About Nancy the foodie

Nancy Harkrider – Asian food and culture junkie

I was about 10 when I first realized I wasn’t going to be content with living out my life in Texas. I got so excited when I first encountered Southeast Asia in a National Geographic, I announced to my mother that I wanted to go to the jungles of Borneo and soak up sunsets over the South China Sea. When I finally made that trip, the experience far exceeded my intense childhood fantasies.  Clearly it’s one thing to read about a tribe of former head hunters and another to be a guest in one of their long houses.

It took three years of working in Europe and time in Oregon for raising my children to finally fulfill my Asian wanderlust dream. I relished my decade in Asia during the 90’s where my passion for culture, textiles and, of course food, went over the top. I love writing about it, talking about but most of all sharing it real time with other Americans.

It’s helpful for you to know that I am a shoot-from-the-hip Asian cook, something I would never do with a soufflé.   I may have guests whose eyes begin to water when they dive into my long beans because I got distracted by conversation while I was adding chilies. At the same meal, I can get raves about my mango salsa for the grilled tilapia, with requests for a recipe. And to be honest I don’t have a recipe for it.  I’m inclined to substitute rather than increasing carbon emissions with a trip to the market.

What wakes me in the middle of the night with ideas are the crazy, exotic and yes bizarre stories that so fluidly merge Asian food to its rich, ancient cultures.  It was either a blog or I was going to be accosting strangers at my favorite Asian markets around Seattle in the hope that at least a few of them would be interested in some story sharing.

Here’s the transparent part.  I design and lead culinary/culture tours to Asia, but the main course of this blog is my consuming passion for sharing my experiences, my curiosities and my “ah-has” about Asian food as culture.

Guaranteed, I’m not looking for a one way street.  I can do that through my travel website.  I’m looking for delightful dancing dialogues with people like you who have already succumbed to the siren call of Asia or are intrigued with a dalliance.

It’s all about adventures beyond the plate ©

And away we go!

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Nancy’s website: http://exploreasia.net
Her Partner’s website http://epicopia.com