Sunday, August 31, 2008

Happy BlogDay 2008! (And The Top Peruvian Food Blog Is...)

Happy BlogDay 2008!

If you're not sure what that is, you can read about it here.

This is a two-part post: the first has my BlogDay 2008 recommendations; and in the second, I reveal the top voted Peruvian food blog in the 20 Blogs Peruanos, 20 Peruvian Blogs, contest.

To bloggers and blog readers around the world: it's great to have a day to celebrate blogs and blogging. Blogs, and the digital media revolution in which we are living, truly represent a a change in the way people communicate, providing the ability for anyone with access to a computer to be creative and have his or voice be heard. Blogs allow us to read stories, share visions, and obtain perspectives on the world we might otherwise never know. Blogs connect people in the most disparate parts of the world, ultimately fulfilling our ancient need for self-expression.

Today, on BlogDay 2008, I searched for five blogs that interested me and gave me new information and a new window through which to view the world.

This year, I wanted to focus on the global nature of blogs, so I chose one blog each from the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australasia, and Europe. All are in English. All have interesting links worth exploring.


First, right here from home, LA Taco, is a blog "celebrating the taco lifestyle." What does that mean? Mostly, lots of photographs of Los Angeles, ranging from Bruce Lee's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to a low-rider exhibition. It's very much a documentary of urban LA life, street art, culture, sometimes interspersed with posts about tacos.


I found Cuckoo's Call, a blog from India about "journey, enlightenment and song", because I was interested in reading about the Untouchable caste. Thanks to this post, I learned about a new film from India titled India Untouched: Stories of a People Apart. Nila Kantha Chandra also discusses corruption at the Calcutta Zoo, Indian society, politics, and poetry, and has some other captivating blogs at the profile page.


Sukuma Kenya is digital journalism from Nairobi. This blog believes "the mobilisation of minds, hearts and the application of imagination can build out of chaos and destruction something new, transcendent and meaningful." They denounce the salaries paid to the wives of Kenyan politicians; review Coming of Age, a Kenyan film about growing up during the Jomo Kenyetta era, and discuss Kenyan society and politics in general.


Babasiga is a blog about "Fiji stories, Labasa, South Pacific culture, family, migration, [and the] Australia/Fiji relationship". Written by Peceli and Wendy, who currently live in Geelong, Australia, they explain "Babasiga (pronounced bambasinga) is the dry land of the Macuata in northern Fiji - our place in the sun in Fiji. The town is Labasa and our village is Vatuadova and the beach is Nukutatava. We are part of the Wailevu Fijian tribe with relatives in Mali Island and Naseakula village." Recently, they've posted about daily goings-on in Suva, girls taking automotive courses at secondary school, and the Methodist choir competition, all illustrated with photos.


Lastly (but not least), from Lithuania, I recommend Laimikis, which in Lithuanian means "lucky catch" and is so titled because "
laimikis is people on the streets of Vilnius [and] street people from other towns and ... countries, a concept of street photography based on three principles: 1) the people of your town are no less exotic than personages from overseas; 2) every of them has his/her own story, which is much more interesting, than the comments of any expert; and, 3) street photography is a communication with passers-by and the way to pay a compliment, overcoming usual urban alienation." I love these type of blogs, with loads of pictures of places far away, where I can once again confirm, despite our outward differences, we really are all just the same.

That's it for BlogDay 2008!

OK.

And now.

Finally.

The winner in the Food Blog category of the 2008 edition of 20 Blogs Peruanos, 20 Peruvian Blogs, is ....... Cucharas Bravas: Inspectores Culinarios!


Cucharas Bravas: Inspectores Culinarios (meaning something like: Intrepid Spoons: Culinary Inspectors) is an attractive, smart, and contemporary blog written in Spanish in which Pierina and Freddy review restaurants in Lima and Peru, and write about the general state of Peruvian cuisine. They have received numerous accolades (in fact, I believe this is the second year in a row they have won this prize) and have been featured in the Peruvian traditional and online media. I voted for them!

This blog, Peru Food, made it to the short list of top three most voted Peruvian food blogs, which was an honor in and of itself. Thank you to all who voted for Peru Food.

Pierina and Freddy have done a great job with their blog and deserve all the credit and recognition they receive.

Kudos and congratulations to Cucharas Bravas!






Click here for the Peru Food main page.

TAGS: Peru, Peruvian, food, cooking, cuisine, cocina, comida, gastronomía, peruana

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

And your blog is among my 5 recommendations for Blog Day 2008. It's in polish, so you probably wont be able to read it, but at least you know it! ;)

::Alejandro:: said...

Dziękuję!

I used Google Translator to read it in Polish.

Anonymous said...

Muchas gracias Alejandro!
un abrazo,

Pierina :)

::Alejandro:: said...

Saludos, Pierina!

Anonymous said...

Saludos por el Blog Day!!..de una exbloguera xD.. Felicidades por la nominación, por el flickr también sapié lo del blog Day ahora como que ha ido tomando más fuerza esta fecha no? jeje que bien que hayan medios que nos permitan transmitir lo que pensamos y lo que somos y a la vez que intercambiemos..cultura :)

Interesantes los blogs que recomiendas!:)

::Alejandro:: said...

Saludos Monarcaxx. Creo que sí, este año hubo más participación en el mundo de los bloggers peruanos, pero fuera, todavía no veo que BlogDay cobre la fuerza que necesita. De todos modos, es una bonita celebración. Y ¿por qué dejaste de bloggear, no lo vas a retomar?

rama said...

Hello, and many thanks for highlighting my blog, Cuckoo's Call. I am honoured and touched. Your's is an amazing blog indeed, and its quite befitting that I learn about it on Blog Day. All the best and lots and lots of blogging to you!

::Alejandro:: said...

Happy BlogDay to you Nila kantha
chandra!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Alejandro,

your blog was a discovery to me. I'm big fan of mex cusine and i thing Peru is not far away from that :)

Happy blog day to you too!

::Alejandro:: said...

Hey Laimikis, welcome!

Sukuma Kenya said...

Wow! I would never have thought my blog would have been picked up all the way in Peru! I am honoured!! And now reading all about your amazing cuisine...

::Alejandro:: said...

Welcome Sukuma Kenya!

Anonymous said...

Sorry your blog didn't win the grand prize, Alejandro -- I voted for you. :)

What do you think about Acuria opening a restaurant in San Francisco?

Rafiki said...

Wow, you this is really a golden list! You really managed to get the core of what Blog Day is all about, getting to know different blogs, with different opinions, from different cultures... Many congrats! I discovered your blog through the sukuma kenya link and I am thankful for that. Keep up the good work!

::Alejandro:: said...

@ Barbara: Thanks! As for Gaston Acurio's La Mar Cebicheria Peruana opening up in SF, I think it is going to the 'the' Peruvian restaurant in the US, and it has the possibility of really moving the brand of Peruvian food forward quite a bit. Knowing how Gaston operates, I don't doubt it will be a huge success.

@ Rafiki: Thanks for your comment and thanks for stopping by. I think BlogDay is definitely an opportunity to learn from bloggers all around the world. Welcome!

Canelita said...

What an eclectic group of blogs! I have bookmarked them and will be sure to check them out soon, they all seem very interesting.
Heartfelt congratulations on being one of the Top 3 food blogs in Peru! That is such an amazing accomplishment, Alejandro, I'm personally so proud of you! Felicitaciones.