To follow up my previous post on food from Europe here are some of the other things I tried while travelling.
In Belgium, I ate waffles, more waffles and even more waffles. Each region had a different type of waffle to its name. There are the types with the syrup baked in like the previous entry. Waffles with toppings on it – as simple as sugar or as complex with fruit and cream and chocolate and many other types of toppings.
Mussels in Brussels (heh it rhymes!) was another must according to our guidebook. These were from a touristy place, so probably not as authentic as it could be, but still delicious! They’re served with fries:
And…. finally: CHOCOLATE! Soooo goooood =)
While in Germany, I tried bbq pork knuckles. Tasted like Chinese bbq pork. The portion was huge. I ended up taking it home to Maastricht for dinner the next night.
It was definitely a very pork filled trip. Pork sandwiches galore:
Next country I visited was Austria, home of the Sound the Music and Mozart. Man were the Austrians proud of Mozart, especially in Salzburg, but then again, he generates so much tourism money for them (hah the business student coming out of me). They even made a chocolate for him! I tried it in cake form and I wasn’t that big a fan – probably because there is pistachio in it.
To continue on the sweet theme, a chocolate wafer with hazelnut spread is huge here. There is a whole store dedicated to the stuff near St. Stephen's Cathedral. This was really good – I brought back a bunch for my family.
There is a famous cafe known for its cake. The Sacher Hotel is known around the world as the makers of the Original Sacher Torte. The word "original" is in the name because of a dispute between a competing shop, Demel, over who really had the original. The Demel cake is now called "Demels Sachertorte." With such a huge deal over it, of course I had to try it. It wasn’t too sweet and was pretty light. I had a bit of a sourish tinge to it though.
And now finally some savory things. Of course I had to try their schnitzel (left picture). It was good – salty, but really satisfying (now that I think about it, I want some). I also tried something called Knödel. They're essentially a dumpling made from potato with a meat filling served with some gravy. I found it to be really really salty, but otherwise not bad (right pic).
In Prague, I didn’t get too adventurous with food. I tried this warm dessert bread thing. Its rolled over the heat and then covered in cinnamon and sugar. I don’t know the name of these things, but the cart calls them “staromestsky trdelnik”. I have no clue how to pronounce that – all I know is that its realllly yummy.
Now this brings me to Italy – land of the most amazing food ever. I was there for 5 days and my goal for each and every day was to stuff my face with deliciousness and to have gelato at least once each day despite it being November and cold [see glove below]. There were so many varieties each so yummy – had problems deciding which one to get.
Then there was the pizza and pasta. SO good so rich! Now that I’m thinking about it, I want more more more…. That carbonara (top right) was the most amazing one I’ve ever had.
The next country I went to was Ireland, which was a welcomed visit for me – I was desperate for some English and some familiarity. I went to their Starbucks and got my favourite drink – a peppermint mocha. It was awesome. Dublin is home to Guinness and after visiting their storehouse and tour, I tried some Guinness stew. You couldn’t taste the Guinness and I found the whole meal to be really salty, but otherwise satisfying on a cold day.
For breakfast one day I had the traditional English breakfast, complete with bacon and sausage. Nothing too interesting by Victoria’s standards, but it had been so long since I had bacon and breakfast sausages. All the greasy goodness was loveeee.
Finally, my last trip before heading home was Paris. Probably still one of my favourite cities (rivaled closely by Vienna and Rome), I was definitely glad I saved this trip for last. I went to a one of those set three course meal places which was pretty good. French onion soup, steak and fries and then a chocolate mousse. It was way too much food for me. The best part was probably the soup. Slurrrrp. One of my friends got cheese for dessert. I’ve always thought its weird to have cheese for dessert, but then again, too much cheese makes me sick. Maybe its an acquired thing or you just need to grow up with it.
And of course crepes. My hostel was in Montmartre and was close to a number of places serving crepes, both sweet and savory. The savory ones, served hot was so yummy especially in the cold.
And so that ends my culinary travels through Europe. I ate A LOT. Some good, some not so tasty, some GREAT! I definitely can’t wait to go traveling more and tasting more of the world. What can I say? I love food. I love travel. Combine them together and its amazing <3
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