Yum! by LASA Ezine

A FOOD MAGAZINE

YUM!

Created for the LASA Electronic Magazine Course.

Dedicated to all the chefs of world.

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Letter From the Editors Welcome to the first issue of YUM! As the name might suggest, this magazine is all about food. Your tastes buds will tingle as you flip through the pages. You will encounter new savory foods to try and will learn more about your favorite classic foods. This idea for gaining more knowledge about classic food inspired us to create an article about one food that everyone has an opinion on â&#x20AC;&#x201C; candy! When each and every one of us look for a treat, we have that internal debate over whether to pick a chocolatey candy or a fruity candy. Both categories have delicious candy options, but one must win. We wanted to see what our readers would choose if deciding between the popularly voted, best chocolate candy and best fruity candy, leading to the birth of The Ultimate Candy Brawl. Our magazine topic was conceived during a heated argument over whether to start a farming or a movie magazine. The concept was that a food magazine would be a compromise, all the feel of a natural magazine with the possibility for giving the reader new things to try and taste. We wanted to inform our readers of good happenings in the Austin area pertaining to food, and so, the farming aspect of our magazine saw the light. By introducing the Sustainable Food Center in the article, Naturally Thinking, our readers will learn how to connect to the community and make a difference in a healthy way. We also wanted to let our readers give back to our magazine, so we asked a sweets-lover, vegetarian, carnivore, and a spicy-heat-seeker to tell us about their eating habits. Learn about the best places to eat as one of those in each category and what to order in the wonderful Food For Thought piece. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Staff

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Contents FEATURES NATURALLY THINKING | 7 MOMO : NEPALI COOKING | 9 SESAME HILL | 11

OPINIONS REVEALING WHOLE FOODS | 14 SOUTH CONGRESS CAFÉ | 17 MANGIERI’S PIZZA CAFÉ | 19

Photos courtesy of heycupcakebakery.com

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* 1 Cup Alejandro *

Alejandro A

Rabin B

* 8 fl. oz. Rabin *

Rabin has a stong connection with the theme of Yum! because although he does not make food he loves to eat it. His mom is a great cook and supplies Rabin with endless delicious treats to munch on. Some of Rabin’s favorite food’s are Momo with spicy achar and the occasional slice of pizza from Austin’s Pizza Garden. Rabin’s favorite piece that he created was “How to make Momo” because it connects to Rabin’s Nepali heritage.

The Ingredients of YUM!

His name is Alejandro Albornoz. He is one hundred percent. One of his favorite experiences associated with the theme of his magazine is baking. He enjoys baking pies, cakes, and pastries all from scratch. He admitts its a long process but is all part of the fun of cooking. An article he contributed to this issue of YUM! magazine is called “How to Eat With Chopsticks,” along with others. He currently lives in Austin, Texas, along with his wife and dog.

* 3/4 packed Cup Ruth *

Ruth S

Though she has no professional experience in the culunary field, Ruth is a self-proclaimed cook. She loves to put meals together, finding just the right mix of main course and dessert. The best combination she’s found yet are her delicious BLT sandwhiches and peanut butter, chocolate chip brownies, with a tall glass of milk. Ruth’s favorite piece that she contributed was Amy’s Ice Creams, about the Austin-founded Amy’s Ice Cream stores’ best ice cream.

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FEATURE

Naturally thinking By Alejandro A

he kneels down, pointing at a mercury-like beading of water occurring in the grooves of a collard green leaf. “Isn’t that cool?”

Sari Albornoz’s love for gardening goes beyond a plot of soil. She is the director of Grow Local, a program that is part of The Sustainable Food Center (SFC), an organization whose goal is to provide low-income communities with access to nutritious, affordable food. Farm Direct and La Cocina Alegre (The Happy Kitchen) are the other two programs that wo rk towards this mission. “[The SFC] addresses the whole food system, from seed to table,” Sari says. “The idea is getting this healthy fresh food around [the community]. She says the ‘catch phrase’ of the SFC is “Grow, share, prepare,” each word representing the three main arms of the center.

The Farm Direct program is the ‘share’ arm of the SFC, and its goal is to make healthy food more accessible to low-income communities. According to Sari, farmers markets are a big part of this. “Farm direct wants to reach to low income families,” She says. “Our staff and board do some advocacy work, doing a lot of work trying to make it easier for farmers markets to redeem food stamps. I’d [personally] like to see people stop thinking of farmers markets as inconvenient and elitist, and instead more normal.” La Cocina Alegre, the ‘prepare’ section is an educational program that teaches people how to prepare healthy food in healthy ways. It offers economic options for meals, and promotes healthier eating habits. As I am talking with Sari, she recalls a situation in which she | 5 | Yum! |

overheard a conversation at a supermarket. She continues to explain that the conversation was between two women. One informed the other that she was going to make dinner that night. The other woman suggested she buy carrots. The idea was well received, but fell through when lack of education in the area was revealed by a question.

food production and organic gardening as well as an understanding of the importance of local food production for the health and well-being of themselves, their families and community, and the environment.” Sari’s job is a big part of this. Her work entails coordinating community gardens—which people use to grow organic food for themselves and their “Great, carrots! But...what do neighbors, giving lessons you do with carrots?” at middle and elementary schools about gardening, talkSari, while not directly involved ing with the schools’ directors with La Cocina Alegre, offers about developing their cursome information, as well as a riculum to encompass more discouraging reality. gardening material, directing new projects, helping volun-Sari Albornoz “The main goal of [La Cocina teers, answering gardening Alegre] is empowering [people] to grow their own food,” questions, and more. Sari says, and adds bluntly: “Whole generations have lost the ability and knowledge of how to cook healthy food.” Faced with so many demands from so many people, it’s easy to understand how Sari’s job can be stressful at According to the SFC’s website, the Grow Local protimes. gram “offers the resources and education to enable

“The main goal of [La Cocina Alegre] is empowering [people] to grow their own food.”

children and adults in central Texas to develop skills in

“My biggest problem is just the quantity of stuff we

Continue on page 29.

Photos courtesy of Alejandro Albornoz

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Momo : Nepali Cooking Photos and story by Rabin B

Bhattarai prepares chobbed vegetables that will eventually go into the momo mix.

he dips her hand in the water and folds the dumplings together. Bandana Bhattarai is a full time cook for a family of five. This step is the first of many that Bhattarai must perform to keep Nepali tradition alive for her children.

“It is not a hassle and I enjoy making Nepali food, however preparing Nepali food takes time,” says Bhattarai as she begins to put the dumplings in the steamer. Every day Bhattarai makes a Nepali meal for dinner, but this job is easier said than done. In fact, Bhattarai spends at least one weekend a month painstakingly preparing dumplings that her family will enjoy over the course of the next week. With over 6,000 university students coming from Nepal to the U.S. annually, the Nepali population is increasing rapidly. However the number of Nepali restaurants and grocery stores is not increasing –

which can make it difficult for Bhattarai to prepare traditional recipes. “Sometimes I have to bring spices all the way from Nepal,” says Bhattarai. “Timmur is a very common ingredient that I use in making golvedda ko acchar [tomato salsa], that you cannot purchase in the U.S.” Once every two years Bhattarai visits Nepal and every time she goes one of her two suit cases is devoted to carrying back spices that cannot be purchased in the U.S. Nepali and Indian cuisine often tastes very similar to the occasional diner, but to Nepalese, the | 7 | Yum! |

difference is clear. Both cultures eat rice and dumplings, for example, but the preparation style varies drastically. In both cultures many of the same foods are eaten but the differ in the process by which they are made. For example it is very common for both cultures to eat rice however in Indian cuisine vegetables (such as carrots and green beans) are added to the rice and in Nepali cuisine rice is very commonly eaten plain without anything mixed with the rice itself. Still, both cuisines require many of the same spices. “When I lived in Kokomo, where the Indian population is very low, we used to travel 45 miles to Indianapolis to buy Indian spices,” Bhattarai says. “However [now that we live in Austin] the Indian population is very high and I only have to travel 5 miles.”

continue in the U.S. “In Nepal School and work typically starts at ten,” says Bhattarai. “So before going to school or work people usually eat a heavy lunch type meal, so that it can last the whole day.” In between, the Nepalese enjoy a light snack in the afternoon and dinner in the evening. Because of the working hours and the times for different schools Nepali food cannot be eaten at those times. However, Bhattarai’s children do not try to continue the tradition. “If it was not Nepali food [that I was eating] we would turn it into Nepali food, ” says Bhattarai. “[For instance] If we were eating spaghetti we would add vegetables and Nepali spices that the food that the end of result would basically be a Nepali dish”

The momo is heated by steam from water that is boiling Even with the conveon the bottom layer nience of such grocers as Shree Jee Grocery and Taj Grocers nearby, Bhattarai still The children in Nepal typically enjoy eating and making lacks some of the basic ingredients she needs for her Nepali food but most American born Nepalese have family’s favorite meals. Some spices can be kept for as no interest in Nepali tradition. The children are eager long as one year long but, the fresher the spice the better in learning how to cook and continue cultural traditions the overall meal will taste in the end. that have been going on for many generations. “When you have a need to learn something or want to “Occasionally when I am throwing big parties I need a eat I taught my self, ” says Bhattarai. “ I either used trial large amount of sweets that I cannot make,” says Bhatand error or I asked someone how to prepare a dish.” tarai. “I have to drive to the Northern Indian [Austin] Bhattarai says, “I would definitely like to teach them but stores, and request a special order for those sweets; the I do not think that they are interested to learn.” driving time alone is a one hour round trip.” American born Nepalese children don’t realize the hisMaking these sweets is very long and time-consuming tory behind Nepali food. There are reasons for each process that does not always give a good end product. ingredient that is used in a Nepali dish. For sweets that Bhattarai knows for sure are well prepared a one-hour trip is required. A one-hour trip for “[A typical Nepali meal consists of] Steam rice, lentil sweets such as Rasmalai and Jelabi is unheard of in Nesoup, cauliflower, cabbage, turnip, sag, and pickles, ” says pal. Many local vendors sell common desserts that don’t Bhattarai. “ Sag is either a mustard green or spinach, it have to be special- or pre-ordered. As hard as Bhattarai was originally eaten for fiber purposes in Nepal.” Bhatmay try, some traditions would be almost impossible to tarai says, “Nepali food is balanced in such a away that Continue on Page 30. | 8 | Yum! |

Life at Sesame Hill Photos and story by Ruth S.

till in her everyday school get-up, she lounges in a hard plastic chair – at a cramped desk – that’s covered in papers and small potted plants. At her right sits a phone and an order pad, to her left a cash register. She taps her pen absent-mindedly on the desk as she stares forlornly out the dirty glass window at her brother jumping into his car to take a delivery. Her hand umps as the phone rings. “Sesame Hill, can I take your order?”

top photograph: Lucia Yu in Sesame Hill Kitchen middle: prepared bowl of veggies bottom: Yu cooking sesame chicken

Lucia’s Yu, fourteen, lives in South Austin, about thirty minutes from her family’s Chinese restaurant. Yu’s entire life revolves around the restaurant and it leaves no part of her life unaffected. While everyone in her family works in the food business – most of who are employed at Sesame Hill – Yu doesn’t share their passion.

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“My parents and my dad’s side [of the family] moved to Dallas from China while my mom was pregnant with me,” she says. “They did the food biz because as my dad says, ‘that’s all we knew how to do’.” Only one month after Yu’s birth, her family moved from Dallas to Austin, where they started their first restaurant. “Our first restaurant was the Beijing Wok, which we had forever, our other restaurants were Imperial Asia. Bo’s Asian Bistro and then this one.”

Yu sick, not just of her own restaurant’s food, but of Chinese food in general. “It’s not just that I’m tired of [Sesame Hill] food,” she explains. “Whenever I’m at a friend’s house and we’re thinking about take -out and someone suggests Chinese food, I always shoot it down immediately.” But Yu admits working at the restaurant has left her with some interesting experiences.

“There’s a Panda Express nearby Sesame Hill and when they first opened they used the wrong phone number Yu’s family owned Beijing Wok for eight years and [on their flyers],” she laughs. “On all of their stuff, like then sold it. The next two restaurants they owned for a ads and signs, they had the Sesame Hill number. For year and a half each. With those, they got them up and weeks I got a ton of phone calls asking for the Panda running and then sold. Sesame Hill, the family’s curExpress, and people rent business, is a were always really small Chinese driveconfused when I through and delivery tried to explain restaurant. the mistake. It was pretty funny.” “I don’t really reDon’t get the member our other wrong idea, though; restaurants real well,” Sesame Hill is really Yu explains. “The - Lucia Yu, 14 year old daughter of ses- popular even with one we own now I the other Chinese ame hill owners know the best berestaurant compecause I have to work tition. They even here – only when my mom says I have to though. My have regulars. mom still owes me $2,000 from working at the restaurant this summer.” “There’s this one guy, I think his name’s Gary, who rides Everyone who knows Yu knows she doesn’t like to work a moped. He comes everyday and gives us freshly baked at her restaurant. bread that his wife makes and then orders -- I guess to

“My parents are so busy they’ll just leave me somewhere without a ride, for hours.”

“All I do is sit [in the front office], and answer the phone,” she says. “Or I take the order of people in the drive through. Either way, it’s so boring. I’m not even allowed to cook anything.”

show how much he likes us,” she says. “He’s one of my parent’s friends. All of their friends they meet through the restaurant because that’s all they do.”

“I hate the food sold [at Sesame Hill],” She admits. “-I’ve lived on it since I was a wee baby. It gets old fast.”

Yu’s parents work from 10 am to 10 pm everyday. She rarely sees them because she gets up for school around six and is in bed by 11. On the weekends she spends most of her time with her friends. Her parents’ jobs are so demanding that she says she really can’t rely on her parents for much of anything that takes time, including rides.

Yu says that all Chinese food is basically the same. It’s all made from the same basic ingredients, rice, chicken or pork, and a few key spices. The lack of variety has made

“Because my parents are so busy, they’ll just leave me somewhere without a ride for hours,” Yu says. “Last year after the [Kealing Middle School] Valentine’s dance, I

In fact, she says, sometimes she wishes her parents weren’t in the restaurant business at all.

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called my mom to tell her to pick me up and she asked me if she had to. I said ‘yes.’ So she said to ask my dad. I was like ‘Why can’t you just do it?’” Her mom agreed, but the plan didn’t unfold as smoothly as Yu had expected. “An hour later I was still at Kealing in that neighborhood,” Yu remembers. “Finally my dad shows up. I was just like ‘What? Where’s mom?’” That wasn’t the first time Yu was without a ride because her parents were working. It also happened at another Kealing dance and after her school Latin Club trip. But rides aren’t the only thing her parents have to skip out on because of their demanding, hands-on jobs. “You would assume since my parents own a restaurant and my dad is the cook we’d have good food at home,” she says. “Not the case, there is no delicious food at home, because no one’s ever home. We eat food mostly from the restaurant, honestly we have like one carton of milk for cereal and that’s it.” But, Yu admits, the restaurant isn’t without benefits. Most of her friends love the food and she says its fun bringing them food and watching how happy they are. “Once for my friend’s birthday, I brought her Sesame Chicken as part of her present. She was so excited that she began screaming and jumping up and down in the middle of the hallway [at LBJ].” And she can cook like nobody’s business. “I cook all the time at home,” she says. “I’ve been coking whole meals for myself since the seventh grade when I discovered the feeling ’hungry.’ I’m much better than my brother, he just sucks at it,” Yu says and then began to giggle while continuing. “Cause I’m a woman.” And Yu doesn’t just cook normal teenage foods, like Ramen or cookies. “My favorite thing to make is Tomato Basil Soup. It’s so good…I love to cook. I guess owning a restaurant helped me with [cooking], so it’s not all bad.” Yu stands as her brother pulls up and honks. She grabs her backpack and runs to the car waving goodbye. She’s off to another afternoon of taking orders at Sesame Hill.

“Green Hill, Fresh Food, Your car or ours...You Choose!” Food delivery, To go and Catering (512) 891-8881 (Sesame Hill accepts major credit cards. Sorry, no checks)

Sesame Hill has food for the whole family even a kid’s menu! New! Healthy Dishes with no sugar, salt, wheat, or oil! Business Hours: 11:00am10:00 pm Lunch Hours: 11:00am 2:30pm (Monday ~ Sunday) Location: 6156-A Hwy 290 west Austin, TX. 78735 (Inside of the Oak city shopping center)

Photos courtesy of Ruth Sanchez

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Opinion

Revealing Whole Foods

By Ruth S n Austin, Whole Foods Market is a loved store. Just look in any Austin household and one will almost surely find a signature Whole Foods reusable shopping bag. It promotes itself as a family-like company that supports the small organic farmers. It is known as a community building and groundbreaking environmentally friendly company.

The company always seen as wholesome is revealed to have another side.

But these are half-truths; Whole Foods spouts lies in nearly every catch phrase it uses. What really goes on in the Whole Foods Company is much less sunshine and happiness than a shopper is led to believe. Every Whole Foods shopper needs to realize that this store doesn’t always live up to its own hype. One might try to point out all Whole Foods efforts to help the earth. The company’s “green mission,” as it is referred to on its website, where the company boasts of being “the first major retailer to offset 100% of our energy use with wind energy credits.” And the Whole Foods website proclaims that it is continually reducing, reusing and recycling. However in their new Dallas, Texas location, said to be its most environmentally friendly store yet, the company has at least twelve flat-screen televisions going during all open hours. According to Green Today Magazine a 42-inch Plasma Flat Screen TV can consume 312 watts per hour. Whole Foods is opened 14 hours a day, nearly every day of the year; 365 days a year * 14 hours a day * 12 flat screens * 312 watts/hour. That’s 19,131,840 watts of energy every year, enough to illuminate about seventy-five 60-watt light bulbs all day and night for a year. That’s not all Whole Foods is doing to hurt the environment. The company is gradually converting it’s entire truck fleet to run on biodiesel fuels. Although this may seem like a wonderful environmentally conscious thing to do, in order to plant biofuel crops, farmers in the Dakotas and Montana have plowed up tens of thousands of previ| 12 | Yum! |

The Lakewood, Dallas Whole Foods * note the six flat screen televisions visible, and this is only in the check out section of the store.*

ously undisturbed native prairie grasslands. And that’s nothing compared to the millions of acres of Brazilian rainforest that is destroyed each year to clear land to grow, among other things, biofuel plants. In Southeast Asia, planting oil palms is the leading cause of rainforest destruction. In the meantime, grocery store prices rise as food crops are diverted to make this biofuel. Whole Foods’ “green mission” is only making us more dependent on crops like corn. Corn monoculture has taken over the American landscape making it more and more impoverish. So how helpful are these biofuels to us in reality? Whole Foods Company proclaims it is a family business that treats its co-workers well, but employees have low wages, bad conditions and are completely anti-union. Although wages are not awful, up until the past few year Whole Foods was paying many of its hourly employees what in the late 1970s dollars would be equivalent to minimum wage or below, $14,000 per year. And the company could certainly afford to pay more. Whole Foods stores bring in $800 per square foot in a year– double the industry average. Today an average worker employed by Whole Foods makes a solid wage of $32,000 a year, but many executives at Whole Foods make 14 times more than the average employee, and this is without stock options. In 2005 the CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, had a salary and bonus that added up to $436,000; however due to stock options and

a company error that allowed stock options to expire unexercised, Mackey received a grand total of $2.7 million. Whole Foods is so against unions that it has actually fired employees who were attempting to organize a union. In 2002, when employees of the chain’s Madison, Wisconsin, store voted to unionize and join the United Food and Commercial Workers, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey had what the New York Times described as a “New Age temper tantrum” and turned to hard corporate scare tactics to convince the workers to back off. Many Whole Foods stores have very poor working conditions, an employee trying to organize a worker’s union in Madison said, “The ridiculously high turnover rate, wages that are lower than the industry standard, pervasive lack of respect, constant understaffing, absence of a legally-binding grievance procedure, and other poor and unfair labor practices…highlight the simple fact that workers ultimately have no say in the terms and conditions of their employment at any Whole Foods Market– not just Madison.” In addition, Whole Foods is completely deceptive when it broadcasts its support for small-farm workers. The company says that by buying organic, the customer is protecting and buying from small farmers. In actuality, Whole Foods buys from large farms. Almost all organic food in this country comes from California, and four or five major California farms dominate the whole industry. So while the number of small farms that Whole | 13 | Yum! |

Foods buys from is larger than the number of major farms, the percentage of the food that comes from these small farms is miniscule. The New York Whole Foods, located at the southwest corner of Central Park, has signs throughout the store that completely mislead shoppers; these signs proclaim a “Commitment to the Local Farmer,” which leads one to believe that the company buys from the local farmer. And to support these posted signs include glossy pinups called “grower profiles” of friendly-looking organic farmers standing in front of their crops. These posters are hung above produce through out the store, making one believe that the produce below is from the shown farmer, which is not the case. For example, one profile shows a U.S. farmer named Ray Rex munching on an ear of sweet corn he grew on his generations-old, organic acres. The photograph was pinned above a display of conventionally grown white onions from Mexico. Whole Foods deludes the public about the organic food sold and exactly how eco-friendly it is. One of the ideals Whole Foods promotes is that by buying organic you are being healthier and saving the world from many pesticides, but often times these foods, still produced using many kinds of chemicals, have to travel from extremely distant places, wasting fossil fuels. The company says it is keeping the amount of fossils fuels consumed down by buying from local farmers, but Whole Foods buys its bananas, pineapples and coffee from places like Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Whole Foods gets its tea in India, which along with the other foods from other countries is transported by fossil fuels.

Whole Foods is still not fully clear about the use of GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) in store-brand products and has continuously ignored shareholder requests for information on the use of toxic chemicals in products like baby bottles that are sold in stores. It’s an aggressive monopoly that has absorbed many smaller independent co-ops, which is completely opposite the small, family image the company tries to present itself as. Whole Foods has bought out Wild Oats, Bread & Circus, Fresh Fields, Bread of Life, Merchant of Vino, Nature’s Heartland, Food for Thought, Harry’s Farmers Market, Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Foods Markets, and many more. Whole Foods has created a virtual monopoly in the natural foods grocery business. Consumers are better served by a diversity of stores because companies have to compete for their loyalty and business allowing the shoppers to find the best deals, but this company has been completely and utterly wiping out the competition. Whole Foods Market is a large cooperation and acts like one. Its not the fluffy, small business it likes to portray itself as. Just because a company sells natural food does not mean it can do no wrong. It is a corporation full of half-truths. The next time organic shoppers think of spending money there, they should stop and take into consideration the lies they will be buying into. photos courtesy of wholefoodsmarket.com

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South Congress Café

Story by Alejandro A Pictures by Eric Pickle

ustin’s South Congress Avenue has a longstanding reputation for housing shops and restaurants with quality and charm. Establishments like Texas French Bread and Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds do their part in making Austin what it is. South Congress Café is no exception.

South Congress Café opened its doors in 2003, and since then, staff have been doing their best to satisfy customers. The great food, friendly service, and comfortable atmosphere make the café an excellent place to dine.

well worth it.

One of the man things I noticed about South Congress Café was the impeccable service. My experience there started with a arm greeting The calamari was from the hostess, who seated my Some might argue that party with no wait. Our glasses breaded and cut the items on the menu were immediately filled with ice are too expensive, and water as we sat down, and were into skewers with the entrée prices -Alejandro A, Student at refilled regularly throughout our averaging around twenty meal. A waiter quickly arrived dollars, eating there at our table to offer additional LASA Highschool everyday might not be drinks and tell us the dinner spefeasible. However, the quality of a South Con- cials for that night. We ordered an appetizer gress Café dinner makes the occasional visit of calamari to start off, and took a few more | 15 | Yum! |

minutes to decide what to order, while a server brought us bread to hold us over. When the waiter returned I ordered their Cajun seafood scampi, something that had caught my eve while looking over the menu. Shortly after we placed our orders, our appetizer arrived, and just as we finished off the bread and calamari,, our waiter came forth with our entrees. As we left, the hostess cheerfully said goodbye, and thanked us for eating there. Overall, I found the staff very helpful, knowledgeable, and dedicated to making customers feel comfortable.

squid rings, which I liked. The seafood scampi was an impressive sight, and was comprised of jumbo shrimp, scallops, crawfish, tuna, sausage, and artichoke hearts all on a bed of angel hair pasta in Creole garlic butter. Long, thin slices of toasted bread extended from the edges of the large plate, adding to the bountiful display. The dish was an enticing array of flavors and textures, each piece contributing to the whole while retaining its individual qualities. My mouth was left buzzing from the warm Cajun spices, and was cooled by a minty chocolate I received at the end of my meal.

The best and most memorable part of my dinner at South Congress Café was the food. The first thing I tried was the bread. Pleasantly warm, it made a read combination with the garlic butter spread it came with. The calamari was breaded and cut into skewers, and instead of a traditional cocktail sauce, it was served with an orange ginger chile sauce, which was complete with the addition of lemon juice. It was a delicious deviation from the norm, and I enjoyed it much more than other calamari I’ve had. Something I noticed about South Congress Café’s version was that it lacked the abundance of grease that usually accompanies an order of the fired

An important part of the dinner was the restaurant’s atmosphere. It was dimly lit, and displayed modern layout and décor. The steady noise of conversations throughout the room made it comfortable to engage in conversations of our own, and acted as a sound cushion throughout the meal. The above reasons—service, food, and atmosphere—are what make South Congress Café a great restaurant.

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Review : Mangieri’s Pizza Cafe Photos and story by Rabin B

Mangieri’s Pizza Cafe located in Circle C in South Austin. he hand-painted oil paintings and the Italian murals on the walls of Mangieri’s Pizza Café has a certain sense to it that make you feel like you are in Old Italy and the food here will be as good s the traditional Italian food there. However, this is certainly not the case.

Anthony Mangieri was inspired to launch this local to Austin restaurant because of his grandfather’s success in the early 1920’s with Mangieri Bros, a pizza café in New Jersey. Unfortunately, Anthony’s business isn’t living up to his grandfather’s legacy.

salad, and hot sandwiches. The pizza ($9.99 for the 10-inch, $12.99 for the 12-inch, $15.99 for the 14-inch and $17.99 for the 16-inch) was advertised to have hand-tossed dough covered with fresh tomato sauce and 100% naturally shredded mozzarella cheese. This, however, was not the case.

Mangieri’s has a wide variety of pizza, pasta, | 17 | Yum! |

When I first walked into the South Austin restaurant, no one was there to greet me at the cashier. After I realized that no one was going to greet me I walked up to the counter where after waiting even longer a waitress approached me. Since I was new to this restaurant, I decided to ask my waitress what she recommended. For meat lovers, she suggested, the “Capo” a pizza with pepperoni, sausage, beef, Canadian bacon, bacon, and cheddar. I was sure that this was going to give me a heart attack, so of course I ordered it. When the pizza arrived, I was shocked to see that my hand could nearly cover the entire pizza. The $10 small pizza was almost the size of a personal pizza.

iar problem with the staff when trying to order a drink. Only after I was finished eating nearly two-thirds of the pizza did the staff kindly ask if I needed a box. For the portions that are served, the pizza is very expensive. The restaurant has a style of fast food and formal dining all in one experience. All ordering is done at the front entrance to the café, and if it is not crowded, the privilege is yours of picking the table. Any additional orders have to be made at the front counter.

Although the experience I had a Mangieri’s was not one I want to remember, it did win CitySearch’s Best of the Best Italian and was voted The pizza was very messy; the “generous layer by CBS 42 Best Pizza in Austin. I believe that of freshly shredded mozzarella cheese” was the locally owned and operated Austin Pizza dripping off of the pizza and with it a generous Garden should win the Best Pizza award. The amount of grease. Every attempt to grab the 100-year old building is a landmark to the attention of the staff was swatted down. The South-Austin Oak Hill area and the service at staff (which looked like it consisted of mainly the Pizza Garden, in my opinion, is one of the high-school students) joyfully hopped to each best in Austin. Also, the food is delicious. With table other than mine. I suspected it was because hand tossed made daily dough is crispy and the I was the only child that was unattended by a fresh tomato sauce gives the pizza an extra zest parent. Once I realized that I was getting nono matter which toppings you order. where and their fresh tomato sauce was covering my hands completely, I walked up to the counter The Mangieri’s website says it is “dedicated to and grabbed several napkins myself. making sure that your entire experience is one you will never forget” Believe me, I won’t. Next The dough did not help the situation either. Be- time I am craving some pizza, I won’t waste my cause of the conveyer-belt cooking style (much time stopping at Mangieri’s. like the ones found in chain restaurants), the socalled “hand tossed” dough was very hard and chewy not like they advertise on the Mangieri’s official website. After several slices of the pizza, I needed to quench my thirst. I ran into a famil-

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How To Make Momo

Alternative Story Forms

Photos and Story by Rabin B

Ingredients 2 packs of Ground Turkey 1 Red and 1 white onion Cilantro 3 Carrots 1 Cabbage 1 Lemon 6 Bay Leaf Garlic Ginger 2 teaspoons of Turmeric 2 teaspoons of Cumin Powder 3 teaspoons of Salt 3 teaspoons of Black Pepper 1 package of Momo Masala

Chop the cabbages, carrots. garlic, and ginger and dice the red and white onions.

Put Cumin powder, several bay leaf â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, black pepper, salt, and Momo Masala into a frying pan with olive oil.

Once all the ingriedients are cooked put them in a pot and open 2 packages of ground turkey (chicken or beef can be used as well)

4. 3.

Put all ingriedients into a frying pan and add black pepper, salt, cumin powder, and Momo Masala and cook for 15 minutes.

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Start boiling water in the steamer. Take the Momo wrappers and take one teaspoon of the Momo mix. ut the Mom Mix in the Momo wrapper and wrap the Momo. Place the Momo on the first level of the steamer but, do not pu t the first level over the boiling water.

Repeat step five until the first level is filled with Momo, place the first level over the boiling water and place a lid on top of the first layer. Repeat this step for three layers. Cook each layer for 25 minutes.

Serve the Momo on a plate and either pour achar over the Momo or pour some in a small bowl for dipping the Momo in and enjoy!

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Spice Up Your Momo! 1. 2. 3.

Open the can of diced tomatoes or dice tomatos. Put the diced tomatoes into a blender and blend until tomatoes become liquid. Chop Cilantro and blend the chopped cilantro in a blender with a quarter of a cup of water and chopped green peppers until the mix becomes liquid. Mix the two liquids together (cilantro and diced tomatoes). Add sal if Desired. Pour achar on top of the Momo and enjoy!

2. 3.

Photos courtesy of Rabin Bhattarai

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Top 5 Ice cream Flavors according to me

BOSTON CREME PIE

looks: delicious (see below) tastes like: sweet cream with vanilla cake and a light chocolate sicing good with: marshmallows

MEXICAN VANILLA

BELGIAN CHOCOLATE

HOPPER OF GRASS

SWEET CREAM

Want to Know More?

Amy Miller(now Simmons) and Scott Shaw co-founded Amy’s Ice Cream in 1984. In college, in Boston, Amy worked at Steve’s Ice Cream. After being bought out by a larger coorperation Amy decided to open her own ice cream shop. She wrote a hot check for the lease of the original Amy’s Ice Cream location on Guapalupe and a new Austin legacy was born. Amy’s has grown since to its current 12 Austin Stores. Their Burnet Rd. Factory churns out over 400,000 gallons of ice cream annually. The Amy’s employees are extremely creative, kind and are famous for performing ice cream scoop tricks while serving the customer. Amy’s offers 300 ice cream flavors and fruit ices, though each store only offers a small portion of these flavors at one time.

looks: white tastes like: heavy. creamy, vanilla on steroids good with: kitkats or strawberries

looks: warm brown tastes like: regal chocolate good with: nutterbutters or chocolate chips

looks: light greenish tastes like: mint chocolate chip without the chocolate, slight alcohol taste good with: pecan praline

looks: light, light yellow tastes like: whipped cream, light and sweet good with: cookies or gummi bears

Where can I get some?

1. Guadalupe - 3500 Guadalupe St. 78705 2. 6th Street - 1012 W. 6th St. 78703 3. Arboretum - 10000 Research Blvd. at the Arboretum 78759 4. Mira Vista - 2765 Bee Caves Rd.Suite 209 78746 5. Burnet - 5624 Burnet Rd. 78756 6. South Park Cinema - 9900 S IH 35 Building o Suite 100 for more locations go to www.amysicecreams.com photos cortesy of amysicreams.com

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Top 4

Austin Food Stands

Hey Cupcake!

Recently opened, Hey Cupcake! is part of a trend sweeping the nation, but retains enough individualism to be deemed Austin-esque. Located: 1600 Block of S. Congress, Austin, Texas

Giovanniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pizza Stand

While it may not look like much, the pizza served up by Giovanniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, along with their italian dishes are delicious, and made with the best ingredients. Located: 2900-B South Lamar, Austin, Texas | 23 | Yum! |

Torchy’s Tacos

Torchy’s Tacos is a delicious place to get taco varieties not so common at other taco vendors. With great options and great salsa, you won’t be dissapointed. Located: 1311 South 1st St, Austin, Texas

Sno-Beach Sno-Beach’s sno cones are sure to keep you cool on a hot summer day, and with a wide variety of flavors and sizes, you are sure to never get bored. Located: 801 Barton Springs Rd Austin, Texas Photos courtesy of heycupcake.com, torchystacos.com, giovannispizza.com

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Baby Ruth’s Kit Kats Chocolate Coins Midnight Milkyway Butterfingers Rolos Kissables Hershey’s milk chocolate Chocolate Covered Pretzles

Whoopper’s

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Peanut M&Ms Tootse Rolls Regular M&Ms Crunch Bars

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The Ultimate

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Regular M&Ms Ghirardelli Ghirardelli .

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Candy Brawl

uth S.

Gummi Bears

Gummi Bears Gummi Bears

Baby Bottle Pop Peach-Os

Gushers

Starburst

Winner is...

Skittles Starburst

Sour Patch

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UR KIDS

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Sour Gummi Worms

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TIN CANDY OPS

Sour Punch Straws Warheads

hop : 8566 Research

uadalupe St. 78705 & More Inc : 9414 729 hop : 1706 S. Con-

War Heads

Fruit Mentos

Sour Worms

Nerdsrope

3401 Esperanza 110 N IH 35 St. 150

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Fun Dip Sour Belts

Blueberry Sour Belts

Skittles l

ad to head and based on best candy out there!

Gobstoppers Shockers Starburst DumsDums Jolly Ranchers Laffy Tafffy Nerds Now and Laters Sour Patch Kids Salt Water Taffie Jelly Beans Airheads Cotton Candy Sour Gummi Worms Sprees Blow Pops Sour Punch Straws War Heads Gummi Worms Fruit Mentos Strawberry Sour Belts Nerdsrope SweeTarts

Fun Dip Pez

Blueberry Sour Belts Pixi Stix | 26 | Yum! |

Spice Girl

Food For Thought Photos and story by Rabin B

Lambros T.

1.What are some of you favorite Foods? Chips and Salsa, hot curry chicken, and mole sauce. 2.Do you like to cook spicy food? Yes, I like to add a lot of spicies to my food and I enjoy making Cathyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s queso. 3.When you go out to eat what do you order? Spicy tacos with rice, hot curry chicken, and pizza with jalepenos. Favorite Restaurant: The Clay Pit- hot curry chicken (Chicken with extra spicy curry)

Sweet Tooth

Meat Eater

Vegetarian

Stefan T.

1.What are some of you favorite Foods? Ice cream sundae Strasietella, Yiaourti (Sweet Yogurt), tres leche(cake) 2.Do you like to make desserts? Yes, I love making ice cream sundaes with fruits, chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and almond nuts. 3.When you go out to eat what do you order? After dinner I like to enjoy a nice sorbet or just a plain old big bowl of ice cream. Favorite Restaurant: Thalami Cafe- Yiaourti ( A sweet yogurt that is made typically in Greece)

Alejandro A.

1.What are some of you favorite Foods? I like to eat Ribs and Dove wrapped in bacon if the restaurant I am at has them 2.Do you like to cook food with meat? Sometimes, I barbeque chicken or pork with my older brother and my Dad 3.When you go out to eat what do you order? I like to order steak when I go out to eat because most restaurants have steak on their menu Favortie Restaurant: Artz Ribhouse and Ruthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chris Steakhouse

Chance R.

1.What are some of you favorite Foods? I like to eat Tofu a la king, pasta with pesto, and cheese pizza. 2.What types of Vegetarian foods do you like to make? I make Veggie Burgers, tofu salad sandwhich, and grilled Tofu. 3.When you go out to eat what do you order? I order Pasta and other vegetarian foods when I go out to eat, but I usually eat from home since my whole family is vegetarian. Favortie Restaurant: Olive Garden- endless salads and breadsticks | 27 | Yum! |

How to Eat with Chopsticks Step 1

Hold the end of one chopstick in between your thumb and your index finger, with the other end pressed against your ring finger.

Step 2

Take the other chopstick and grip the end of it with your thumb, index, and middle finger like you would grip a pencil or snake.

Step 3

While holding the first chopstick steady in place, use the second stick to grip food. Now you are ready to eat with chopsticks!

Photos Courtesy of Erick Pickle

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Jump Page Naturally Thinking Continued from page 6.

have to do,” Sari explains. “Our organization has a lot of projects, and it’s a challenge simultaneously addressing all of them” While being overworked is always a burden, Sari says one of the SFC’s main problems is not being able to deal with outside help. “We’re newbies.” Sari explains how the SFC is not sure how to handle helpers. “We’ll hopefully get better at using volunteers,” Sari says. “People want to help, but we don’t have good systems to match up volunteers to tasks.” She says that volunteers get frustrated at the difficulty of helping, which could possibly deter some from trying to offer aid altogether. But despite some problems with the system and the stresses of constant work, Sari enjoys her job. It gives her a sense of fulfillment that no number on a check can touch. “Really connecting with people is the most rewarding part of my job,” Sari says. “[It’s amazing] seeing people in community gardens be friends despite differences in

race and status.” Seeing children benefit from her training is a very visible and rewarding aspect of Sari’s Job as well. An SFC program called Sprouting Healthy Kids is dedicated to educating elementary school to middle school aged kids on food systems and healthy eating practices, including learning to grow and growing food in school gardens. “It’s really cool seeing kids have a good time eating good food,” She remarks. “[It’s really rewarding] seeing kids take pride in having grown their own veggies.” This is essentially seeing the goal of the Sprouting Healthy Kids program realized. By teaching children useful techniques early on, the SFC ensures that a new generation will emerge prepared to live a healthier lifestyle than previous ones. “The whole process of working together to get garden to shape turns into something beautiful. [There’s] something really neat about turning plot of land into a really productive space...It’s [definitely] a positive phenomenon.”

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Jump Page

Nepali Cooking : Momo Continued from Page 8.

Nepali people do not have the privilege of eating out when ever they want. If they were to go out and eat the same food that they could make at home they would rather make it at home. “The reason is because financially everyone cannot afford to eat out so, Nepali people usually limit there money for spending on food outside of the house other than the ingredients needed to make the meal.”

time soon.

“It is not a hassle and I enjoy making Nepali food, however preparing Nepali food takes time.” -Bandana

Most American dishes are made for the sole purpose of taste but Nepali food goes beyond that. Before making a Nepali dish Bhattarai says two things are accounted for: 1.) Will this meal help the overall health of my body? 2.) How can I make this meal by spending the least amount of money, but still retain the quality of the food that I am making? While Bhattarai says she has considered opening a Nepali restaurant, she likely won’t do so any

“If I open a Nepali restaurant then I think that I would do [well] because I love to cook and I love to create food in a presentable way that people like,” she says.

However, popularity is growing among Nepali cuisine in the United States. More and more people are learning the traditions of Nepal by eating Bhattarai the food and experiencing the culture. Even if she chooses to keep her day job, Bhattarai knows her efforts to cook authentic Nepali food won’t go to waste. “I just hope that my children will understand the importance of their heritage and may possibly want to learn more about their culture,“ she said, as she opened the top of the steamer releasing a marvelous aroma into the kitchen.

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