The Flog- Day 1

I'm on a mission. A delicious mission. 

After watching a multitude of travel and food shows over the years on various cable networks, I've decided to take on my very own food adventure. This came after a serious thinking session after watching repeats of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" on the Netflix queue and realizing I would adore traveling to all these countries and trying their culinary cultures, but as I'm a recent college graduate I am also pretty broke. Traveling is currently out of the question. I also, conveniently, love food probably more than the average person. I love reading about food, watching shows about food and when I have the time experimenting with whatever ingredients I can get my hands on (most recently my boyfriend, Kelly, was craving clams so we made steamed little necks and pasta in a white wine sauce). I've always considered myself a pretty adventurous eater- I've tried snails, shrimp brains, and am a huge fan of raw fish- but there's a lot more out there that I haven't tasted and want to at least give a shot at tempting my palate. 

Luckily, I'm in Los Angeles which means there's food on just about every other corner in just about every nationality or culture you could think of. And I decided to record this mission in what Kelly appropriately named "The Flog" (short for food blog), with most likely later admissions into the Flog by him.

So I'm starting across the street, literally, in Glendale which has a large population of Armenian residents. The "Circle K" deli and small grocery store across the street has a small and quite random variety of items, and is I believe owned by an Armenian family. Today I decided to test their deli, with a half pound of large juicy olives, and grabbed some Siberian dumplings out of the freezer. I'm not exactly sure what Siberian dumplings means, but they're a mix between pot-stickers and ravioli like pasta filled with beef and pork (or there is a delicious chicken option for poultry-tarians like Kelly) which are boiled until tender. I've found that soy sauce, chili oil, or other commonly Asian condiments are excellent pairings with these folds of joy from apparently the freezing desert. When I return to this store (as I do just about every other day, like I said it's right across the street) I plan on interviewing their employees to find their best meats and cheeses in the deli. 

Next time!...on...THE FLOG!!....

We will hopefully re-visit the beloved Taco Azteca, the mecca of Mexican a short walk from our apartment. And THEN a visit to the bakery which I'm still not sure if it's ever open or not, but I can smell the deliciousness and absurd times so I have to figure it out!!