Thinking Food

Calisooner has been filling us in on the Chinese (lunar) New Year in San Francisco, with special attention to the traditional foods. The one I find most interesting is the black hair moss. I don't think I've ever had that but he said it looked like (appropriate for the Year of the Dog) the hair off a black dog. I'm sure it's yummy but its hair-like-ness would be a hurdle I'd have to get past.

Here in China I have been eating things that don't look like hair. Dumplings, cheese and crackers, Gardenburgers, stir-fried rice - pretty much what I like. I found some vegetarian "oyster" sauce at the market so I'm set for stir-fry.

One more thing about food. There's plenty of familiar foods I can't find here but there's more than I anticipated. Quite a few American food companies have set up operations in China and are doing quite well. Lays Potato Chips, Coke, Pepsi, Sarah Lee etc. And a lot of stuff is imported from the US but, of course, is more expensive. One thing I like is that the supermarkets have imported foods from all over the world - things I couldn't get at home. Pesto sauce from Italy, jams from Spain, roti bread from India, beans from France, cheese from New Zealand, etc. I'm trying a lot of things I haven't had before. Still, I miss a real Mazzios pizza.