MORE FOODS

                                                    More Experiences

Lentil Soup

Every noon for fifteen days I consumed lentil soup for lunch. Why? While traveling in Scotland, we found ourselves each day in a castle, fort or museum at noontime.

Suddenly I’d look at my watch and tell my traveling buddy, “We only have fifteen minutes left.”

We’d then hurry to the ever-present café. Lentil soup was always ready, hot, and quick to serve. More than once I added an ice cube to my steaming soup to quickly cool it to eating temperature. The lentil soup and a crusty roll hit the spot.

The soup varied a bit, but was always tasty and good. We enjoyed the quick service, and always joined the others on time.

Yak Burger and Milk

In Tibet I ate a yak burger at the hotel and found it quite tasty, very similar to a beefburger. I ate a yak steak at a local restaurant, complete with entertainment. It was a fun-filled evening and I was even kissed by a yak. The yak milk was good although quite different. Sweet, it was drunk warm.

Borsch

Borsch is a traditional Russian soup. The main ingredients are beets and cabbage. Borsch can be pink to deep red depending on the amount of beets used. It can be thin or thick like a stew. Other available vegetable chunks and or sausage may be added. I had the best borsch in Kiev, Ukraine, and the worst at the Moscow hotel. I like borsch and enjoyed very good ones in between those two.

Bugs anyone?

In Oaxaca, Mexico, people eat chapulines, fried grasshoppers, like we eat candy. There often was a small bowl of them on the restaurant table. There were huge baskets full of chapulines in all the local markets.

Most natives pull off the legs before popping the crisp critters in their mouth. I was game to try them, but they are not a favorite treat.

I brought home a commercially sealed jar of them that could pass through airport agriculture. It was fun watching people’s reactions as I shared them.

Porridge

Porridge (oatmeal) is always included in a Scottish breakfast. The country is well known for its good oats. Porridge is never lumpy, is served piping hot and never with sugar, but a bit of milk is permissible.

Tortes

Tortes are a common dessert, and perhaps the most famous one is Vienna’s Sacher Torte. The multi layered chocolate cake with apricot filling between each layer is a long time specialty of the Sacher Hotel. When in Vienna one must put this treat on their agenda.

Hokey Pokey

We were told that New Zealand’s favorite i.e. national ice cream is hokey pokey. Of course this ice creamaholic had to try it. We might call it butter pecan or butter crunch. It was good.

FOOD FROM FAR AWAY PLACES

                             A Beginning---More to Follow

Pizza is not Italian and French Toast did not originate in France, both are strictly American innovations. As I traveled around the world I ate many different foods that are unique to the locale. Some I liked so well I have incorporated them into my diet, some I enjoyed, but left behind for various reasons.

     Danish pastry does come from Denmark. The light airy pastry is scrumptious. But a Danish smorrebrod is very different than an American smorgasbord, the equivalent of a buffet. A smorrebrod is an open face sandwich with any combination of thinly sliced items one desires. They are made to order, usually in a bakery or special shop. The only limitation is one’s imagination.

     Strudel is German/Austrian and I still talk about the fabulous apple strudel I had in Eizendorf, Austria. Served with or without schlag (real whipped cream), it was warm, right out of the oven and melted in my mouth. These people are proud of their apfelstrudel and on another trip I was served it many times, sometimes it was fair, other times good, but none compared to the strudel I ate in Eisendorf.

    It is said the croissant represents the Turkish half moon and was left behind in Vienna, along with coffee beans, after a failed Turkish invasion.

Cumera, a sweet potato, paler in color and less flavorful than our yam, is a diet staple of New Zealand.

     In Costa Rica the typical Tico main meal consists of rice, black beans, shredded raw cabbage and tomato salad. Meat, egg or plantains may be added.

      In the Cook Islands local delicacies include octopus, and ika mata, which is raw fish marinated in lime juice then combined with coconut milk and other ingredients—often vegetables and/or salad greens. Motu roni, the innards of the sea cucumber, resembles spaghetti and is cooked with butter, garlic, and other spices. In that part of the world sea cucumbers are called sea slugs. The slugs grow about a foot long and are plentiful in the lagoons near the reef. After extracting the insides the slug is thrown back in the water where it regenerates its loses and in 6-8 weeks is ready again for such punishment.

      In many parts of the world children grow up on Vegemite. Much of it is made Down Under from the dregs of the sugar process. Children love it, but it does not please my palate in the slightest.

      In Holland it is common to spread Nutella, a spreadable chocolate on toast. This I do like! Now that Kraft is making this product it is common here in the states.

      Poke is a paw paw (papaya) pudding. Mixed with tapioca and coconut cream, it is orange in color, has a funny texture, and a rather bland taste, reminiscent of poi.

      The Earl of Sandwich and I would have been very good friends, as I can make a sandwich out of anything! In many parts of the world sandwiches do not exist, and where they do there is great variety. In France a sandwich meal would consist of a chunk of cheese, a hard roll or French bread and wine. In Italy, no matter what one orders for sandwich ingredients it will be served on a roll or hard bread with absolutely no condiments of any kind. In England I was served a sandwich of grated cheese over buttered bread.

     When traveling, one can almost always find one of our fast food establishments. But what a shame to visit them, as I think part of any trip is to learn about the culture and to try different and new things, including local cuisine. I might not order a food a second time, but I just might, and meanwhile I have enjoyed my trip to the fullest.

     My motto is to eat first and ask questions afterward, as so often our perception of a food colors our attitude and we just might miss out on something great.