I heart NY.

I am craving this.

And this.

And this.

And this.

And this.

And this.

I have not seen a scallop, burrata cheese, an oyster, a brussel sprout, a tortilla, or romaine lettuce in months. But alas, most of these things will have to wait. Yet, I continue to read my favorite cooking blogs here as if this is some sort of forced sadistic ritual.

But this past weekend I was able to satisfy one intense craving, thanks to the dutiful courier efforts of a good friend, Kate, who recently travelled to NY from Dar es Salaam. After spending 8 years in NYC, and practicing the sacred Sunday brunch ritual, Kate was determined to make this tradition a reality here. So among the many other goodies she carried back to Dar es Salaam, she tucked a dozen frozen NY bagels into her luggage and lugged them back here from the U.S. Complete with smoked fish, mimosas, and bloody marys, we were delighted to introduce this tradition to several unsuspecting Tanzanian friends. Seriously, what more can you ask for?!

Authentic NY style bagels toasted to perfection in Dar es Salaam. This was a never before seen sight for some around the table.

And of course what bagel would be complete without "original" Philadelphia style cream cheese?

Incidentally, Andrei returns to Dar this Wednesday after being on the road for a month. It is a well known "fact" that anyone traveling outside of Tanzania is expected to fulfill these "courier" duties and bring back loot from the outside world for those left behind. While mostly centered around food items not found here, requests for goodies from the outside world range from the mundane and typical to the totally bizarre - dark chocolate, q-tips, deodorants and fancy soaps, California reserve Chardonnay, a car vacuum cleaner, white athletic socks, magazines, blackberry cell phones, salad dressing, honestly the list goes on and on, but I think you get the point...Andrei promises his return will be like Christmas in June, I am giddy with anticipation!

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Photo Credits:

http://www.theiconicblog.com/

http://simplyrecipes.com/