When we discovered Eggettes, a Hong Kong sweet we profiled previously, little did we know that there were similar popover confections present around the world (though we should have guessed). Ranging from India to Denmark, all of these treats are made in special pans with round indentations (as can be seen above). First up are poffertjes, mini-pancakes made with buckwheat flour that originated in the Netherlands in the 15th century. Kitchen butterfly has a recipe for poffertjes from Dutch Cooking Today (Kook ook Holland).
Aebelskivers in a pan.
Similar to poffertjes are ebelskivers / abelskivers / aebelskivers from Denmark, not surprising, given the proximity of the two countries. The recipes are quite similar, but an aebelskiver (or their pan, rather) is larger. For those ready to commit to the recipes: Fante’s Kitchen Shop in Philadelphia has both poffertje and aebelskiver pans, as does William-Sonoma. Also falling into this small-popover milieu are Paniyaram (seen above), an Indian snack that can be made sweet or savory. We think this serves as evidence that some things – like bite-sized carb-y snacks – are universal.
We love tiffin boxes. In Britain and India a “
Our usual Indian food stomping grounds are usually closer to Devon Ave., but a recent pre-concert dinner took us into the vicinity of the West Loop – home to the modern Indian restaurant Veerasway. We went into Veerasway a bit skeptical. It looked like any other trendy restaurant in the already-trendy West Loop – complete with low lighting, colorful walls and a cool, minimalist interior.
Diwali Sweets for sale in Toronto by 
[Flickr Photo from Dw33by]
Gaper’s Block: Drive-Thru had an interesting feature last week detailing a vegan foodie’s culinary adventures around the world – 
Puerto Rico isn’t only into local cuisine. The Caribbean in general has a long history of cultural interchange, so the Eaters weren’t really surprised at some of the interesting Puerto Rican-fusion cuisine we found while wandering about the island. Here are two of the highlights:
There is such a thing as a free lunch. Really. I saw a sign in the window of Mt. Everest, Evanston’s only Indian/Nepalese restaurant, offering a free lunch buffet for charity, so I decided to give it a go. I was not surprised to find that the restaurant was packed to the brim with hungry students and local residents when I arrived at 2:30. However, they were seating everyone together at communal tables, as to speed the turnover. I ended up sharing a table with a nice couple and their very cute (and gastronomically-adventuresome) 1-year old daughter. Mt. Everest’s dining room is comfortable and low-key with wooden tables and soft lighting – the buffet is tucked away unobtrusively in an alcove in the corner.
Eating The World 