Rachel Laudan

A couple of days ago I finally got around to reading Gary Nabhan’s book Arab/American.  I was entranced as Nabhan,  best known for his work on the ecology of the Sonoran desert, for foraging, and for support of local foods, explained how he kept finding parallels and resonances between the American southwest and Lebanon/Syria, the [...]

Have you seen this stunning insect?  In the rainy season in Mexico you see them all over the place and they really are show stoppers. They are also life stoppers, carriers of the particularly nasty, deadly  and largely untreatable condition called chagas.  Check out this link. The link comes from Mexico Bob.  If you live [...]

A young colleague from Nayarit just walked into my study with this huge bag of dried shrimp from her Pacific Coast state. Snuck a few, still chewy, not too salty. Off to the refri for cold beers all round and lime to sprinkle on the shrimp. Now for her mother’s recipes.  Soon I hope.