School Lunch, week 1!

One of the virtues of volunteering at the school is that I get to relive school lunch for two weeks! Seriously, though, it is a great avenue into local Rwandese cooking.

The first dish came from the lunch for the engagement party. As such, it had some celebrated favorites. It was headlined by the meat brochettes, skewered and grilled. Accompanying the main event were a variety of side dishes, including a carrot salad, fresh onion, tomato, and pepper salad, a variant of coleslaw, and irish potatoes. And for dessert, a small banana. A great introduction - the irish potatoes had a lovely sauce on them and I'm always game for grilled meat.

The second day at school brought another lunch. This one consisted of a kidney bean, tomato, and onion stew, boiled potatoes, and cooked pasta. The pasta and potatoes were very straight forward - providing the daily dose of starch but little else. The stew, however, was scrumptious, with the flavors of the ingredients combining with unknown spices to be instantly eatable.

The third day brought another special treat: sombe. Sombe is a dish made from the leaves of the cassava plant. It is a brilliant green color, it looks much like the indian dish saag. However the flavor is much herbier, with the specific herb hard to put one's finger on. Methi, perhaps? I dunno, but with the hot chutney provided, this was delicious. The kidney bean stew and rice were great complements - though I could've done just with the sombe!

Clearly beats the pink slime and chocolate milk of American school lunches. I can't wait to see what next week will bring!

Intro to the Akilah Institute for Women

I mentioned that this trip would have a bit of a different flavor from the last. On this one, I've luckily stumbled into an opportunity to do some volunteering. The organization I'll be visiting is the Akilah Institute for Women (akilahinstitute.org), a college that trains women to be leaders in the tourism and hospitality sector in Rwanda. It is about three years old, and about to graduate its first class this coming August.

The school itself is a sight to behold, perched on a hillside in the neighborhood of Kibagabaga, a 20 minute drive from the center of Kigali. One main complex contains the three classrooms and teacher and administrative offices. The classrooms are painted Blue, Yellow, and Green - the three colors of the Rwandan flag. Students stay with their cohort, and likewise are the Blue, Yellow, or Green group.

S had met the founder last year at the Kennedy School when she gave a talk. Immediately S was interested, and converted that interest into a two week visit to provide some assistance on the development of the school's leadership curriculum. I have the good fortune to tag along. In addition, I'll be running some Math and IT workshops to help the students improve their skills in those areas.

I was greeted at the school with this awesome poster advertising my services. I adopted the name fully, and am known as Joseph among the students. It is much easier to say, especially for French speakers! After connecting with C, the Math / IT teacher, I learned the areas of focus are ratios and proportions, percentages, and interest rates. Should be a great two weeks of teaching and tutoring - and along the way getting to meet some pretty inspiring women!

We arrived on a unique day. That afternoon, the school was celebrating the engagement of the two co-founders, D and E. The students had prepared a Rwandese lunch (more on that in a separate post!) and a talent show to celebrate the work the founders had done on behalf of the school. The couple was dressed in local garb, then seated at a banquet table, where a variety of dances, songs, and skits were performed. Very cool!

Muraho, Rwanda! (and the blog springs back to life...)

Dear blog, dear readers, it has been awhile! 


Almost two years in fact, with less traveling and more studying, as I've been pursuing a doctoral degree in education. So lots of courses, little travel - though still a fair amount of eating. Should it come to fruition, I plan to do a small series of retrospective food posts, highlighting the best that the past two years has offered on the eating front.


But. But! There is no time to be in the past now, as the present is awfully exciting! I'm heading to Rwanda with S for two and a half weeks. It will be a combination trip - some volunteering, some catching up with her old friends from her time here five years ago, and some explorations!


To get there is no easy feat. Using some frequent flier tickets, booked a whole five weeks in advance (more notice then for the round-the-world trip!), we'll travel for 27 hours going there and 24 hours, all in one calendar day, on the return.


The ourbound itinerary included quick stops in Frankfurt and Brussels. Frankfurt was our Lufthansa-based destination from DC; Brussels the connection to Brussels Airlines, with the colonial-era Belgium-Rwanda air connection we needed.

Of course, we couldn't squander a little bit of time in European airports, even if it was 5:45am local time. Luckily, the gate-side pub had no trouble at all whipping up a Frankfurter, side of bread, potato salad, pretzel, and 0.3cl of draught beer. Yum! Of the plate, the standout was the potato salad, both in quantity and quality. It was a large portion (good as the entire plate set us back nearly US$18). It was also deliciously spiced, with lots of dill and mustard and just a bit of mayo. We had to fight over the single fork for who would get the last bite...


And, with that, we are en route to my first journey to Sub-Saharan Africa!

30+ at 30

What a trip, man, what a trip. I would never have dreamed that it would turn out this way. 122 days of being on the road, of resting in one place for five nights, max, and then moving on. Throughout it all, I kept my sanity and I kept my thread. The great eats I had, and got to chronicle, provided an ever-changing yet still stable anchor for my time with no home.

And the adventures, well, they just piled up. A calm and tranquil temple garden in Kyoto. A sunrise, slow and steady, seen from a volcano top in Bali. A weekend trip to the birthplace of the Malaysian state, Melaka. A night on the open grasslands in Inner Mongolia, just me and Max and the sheep. A float in the magical and astringent Dead Sea. A fantastic, loving, and one-of-a-kind wedding in southern Turkey. A balloon ride to the heavens and back in Cappadocia. A trip to days of Jewishness past in Krakow and southern Poland. A celebration of sport and of beer and of the outdoors with 1,000 friends in Munich. A loss of sight to bring out a stronger sense of taste at a dunkelrestaurant in Berlin. A trip to a community striking out on its own in Christiania. A bike ride that couldn't be beat up and down the canals in Amsterdam. And a short but sweet exploration of Helsinki, land of so much reindeer meat.

And so we are here, blog post number three hundred and sixteen, the last of them for this grand adventure. The blog waxed and waned, with faulty Internet connections overcome throughout. China managed to put a three week delay on the blog that never went away, but that just adds to the nostalgia of each post, I think. Thanks so much to the people that hosted me, that gave me recommendations, that traveled with me. And thanks so much to all of you for reading and for sharing my trip with me.

Now, I managed, barely, to get past 30 countries visited just past the age of thirty (see full list below). However, I don't want to get so far behind, comparatively, next time.

So, time to plan the next trip! Where to?

-----------------------------------------

Before the trip

USA

Canada

Mexico

Nicaragua

Chile

Argentina

Cuba

Aruba

Spain

France

England

Ireland

Germany

Switzerland

Italy

India

Sri Lanka

Thailand

Vietnam

Singapore

Cambodia

Hong Kong

On this trip

Japan

Indonesia

Singapore (again)

Malaysia

China

Turkey

Israel

Germany (again)

Poland

Czech Republic

Denmark

The Netherlands

Finland

---------------------------------------

At long last, the Top 8 meals of the trip!

I figure I've had near 350 meals over the course of this trip. Many got highlighted on the blog. A full 28 got special recognition as memorable. But we have to get even more specific than that. We have to get down to a smaller list, and they will be ranked!

Last to make the list but not least in terms of yumminess, #8 is the fabulous meatballs on a hill in Turkey. Kofte at Yucetepe, a small cafeteria on the top of Buyukada, was spectacularly simple and delicious. The meatballs sang with the combination of freshly ground meat and a small number of spices. They were grilled to perfection, with char marks and a crisp exterior yielding to luscious medium rare meat inside. Superbly fresh veggies on the side, a hit-the-spot pilsner to wash it down, and a view of all of Istanbul's glory made the meal one of complete happiness. Full post here.

Lucky #7 is the brunch at Gugelhof. Were I ever to live in Berlin, I don't know how I'd let a month pass without making it here for brunch at least once. The flammenkuchen showed off the locally harvested chanterelles. The egg dish was simple done beautiful and perfectly. And the choucroute plate, oh choucroute plate, was bite after bite of delicious. The element that took this to the upper echelon, however, was the blood sausage. It was like cake, it was like sausage, it was like a pack of delicious spices. It was all of these things and more, combined to balance on the palate like an egg on a knife's blade. Full post here.

Just out of the top five but still on the list at #6 is the transcendent dumplings at the sidewalk stand in Ha'erbin. Max and I had variably luck, to be sure, but this meal made all missteps worth it. Perfectly cooked dumplings. The exterior, a rice-flavored pasta that had been hand-stretched and cooked until it was tender and chewy, but not sticky. The interior, a mix of pork and herbs that created a juicy flavor explosion with each bite. And the dumpling sauce, simple yet high-quality vinegar and chillies to bring the most out of each of the 16 perfect little pillows. Full post here.

Coming in at #5, the various Turkish breakfasts in Istanbul but, especially, the delightful treat at Kale. My first taste of simit, a sesame bagel stretched to the limit and toasted until crisp. My first plate of marinated olives that were so packed with flavor they didn't need stuffing. My first (and simplest) shepherd salad, with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and Turkish peppers mere hours from being picked. And the bal kaymak, well, about the bal kaymak I can only say that this clotted cream and honey spectacular may have taken some time off of my life but it was well, well worth it. Full post here.

Next up, at #4, the very unknown and very delicious tasting menu at Chaya Mario in Hiroshima. Presented by an ambiance that felt like a homey inn on the side of a travelers' road, I immediately warmed to the place and the two friends running the establishment. Their tasting menu, of which I only have the untranslated Japanese kanji, presented surprise after surprise with a handful of standouts. The first dish, a rectangle of tofu topped with salmon roe, redefined what tofu could be. A clam soup, thick with the grain of a barley, redefined hearty in the Japanese style. Importantly, early on, this meal blazed the trail of a true "What's That?" experience that would be an enduring source of exploration in the months to come. Full post here.

With the bronze medal, at #3, is fresh fish. But not just any fresh fish. The best fresh fish I've ever had. And I only had to wait three hours in the rain in Tokyo to have it, not a bad deal. Piece after piece of amazing nigiri sushi flowed our way. The uni was melting like butter from the sea, an extravagant bite. The spanish mackerel packed a wasabi punch that amplified the fish's own flavors. And the kawahagi, a slice of fish with a piece of its own liver on top, was the chef's recommendation and a truly unique mouthful. I was raving throughout and raving afterwards, and now I still don't know when I'll be able to have nigiri sushi again without comparing it to this fantastic set. Full post here.

Oh-so-close, our runner-up, at #2, the seafood feast at Long Beach Restaurant in Singapore. I knew I would love the pepper crab. And I did, oh I did. Savoring every bite, licking the black pepper flakes encrusted on the crab's shell, it was superb. But then! Out of nowhere! Golden river phoenix fish! Steamed a la Penang! Wow, this fish created new possibilities for what steamed fish could be. It was cooked so that a simple poke with a pair of chopsticks would reveal a luscious bite of fish. The fish itself, sans sauce, was full of great meaty flavor. But the sauce took it to the beyond and back. Tomatoes and scallions to bring flavor and depth and some chillies to add the needed kick. Long Beach is known as the splurge place in Singapore and I can definitely see why. Full post here.

And...

...the...

...winning...

...meal,...

...in...

...the...

...top...

...spot,...

...the...

...#1 eats...

...is...

...the amazing trio of Sichuan dishes I had over three weeks in China. The Sichuan hot pot, half and half yet full of flavor. When the big bold chillies overwhelmed, a brief retreat to the soothing broth would ready me for more. Sliced meats, great veggies, more pig brain, and Kung Fu noodles, definitely a full-on feast. The Sichuan dry pot, a mix and match of pick your own ingredients. The cow stomach, a new favorite for me in China, blended well with mushrooms, bamboo, and others. But, really, they were just a side note to the resplendent Sichuan peppercorn. This little feisty guy doesn't bring the heat, he just makes your mouth numb in an amazing, novel, and let-me-have-it-again way. And, at the top of the list of Sichuan meals, the near religious experience I had eating the slices of beef poached in chili oil. Sure, there were other things on my table, like lettuce and peanut sauce and some Chuan noodles, but the poached beef was king. Each bite transported me to a land I had not seen before, a land full of spice and heat. Each bite also confirmed that my chopsticks would head right back for the fiery broth just as soon as my corporeal body would allow. I walked home delirious from that night, that meal. These won't be the last great Sichuan meals I have. Full post here.

Penultimate food post: Memorable meals from the trip

122 days, 17 weeks, 4 months, a third of a year. Any way you slice it, that's a lot of eating. But what really stood out, what were the memorable meals? To answer that question, I'm going to use only my memory, and leave the blog archives for another time. After this chronological review, I'll sift it all down to a Top 8 of the trip. Here are the candidates:

Japan

Sushi near Tsukiji Fish Market: The freshest, fishiest, most flavorful sushi of my life (details)

Tasting menu at Chaya Mario: Unbelievably good tofu and surprise after surprise hidden away in Hiroshima (details)

Iron Chef Matsue nights: Round after round of local seafood and bizarre creations (details)

Indonesia

Roast pig at Babi Guling: Succulent, spicy, and celebratory, as all roast pigs should be (details)

Mangosteens on Gili Meno: The essence of simple, bursting with vibrancy (details)

Singapore

Intricate Chinese tasting menu: Taste after taste of new eats ending with a hands-on demonstration of a sensational omelette (details)

Long Beach seafood extravaganza: Fantastic black pepper crab and a steamed fish that was even better (details)

Ah boiling at a hawker centre institution: Amazing and amazingly unexpected peanut dumplings in broth (details)

China

Hunanese fish head: A very big fish head with very many chopped chillies, soon reduced to bones and nothing more (details)

Ha'erbin streetside dumplings: After many, many plates of dumplings, these reigned supreme (details)

Sichuan, Sichuan, Sichuan: A hotter-then-hot hot pot in Shanghai, a bowl of chili oil for poaching, and a dry pot so spicy it made me numb (details 1, details 2, and details 3)

Sour cuisine of Guizhou: A big bowl of pig stomach and sour seasonings and, as a side, smelly fish grass salad (details)

Turkey

Kofte with a view: Meatballs and uberfresh vegetables on one of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara (details)

Feast at Ak Deniz: Where the food started and just kept coming, showcasing Turkish food done right (details)

Turkish breakfasts: From Kale at the beginning to Caffe Privato near the Galata Tower, a range of treats that makes any morning lavish (details 1 and details 2)

Israel

Home-cooked food from Ima: Delightful starter spreads and a tour through the best of Israeli cuisine (details)

Poland

Zapiekanki to celebrate: A pizza baguette after a fantastic set of World Cup semifinals (details)

Germany

Eating without seeing: Going dark at a dunkelrestaurant with ok food but an amazing eating experience (details)

Biergarten all afternoon: The biggest and best pretzels I've ever seen, raw radishes with lots of spice, sausage and whole fish to boot, rounded out by stein after stein of delicious weissbier (details)

Brunch at Gugelhof: Seriously the best blood sausage and seriously surrounded by three exceptional brunch-time dishes (details)

Doner kebab at Hasir: After one bite, I could feel the new addiction forming (details)

Czech Republic

Redemption at Lokal: Czech cuisine saves itself with fresh horseradish, fresh dumplings, and great beer (details)

Denmark

Arty cafe treats: At the Louisiana, easily one of the best museums I've ever been to, the most beautiful food that was fresh and tasty as well (details)

The Netherlands

Late-night Netherlands: Stuff-it-yourself falafel and vlaamse frites with special sauces end any day well (details)

Bevy of beards, part four

And the last installment of the Track My Beard feature, with faces from Copenhagen and Helsinki. Mysteriously, I made it through Amsterdam without a single beard shot!

Getting cultured with Calder at the Louisiana, July 23, 2010.

Freezing the beard at the Ice Bar, July 24, 2010.

Singing with the pipe organ in a city park in Helsinki, July 31, 2010.