Stomachs on legs are proud to present

If you go to most major supermarkets in Bangkok there is often a dried fruit section with an enourmous selection of really delicious dried fruits, below is a selection. There are some interesting fruits and even the standard fruits do not taste the same way that you would expect as a westerner. For instance, the dried prunes are a bit crunchy and have maintained much of their sour plum flavour. The stalls are (wo)manned exclusively by Muslim women. I haven't quite figured out why this is, but somehow they seem to have cornered the dried fruit market in Thailand.

Is there some well known Southeast Asian division of labour that so far has completely passed me by? Like "oh yeah, didn't you know the Thai grow the rice, the Chinese sell the rice and the Muslims dry the fruit" ????

Luxe Guide Bangkok says:

"Contempo, riverside, resort-like garden. Lovely, best at sunset, conplete with decking, palms, passing barges, and hip, tanned Thais, with aircon inside."

I say: Ngggeeaaaaaa.

Food: ngeeeaaaa....shrug. Gentrified Thai food. They even deshelled my pipis pad ka prao, which of course took all the fun out of eating them.

Entertainment: off key Thai jazz singer...really loud...no escape. I never thought I'd say this, but they should have had a Filipino band.

Atmosphere: nice, by the river, beware of the mosquitos.

Deep Fried Fish:


Prawn and Lemongrass Salad:


"larb" (yes, there is a reason for the quotation marks)


762/2 Rama 3 Rd
Bangpongpang
Wannawa
Bangkok

Not Longan...and it's in season in Thailand right now. It's mainly grown in the south of Thailand. And I thought I had tried all there was in terms of Thai fruits. How wrong I was.....

The main theme for the August '07 issue of オレンジページ (Orange Page) magazine is 'summer drinking snacks fiesta'.

The recipe which we especially loved this month though, was on a page titled さらさらご飯 (Sarasara Gohan). Gohan means rice. Sarasara is an onomatope which can be used to describe the sound of a flowing brook, the feeling of smooth dry skin or the whisking of tea, amongst other things.

In this case it's being used to describe the special 'tsuyu' used in this summer recipe, a refreshing soup base made only from citrus & rice vinegar & soy a.k.a ponzu-shoyu (most common brand is 'Ajipon') and water.

Ajipon's web site claims Ajipon was developed in 1964, when the now ubiquitous ponzu was not so common. The Mitsukan president had some mizutaki in a restaurant and decided to mass-produce this fabulous dipping sauce. Three years of experimentation with different types of citrus and degrees of saltiness led to 'Ajipon', which includes mirin, katsuo-bushi, konbu (kelp), rice vingar, lemon, mandarin and valencia orange in its formula. Supposedly. Though the ingredients list on the label also includes corn syrup and glaringly omits the sweet mirin cooking sake, katsuo-bushi fish flakes and konbu.




Ponzu is commonly used as a refreshing dipping sauce (especially for nabe hotpot) or as a salad dressing ingredient...this is the first time I've seen it as a soup base. Orange Page also recommends, on really hot days, to pour the same water-ponzu mixture over rice, but to chill the soup first. Now that's sarasara.

Ponzu tsuyu soup base:
Combine 1/4 cup of Ajipon or other flavoured ponzu-shoyu with 1 cup water.

Recipe: rice with chicken-Nira-egg-soup
Adapted from Orange Page magazine.
Serves 2.

1 chicken breast (50 g) - or 1/4 sachet konbu kelp stock powder
Nira (garlic chives, 韭菜 or ku chai in chinese, could be substituted with bärlauch) 1/3 bunch (30 g)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 medium-sized bowls of warm rice (about 300 g, I think we used a little more though)
Ponzu tsuyu soup base

- If you are using chicken, cut it into 5 mm bite sized pieces; trim the nira and cut it into 2 cm lengths.
- In a small pan, heat the chicken or konbu powder and the ponzu tsuyu over medium heat. Skim off any foam and add the nira. When the ingredients seem cooked, add the beaten egg while stirring. When the egg-soup mixture has thickened somewhat, turn off the heat and pour an equal amount over each bowl of rice.

(We made this without the chicken, and instead added a 1/4 sachet of konbu stock powder to the broth. It was totally delicious. Savoury, a little piquant from the vinegar but not sour or sharp at all; warm, mellow and tasty from the Nira/garlic chives, which are available from all asian grocery stores: just look for the long-ish grassy chives-like ready cut bunches).



Note: the ideal time to eat this may be in summer, but let's face it, it's not much of a summer in Cologne at the moment. The deep savouriness of the dish does however lend itself to a warming meal when the skies look so grey and ambivalent - and of course, any soupy-kayu-type dish with rice has its comfort value.

I have a can of golden syrup in my cupboards which I have been wondering what to do with, so I looked in my trusty
Edmonds Cookbook and found a recipe for russian fudge.


Russian fudge is a quintessentially New Zealand candy. I remember I used to eat it when I was little at school. It's a bit of a sad story, in fact when I told Hock he almost cried. But anyway, there was a little girl at my school who used to bring russian fudge to school in order to make friends. She was a bit of a social outcast. The school I went to was a bit hoity toity - Titirangi Primary School - in the midst of West Coast leafy green native bush and replete with BMW driving mums, who were the wives of lawyers and architects, and thought the sun shined out of their children's behinds. Now I wasn't the most popular girl in school but there were two poor girls who were complete social rejects, one was a Maori girl and the other was a poor white girl with a Maori name. She always smelled like wees and maybe that's why no one wanted to be her friend. Except that is on the days when she would bring russian fudge to school and then everyone would want to be her friend. Her overflowing tuperware container full of russian fudge would cause a frenzy in the playground and boys and girls who normally shunned and teased her would crowd around her begging for a sugar fix.

Her popularity would last all of ten minutes as she handed out russian fudge slices to all those kids who sucked up to her the most. The next day she wouldn't have any friends again.

Yes kids are mean.

Maybe I will make some russian fudge and try and bribe someone to be my friend...no I don't smell like wees. Hock has decided its time for a russian fudge revival and is going to put russian fudge on his petits four menu

Russian Fudge

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups White Sugar
125 g butter
3 tablespoons Golden Syrup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
200 g sweetened condensed milk (half a standard tin)
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

Method

Place all the ingredients except the vanilla, into a medium-heavy saucepan. Warm over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for about 15 — 20 minutes, until it reaches the soft ball stage (120°C).

Remove from the heat and add the vanilla. Beat (I use an electric mixer) until the fudge is creamy and thick and has lost its gloss. Pour into a greased 20 cm cake pan. Score the top and break into pieces when cold.

Makes: 36 pieces (i.e. friends)

It sounds fantastic when you write it down... but this menu was the budget option.

The above foodstuffs were how I celebrated my birthday on August 2nd in Paris.

Originally I had planned to have a steak-frites meal in a bistro, but it seemed that of the recommended spots, even the Rendez-vous des Chauffeurs (originally a pitstop for taxi drivers) was going to end up costing around 100 euros for four -

So instead, Erik and I wandered down the Rue des Martyrs
to Galeries Lafayette, picking out little things here and there, and ended up at the Luxembourg Gardens for the Moroccan food finale with Rachel, Greg & Tui. It was a fine way to spend a birthday.

BREAKFAST
...(and the only real extravagance of the day) was a deluxe bocadillo sandwich from the Galeries Lafayette food hall.

The El Bocadillo
shop there has two different Iberico sandwiches on offer - Jamón ibérico de Bellota
that they use in their deluxe sandwich is 256 euro per kilo. It was about 12 euros for a few slivers of the ham, or 14 euros when sandwiched between tasty but somewhat unremarkable olive ciabatta-style bread, with manchego cheese made from raw manchega sheep's milk and a creamy tomato sauce.

I think that I did actually have this ham before, at a fancy tapas place in Barcelona, but was too tired or drunk to appreciate the high oleic acorn content... This time, I was impressed with the very soft texture compared to lesser forms of Spanish ham, the extreme pinkish-red colour and glossiness, and the intensification of that marmite-ish musky flavour. It was a waste, really, to eat it in the much-too-large baguette. (I prefer the skinny bocadillos they serve all over Barcelona). I ended up picking out the ham and eating the sandwich seperately.
I am not sure if I would spend 14 euro on this sandwich on a regular basis, say if I lived in Iberia or Paris - the much cheaper bocadillos stuffed with ham can be just as rewarding, even if the ham is a little paler and less pliant - but I was glad to try it. Would definitely recommend, in case anyone else finds themselves in a slightly more cash-flushed birthday scenario, to buy 24 euros worth and eat it from a plate with a glass of wine. Apparently, the owners of El Bocadillo have a restaurant in Paris called Bellota Bellota, where you can do just that.





LUNCH
...was Moroccan takeways for four, and a nice brioche loaf, all from the fancy foodhall at Galeries Lafayette. Unfortunately I didn't write the name of Moroccan place down, but if you are in that food hall it's easy to find.
The great big moist piles of food behind the counter were impossible to resist.
We chose:
- chicken simmered in a stew of rice, peas and tomatoes
- lamb tagine with prunes
- yummy light couscous with saffron
- a tasty oily potato salad with tomato soaked into the potatoes, lemon and something pungent - maybe chopped anchovies?
- amazing, incredibly fresh tabouleh with very large grains, quite firm and a little crunchy

Everything was pungent with the taste of lemon, and very fresh. It was about 30 euros for more than enough food for four. Perfect in the Luxembourg Gardens next to flowers and a pond where children were pushing old-fashioned miniature sailboats with sticks.



Tui bringing me a flower from the garden, which included silverbeet (or mangold?) as a decorative plant.





DINNER
... was leftover everything, on the highspeed train back to Cologne, with a few notable additions including non-fat petits suisses
(how can it taste so rich with no fat?), which are like tiny, lactic-yoghurty cream cheeses, but with a texture like a very heavy quark; and some cute & yummy little macaron
s from a bakeries on the Rue des Martyrs, about half way down on the opposite side to Arnaud Delmontel (which was closed for summer holidays). Macarons look way too sweet but they are very light and beguiling, made from egg white, almond powder and sugar, and have this great chewiness when combined with a filling. This other bakery was also very good - it really proved to me that it's true what I've read - one doesn't need to go to a top bakery to have a truly delicious macaron. On another day from the same place we had macaron sandwiches with rose cream and raspberries. Of the mini-sized ones I bought for the train, the violet-flavoured one was my favourite.

The matcha-green tea flavoured one which I bought from Sadaharu Aoki
in Galeries Lafayette earlier in the day was nothing to write home about. It was slightly too sweet and had not enough discernible tea flavour. The too-sweet and too-timid accusations seem to be common when it comes to Aoki. If looking for sweets with traditional Japanese flavours, it seems, you are better to try them in Japan. Although the ice cream 'sando-kun' sandwiches on his website look realllly good.

Another addition to dinner was this DELICIOUS hazlenut and chestnut bread from the same bakery which supplied the macarons, with an EVEN MORE delicious rabbit & apricot terrine, from Françoise Le Carrer's charcuterie and cheese shop, Les Papilles Gourmandes. Basically we were walking past and I thought it would be a good idea to try one of the scary-looking terrines. When she (was it Françoise?) described the flavours, this one sounded pretty good, and it exceeded all expectations. Just because something looks like dogfood doesn't mean it won't taste like heaven!

It was about 5 euros for 100 g. And it was the best thing I ate that day. The best thing I've eaten in ages, actually. Creamy-ish, meaty, sweet bits of apricot, just heaven. I actually found this
recipe which sounds rather like the same dish, but more herby.
As the website says, "Terrines are really just a meat loaf cooked in a bain-marie (a bed of water)." A nice way of putting it, though they look crazier and more chunkily-textured than a meatloaf's reassuringly monotone mince appearance.

Les Papilles Gourmandes 26, rue des martyrs - 75009 Paris

Bread crust, and delicious rabbit terrine:



Bread crumb, and delicious rabbit terrine:



Post script: a recent issue of Japan's Madame Figaro Voyage magazine all about 'rediscovering Paris', started with recommendations for guess where? The area may get more trendy, but let's hope, the shops selling dresses for 50 euros and the meat shop with rotisserie chicken don't disappear.

I've been pondering the notion of food racism lately....

Given Brillat Savarin's quote "tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are" it only bares to reason that food in many senses becomes symbolic of difference, similarities and cross cultural miscommunication

Michael Pollen wrote that colonisation of one country over another starts with diet.

I still think back to the stifled work lunches and dinners between foreigners and Cambodians, where foreigners would pick at the Khmer food on the plate in a way that was symptomatic of more than just a reluctance to "break bread" with their dining companions.

So I was thinking of all the racist slurs for the "other" based on food such as:

Kraut
Curry muncher
Dog eater
Limey
Twinkie
Bounty Bar
coconut
frog eater

And it occured to me to take a look at what wiki considers to be the national dishes of various countries.

"A national dish is a dish, food or a drink that represents a particular country, nation or region. It is usually something that is naturally made or popular in that country.The concept is highly informal and vague, and in many, if not most cases the relationship between a given territory or people and certain typical foods is ambiguous. Typical dishes can vary from region to region, and the use of the term "national dish" does not always imply the existence of a "nation" in any legal sense...
Similarly, countries can share a national dish...National dishes also function as stereotypes. These can be either autostereotypes, describing a nation's self-image, or heterostereotypes associated with a nation in the outside world, or both. While most "national dish" stereotypes are positive to neutral, they can also acquire the status of ethnic slurs....In some cases, supposed national dishes are similar to urban legends, especially when relating to countries that are exotic from the perspective of another country. E.g., the popularity of fried spiders in Cambodia, dogs in Korea is largely overestimated in the West. Urban legend-like national dishes can also turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy, as demonstrated by the example of the Scottish deep-fried Mars bar, which is believed to have become at least moderately popular after English media circulated the story of its existence. For more on the stereotyped usage of foods and its political implications see Freedom fries."

Although Wiki's politically sensitive preamble quite rightly points out the pitfalls of having a "national dish", it still goes on to stereotype countries according to their food and it still lists fried spiders next to Cambodia.

Now I know that in some parts some Cambodians have been known to eat tarantulas but I'd hardly call it a national dish...when you go to Cambodia you will not find people wandering around snacking on big hairy spiders

For New Zealand, we have pavlova, fish and chips....ok....but what the F*&k is Colonial Goose?????

I'm sure that Canadians will be disappointed to be labelled as "Kraft Dinner Eaters" as much as the Taiwanese would dispute "stinky tofu" as their national dish

The list is the most detailed for English speaking countries, but pretty thin on the ground in terms of everyone else...which makes me think how little it is that we really know about the known edible world outside of our own distinct cultures.

It's a sad but true testament to the low levels of cross-cultural understanding in the world.....it's true, my Chinese aunties seem to believe that western food is primarily steak and chips

So in order to foster a greater sense of cross cultural understanding through food....we are inviting all non-contributing team members and anyone else who wants to, to compile and post a list of "must eats" from your home town....lest we continue to think of you solely as curry munching, colonial goose eating krauts


Wiki's National Dish List

• Argentina - locro, asado, dulce de leche, alfajor.
• Australia- Meat pie, hamburger with beetroot, Vegemite on toast, Pavlova
By state
Queensland - Moreton Bay bug
New South Wales - Balmain Bug
South Australia - Pie floater
• Austria - Sachertorte, wiener schnitzel (Vienna), apfelstrudel
• Bahrain - Machboos/Machbous, Muhammar
• Barbados - Cou-Cou and Flying fish
• Belgium - pommes frites, moules bruxellois (Brussels)
• Bhutan - ema datsi
• Brazil - Feijoada, rice and beans,pão de queijo,churrasco, coxinha, brigadeiro.
• Cambodia - ahmok, fried spider
• Canada - maple syrup, Kraft Dinner, Timbits, Pancakes.
"Cuisine is poorly defined in the national mythos, especially outside of Quebec. However, each region has a distinctive dish or in the case of Quebec, an entirely separate regional cuisine."
By Province or Region
Alberta - steak (beef or bison)
British Columbia - salmon steak, Nanaimo bar
Manitoba - Red River cereal
Newfoundland - fish and chips, flipper pie
Ontario - Pancakes
Quebec - poutine, pea soup, tourtière
• Chile - sea bass, palta (avocado), jaivas (food)
• Greater China
- The staple diets in Northern China are: mantou, bing (Chinese flatbread) and wheat noodles
- South: rice, rice noodles and rice congee.
By city/province:
Beijing - Peking duck, hot pot
Fujian - Popiah, Fotiaoqiang, Oyster omelette
Guangdong - Dim sum, slow cooked soup, Char siu, century egg
Hong Kong - egg tart, dim sum, BBQ pork with rice, wonton noodle soup, pineapple bun
Hunan - Orange chicken
Macau - Galinha à Portuguesa, baked pork chop bun
Shanghai - Xiaolongbao, ci fan tuan, red-cooked stews, Shanghai hairy crab
Sichuan - Szechuan hotpot, Kung Pao chicken, Twice Cooked Pork, Mapo doufu
• Colombia - Bandeja paisa, arepas
By Department:
Santander - Hormigas Culonas
Cundinamarca - Ajiaco
Valle - Sancocho
• Costa Rica - Gallo Pinto, Casados
• Cyprus - Halloumi
• Denmark – Pork Roast, Frikadeller, Smørrebrød
• Egypt - Ful medames, Kushari
• Ethiopia – doro wat (chicken stew) , injera
• Finland - Karelian pasties, mämmi, hernekeitto (Finnish yellow pea soup)
• France - Pot-au-feu, baguette (particularly Paris), cassoulet, truffles,
foie gras (declared part of the French cultural heritage by legislation in 2005)
By region
Alsace - Sauerkraut, tarte flambee
Bordeaux - Entrecôte with Bordelaise sauce
Brittany - Crepes
Burgundy - Coq au vin, beef bourguignon
Lorraine - Quiche lorraine
Normandy - Camembert
Provence - Bouillabaisse, salade nicoise, ratatouille
• Germany - Sauerbraten, sauerkraut, currywurst, doner kebab
• Greece - moussaka, fasolada, Greek salad
• Hungary – goulash
• Iceland - Þorramatur
• India - curry, samosas, naan, chapati, chutney, dal
By region
Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad Biryani, aavakaaya
Goa - Pork Vindaloo, Goan fish curry
Kashmir - Rogan Josh
Kerala- Sadhya
Punjab - Tandoori chicken, aloo gobi, raita
Tamil Nadu - Masala dosa, idli, appam
• Indonesia - Satay, gado-gado, nasi goreng, rijsttafel
• Iran - Chelow kabab
• Ireland – colcannon, Irish stew
• Israel - felafel, Chicken schnitzel
• Italy - pizza, pasta, minestrone, ciabatta, polenta (northern Italy)
By region
Bologna - tortellini, tagliatelle al ragù, mortadella, lasagne, Parmigiano Reggiano
Florence - Bistecca alla Fiorentina
Genoa - foccacia
Naples - Pizza Margherita, gelato
Milan - risotto, ossobuco with gremolata
Rome - porchetta, spaghetti carbonara, Stracciatella
Sardinia - pecorino, pane carasau
Sicily - arancini, caponata, ricotta
Torino - agnolotti, grissini, Gianduiotto
Venice - scampi
• Jamaica - saltfish and ackee
• Japan - sushi, Japanese noodles, tempura, donburi, curry rice
• Jordan - Mansaf
• Korea - kimchi, bulgogi, bibimbap, naengmyeon
• Laos - larb
• Lebanon - Kibbe, Tabbouleh
• Malaysia - nasi lemak, roti canai, char kway teow, satay, assam laksa
• Mexico - pozole, taco, mole, guacamole
• Morocco - couscous, tagine, pastilla, harira
• Myanmar - mohinga
• New Zealand – pavlova, fish and chips, Colonial Goose
• the Netherlands - stamppot, hutspot
• Nicaragua - Gallopinto
• Nigeria - Jolof rice
• Norway – lutefisk, fårikål, kjøttkaker
• Pakistan - Nihari
• Palestine - Musakhan
• Peru - ceviche, quinoa, maize
• Philippines - adobo, lumpia, sinigang, bistek, bangus
• Poland - bigos, barszcz, pierogi
• Portugal - Bacalhau, Feijoada, Pastel de Nata
• Romania - Mamaliga, Mititei, Cozonac, Fasole cu carnati
• Moldova – Grape-leaf Sarmale, Fermented wheat bran Borscht
• Russia – borscht
• Saint Kitts and Nevis - Coconut dumplings, Spicy plantain, saltfish, breadfruit
• Saint Lucia - green figs & saltfish
• Senegal - tiebou dieun
• Singapore - Hainanese chicken rice, curry laksa, chilli crab
• Slovakia - Bryndzové halušky
• Spain - cocido, tapas, paella, chocolate con churros
• Sri Lanka - rice and curry
• Sweden - pea soup, smörgåsbord, köttbullar, sill & surströmming
• Switzerland – rösti, fondue
• Taiwan - Suncake, Stinky tofu, Ba wan, Beef noodle soup
• Tanzania - ugali
• Zanzibar - octopus curry
• Thailand - Pad Thai, gaeng (Thai curry), jasmine rice, tom yam, tom kha gai
• Tunisia - Couscous, brik
• Turkey - döner kebab, pide, köfte, dolma, pilav
• Ukraine - pierogi
• United Kingdom
England – roast beef dinner, fish and chips, chicken tikka masala, English breakfast
Wales – laverbread, Welsh rarebit, Cawl
Scotland – haggis, deep-fried Mars bar
Northern Ireland – Ulster fry
Jersey – Jersey Royal potatoes
Isle of Man - kipper
• United States - apple pie, turkey and pumpkin pie (as part of Thanksgiving dinner), hamburger, hot dog, donut
New England - New England clam chowder, New England clam bake
The South - grits, corn bread, country fried steak, fried chicken, gumbo, barbecue
By state: See List of U.S. state foods for more
California - sourdough bread, hamburgers, fish taco
Hawaii - lau lau, Spam, poi, kalua pig
Illinois - Chicago-style deep dish pizza, Chicago hot dog
Louisiana - jambalaya, Gumbo, Crawfish, po'boy
Maine - lobster
Michigan - coney dog, Pasty
New York - buffalo wings, Manhattan clam chowder, pizza
Pennsylvania - Philly cheesesteak, hoagie
South Dakota - fry bread
Texas - chili con carne
• Uruguay - Chivito, asado
• Venezuela - pabellón criollo, hallaca, arepas
• Vietnam - bánh mì, phở
• Yemen - saltah

....Starring my favourite lady in the whole wide world.....Sahra Silverman (as a chubbychaser)...Amy Sedaris...and apparently in association with the Curb Your Enthusiasm people. It's coming to a screen near you.

Perhaps a new romantic comedy that won't make you want to puke...?

I never used to drink spirits straight.

But ever since Cambodia, I've been partial to single malt scotch - straight up - and calvados, straight too

I guess the old fogies in my anthropology department were partially right, field work makes you a man...grrrrrrrr...arghhhh!

So my pops just came back from a holiday to Scotland and bought me 2 bottles of the premium stuff, and we had an impromptu whiskey tasting the other night.




Verdicts:

The Talisker is very peaty....manly stuff.

The Glenlivet Nadurra is smooth with honey accents.

Scapa is in between Talisker and Nadurra.

It all went very well with last year's Xmas cake sent from Green Dean.

Since we've been a bit bored lately we've been trying to seek out new things to do in Bangkok

Found....new hobby number one....all night prawn fishing. Thailand is one of the world's largest farmed prawn producers. Whoever decided to turn it into an entertainment venture is pure genius.

On Ratchadapisek rd, next to fortune tower there are 24 hour pubs, karoke and seafood places plus king prawn fishing to which the 2am drinking curfew does not apply....in fact the only places that do seem to have the 2 am curfew is the "hi so" joints where the kids of high ranking officials hang out....rumour has it that Thai officials simply installed the curfew to make sure their kids were home at a reasonable hour.....more laws designed for the rich...anyhooo, it doesn't apply to more 'down home' places that ordinary Thais go to, so if you are looking for a good time kicking back, drinking beer and fishing in the middle of Bangkok....look no further

We went with some of the chefs from Hock's work

We went at 12am by taxi...at the entrance there are Thai parking assistants waving flags and blowing whistles like at a speed way, beckoning the cars to enter...and there is of course a giant prawn



The prawn fishing pool


One of Hock's chef is obsessed and goes once a week at least.....he takes his own rod and bait



It was pretty slow going....Hock caught about 5...I caught none...I had some nibbles but they escaped everytime I went to pull one up











While we waited for the prawns to nibble we snacked on "madan" and rum (pictured below). It's this strange tiny green pod that is shaped like a mango. They chop it up and cover it with chili, dried prawns and vinegar(?) and then dip it in salt. It's sour, spicy and salty....all my favourite flavours in the world


Black cat waiting for prawn left overs


A catch






Kung Pao....Thai for BBQ prawns


Kung woo sen...Prawn with rice noodles


Hungry Cat


After 4 hours of fishing and drinking, the chefs convinced us to walk across the road for one round of darts...we were thinking it would just be the ordinary bog standard pub darts.....but noooooo...this is Thailand and being Thailand they were special, Thai style darts.



The chefs scored themselves a hello kitty...who said hello kitty was for girls?


We stumbled into a taxi around 5am as the sun was rising.....and passed the tanks and tanks of prawns on the way out

the confusion continues buffet style

I often think food tastes better standing up.

Not sure if the term 立ち食い (Tachigui or standing eating) applies when you are eating at home, I think it is more about fast food, noodle shops on the street and so on. Will have to ask my friend Mami who I know is also a fan of the occasional standing-in-the-kitchen-with-a-glass-of-wine meal.

Here is Great Snack For Eating Standing Up #1 (please do contribute your own)

Shiitake mushrooms grilled in the oven with a few drops of balsamico. Eat while still very hot with a little squirt of Kyupi Japanese mayo while gazing out the window.

Warning: eating standing up is supposedly not good for obtaining full nutrition from food, according to a macrobiotic chef
I once took cooking classes from. But I still like it.

Last week my sister, Greg, Tui and I made like the locals and tried out one of those disposable picnic BBQs in the park around the corner, under the TV Tower. I had thought that these were a German speciality, but when looking for a web page about them saw 6 packs advertised at Woolworths in the UK, so clearly I was wrong.

To use anything disposable seems so '80s, but wow, so handy.

Disposable grills are not the only method around here - the Germans are enthusiastic grillers and have all manner of contraptions. Still not sure whether it's entirely legal to grill out in public like that, but it's not stopping anyone. The grassy slope near the large pond known as the Aachener Weier is literally a cloud of BBQ (and pot) smoke on summery evenings, while it's still light. Oftentimes I have gone for a walk around there and been amused at old guys sitting on park benches with a little aluminium foil BBQ tray at their feet, sizzling away, right next to the dusty track around the pond. A takeaway BBQ seems to be pretty handy when you are young and German and can just bicycle past a supermarket, grab a few wurstchen and a grill and away you go.

I'm not sure if we lit ours correctly. We took out the cardboard that seperated charcoal and the wire grill. Rachel thought that it might have been a specially flammable cardboard designed to help the flame spread evenly in those crucial first minutes.

Still, the charcoal burned long and hot (at least in places) and we managed to get our tofu weiners satisfactorily blistered on the outside. The red onion was not so successful, but it always takes an outrageous amount of time to cook it to the point where I like it.

The salad was the best thing, made at home.
-Feldsalat
a.k.a lamb's lettuce or mache
-red cabbage
-a tin of a brand of tuna that has only recently been labelled as 'not certified bio' at the local biomarkt (there was no sustainably farmed tuna available to buy... please accept my apologies)
-mixed sprouts (mung beans and so forth)
- a small amount of crumbled feta
- a couple of cooked beetroot chopped
- couple of tomatoes chopped
- 2 small carrots grated
- a couple spring onions finely chopped
- some parsely
- a sweet potato chopped then roasted with chilli flakes and a little sesame oil & butter
- dressing of a little Japanese mayo, red wine vinegar, olive oil and seasoning

We drank red wine from the bottle, and finished with watermelon.