DCist: DCist Preview: Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Vaughan

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:50:01 -0500

agreed erincarly. i thought it was some sort of massive typo - or an acronym for "nicaraguan association of stately associations." um. or something.

erincarly

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:09:44 -0500

everytime i see "NASA" and "Folklife" in the same sentence, i cringe.

Bethesdaist

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:55:46 -0500

Connie, here is the Post's article about Bhutan's notoriety in the food world. I'm hoping the folklife festival will have more exotic dishes from Bhutan, like fried hornets in tomato soup. Just like Mom used to make!

connie dobbs

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:00:01 -0500

@Coro: It's hard to be a food purist when you're talking about as big a place is Texas. Point taken. @Bethesdaist: worst food worldwide?!? go with g0d; and then tell us about it!

Bethesdaist

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:31:10 -0500

Monkey, the cheese from Bhutan is made from yak's milk or something, so it's funky cheese. And they put hot peppers in everything, including their breakfast foods. The Post had an article about how many gourmands consider Bhutan's food to be the worst national cuisine, so I'm dying to try it just as a dare. Mmmmm, funky cheese in the summer sun! Sounds like a good time.

Coro

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:07:44 -0500

As a born and bred Texan (and recent DC transplant), monkey's comment about the beans is strange. Some people like beans, others don't -- all are allowed to be Texans. I sometimes omit them, but, more often than not, include them, and I frequently add a pinch of cinammon. It is often not even enough to taste, but more just to sense. Also, I load my chili up in a bowl with some good ol' saltines and tons of cheddar, though you can't go wrong with Fritos. As for Texas wine, some is passable, while some is just not. The climate ranges in the west (Lubbock) and central (Austin, Fredericksburg) are actually suited just fine for cab and merlot. The Texas whites I've had are generally suspect as it just doesn't stay cool enough anywhere for them to really fluorish, even in the Panhandle.

flapjack

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:04:03 -0500

MSto - exactly what I was thinking. And I'm a sucker for Frito Pie. Dems good eats right there, I tell you what.

MSto

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:58:18 -0500

mmm i want Hard Times for lunch

Vaughan

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:53:13 -0500

@Hillman - i'm pouring out a mournful hill country zinfandel to that.

Mmmbop

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:48:45 -0500

Oh boy, crafts. It'd be a lot more fun if they just let a circus set up down there.

monkeyrotica

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:45:50 -0500

The Smithsonian's recipe for Texas chili is highly suspect. Beans? Perhaps that cinnamon-laced abomination they serve in Ohio requires beans, but no self respecting bowl of Texas Red contains a single bean. About the most you would adulterate you chili with would be a bag of Fritos, for the eponymous "frito pie." I shudder to think what they're doing to the chicken fried steak. Probably some godawful "heart smart" version fried in EVOO. Yum-o! Hurry up, SCOTUS. Someone please shoot me.

boondoggle

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:23:39 -0500

As much as I have been longing to see Bhutan, NASA and Texas combined in single festival, I don't see a drive-thru liquor store on that map. C'mon Smithsonian, where is the authenticity?

Hillman

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:19:01 -0500

We from Texas drink the suspect wine mostly to forget what George Bush and his ilk have done to our Texas. Specifically, how they mananged to take the ultimate 'live and let live' mentality there and turned all but an enclave in and around Austin into Taliban West.

Fluxgirl

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:08:50 -0500

And, as usual, the Folklife festival is right on time for the hottest day of the year.

monkeyrotica

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:52:26 -0500

So did the food suck or what? There was a blurb on the radio this morning saying the Bhutan food would include such exotic delicacies as noodles, cheese, and tea! Sounds like the year Scotland was exhibiting and they had haggis burgers, which were indistiguishable from the rock-hard s**tcakes we got in gradeschool. Except these were $8.

JoanArkham

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:40:35 -0500

I haven't made it as far as the NASA section yet (maybe today) but it seems much smaller than last year's festival.

Mike Licht

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:17:43 -0500

I've made a few Texas Music suggestions.

Mike Licht

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:20:43 -0500

The Bhutan area is great -- spend time at every exhibit and stage, and don't ignore the singers and musicians just standing by themselves, making music. The Texas music is wonderful and the cooking is okay if you like such things, but the Texas winemaking seems a bit unlikely. The NASA area is huge. Not much is folkloric except the oral history stage and perhaps the painter doing some spacey renderings. The kiddies will love the displays. This is your chance to see where the real science data comes from -- unmanned missions. Everything else is engineering and death-defying stunts (manned missions).