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!

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!

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)

Do widzenia, Auf Wiedersehen, Farvel, Tot ziens, and Näkemiin, Europe: Some thoughts on my time in Central and Northern European cities

The month in Europe has had a different flow from that of the first three in Asia and the Middle East. Instead of two to three weeks in a place, it was more like four to seven days. So my reflections are a bit more numerous and pull from aspects seen in some, but not all, of the places I was in July.

The food can be quite tasty but it can also be wretched: My European destinations were, to put it nicely, not well known for being culinary destinations. But I had some great meals over the course of the month! For example, really tasty German food that was hearty and fresh at the same time (I'm looking at you, Gugelhof). And most of the meals didn't suck. But there were a couple that did (stop feeding me, you bad bad restaurant of U Babci Maliny!)

Lots of the good food has been imported: The flip side of shaky food cultures is that there's room for more. And, with centuries of exploration and contact beyond Central Europe under their respective belts, these places had managed to import some decent food. The Turkish food in Berlin, ah, I would love more doner kebab in my life. The Surinamese food in Amsterdam, a new treat that would get even better the more it was explored. And the list goes on.

World War II has left many scars and they're everywhere: Though I purposely went to Hiroshima at the beginning of my trip, I wasn't expecting World War II to be such a present theme. Yet it was. The unmistakable absence of Jews in Krakow. The horrible terror at Auschwitz. The memorials, some very recent, in Berlin, Prague, and Munich. Even in Amsterdam, where Anne Frank's house serves as a daily reminder to those bicycling the canals.

Cities so livable it hurts: In many ways it was a very urban month. Yet I didn't get any asphalt dreariness. A big part of that comes from the fact that these cities were just so nice to be in. Berlin and Amsterdam, in particular, bring well-rounded places just dying to be explored in depth. I won't soon forget the joys of bicycling Amsterdam. Or the ease of doing so in Copenhagen. These places have put effort into making the human scale the right scale for life in the city and it shows.

The roots of the English language become more clear: Knowing only a bit of Spanish in addition to English, I've been confused before as to the origin of much of English. Sure, some come from Romance languages, but others...? Now it is much more clear, having been exposed to German and Dutch especially. Even when it doesn't look like it, it sounds like, just with a very strange accent and some awfully unfamiliar words in between.

Finnish food at 35,000 feet

Before I know it, it's time to head to the airport. For a plane to the United States! 122 days have come and they have gone. More reflections soon...

But first. Through some quirk and massive luck, my round-the-world ticket was done on frequent flier miles and is in business class. Though I don't much get business class on little flights, on longer flights it is an amazing dream.

My seat even turned out better than the rest. It was the only seat on my side of the aisle, so effectively both a window and an aisle seat. Sweet!

I love the little menus I got saying what we'd be eating. And, the chanterelles on the front looked so good!

I asked for a little champagne to celebrate a really fun trip. I got that, and a batch of fresh strawberries. Wow!

Next came my appetizer plate. A chicken caesar salad, Finnish Emmenthal Black Label cheese and Bla Castello cheese, and cream of black salsify soup. The soup was great, full of earthiness and with a little bit of fresh parsley to brighten it up. I need to learn what salsify is. The cheeses were also spot-on: the blue was gooey and rich without whacking me on the head with it and the hard cheese was nutty and a bit sharp.

Next came my main, which was rolled salmon filet with pepper, Hollandaise sauce, and dill potatoes. This was really quite good for being on a plane. The Hollandaise sauce mixed with the little beans wonderfully. The salmon had a fair amount of flavor and sufficient moisture, hard to do with airplane microwaves (as we all know from Top Chef...). And the glass of French red wine I had didn't hurt.

To end, a raspberry mousse cake, of which the best part was the berries on the side. Fresh berries are the best in Northern Europe!

Awhile later, as we were approaching New York, we got melty ham, bacon, and two cheese sandwiches; potato chips; and more fresh fruit. The sandwich was again surprisingly tasty.

And then we were touching down. My ridiculously lucky and extravagant set of flights were done. So was my trip.

The food and drink in Finland I did manage to try

Ok, so I didn't make it to Juuri's. But what did I eat?

As mentioned, I stopped off for Finnish coffee and cinnamon cake at the Regatta Cafe. Both sadly were let downs. The coffee was really really weak and really really watery, when all I wanted was a stiff cuppa joe. And the cinnamon cake was bizarrely stale. Bizarrely so, as I could see it being made freshly in the back.

I ended up getting a snack at Ravintola Taberna Bacchus, a neighborhood joint that had been there since 1878. I had a lead on a place called Ravintola 10 at the same address, so I thought this would be good.

It turned into pretty straightforward beer and pizza. The pizza was frutti di mare, with some good seafood and some sketchier seafood (tuna, were you canned?). The beer was a barely passable light lager. Not the homespun salmon soup I had been hoping for...

But then things started to look up. I made my way to the working-class neighborhood of Kallio and to the bar named Ravintola Tovari. Inside was a classy beer pub, with books on the walls, games on the shelves, and beer on tap.

The first beer I had was Kesayo Vehnaolut. It was excellent, just really good. A full of flavor wheat beer with an odd northern kick.

By the time I got my second beer, I was well into the book "Those Without Shadows" by Francoise Sagan. I have to admit, when I pulled it off the shelves, I was hoping it would be by Carl Sagan. No luck there, but I did have a nice read of twenty-something French youngsters in the past wondering what life is for. Good existentialism! And the second beer was good too, a Keisari that was a light ale.

Oh, and I almost played Monopoly with Helsinkian towns, too.

The next morning, it was time for my last meal. I decided to explore the Hakaniemi Open-Air Market. Worth it! This market was a mix of everything, from garage sales to cheap clothes to fresh fruit.

And they had stands selling freshly fried little fish, some kind of sardine. They were fried in an unbelievable amount of butter, topped with lemon. And they were unbelievably good. Buttery, full of flesh, bite size, and buttery.

A fabulous food experience just out of my reach

One dining establishment had caught my eye in pre-country research. Juuri Reittio and Baari bills itself as a Finnish tapas establishment. I was very curious and planned it to be the last stop of my walk.

Alas, my walk took too long! And they closed earlier than they said they would! When I showed up at 10:45pm (admittedly, kinda late), they were just closing up (in advance of midnight which the internet proclaimed as their closing hour).

Peeking at their menu, my disappointment grew. "Slightly smoked reindeer heart with gelee made of rowanberry wine"? Holy cow, I want to eat that. "Crayfish-cottage cheese filled cabbage leaves, melted dill butter"? Yes, I want to eat that! "Cold smoked pike with nettle mayonnaise and buckthorn malt bread"? Let me eat that! But it was not to be.

Has anyone ever been to this place? If you go, let me know. And, if you're in Helsinki, you should go.

Back to Berlin, time for you know what!

The beginning of my travels home, back stateside. Oh what a wonderful trip it's been! I do get another 15 hours in Berlin, for which I am very excited.

My hotel, though, is way out. It's in eastern East Berlin. You know Warschauer Strasse? East of that. You know Ostkreuz? Yeah, east of that. I get to it and thankfully it is clean and nice (and cheap). And, it has a doner kebab place right down the street.

My final doner kebab in Berlin was just as one would suspect. Not the best doner in the world, but a totally great meal that left me totally satisfied. Juicy meat, plenty of toppings, and a great sauce to bring it all together.

What goes well with doner kebab? I know, currywurst! At the airport, actually, en route to Helsinki, there is a model train that sells currywurst. I must have some.

And I do. And, much like the doner, it is not the best but totally sufficient and totally satisfactory. And with that, I bid adieu to Berlin and to Germany!

Shall I go to the cafe?

With my friends gone and a spate of computer time in front of me, i scrounged up a list of go-to cafes from Patrik's friend and from other sources. On successive days, I test them out.

Cafe #1 is De Jaren, near the University. It has a wonderful little patio that hangs over a canal, perfect for a bit of lunch and some time on the computer. This salami and pickle sandwich was quite good, meeting all of the cafe basics of freshness and flavor.

Cafe #2 was the Bakkerswinkel, a cool bakery in the heart of a pretty icky neighborhood near the train station. My drink was, first and foremost, gorgeous. Layers of orange juice, yogurt, and berry puree remained separated. It was great both pre- and post-mixture. I also got two stuffed rolls, one with chorizo and cheese and the other with a ratatouille mixture. These were also quite good and fresh. I could tell the chorizo was spot-on when little drops of orange oil started leaking on to my plate.

And cafe #3 was De Balie, a cool cafe in the otherwise really crappy neighborhood of Leidseplein. You know, one of those neighborhoods with chain stores, found across the country, mixed in with low-quality food establishments and bars only meant to get their patrons wasted. But I digress! The cafe was great. They have Wieckse Witte white beer, very tasty. And a really really quite good caprese sandwich.

As proven as it could be: Amsterdam has some lovely little cafes with great sandwich options.

Not so far from Suriname?

Dutch cuisine was lacking a bit in variety. I branched out. Years of colonization had brought back some foreign tastes to Amsterdam, and it was full of Surinamese and Indonesian places to eat.

I got a recommendation and headed for Mok Sam.

The first dish was a fried banana served with peanut sauce. Nice job on the fry, and the peanut sauce wasn't so bad either. It was advertised as a bit spicy, which it was not. Chili sauce was at the ready to fill the gap.

Second was pitjil. This turned out to be mixed steamed vegetables covered in...peanut sauce. Also pretty tasty, though I was beginning to push the bounds on peanut sauce.

Finally, my main, lamb roti special. This large dish came with lamb chunks, little green beans, potatoes, a boiled egg, and cabbage, all covered in a mustard curry sauce. Oh, and there were thick tortillas too. Best of the bunch, this had loads of flavor and carried the chili sauce as well.

Some Dutch apple pie to say goodbye

I couldn't believe it, but it was already time to say goodbye to Preeta and Patrik. Their plans were taking them to Sweden, while I would remain behind in Amsterdam. We did have one final brunch, at Villa Zeezicht right on the canals.

It was a lovely morning, and the sun was out.

I went for the swiss toast, brioche smothered in mushrooms that had been sautéed in butter. Lots of butter. This was excellent, a potential new find. I had not heard of swiss toast until this day. Now I will have to make it!

Patrik went for the uitsmijter, and it was a success. Just look at those beautiful eggs!

Preeta got a different concoction, a mix between a fried egg sandwich and bruschetta. Pretty good as well!

As always, we had to get a bowl of yogurt, muesli, and granola. This one turned out to be beautiful and tasty to boot.

But, truly, we had come here for the apple pie. It just seemed a bit crude to eat it without having anything else for breakfast. I got my version with cinnamon ice cream. Somehow, though this was a bit of a let down. The crust had too much bread and, saddest of all, the pie was served cold. It really would've benefited from some time in the oven.

We did leave with full bellies.

And then my good friends departed. After two-plus days of excellent adventuring, Amsterdam instantly became a little bit sadder.