Food from Peru 101: Quinua con Pollo (Quinua with Chicken)

This is part of an ongoing series on the life of Ohio University graduate student (and soon alumnus) Carlos E., and other legal aliens in the USA.

Carlos' sister-in-law Ledy is also an Ohio University student and shared her recipe of Quinua, a Peruvian staple food: tasty little yellowish seeds that turn soft when boiled and are great with chicken. (Read more about Carlos' new life in the USA or watch him talk about the difficulties of acquiring a H1-B visa.)

She brought a bag of Quinua from Peru as the tiny red symbol in the lower left hand corner on the bag indicates. For three people she uses about a cup of the raw seeds.

Before boiling them, it is necessary to wash them several times, which can best be done with a colandor or sieve (unlike in the picture where a hand and later bowl had to suffice).

After that the washed Quinua needs another cup of water to boil the seeds for about twenty minutes until they have grown about twice their size and have become more yellow and softer.

Meanwhile the seeds boil, she chopped a medium-sized onion into tiny cubes and fried them in a separate pan with a little bit of oil golden brown. Add the fried onions to the Quinua pot after the seeds have cooked for about ten minutes.

Toward the end of the Quinua's cooking time add some black pepper, salt, fresh garlic (or garlic powder), and Maggi spice (either as boullion or liquid). Y esta es!

Quinua (upper half of the plate) similar to rice tastes great with chicken and veggies!

Que aproveche!

In a nutshell, for 3 servings of Quinua you need:

• 1 cup Quinua seeds
• 1 cup of water
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch of black pepper
• 1 pinch of garlic powder
• 1 maggi boullion or a dash of liquid maggi spice

How did you come to the USA? With which red tape did you have to deal as a legal alien? Are you on the path to U.S. citizenship? What do you miss about your own culture living in the USA? Please share your stories, questions, and comments!

Tapash's First Year at Ohio University: No Suprises but Some Worries

Tapash -- All the Way From Bangladesh

This is part of an ongoing series on the life of Ohio University graduate student Tapash Deb, and other legal aliens in the USA.

Tapash is a PhD student in chemistry who started at OU last August after finishing his BS in chemistry and computer science in Indiana. On September 16, 2008 I met him in Clippinger Hall where he spends lots of time as a student and graduate assistant and talked to him about his first in Athens. (Read more about Tapash's adventurous journey from Bangladesh to the USA or watch him tell it on video.)

Stine Eckert: You’ve been studying at OU [Ohio University, Athens, Ohio) for a year now. How do you reflect upon the last twelve months in Athens?
Tapash Deb: Past twelve months in Athens… It was a pretty good experience; it had some good sides, some bad sides. Overall it was a good experience. I had some good friends but at the same times there can be complaints that there are not enough friends.

S.E.: What was your best experience?
T.D.: The best experience I would say was working with my advisor. Things are going very well with him. I would say he is a pretty good advisor so I am happy working for him.

S.E.: And outside OU?
T.D.: Outside OU I have good friends, which is very good and I get to do a lot of outdoor activities.

S.E.: Which ones?
T.D.: Going out, hiking, biking. I haven’t had a chance to go swimming yet, but some day I’ll make myself jump into this chlorinated water.

S.E: In how far have you had any bad experiences?
T.D.: There are a couple of bad experiences I want to mention. I want to mention the friendship side; there is a lot of segregation going on. If I look at any program that is organized by a particular group, an international group, there are some Caucasians but not many of other groups such as Hispanics or African-American groups; they never show up to those programs. Vice versa. I don’t see a lot of many of other people from other races to go their programs such as African-American or Multicultural programs, which are organized by OU. There are not many other people other than the intended audience for this program.

Then when I talk about making friends, most grad students in my department … making friends in my apartment is kind of hard … except for a couple of students. Most of the students there are from a Chinese background. I have two lab mates and to tell the truth I haven’t been to program they’ve been because every time I asked them what is going on, they would tell me what is going on but then later on they say: ‘Oh, you won’t like it because it’s all going to be in Chinese and you’re not going to be enjoying it and you’re going to feel left out.’ I mean that’s a good point but on the other hand I can go there and learn something and make new friends but instead of doing that they’re thinking that they would leave me out. It’s a good consideration from their part but at the same time I believe what they’re doing to themselves is that they’re keeping to themselves to their own little circle and don’t get acquainted to other people of other cultures.

Then I want to talk about OU because it is an important part of Athens. At OU I think things are generally good except for a couple of things, for example the health insurance part. If I look into health insurance then I can see Blue Shield or Blue Cross is one of the best health insurance providers. They have very good coverage and they actually cost less than the OU insurance and I don’t know why they do not let us [international students] go for one of these insurances. They force us to take the OU insurance and I am not happy with their experiences.

When I talk in general about Athens for example apartments what happens we have to pay our own utility. The utility companies bill only one person and sometimes one of the persons in the apartment has to be responsible for the bill when it comes in; they have to collect the money. What happens is, as the landlord is not taking care of this utility part sometimes it’s hard for that person to collect the money from everybody. Sometimes a person moves in and another person moves out and once the person moves out then you can’t get the money from them because the electric bill comes one month later. Whoever used the electricity move out; that’s it and the money has to come out of my pocket.

Another thing about Hudson, our health care provider at OU, they’re charging us this well-being fee of $40 and they’re supposed to increase their hours but the problem is, it doesn’t help us as international students that much. Because most of us live off-campus and we get sick on the weekends then we have to actually find somebody who is with us to make the phone call or drive us to the hospital. Hudson is closed so there is no way to call them to ask for information. In the insurance brochure it says we need to call them to let them know if we need to go to the hospital beforehand, which is really a ridiculous thing because when somebody is sick, the person needs immediate care. The person doesn’t have the time to think about: ‘Oh, I have to make this phone call.’ That just doesn’t make sense. These kinds of things are there; there is room for improvement. They can probably do better than this.

S.E.: Was there any surprise in Athens; something you didn’t expect?
T.D.: Mmh…not really.

S.E.: What do you expect or hope for during your second year in Athens and at Ohio University?
T.D.: The second year is a pretty tough one because I have to write my thesis proposal and that will take most of my time. I also have to finish up with all of my classes before I can start with my proposal. Once I’m done with my proposal I will focus more on the research and currently the research sometimes works really good and sometimes it doesn’t work and it’s frustrating. But I’m expecting that things should be going well hopefully. [Laughs]

S.E.: Thank you for the interview.
T.D.: Thank you very much.

How did you come to the USA? With which red tape do you have to deal as a legal alien? Are you on the path to U.S. citizenship? What is special about your home country? Please share your stories, questions, and comments!

Luiza's Mamaliga Cu Brinza -- Polenta With Sheep Cheese

Luiza -- Severing Ties with Romania Forever

This is part of an ongoing series of the life of Detroit resident Luiza Grigorescu and other legal aliens in the USA.

Luiza tells me Romanians eat polenta every day, especially for lunch, which is the main meal of the day. They cook their stable food afresh daily from cornmeal, salt, and water. She says that people who eat lots of polenta will have healthy children. Here is her recipe: 

We need for 4 servings:

• about 1 cup of cornmeal
  
• about 3 cups of water
  
• about 200g sheep feta cheese
  
• some Kashkaval pure sheep cheese (a Bulgarian cheese found in a East European food store)
  
• 4 eggs
  
• some herb or garlic butter
  

And this is what we do with the ingredients:

1. Fill a medium-sized pot half with cold water. Then add a few big spoonfuls of cornmeal, stirring it into the water until it dissolves. Add a little bit of salt if you want (but be careful, the sheep cheese will add plenty of salt to the whole dish). Heat the mixture. Constant stirring is very important so that the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.

2. Put the heat on high. Add more cornmeal if the mixture is too watery. As it heats the cornmeal particles take in the water and swell. You can make the mixture as thick as you want.

3. Stir a lot until it becomes a thick mass and the mass starts bubbling but be careful it might jump out of the pot. Stir very fast. 

4. After the mass is very thick but sticks together very well as one, almost so that you could cut it with a threat, Luiza says. Them dump the mass onto a plate and distribute on as four plates.

By the way, Luiza recommends putting milk into the empty polenta pot with the remainder of the dough to boil the milk with the corn mass and drink it.

5. Add a lump of feta sheep cheese into the polenta on each plate and cover the cheese with the polenta as much as possible so that the warmth of the mass can melt the cheese wrapped in it. Add a little bit of garlic or herb butter  on top of the polenta. Luiza says it will go down the polenta mountain like lava.

6. Grate some of the firm kashkaval sheep cheese over each polenta mountain.

7. Poach an egg for every person. This means to drop a raw egg into a pot of boiling water. Let the egg cook until the egg white and yolk are firm. Then carefully take out the naked boiled egg with a big spoon and arrange it aside the polenta pile. Grate some kashkaval on each egg.

Enjoy your "mamaliga cu brinza"!

PS: “Listen to me,” says Luiza, “I tell you a secret. Take a little bit of cornmeal in the shower and rub your face with it two times a week. It will make your skin like velvet.” 

How did you come to the USA? With which red tape do you have to deal as a legal alien? Are you on the path to U.S. citizenship? What is special about your home country? Please share your stories, questions, and comments!

Immigration in the News 2007

The Project for Excellence in Journalism reported it its State of the News Media 2008 annual study that in all media, immigration was the number four story (out of the top ten list) filling 3% of the newshole 2007. It was topped by the 2008 presidential election campaing and Iraq related coverage.

The same report also stated that 1% of online topics were about immigration in 2007. The study examined the lead coverage during weekdays of the five most popular news websites: AOL News, CNN.com, Google News, MSNBC.com, and Yahoo. News.

Estimated 3 Million Young U.S. Adults Emigrate Every Year

A recent article by the U.S. News & World Report details a trend that is seldomly talked about. As the USA is an immigrant nation, it also is an emigrant nation with estimated 3 million U.S. adults between 25 and 34 years old draining from the USA every year -- and the trend is growing.

Egg Curry From Bangladesh

Tapash -- All the Way From Bangladesh

This is part of an ongoing series on the life of Ohio University graduate student Tapash Deb, and other legal aliens in the USA.

Besides trying out restaurants in Athens is one of Tapash's hobbies, he also enjoys home cooked food. He does not remember when he learnt the recipe for egg curry from his mom, but how it goes, he knows for sure. Enjoy a cooking lesson of Bangladeshi cuisine with Tapash.


We need for 2 servings:

• 1 very big potato
• 2 medium-sized tomatoes
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 3 eggs

• 2 cups of brown rice

• some salt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon rasam masala (in asia store)
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (in asia store)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 fresh or dried red peppers

• some water
  
• some peanut (or any other) oil
  

And this is what we do with the ingredients:

1. Hard-boil all eggs, i.e. boil for approximately 10 minutes.

2. Fry the hard-boiled eggs in some oil in a pan until they are slightly brownish-golden on the outside.

3. Carefully wash and rinse the rice several times before you start cooking it. Tapash says this is a routine in his country.

4. Boil the rice in plenty of water and some salt as long as it says on the package.

By the way, rice is a staple food in Bangladesh.

5. Peel the potato and cut it into big cubes. Unlike in other countries in which the potato is a staple, it is treated as a veggie aside in Bangladesh. So for this recipe it will be cooked along side other vegetables in the curry.

6. Fry the potato cubes n plenty of peanut or any other oil until they are a little brownish-golden on the outside. When they are done, take the potato cubes out of the pot and set them aside.

7. Chop the onion into strips and fry them in the potato pot with the left over oil.

8. Cube the tomatoes and add them to the golden-brown fried onions in the pot.

9. Add the three whole eggs and potato cubes to the same pot and stir for a while until everything is well mixed. Let the mixture fry on a small flame.

By the way, frying is a staple method of preparing food in Bangladehs. Ovens and baked goods are seldom except for some special breads like nan.

10. Now it's time to add some spieces: each 1 teaspoon of turmeric, salt, and cinnamon, each
1/2 teaspoon of garam and rasam masala. According to how much hotness your tongues can bear you can add dried or even fresh red peppers. We recommend 1 red pepper for a rather mild version of egg curry.

Masala simply means mixture of spices. Asian food stores usually have ready-made mixtures in boxes to use for certain dishes. We have found that the MDH brand is an okay one to buy. It comes in great variety and most often has a recipe on the back of the box.

11. Add 1/2 cup of water and let the curry boil for about ten minutes.

12. Cut the eggs in the pot in half.

Tapash tastes for last time if all spices work out....mmmh, yummy! You might want to add more of the salt or the garam masala as needed. Now it's ready to serve:

Enjoy your egg curry with rice!

How did you come to the USA? With which red tape do you have to deal as a legal alien? Are you on the path to U.S. citizenship? What is special about your home country? Please share your stories, questions, and comments!

Would You Emigrate? -- Blog Poll Results

This is part of an ongoing series on the life of Ohio University graduate student (and soon alumnus) Carlos E., and other legal aliens in the USA.

The poll on this blog about people's thoughts about emigrating themselves shows that 14 out of 18 voters at least consider this as an idea. 

In detail, four said it is in fact a dream for them to switch countries. 

Seven are not sure about going away forever but would go with the flow if life offers an opportunity to change nations.

Three believe that emigrating might be a nice alternative when they are fed up with their home country.

Only four said that they would never leave their country for good.

How did you come to the USA? With which red tape did you have to deal as a legal alien? Are you on the path to U.S. citizenship? Please share your stories, questions, and comments!