grcreativebox

[ad_1]

Hong Kong (CNN) — While multiple airlines have temporarily suspended all flights to China due to the coronavirus outbreak, those that are still flying to the country are adopting a series of measures to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific announced it will no longer offer hot towels, pillows, blankets and magazines to passengers on Cathay Pacific and subsidiary Cathay Dragon flights to and from mainland China.Trolley services and in-flight sales will also be suspended.Passengers traveling in premium economy and economy classes will receive hot hand-held snacks served in a disposable bag as opposed to the usual hot tray meals. Instead of getting each dish served individually, passengers in business and first class will receive multi-course meals served in one tray.”These changes will enable us to provide enhanced protection for our customers and crew while at the same time continuing to deliver a satisfactory inflight experience for passengers,” says the official statement from Cathay Pacific. According to Hong Kong Airport flight data, on January 30 Cathay Pacific/Cathay Dragon operated 55 scheduled flights to mainland China.Other airlines are taking similar measures to reduce the contact between their crew members and travelers.Passengers won’t be offered mixed nuts, bread or hot drinks on the flights either. Inflight entertainment will be limited to the newspapers and reading materials inside the seat pocket. Cabin crew wear masks and glovesThai Airways says it will disinfectant all planes returning from high-risk areas.Patipat Janthong/Barcroft Media via Getty ImagesThailand has reported 14 cases of the disease — the highest number outside of China. Thai Airways — together with subsidiary THAI Smile — said in a media briefing on Tuesday that its cabin crew will wear masks and gloves on flights when flying to high-risk areas. All aircraft, including the cockpit, will undergo a 45-minute disinfection period after returning from mainland China. Some parts of the planes, including the passenger seats, pockets and inflight entertainment systems, will go through a deep cleaning. Other measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus include screening passengers for symptoms both on the ground and during flights. Japan’s All Nippon Airways, the largest airline in the country, has also notified passengers on its website that staff on flights to Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai will be wearing masks. “In light of the large numbers of people wearing them, cabin attendants working on the flights have been wearing masks on board to reassure passengers who are using our services,” says the notice.Flights canceled, reducedMcDonald’s closed restaurants in five Chinese cities, Disney shut down its Shanghai theme park, and airlines have suspended flights as the coronavirus spreads.Though all airlines have canceled flights to and from Wuhan, which is under lockdown, some airlines have taken things a step further by canceling or reducing flights to other major cities in China.  US carrier United Airlines announced Tuesday that it has canceled flights from February 1 through February 8 between US hubs and Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.British Airways suspended all direct flights between Britain and China from Wednesday.Other airlines that have temporarily suspended flights to China include Lufthansa, Air France, Turkish Airlines, Lion Air, EgyptAir and Air Canada. Meanwhile, airlines such as AirAsia, Singapore Airlines, Finnair, China Airlines, EVA Airways and Silk Air have announced that they will reduce capacity on selected routes to China. Many airlines have offered waivers on change fees or the option to cancel for credit on a future flight.Travelers with upcoming flights should check with their airlines and look for advisories posted on carriers’ websites.CNN’s Marnie Hunter and Kocha Olarn contributed to the report.

[ad_2]

Source link

[ad_1]

(CNN) — Britain’s departure from the European Union is finally upon us, but after all the warnings of chaos for inbound tourists and problems for UK travelers heading to the continent, what will situations will travelers actually face after January 31? The arrival of Brexit comes three and a half years after the country held a referendum that set it in motion and follows a series of missed deadlines, each one carrying the threat of the UK leaving with “no deal” — a scenario that raised the prospect of a shortage of medical supplies and food, as well as long border queues.What will change?Travel between the UK and the EU will stay the same during the 11-month transition period.Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty ImagesAlthough the UK exits the EU on January 31, it will remain part of the single market and customs union under the terms of the implementation period or transition. This lasts until December 31, 2020, when it’s hoped a new trade deal, security arrangements and immigration laws will be enacted. Failure to reach an agreement could lead to “no deal” becoming a live prospect once more. For now, that remains an issue for another day. In April 2019, the European Parliament confirmed it had agreed a deal for UK citizens to travel visa-free on a short stay (90 days in any 180 days) within the borderless Schengen Area that covers most of western Europe.”The transition period, which kicks off from February 1, will mean that travel between the UK and Europe will stay exactly the same until December 31, 2020. “According to the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office), UK nationals can continue to travel to the EU exactly as they do now,” says Tom Jenkins, chief executive of the European Tourism Association. “You won’t need a visa or six months left on your passport or evidence of a return ticket.”Frank Marr, Travel and Tourism Chairman for the PRCA and MD of AM+A, a travel marketing company based in the UK, agrees.”Based on current agreements we expect a large chunk of things to stay the same — access to EU countries should not change for visitors looking to stay in Europe for less than a month,” he says.However, as the UK and EU cannot legally start negotiations over their future relationship until February, it’s unclear how travelers will be treated come 2021. Priti Patel, the UK Home Secretary, has said that whatever happens, freedom of movement, and the ability to work in the UK without a visa for EU citizens, will end.There are currently plans for the UK to be part of the new European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) from next year (although there remains a chance ETIAS may not be up and running by then). Similar to the ESTA visa waiver used by UK tourists traveling to the United States, this will allow UK citizens to travel into the Schengen Area without a visa, as long as they pay €7. The waiver will last three years and can be bought online. However, the UK’s participation in ETIAS is dependent on the UK Parliament ensuring EU citizens can travel on holiday without a visa to the UK using a similar, electronic system.Jonathan Smith, from the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), says people were receptive to the idea when the travel association conducted research into what was known about ETIAS. “The majority of people we spoke with were quite happy with it, as long as it wasn’t too expensive or wouldn’t take them too long to do,” says Smith.One exception to ETIAS will be the Republic of Ireland. Since 1923, the Common Travel Area has meant people from the UK and Ireland have been able to travel between the two countries without a visa.”Brexit doesn’t change the ease of getting to Ireland or the warmth of the welcome,” says Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland.However, the very real chance of the UK and EU not reaching an agreement by the end of 2020 means that frictionless travel across the English Channel could be over for good in 11 months’ time. “It could well be that we’re back communicating on the issues we were talking about at previous deadlines,” adds Smith.”Such as the need for passports to have extra validity, what would happen with changes to driving rules and the validity of European Health Insurance Cards.”What will airports and ferry terminals be like?Travelers may have to use different queues when arriving at airports and ferry terminals.Oli Scarff/Getty Images”In the initial transition period visitors traveling in the UK and the southeast of England are unlikely to see much of a change, with flights continuing to run smoothly, European visitors continuing to travel on ID cards and e-passport gates still permitted for all international visitors,” explains Fran Downton, chief executive of Tourism South East, which promotes the English region that’s geographically closest to continental Europe. However, even if an agreement on the future relationship is reached by the end of the year, there’s a chance travelers will have to use different lines on arrival at airports and ferry terminals, with additional checks in place. This could cause major delays, especially at already clogged airports such as Heathrow, with major concerns about traffic at busy ports like Dover in the UK and Calais in France. Issues could arise around EU citizens traveling to the UK on ID cards rather than passports, something they can currently do but may be banned from doing next year.”The difficulty lies in the fact that EU countries have a binding obligation to treat non-EU/EEA visitors differently,” adds the European Tourism Association’s Tom Jenkins.”This could lead to delays at borders, as no country has yet built immigration capacity sufficient to cope with full scrutiny of big volumes of arrivals.”Kelly Cooke, leisure director at Advantage Travel Partnership, the UK’s largest independent travel agent consortium, expresses similar concern.”The government also needs to give clarity, as deals are finalized, that the process of entering the EU from the end of December 2020 will not lead to long queues on arrival as this will deter travelers.”What about driving in the EU?Travelers driving from the UK to the EU via the Channel Tunnel may need and International Driving Permit. Rudy and Peter Skitterians from PixabayWhile taking a car from the UK to the EU via the Channel Tunnel or on a ferry service will remain as simple after January 31, it’s likely that by 2021, things will have changed. Drivers may also need a special “green card” from their insurance company and a GB sticker on their bumper. This issue may be resolved during the upcoming negotiation, with an easier, EU-wide set of rules for UK drivers potentially being put in place.Will you need travel insurance?Holidaying in the EU could become more costly for those with long-term illnesses.Savo Prelevic/AFP/Getty ImagesThe European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which guarantees carriers access to free medical care, will still be valid during the transition. As with so much else surrounding Brexit, the real conundrum comes in 2021. According to official UK guidance: “After Brexit your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) card may not be valid.”It’s doubtful the UK will remain part of the EHIC system, meaning UK travelers will need a comprehensive insurance policy to ensure they get healthcare in case of an emergency. As EHIC covers pre-existing conditions, this could make holidaying in the EU more costly for those with long-term illnesses. ABTA, however, says its guidance remains the same as ever. “ABTA has always advised holidaymakers and business travelers to make sure they have appropriate travel insurance, whether they have an EHIC card or not, as there are limitations to EHIC,” it says on its website.Will mobile phone bills soar?Mobile phone roaming charges are likely to soar for UK travelers to Europe.Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesAgreements, which came into force in 2017, outlawed punitive roaming charges for European citizens when using their mobile phone within the European Union. However, while these are set to stay in place during the implementation period, the lack of clarity over the UK’s future relationship means they could be back for British travelers in 2021.”Mobile roaming charges are likely to re-appear in Europe, so we’d advise travelers to check carefully with their providers, to avoid the potential for large unexpected bills,” says James Lynn from Currensea, a pre-paid travel card provider. While no network in the UK has said it will reintroduce roaming charges, a lack of EU regulation from 2021 means that divergence could lead to higher prices for travelers.”After Brexit, the guarantee of free mobile phone roaming throughout the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway will end,” says the official UK government website.A cheap bet for US travelers?The weakening of the pound against the dollar will benefit US visitors to the UK.ShutterstockSince the Brexit vote, the value of the pound has plunged considerably against both the euro and US dollar. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s re-election in December 2019, and the prospect of stable government, saw a brief rebound, but as 2020 wears on and uncertainty over an agreement grows, that weakness is likely to remain a theme.”In the short term, we expect to see a continued recovery of the pound, but predict continued exchange rate volatility until the final withdrawal agreement is in place,” adds Lynn. “Going into 2021, we see far greater uncertainty about the pound at this stage. “A compromised withdrawal deal could lead to a far weaker pound, leading to a strong focus on cheaper destinations for holidaymakers as a result.”However, a weak pound does mean that inbound tourism to the UK from outside the EU could be boosted.Visit Britain forecasts that spending by inbound tourists will have grown by 9.1% in 2020, to £25 billion ($32 billion), with inbound visits topping 38 million. It seems that while Brexit will have a very real effect on travel from the UK, the weakening of sterling has had a positive on the at home tourism industry.”The US remains the top-ranking country for inbound visitors to the UK and southeast in terms of visits and spend, although it’s hard to predict the long-term strength of the pound,” says Downton.”It is unlikely that it will impact the position of US inbound visitors.”However, for UK travelers, higher prices for EU trips, especially after the transition period ends, are a growing concern. “The need for clarification on cross border movement will become a priority when companies launch their holidays for 2021,” explains Cooke. “Currently we know that there will be changes, but not what they will look like and this could impact pricing.”

[ad_2]

Source link

[ad_1]

(CNN) — American food is immigrant food.That’s evident in the cookbook “A Place at the Table: New American Recipes from the Nation’s Top Foreign-Born Chefs,” which celebrates this essential truth about the country’s cuisine.Diners with wanderlust know that to taste the world’s most varied flavors, it’s now as easy as heading to a restaurant in any pocket of the US. Scores of immigrant chefs in cities across the nation mix and match their cuisines of origin with local ingredients in dishes as rich, varied and ever-evolving as American heritage itself. It’s fusion but without all the fuss of being Fusion, with a capital F.Culinary contributionsMarcus Samuelsson’s Berbere-Smoked Salmon with Sweet Potato Waffles incorporates Ethiopian flavors and spices.Courtesy Peter HurleyWhen the jury for the Vilcek Foundation, whose aim is to raise awareness and appreciation of immigrant contributions in America, set out to honor stars in the culinary arts last year, they knew the breadth of talent from which to pick would be great. Marcus Samuelsson, owner of Harlem’s Red Rooster and arguably the most recognizable ambassador for culinary immigrant opportunity in this country (as well as one of its staunchest advocates) took the top prize — a $100,000 cash award. “Unless you’re Native American, you’re an immigrant,” he tells CNN. “Our journeys are different, but we share big dreams. The key is to remember that. Eating each other’s foods, listening to each other’s music, hearing each other’s stories, act as a constant reminder.” The Foundation’s Creative Promise Awards, which come with a $50,000 purse, were handed out to the New York Times California food critic Tejal Rao and chefs Fabián von Hauske Valtierra and Nite Yun.Erik Bruner-Yang’s Oysters with Uni is all about brine on brine, according to chef Bruner-Yang.Courtesy John Taggart “We were overcome by the sheer number of candidates whose work and experiences so clearly reflected our foundation’s values. ‘A Place at the Table’ is an opportunity to expand the conversation about immigrants’ contributions with a wider audience,” says Vilcek Foundation president, Rick Kinsel.The cookbook features two recipes each from the 40 star chefs featured. Their stories, marked by achievement and uplift, are as varied as their dishes, as demonstrated by the feast-for-the-eyes pics. “The food we make in America today is a reflection of ourselves,” writes Spanish-born super chef and humanitarian José Andrés, the 2010 Vilcek Prize-winner (he launched World Central Kitchen with his Vilcek prize money), in the book’s foreword. “…it is the creation of generations of immigrants representing waves of migration from all around the world. “Today, sushi, kebabs and tacos are just as important to American cuisine as burgers, pizza, and meatloaf.”Forging American culinary identityChef Nite Yun’s Coconut Milk-Marinated Pork with Rice (Bai Sach Chrouk) fuses Cambodian flavors with California produce.Courtesy Karaminder GhumanFor Nite Yun, who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after her parents escaped the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia, honoring her heritage by reviving its food in the US seems close to a calling. Her wildly popular Oakland restaurant Nyum Bai sprung from her passion to reshape the story of Cambodian people, this time marked not by violence and war, but by resilience and beauty. “I have received letters from Khmers that Nyum Bai has inspired them to connect with their roots and to learn about their history,” she says. “I think food is a beautiful way to communicate stories and also has to ability to bring people together.” It’s not surprising then that her recipes like Fried Fish Fillets with Mango Salad and Coconut Milk-Marinated Pork with Rice stay true to Cambodian flavors and ingredients as much as the California growing season allows. Finding flavor For others, however, mixing it up is the key to their approach to food. “I think America is the world’s most awesome melting pot — and that encompasses my approach to food,” says India-born, Nashville-based Maneet Chauhan. “My roots are in India while I continue to grow in America.”Maneet Chauhan’s Naanzanella takes naan, a flatbread integral to Indian cuisine, and gussies it up.Courtesy Emily B. HallHer approach to nachos, invented themselves by a Mexican chef for an American clientele just south of the border, reflects that idea. From the start, the staple of football Sundays reminded Chauhan of the Indian snack chaat. For her Lamb Keema Papdi Nachos (recipe below), she combines textures and flavors for a fresh take.Similarly, Taiwanese-American Erik Bruner-Yang, who helms several DC hotspots, flips the hush puppy — a food truly rooted in this country, tracing its origins to Native American tradition of cooking with ground corn — on its head by reimagining it with Japanese flavors.”For Takoyaki Hush Puppies I was really excited about exploring regional staples from two varying countries and figuring out how we can could deliver two unique culinary experiences in the format of one dish. To someone that has never had Takoyaki before this would kind of rope them into trying it. Vice versa for someone that has never had a hush puppy but loves Takoyaki.”On the horizonAsked what’s next — or what they’d like to be next — to grab our appetite for heritage cuisine, answers vary.Considering the current landscape, Samuelsson says “I would love to know more about Native American food and origin. I’m also interested in important local stories like how come there is a huge Somalian population in Minnesota or a large Indian community in Edison, New Jersey, which is so contradictory climate-wise. That is fascinating to me.” Chauhan would like the conversation around immigrant food to move beyond the traditionally broad stroke of “ethnic.” “When you say Indian food, you cannot define the type of food because every region in India has a distinct cuisine,” she says. “I hope that more people start discussing the regionality of food — whether that be Indian, Thai, Vietnamese — and understanding the different types.”Fried Fish Fillets with Mango Salad (Trei Jien) from Nite Yun are a part of the chef’s history.Courtesy Karaminder GhumanBruner-Yang sees “A Place at the Table” as a way to map the ever-evolving American culinary experience: “It has an amazing range of chefs, simple to complicated dishes, and so many different journeys. I am rooting for more volumes so over the course of time it turns into an encyclopedia of the journey of what it means to be cooking food in America.” Despite the current political climate around immigration, the chefs all agree that the future holds plenty of promise, especially when food is used as a means to bring people together. “I believe that if each and every conversation was had around a table of delicious food and drink, there would be no disagreements!” says Chauhan. “And I think that’s what this entire book is about.”Recipe for Maneet Chauhan’s Lamb Keema Papdi Nachos Lamb Keema Papdi Nachos are bursting with flavor and texture.Courtesy Emily B. HallThe first time I had nachos, the combination of flavors, textures, and colors reminded me of chaat, which are crispy, crunchy, saucy snacks beloved in India. I instantly fell in love, and knew I wanted to create a dish that blended the two together. I included a recipe to make your own papdi chips, but you can buy them, along with many of the other ingredients, at Indian markets. The tamarind chutney adds a flavor that almost mimics barbecue sauce. For the papdi chips 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon (100 g) besan (gram or chickpea flour) 1⁄2 teaspoon ajowan seeds1⁄4 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed1⁄8 teaspoon saltBaking soda1⁄2 cup (15 g) fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped2 teaspoons canola oil, plus more for frying the chips2 tablespoons all-purpose flour For the lamb keema 2 tablespoons coconut oil2 onions, finely choppedSalt1 large tomato, finely chopped 1⁄2 cup (120 ml) tomato purée 1⁄2 tablespoon ginger paste 1⁄2 tablespoon garlic paste2 tablespoons meat masala powder1 teaspoon chili powder1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves Granulated sugar1 pound (450 g) ground lamb3⁄4 cup (180 ml) water1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves For the pico de gallo 4 small tomatoes, finely diced2 small English cucumbers, finely diced3 small jalapeños (or Fresno chiles), seeded (optional) and finely diced1 small red onion, finely diced 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juiceSalt and freshly ground pepper Chaat masala For the lemon yogurt 1 cup (240 ml) plain yogurt3 tablespoons granulated sugar Zest of 1 lemon2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice Salt For serving Tamarind chutney (see page 37), for drizzling 3 ounces (85 g) Provel cheese, grated 1⁄2 teaspoon chaat masala, for serving Pickled jalapeños, for serving For the papdi chipsIn a large bowl, whisk together the besan, ajowan seeds, crushed black peppercorns, salt, and a pinch of baking soda. Stir in the cilantro. Using your hands, rub the canola oil into the mixture then add water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to make a sticky dough. Add the all-purpose flour and knead in the bowl to form a stiff dough. On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until 1⁄8 inch thick (0.25 cm). Cut the dough into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces. Set a rack inside a baking sheet and arrange it near the stove. In a large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven, bring about 3 inches (7.5 cm) of canola oil to 350°F (180°C). Working in batches, carefully add a few rounds of dough to the hot oil and fry, occasionally flipping and moving them around in the oil, for about2 minutes or until crisp and golden yellow. Using a slotted spoon or a strainer with a handle, transfer the chips to the rack to drain and cool. Repeat to fry the remaining chips. For the lamb keema In a large skillet, heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add the tomato and tomato purée and cook for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is thick. Add the ginger and garlic pastes, followed by the meat masala powder and chili powder and cook for about 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the fenugreek leaves, a large pinch of salt, a small pinch of sugar, and the ground lamb and stir to combine. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates. Season to taste with salt, sprinkle with the cilantro, and keep warm. For the pico de gallo In a small bowl, combine the toma- toes, cucumbers, jalapeños, red onion, and lemon juice and season to taste with salt, pepper, and chaat masala. Set aside some of the pico de gallo for serving. For the lemon yogurt In a bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, and the lemon zest and juice and season to taste with salt. Set aside some yogurt for serving. The leftover yogurt can be refrigerated and should be used within 1 or 2 days. For serving Set the oven to broil.Arrange half the papdi chips on an oven-safe platter or baking sheet. Top with half the lamb mixture and a drizzle of tamarind chutney. Add the remaining chips, followed by the remaining lamb mixture and sprinkle with the Provel cheese. Broil a few inches from the heat for 3 to 4 minutes or until the cheese starts to melt. Top the nachos with some pico de gallo, lemon yogurt, chaat masala, and pickled jalapeños. Serve hot.

[ad_2]

Source link

[ad_1]

(CNN) — Panda brothers Pit and Paule took their first steps outside Wednesday with their mother Meng Meng at Zoo Berlin. The twins — the first pandas ever to be born in Germany — are on view to the public for the first time on Thursday.The pair, who also have Chinese names, were born on August 31, 2019.Pit (Meng Xiang) is “laid-back, dreamy and always ready for a nap,” according to Zoo Berlin’s website. Paule (Meng Yuan) is 48 minutes younger than his more sedate sibling and “known for his mischievous, inquisitive nature.” Two zoo keepers carry the young panda twins at the Berlin Zoo.Michael Sohn/APBrother Pit will give Paule a loud yelp when his younger brother gets too rough and tumble, the zoo noted.”On this special day I would particularly like to thank the Zoo’s committed team of keepers, vets and biologists,” said Zoo and Tierpark Director Dr. Andreas Knieriem in a statement. “But I am also grateful to everyone else who contributed to the successful breeding of these wonderful bears here at Zoo Berlin.”The twins’ parents — mother Meng Meng and father Jiao Qing — arrived in Germany in summer 2017. They’re on loan from China for a fee that goes toward conservation work. As is normal for giant pandas, Jiao Qing is not involved in the rearing of the cubs. The cubs will stay at Zoo Berlin for their first few years and eventually return to China.

[ad_2]

Source link

[ad_1]

Editor’s Note — CNN Travel’s series often carry sponsorship originating from the countries and regions we profile. However, CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports. Read the policy.(CNN) — People are slurping dumplings in Portland, Oregon and in Berlin. They’re dipping bread crust into a cargo of melted cheese in Manhattan and Warsaw, and savoring bites of eggplant stuffed with ground walnuts in Washington DC and London. Georgian food and wine, long revered for its individuality, exoticness and delectability, is now finding its rightful place on tables around the world. The greatest gastronomic secret has been let out of the bag.Meanwhile, in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, a culinary revolution is taking place. Chefs are redefining the conception of Georgian food in terms of flavors, methods and sophistication.Driven by greater contact with the rest of the world, the movement is also a resurrection of old culinary traditions. There has never been a more exciting time to dine in Georgia.Here are the dishes you must try.KhinkaliThe best way to explore Georgian cuisine is to start with traditional fare, and no food says Georgia more than khinkali. This boiled dumpling originates from the high Caucasus, where it is traditionally stuffed with mutton, but down on the flatlands a spiced blend of ground beef and pork is more commonly used. Because the dumplings pack a rich broth, you must first bite a hole and slurp the stock before gobbling the khinkali down. Don’t even think of using a knife and fork. Hundreds of restaurants serve khinkali and everyone has their favorite. However only a handful of places mix the dough by hand, making it more indelicate and sticky as it absorbs the juices. Sioni 13, a new place in Old Town, serves outstanding Khevsuretian beef and pork, made by a highland native, while Zakhar Zakharich (3 Sanapiro St), under Tbilisi’s Dry Bridge, offers delicious mushroom and traditional lamb versions.Khachapuri and acharuli”Khacho” means curd in Georgian and “puri” means bread. Put those words together and you have the legendary cheesebread that comes in various shapes, sizes, and variations. (It is no longer khachapuri, however, when the bread is stuffed with beans, meat or potatoes.)Google “khachapuri” and the iconic acharuli invariably comes up because, frankly, there is nothing like it in the world. Named after the Black Sea region of Adjara where it originates, the pie is literally a boat of supple leavened dough with a payload of gooey cheese topped with a raw egg yolk and a gob of butter. It is the mother of all comfort foods, eaten with the hands by ripping off pieces of crust and dipping them into the arterially perilous fondue. Often imitated but never matched, real acharuli can only be found in an Adjaran grandmother’s kitchen, a few Batumi restaurants, or at Cafe Retro, in Tbilisi, made by the hands of Gia Agirba, a Batumi native, in his personally-designed oven.MtsvadiMtsvadi with goat is served at the Restaurant Kakhelebi.Justyna MielnikiewiczTaking chunks of meat, skewering and roasting them on coals is perhaps the most primitive carnivorous dish. Yet Georgians have somehow perfected this basic way of preparing meat, particularly in the eastern region of Kakheti, where they use the burning embers of grape vine trimmings — which burn hot and fast — to make mtsvadi. Typically made from pork, it’s on the menu at most traditional restaurants in Tbilisi. Not all, however, go all out with choice cuts, perfectly cooked and seasoned — especially those where tourists are the target customers. On the outskirts of town, away from the sightseers, is Kakhelebi, a restaurant that raises the bar of Kakhetian cooking by using the freshest ingredients and whipping up traditional recipes most restaurants ignore — like nettle salad, or the house specialty, roasted oyster mushrooms with fresh tarragon. Their mtsvadi with pork, veal and goat is to die for.ShkmeruliThe mountain region of Racha is sometimes called “the land of swine and wine,” famous for its smoked pork and semi-sweet kvanchkara wine. It is also the birthplace of the monumental garlic chicken dish, shkmeruli. Roasted in a raw ceramic casserole dish with milk and enough garlic to ward off a battalion of vampires, shkmeruli is not for the faint-hearted. It is always a good idea to order roasted potatoes to dip into the sauce after the bones are sucked dry, but bread will also do. A great place to dig in like a hungry vampire hunter is at Rachis Ubani, in the Tbilisi ethnographic park overlooking the city.Kharcho with ghomiKharcho is a spicy marriage of veal, tomato garlic and spices.Justyna MielnikiewiczWalnuts feature heavily in Georgian cuisine, whether ground and mixed into cucumber and tomato salads, blended into vegetable pâté called phkali, or crushed into the holiday dessert, gozinaki. They’re also used to thicken stews, like the west Georgian kharcho — a spicy marriage of veal, tomato, garlic, and a plethora of spices. Kharcho goes perfectly with ghomi, Georgian polenta. Before the Georgians had corn, they made ghomi with a local millet, a fact that has been all but forgotten. One Tbilisi chef, Giorgi Iosava, makes a gorgeously thick kharcho that he serves with millet ghomi at his cozy bohemian basement restaurant, Salobie Bia. Chakapuli and mussels chakapuliThey call Tekuna Gachechiladze the queen of Georgian fusion — a moniker she disdains as she says all Georgian food is fusion, influenced by centuries of contact with Silk Road travelers and outright conquerors. Yet she was the first chef to boldly experiment with traditional recipes and, in doing so, set new trends in the local food scene. Some of her recipes are now riffed on at restaurants around the world. One of her more famous is mussels chakapuli, a recipe that angered many traditionalists for its gastronomic blasphemy. Chakapuli is a stew of lamb (or veal), sour plums, white wine, and a heroic wad of fresh tarragon, and is a seasonal dish served on Easter Sunday. Gachechiladze simply substituted mussels for the meat to create this singular, zesty, eye-popping seafood specialty, which she serves at Cafe Littera, an idyllic restaurant in the lush garden of the early 20th-century David Sarajishvili mansion. There’s no lovelier place for summer dining in the city.Paul Rimple is a freelance journalist based in Tbilisi since 2002. For the past four years he’s been the the bureau chief for Culinary Backstreets Tbilisi.

[ad_2]

Source link

[ad_1]

Tinian, Northern Marina Islands (CNN) — In these days of long airport security lines and faceless online reservation systems, imagine booking a flight with an airline where you can ask for your pilot by name and then sit in the co-pilot’s seat. With that kind of availability, young pilots from around the world are gaining a bit of fame — in China specifically — and a great deal of precious experience at Star Marianas Air, a small Pacific island carrier.From a base on the tiny island of Tinian, Star Marianas flies to other US island territories in the Pacific — Guam, Rota and Saipan as well as Tinian.Among those are scheduled flights on one of the shortest routes in the world, a less than 10-minute hop from Saipan to Tinian, just 10 miles (16 kilometers) across the blue Pacific.Take this flight to meet Kai Frenay, a 24-year-old from Texas by way of Guam.Frenay taxis the single-engine, six-seat Piper Cherokee out from the terminal at Saipan International Airport. He checks his gauges and settings as he nears the main runway for takeoff. The wind blows in through the partially opened passenger door.The drone of the engine makes hearing difficult. But the backseat passenger, a burly bearded gentleman, feels an urgent need to be heard, and he gets the passenger behind the pilot to tap him on the shoulder.Frenay removes his large headphones to hear.”Aren’t you going to shut that door?” the backseat passenger asks. The young pilot’s response is matter of fact.”I will before takeoff. Gets too hot in here if I do it now,” he shouts to the back seat.That’s a typical passenger reaction, says Frenay. And far from scary for someone who has become a bit of a veteran on this route, even though he’s only been in the job five months.”I was absolutely terrified!”Star Marinas pilot Matan Chen, a 33-year-old originally from Israel, gets ready for takeoff on the short Tinian-Saipan flight.Brad Lendon/CNNLater, sitting in the pilots’ room at Tinian airport, he recounts a more harrowing experience, one of the airline’s “discovery flights,” 25-minute charter tours above Saipan, where tourists get a chance to take the controls.”They get to fly the plane themselves. We have no hands on the controls. It’s all them,” Frenay says.Well, for the most part. The tourists don’t take off or land, and they can’t touch the throttle or the rudder. But Frenay says the yoke (steering wheel) enables then to get a full range of motion in the small plane.Most of the clients are Chinese and most don’t understand English. Communication is done with hand signals and a bit of Google translate.How would Frenay describe his first experience with this?”I was absolutely terrified!”The Chinese tourists have seen “Top Gun,” the classic 1980s film in which Tom Cruise plays a US Navy pilot and F-14 jet fighters zoom about the sky in gravity defying stunts. Sometimes, they expect a similar experience, to “feel the need for speed” as they say in the film.But the small Cessna 172 propeller plane Frenay uses on these flights goes about 130 mph (209 kph). Cruise’s F-14 did almost 1,800 mph (2,900 kph).”It’s sooooo slow,” the tourists will say.”Something was lost in translation,” Frenay deadpans.That momentary customer disappointment well may be the price Frenay and his fellow fliers pay for celebrity status — at least in China.Tourists like to go home and share their experiences with pictures on Chinese social media sites like Weibo, says Shaun Christian, president the airline founded by his father, Robert Christian, in 2008.”We have requests for pilots by name,” he says. “Even pilots who haven’t been with us for four years.”A pilot incubator George Haines, 48, Star Marianas assistant director of operations, says he can attest to the movie-star feel passengers bring. He pulls his cell phone from his pocket and produces a picture.He’s flanked by four tourists, all who came dressed as pilots, all giving a thumbs up.”You can see their uniforms are better than mine,” he says.Despite their sometimes celebrity status, the pilots of Star Marianas don’t usually stick around for long.Most have just obtained their commercial pilot’s licenses, which require 250 hours of cockpit experience. That’s not enough to land a job at a major airline or even a regional carrier in the US.But it’s plenty for Star Marianas, which sees itself as sort of a pilot incubator, according to Christian.Pilots fly around 70 hours a month, so they can build experience quickly.Christian says the excitement in learning to fly, getting a commercial license, getting a first aviation job, can wear off quickly when it becomes a work routine.”We have to … make sure they don’t start becoming complacent or that they start to find interesting and exciting things to do with the airplane to get that excitement back,” he says. The company funds activities like scuba diving or ATV treks to make sure there’s an outlet.Dallas Brissett, a 26-year-old former flight attendant from Utah, is just on her third day as a Star Marianas pilot and ready for the challenge. She says she’s here because it’s “character building — because it’s in the middle of the ocean.” And in a year or so on the job, she, like the other pilots, can reach the 1,500 flight hours needed for regional carriers.”I’m definitely a way better pilot now than when I first got here,” says Prevag Lukovic, a Serbia-born 29-year-old who grew up in Milwaukee and has been with Star Marianas since May 2019.He says he wants to fly for a cargo airline when he finishes his stint in the Pacific.No cakes allowedA sign at the Tinian airport cargo desk lets passengers know they can’t ship cakes as cargo.Brad Lendon/CNNAnd Star Marianas pilots get some eclectic cargo experience. Planes might carry everything from tractor tires to a huge bag of Big Macs on one flight.Sitting in the waiting area of the Saipan International Airport commuter terminal is a woman with a stack of boxes of Winchell’s doughnuts, which is a popular spot on the island of 50,000 residents.Christian says she’ll be taking them back for family and friends on Tinian, which only has a population of around 3,000 people and no doughnut shop of its own.Another flight might carry bread and other baked goods, he says.But Star Marianas had to draw the line at cakes.”We tried our best but sometimes even during the car ride from the bakery to here (Saipan airport) there will be damage to the cake,” he says. “When it gets to the consignee over on Tinian, well, they want their money back for the shipping, they want their money back for the cake.”We don’t know of any other airline in the world that accepts cakes in this condition for shipment. We’re probably going to have to yield to their better judgment and not do that,” Christian says.

[ad_2]

Source link