Sunday, September 25, 2016

MORE FOODS---#3

                                           More GreatFoods
Cornish Pastry
Years ago tin miners took their lunch down into the mines. Their wives created a pie with a very thick crust. The miners could eat the inside of the pie while holding the thick crust with their dirty contaminated hands. When they were finished the crust was discarded. Today the crust has been replaced with a flaky pastry. My filling was a ground lamb mixture about the consistency of mush. It was different but very good, and if I had not known it was a lamb filling I never would have guessed it.

Peppakahor
Peppakahor is a thin ginger and almond Swedish cookie. The fluted round cookies are used to make the equivalent of gingerbread houses at Christmas time. These yummy cookies taste a lot like a ginger cookie.

Mongolian Hot Pot
A Mongolian hot pot dinner, hot meaning heat hot, not spicy hot, was an interesting experience. A pot of boiling water over a burner was at each place setting. The lazy susan was loaded with all kinds of veggies, and meat. A large array of condiments to make one’s own sauce was on another table. It was a different kind of meal and one could individualize her meal however she liked. A fun meal in China.

Pavlova
Pavlova, the desert named after the famous dancer, has been a rival between Australia and New Zealand for years. I tasted my first Pavlova at a museum café on my first trip down under. The baked meringue pie shell is filled with whipped cream (the real stuff) and topped with thin slices of kiwi. It is yummy.

Good but Different Pizza
The pizza we had in Vienna and throughout the Balkans was good, but different. The paper-thin crust was brushed with olive oil, then toppings added. It is common to share a pizza, so it always came with half on each of two plates. No other cuttings are made, unless requested. The very thin dough really requires one eating it with a knife and fork. We liked these pizzas and ate many of them.

Chop Sticks
The first day in China our guide gave us a lesson on how to hold and use chop sticks. I had always had a bit of a problem with them in the past. But I conquered the technique and ate every single meal with chop sticks---no silverware!
In every restaurant in China we ate at large round tables seating 8-10 people. In the center of the table was a large lazy susan. Serving dishes were placed on it and we helped ourselves to the foods we wanted. We were given saucer-size plates, but the Chinese eat directly from the main bowl. The food was always good. Dessert is nearly always fruit.

The Best Strudel
I’ve mentioned this before but it is such a wonderful memory I shall repeat it. My German bicycle guide detoured us mid-afternoon one day to Eizendorf to a family B & B where we enjoyed a wonderful apple strudel. It was hot out of the oven, and served with or without schlag (real whipped cream), whatever your choice.
Apple strudel is popular in this part of the world, and over the years I’ve eaten a lot of it, but none has ever been as good as that wonderful Eizendorf strudel!

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