jackson Heights and Elmhurst. Here is a 12-block or so radius that encompasses restaurants, cafes, and street vendors from at least as many countries, including but not limited to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Korea, Thailand, and China. The food is not only fun and educational to try; walking around here provides the rare opportunity to cross continents, to interact with immigrants from around the globe, in the space of just a few hours. It’s the New York City...

It was such a relief last week to find out the local Queens farmers market has been changed to year round. With only a week left to Thanksgiving, we usually are stocking up on the turkey meat and sausage that we will freeze and use throughout the winter. We have previously made good use of that system, but not getting seasonal vegetables has been the hard part. “Do we really have to go to Trade Fair [our overcrowded supermarket] for produce?” This is a common question we repeat throughout the cold months. “I miss the farmers market,” with a sad face, is another generic overused statement during the dark days of January and February.

We have become so accustomed to our Sunday walk...