While surfing channels late one night, or maybe I should say, early one morning, I happened upon the PBS channel and a show called, "No Passport Required". I stopped for what I thought would be a quick second but got pulled into the program, totally and completely!
Chef Marcus Samuelsson, a Food Network regular and favorite of mine, hosts this culinary gem of show! I'm so glad I stumbled upon it at 4:00 am unable to sleep! The show is culturally rich and takes you to places, located right under our noses, that are serving up food and lifestyles that can transport you to another place without requiring you to get on a plane!
The show I watched featured eateries and food from the country of Guyana. An ethnic melting pot of Indian, Chinese, African and European culinary influences, the food is everything that the Guyanese people are! Dishes feature currys, rotis, fried rice, stews, hand made breads, pies, and everything in between! Marcus takes us to the places where people from a certain place who've immigrated here go to eat because it smells and tastes just like back home! Wherever that may be!
This show gives us the chance to experience a slice of culture that we may or may not know while learning in advance what to order and eat when and if we're lucky enough to live near one of these amazing establishments. Once again I have to say that I believe every culture has it's own soul food and this show takes you right to the heart of that type of cooking and eating! Hearty, delicious, peasant food that comforts you and sustains you until the next meal!
Next week it's Haitian food and I can't wait! I haven't eaten Haitian food since I lived in Newark, NJ years ago. I can still remember one of my favorites was salt fish and beef patties (pate) which is fish or beef wrapped in a delicious, flaky pastry. I also remember okra sauce with big chunks of stew beef and a savory, okra & tomato based sauce that you eat over steaming white rice, delicious!
Thank you PBS and Chef Marcus Samuelsson for showing us that sometimes we don't need to look further than our own backyard to find exactly what we're looking for! No Passport Required is a winner and reminds us that there really is, no place like home!
