NBPM25 - Travel Tuesday - Food Flashbacks

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

It's the last Travel Tuesday in NaBloPoMo and I have to admit I'm a little stumped for an idea. Which is why it's evening & I haven't posted yet. Well, I'd better hurry up 'cuz The Mentalist is on in less than half an hour, so you're going to get a brief food/drink tour of the places I've been. 'Cuz food is memorable, you know?

1. Austria
Actually, I don't think we ate here, unless it was snacks on the train. Hey, that was easy... next!

2. Belgium
I saw Brussels sprouts actually growing on the stems for the first time ever right outside Brussels. Which is cool. Also, the BEER! Yum!!!

3. Czech Republic
Only here briefly, but we happened to be in Prague on December 5th, which is St. Nicholas Day. We sat in freezing weather at an outdoor cafe, drinking absinthe and watching trios consisting of St. Nicks, angels, and devils walking around. Apparently they go around asking kids if they were good the past year.

4. France
Ah, France. Mr. Kluges had "saddle of rabbit" there, but the best, best, best meal we had in Paris was at La Casa di Sergio. Oh, I'm almost in raptures just remembering it. *sigh*

5. Germany
I still remember a few German phrases and - surprise!- most of them involve food or drink. I loved a lot of the sausages, especially Nuernberg sausages, and all the yummies to be had at the winter markets we went to, like gluhwein (mulled wine) and the hash-brown-potato-pancakes-with-applesauce-on-top.

6. Iceland
Iceland is expensive. We were there on a Valentine's Day deal through Icelandair, which included one fancy romantic dinner (with pate even). Other than that, we mostly ate ham and cheese sandwiches. Oh, I'm not a fish fan, but we had some AMAZING cod as part of a day tour where we rode Icelandic horses.

7. Ireland
In the two years we lived here we got to enjoy a lot of Irish food. I miss the toasted specials (grilled cheese sandwich with ham, tomato, & onion), the bacon (Oh, the BACON!), popping into a pub for lunch & a pint, the English Market (Oh, I miss you, English Market with your amazing cheese selections, and excellent olives, and bizarre cuts of meat I never bought), Moro chocolate bars, and digestive biscuits, to name but a few things.

8. Italy
Oh, I can't even tell you how much wonderful food we had here! So instead I'll tell you about how I will never forget the word "fegatto," because I learned the hard way that it means liver. I can also tell you that in an ignorant taste test, my dislike of liver is based on the taste, not any preconceived notions. Even in Venice, liver was not a favorite of mine. Blech.

9. Mexico
I think my favorite food from Mexico was the mole sauce. We did the big tourist thing in Cancun, though, so it's not like we were eating very authentically. But hey, anyplace they recommend drinking beer instead of water isn't half bad.

10. New Zealand
I think of pavlova when I think of New Zealand food. Living there for 3 months for student teaching, a group of us from my college rented a house together, so we mostly cooked what we knew. I did discover crumpets there, though, and should actually go add them to my grocery list right now. They always remind me of a cross between an English muffin and an unflipped pancake. Also, it's "kiwiFRUIT!" "Kiwi" is the bird or a New Zealander, not the food.

11. United Kingdom
Um, the Brits aren't really known for their food, are they? We were only in London briefly, and to be honest, I really can't remember much about the food. Oh, except that at the hug-giganti-mungous theatre where we saw The Two Towers on opening day had either regular salty popcorn or sweet popcorn. I chose salty.

12. United States
Yadda, yadda, yadda. Let's see, I love the huge variety you can get at the grocery stores and some of the regional differences you find. Yay for sweet tea and BBQ in the south! Also, Little Sizzlers, good hash browns, Wheat Thins, Triscuits, and chocolate malts.

13. Vatican City
Well, I guess, see Italy above. The Vatican City's just not that big, so I doubt we actually ate there, but we might have had gelato. Mmmmm... gelato!