Most of us can't drive to Viet Nam on two gallons of gas

Post #434,478 by drook 6/13/20 12:26:45 AM 6/13/20 12:26:45 AM Reply	Most of us can't drive to Viet Nam on two gallons of gas -- Drew
Post #434,481 by Andrew Grygus 6/13/20 2:31:22 AM 6/13/20 2:31:22 AM Reply	That's to Viet Nam AND BACK on 2 gallons. Los Angeles, capital of the Pacific Rim, is the world capital for ethnic cuisines. The one ethnicity that doesn't have a real presence here is French. I guess they're all up in San Francisco where fancy expensive restaurants are more appreciated. Germans we've got - if the krauts shut down many more sausage makers we'll have more then they do. Italians we've got. The giant Bank of America was originally the Bank of Italy. The whole nations supply of artichokes is grown by Italians here. Zucchini was first popularized in Los Angeles, before spreading around the world, and back to Italy. Russians? you bet! They share Glendale (West Yerevan) with the Armenians. Iranians? Where do you think the upper classes moved to when the Shah was deposed? We've got a huge population of Indians, and a good scattering of native Indians as well. The ones out here didn't hunt buffalo - more into herbs and fish. Koreans? where I live is a Koreatown now, since the Armenians moved upscale to La Cañada Flintridge. The Chinese share Alhambra and San Gabriel with the Vietnamese now, and the Thais are down in Hollywood. The Japanese have faded quite a bit, but the Korean markets supply all the Japanese stuff you might need - and most of the hundreds of sushi bars here are actually owned by Koreans now. Filipinos? Our entire health care system runs on immigrants from the Philippines. Mexicans, Central Americans, South Americans? we have zillions of them. Who do you think harvests the vegetables you buy in your supermarkets? Tibetans? Ethiopians? Yup. Etruscans? Nope, they don't have them anywhere any more, but if they did, they'd be here. Alas, when the Romans invaded they were unable to catch a boat to California. Now I'll admit we have some weaknesses. We have only a couple West African markets here, and just about nothing from Central and South Africa. The one BIG problem, though, is - if you didn't stick around here and buy a home back in the '70s, you can't afford to live here. All my world traveling friends from the '60s have to live in Oregon or Las- Vegas now, from where a trip to Vietnam and back takes a lot more than 2 gallons of gas.
Post #434,486 by Ashton 6/13/20 7:07:14 AM 6/13/20 7:07:14 AM Reply	Another.. ... Boffo! ;^> You should be a Calyumnist on any Grade-A (remaining-actual?)-Newspaper ..as none of your summaries could ever be deemed fanciful? un-Documented (or 'incomplete'). I wot.
Post #434,487 by drook 6/13/20 9:19:34 AM 6/13/20 9:19:34 AM Reply	Is this-all so clear that everyone knows it? Or are you particularly attuned because of your culinary adventuring? -- Drew
Post #434,489 by Andrew Grygus 6/13/20 12:11:38 PM 6/13/20 12:11:38 PM Reply	It's pretty inescapable. In whole sections of Los Angeles* the signs are in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Spanish, and even Arabic, often with English subtitles. Glendale is Armenian, and the San Gabriel Valley is almost all Asian. Here in La Crescenta, some years back when the Chamber of Commerce was lily white and very conservative, they tried to get legislation passed that all signs must be in English. They got laughed at. The LA Times food section is almost always about ethnic cuisines - that's what people are interested in. Three quarters of the restaurants here are clearly of one ethnicity or another. Back before COVID there were many ethnic festivals. The big multi-ethnic markets are thriving, even with COVID, though I no longer have to carefully time my visits to be sure there will be a parking space. A couple of years ago, I was at Sunland Produce. The place was swarming as usual. There were saffron robed monks from the big Thai temple, Sikhs in their turbans, black clad priests from the Armenian cathedrals, women in saris, women wearing hijabs** etc. etc. A woman turned to me laughing, and asked, "Are we in America?" - in a heavy German accent. * By "Los Angeles", I mean Los Angeles County, because it's all one huge city. ** In Los Angeles, hijabs tend to be light and loosely tossed. Burkas are not seen at all.
Post #434,572 by crazy 6/17/20 12:46:50 AM 6/17/20 12:46:50 AM Reply	You have iranians!? Can you get Iranian pistachios?
Post #434,573 by Andrew Grygus 6/17/20 1:31:06 AM 6/17/20 1:31:06 AM Reply	Re: You have iranians!? We could for a little bit, but Trump fixed that. We still get some Turkish, but 90% are California.
Post #434,587 by a6l6e6x 6/17/20 9:11:54 PM 6/17/20 9:11:54 PM Reply	There are some in Charlotte. They call themelves Persians. And once, I gad those pistachios. Alex "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -- Isaac Asimov
Post #434,591 by Andrew Grygus 6/17/20 11:48:41 PM 6/17/20 11:48:41 PM Reply	Persians. One of my cookbooks (by an Iranian) explained in the introduction: the country has always been Iran. Persian is name Iranians were called by the Greeks. The writer said that today, due to the confused and unstable religio-political situation, many Iranians use "Iran" for the country and stuff regarding the country, but prefer "Persian" for matters of culture and cuisine.
Post #434,668 by CRConrad 6/21/20 7:25:22 PM 6/21/20 7:25:22 PM Reply	But the name for the language, "farsi", izzat their own or from the Grecians? (Channelling my inner Dubya.)
Post #434,669 by Andrew Grygus 6/21/20 8:28:25 PM 6/21/20 8:28:25 PM Reply	Looks like the Greeks weren't far off. The main region of Iran, and seat of empires, is Fars, the large province in the southwest, and that's where the language name comes from, but in old Persian (around 500 BCE), it was Pars, or Parsis.

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