Tag: Soup Dumplings

AlbuquerqueAsianChineseNew MexicoSeafood

ABC Cajun Seafood & Noodle House – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Although popular myth attributes the introduction of pasta in Italy to Marco Polo, pasta’s origins in Lo Stivale can be traced back as far as the 4th century B.C.  That’s when the Etruscan civilization-which existed in the Tuscany region from the 8th to the 3rd century BCE–began the centuries old love affair between Italians and pasta.  Culinary historians agree that pasta’s earliest roots begin in China, during the Shang Dynasty (1700-1100 BC), where some form of pasta was made with either wheat or rice flour. Pasta also appears to have been part of the ancient Greek diet in the first millennium B.C.  Africa also had its own form of pasta (made with the kamut crop). Despite being first to create…

AlbuquerqueChineseNew Mexico

Tasty Noodles & Dumplings – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

The first time I noticed that the dishes served to people of Asian descent weren’t covered in neon bright sauce, I wondered why those strange looking dishes weren’t on the menu.  Or maybe I just didn’t see them.   I asked my server (who was barely conversant in English) and was essentially told I wouldn’t like “authentic” Chinese food.  “What the heck am I eating?” I  asked myself.  That was the beginning of my explorations into the ancient and traditional culinary culture of China.  I delved into just what dishes are considered “authentic” and just what “authentic” means. Dogmatists and purists insist that dishes that weren’t “invented” in China are spurious, not legitimate.  They use such terms as “Americanized” and…

AlbuquerqueChineseRated 25

BUDAI GOURMET CHINESE – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

“The true gourmet, like the true artist, is one of the unhappiest creatures existent. His trouble comes from so seldom finding what he constantly seeks: perfection.” –Ludwig Bemelmans By definition, gourmets are connoisseurs, taking food more seriously than most and embodying the axiom “live to eat rather than eat to live.” True gourmets, as Ludwig Bemelmans would define them, appreciate food of the highest quality, exalting only in the rarefied experiences–those which require the most discerning palates and noses to cognize subtle nuances in complex and sophisticated flavors and aromas. Bemelmans, himself an internationally known gourmet, posited that the true gourmet will find joy only in tasting, smelling and appreciating perfection, not in its pursuit. I’ve known several true gourmets…