First Class
THE CHINESE
CENTURY
If the Olympics aren’t your
bag, don’t sweat it. There’s a
lot more than sporting events
to experience in China, not
least of which are its myriad
cuisines and culinary tradi-
tions. But don’t let its massive
size deter you. Even though
“The Middle Kingdom” is
the third largest country on
Earth and there’s a cuisine
for every province—and then
some—help is on the way.
Culinary anthropologists Jef-
frey Alford and Naomi Duguid
recently published Beyond
the Great Wall: Recipes and
Travels in the Other China
(Artisan, $40), showing that
Chinese food is more than
the quickie takeout meal we
think it is here in the States.
Sharing the rich histories
and customs of some of
the country’s farthest-flung
regions, this lush coffee-table
book, including hundreds of
photographs and recipes,
celebrates China’s ancient
past as it navigates its great-
est era of change.
m and Liz
ff’s home
a virtual
useum of
usual ukes.
String Theory
Jumpin’ Jim Beloff had been playing the
guitar for years when he found a vintage
ukulele at a flea market in Los Angeles in
1991. After one week of fiddling around
with it he was so smitten, he says, that
he put his guitar down forever to play
the ukulele, to write music for the ukulele, to put out how-to books and videos,
and to become a ukulele evangelist.
Two years ago Beloff and his wife, Liz,
looked around and saw ukulele festivals
all up and down the West Coast and decided to “fan the flames in the Northeast.”
The couple moved from Los Angeles
to Connecticut, where Beloff’s brother-in-law had set up a ukulele-making
operation in an old gas station in West
Hartford. Now they’ve made and sold
more than 30,000 of these ukes, called
Flukes and Fleas, and sold more than
300,000 of their ukulele songbooks. Beloff also set up a page on his Flea Market
Music website where ukulele musicians
can find each other, and the next thing
he knew, ukulele festivals, ukulele clubs
and ukulele shows were appearing up
and down the Northeast Corridor.
“This whole thing has been catching
like a brush fire,” Beloff says. “We call it
the great tropical state of Connecticut.”
Flukes and Fleas are made with some
molded parts and can be less expensive
than entirely handcrafted ukes. They
run from about $170 to a little over
$300, and can be purchased, along
with Beloff’s books, CDs and DVDs, at
fl eamarketmusic.com.
Here are some more East Coast
ukulele finds:
• Dave Means is a ukulele maker in
Annapolis, Md., who handcrafts his
ukuleles out of gorgeous woods and
with beautiful inlays. Means’ ukes (from
about $800 to more than $1,500) can be
purchased at glyphukulele.com.
• Ukulele festivals have popped up all
along the Northeast. There’s now a yearly
New York Uke Fest ( nyukefest.com)
and an annual mid-Atlantic Ukulele
Invitational ( metroukeassoc.org).
• Victoria Vox is a Baltimore-based
uke player who sometimes plays the
ukulele while driving. You can see that
feat (be glad you’re on the train!) and
hear more of Victoria’s music at
victoriavox.com.
