EATING IN CHINA

    At our first evening meal in Beijing at Nine Flowers Mountain Restaurant we enjoyed a delicious Peking duck dinner. David gave us instructions on the use of chopsticks saying, “Most of our meals will be served family style. Food is the first necessity of the people. Color, taste, smell, shape, sound, and the serving vessel are all important aspects of food. Vegetables are the main ingredient and rice is the foundation of Chinese meals. Food is an integral part of our culture.

    “China is divided into four sections when it comes to cuisine and cooking differences, and yin and yang are ever present in the Chinese diet. Yin foods are moist, soft, have a cooling effect and nurture the feminine aspect of nature. Yang foods are fried, spicy or with red meat and are warming, nourishing the masculine side of nature.”

     We were to learn that we always ate at large round tables, symbolizing unity, seating 8-10 people. Each table had a large glass lazy susan in its center. Our plates were saucer size and forks were provided only on request. Meals always included soup and rice in addition to several (6-7) other dishes. Pots of tea were also placed on the turntable so we could fill our own small teacup. Chinese do not normally end a meal with dessert, but if they do it is fruit. I found the food very tasty and managed from day one to successfully eat with chopsticks. That was a real surprise to me! The spoon and fork I packed remained in my suitcase.

    Once in Xian we were in the land of noodles. One day at lunch we watched a noodle maker stretch a glob of dough into yards and yards of spaghetti size pasta. One evening after an 18-course dumpling dinner at the Tang Theater Restaurant we viewed a folkloric show.

Upon arrival at the Tibet hotel we were given a cup of warm sweet yak milk. I’m not a big milk drinker but I, as well as the rest of us, thought the beverage was quite good. It tends to be chilly at high altitudes so the warm drink was welcome.

 

     We had several domestic airline flights while in Chine. Each was a on different airline. We found the planes clean, new and efficient. We were served very good meals on each flight---reminiscent of what American air travel used to be like!

Arrival evening in Tibet we were served yak burgers which were very tasty.

    The gal I traveled to China with was a very picky eater. In Beijing she wanted to eat at a big American chain steak house. What everyone wants to do when in China, right? But to avoid her pouting I acquiesced and had the absolutely worst hamburger I’ve ever eaten!

    One evening in Xi’an we partook of a Mongolian hot pot dinner, hot meaning heat hot, not spicy hot. A pot of boiling water over a burner was at each place. A lazy susan in the middle of the table 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. It was fun experimenting with foods and an unusual evening and experience.

RUSSIAN MEMORIES

                             Memories from a Great Trip

From Theater Square, near a large granite monument of Karl Marx looking at the Bolshoi, we had a wonderful view of the theater across the street. Built in 1825, the Bolshoi is Moscow’s oldest and best-known theater. Its splendid external architecture sports a splendid façade with columns and large bronze horses at its peak. The theater that seats 2000 is known for its world-famous opera and ballet companies. It is second in size only La Scala in Italy. Unfortunately I can tell you nothing about the inside as the theater was covered with scaffolding undergoing a massive renovation.

The hour and a half flight from Kiev, Ukraine to Moscow actually took us ALL day. We left our Kiev hotel at 9:30 AM and entered out Moscow hotel at 5:00 PM. At the hotel we walked through a scanner every time we entered the hotel and all bags and purses were also scanned every time.

Shortly after leaving the pier in Moscow we encountered nude bathers in the river. Although lathering up with soap when they saw us a couple of the guys couldn’t resist flashing the boat as we sailed by.

FOOD

Meals are always set with bread, salt, pepper, and mustard. Cold appetizers are served first and are usually washed down with vodka, the national drink which generally is 40% alcohol. A soup or broth follows the appetizers, then the entrée.

Rye bread is a favorite of all Slavs, extremely popular and is the bread most often served. The bread is soft, spongy and has a pleasant flavor. Bliny are pancakes. Kasha is a gruel and may be thin or thick.

Vegetables especially cabbage, carrots, potatoes, onions, turnips, peas, plus mushrooms, nuts and berries are the most common elements of a meal. Shchi (shee) is a vegetable soup with cabbage, potatoes, onion, garlic, carrots, roots and spices. It is baked and served with sour cream or milk and of course rye bread. Ukha (oo kah) is a hot fish soup with 3-4 kinds of fish, potatoes, onion and spices.

 Jam is often added to tea instead of sugar.  Pies are popular menu items.

            Kvass is similar to beer without the alcohol content. It is made from fruit and berries.  Mors is made from berry juice, which has been diluted and fermented.

SOME DUTCH FOODS

                                        Rijsttafel  and Cheese

Rijsttafel is a Dutch word that literally translates to rice table. It is an elaboration from Indonesia and typically consists of many (forty is common) side dishes served in small portions, accompanied by rice prepared in several different ways.  A rijsttafel also features an array of flavors, colors, degrees of spiciness as well as textures including crispy, chewy, slippery, soft, hard, velvety, gelatinous, and runny.

I ate my first rijsttafel in Amsterdam, Holland on my first trip to the city. Generally today these meals are served buffet style where one can help himself to whatever foods he desires. They are great fun with a group of people vs dining alone.

The Dutch have been producing cheese since 400 AD. In the Middle Ages official dairy markets and weigh houses were introduced that controlled both the quality and weight of cheese.

I have visited many cheese factories or enterprises over the years, but at one a docent gave us an interesting insight on an old custom.

She told us, “Today most cheese production has been taken over by factories, but there are still over 600 cheese producing farms left. Dutch cheeses include Gouda, Edam and Leiden, with Gouda accounting for 50 percent of all cheese production.  Edam is the only cheese in the world that is perfectly round and is the second cheese product. Leiden cheese is distinguished by the addition of cumin seeds.

“Soft cheese (jonge kaas) is ripened for three weeks, sharp cheese (belegen kaas) ripens two to seven months, and very sharp varieties (oude kaas) ripen at least twelve months.”

She continued, “Years ago the farmer would take his cheese to market once a week where he would partake in a sort of game. A buyer would make a bid the farmer refused, and the bidder walked away. The bidder returned, the farmer would raise the price, and the buyer would walk away again. The third time a price was agreed upon and the cheese officially weighed. Meanwhile the bidder would bang the palm of his hand on the cheese to see if the holes in it were the right size. That was called cheese bashing. With each slap either the farmer had reduced his price or the bidder had increased his offer.

“When this ended the buyer sampled the cheese. Then the cheese porters, dressed in white uniforms and lacquered straw hats, carried the cheese to the weight house on barrows painted the color of their section. The weigh master called out the weight marking it on a blackboard. There were 80 cheeses to a barrow weighing about 353 pounds. Finally the cheese was loaded onto a lorry or taken to a warehouse.”

Today larger production and more efficiency endure but lost is the fun, color and custom.