tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4919582791269588232024-03-13T12:09:47.633+00:00apples and twigs... now, with extra travel and dairy. adventures of a lapsed vegan.Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-1663111447849427602013-02-27T09:52:00.008+00:002013-02-27T09:52:58.896+00:00Day 5 – 14 February 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Happy
Valentine's Day! I thought I could sleep in and have one more relaxed
day before officially (ahem) breaking the fast, but no, work
emergencies call me out of bed. During 4 hours of work, I'm too busy
to think of drinking, or eating, or anything.</div>
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Now
it's almost 2 pm and I'm confused. I thought I would break the fast
today, but I feel great – energetic, no grumbly tummy, not cold any
more, no evil monsters in my mind. The official formula goes: eat
lightly for 1-2 days, then 5 days of complete fasting, then 2 days
eating very lightly and slowly again. If you start shovelling crap
into yourself after the cleanse, there's no point doing it.</div>
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The
sun is shining! Yes, in London. Time to have a tomato juice and go
out! On my afternoon walk, I pick up food. I decide not to break the
fast with an apple, but with something I have been craving all week
and is light and easy to digest: a simple miso soup and a small bowl
of rice.
</div>
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Around
5 pm, I finally, properly, break the fast, eating ever so slowly. And
yes, this rice tastes much better than yesterday's – nourishing,
clean, and even sweet all on its own.
</div>
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Have
I achieved what I wanted to? Yes and yes. I wrote some things on my
list which obviously take a longer time to become a routine again,
but I feel fresher, more clear-headed and have tons more energy than
before the cleanse. It feels good to not only know, but experience
that your body and mind can go much further than you think.</div>
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However,
like on my previous fasts, I didn't really have the feeling that my
body is being “cleansed”. I still think this is complete rubbish.
Surely changing up your routine and the way you live for a few days
also influences your body, but my organs work well. I'm not a
container for toxic waste.
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Will
I do it again? Definitely, whenever I feel I need a little kick-start
in life. However, I will probably stick with a maximum of 3 days next
time, because the physical effects that are supposed to kick in after
day 3 just never happen to me.
</div>
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Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-8274134783898979622013-02-27T09:52:00.003+00:002013-02-27T09:52:20.777+00:00Day 4: Wednesday, 13. February 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So
all the online people and books tell me I should be over the moon
today, but I'm not: I'm cranky and bored, and even the signs of
detoxification are gone. The only thing that keeps me going is the
fact that today is Ash Wednesday – the day of the year that
millions of other people worldwide start their fasting period. I hope
that tomorrow's special event, Valentine's Day, does something
similar to me, but I think I will break the fast tomorrow afternoon
or night. I can do another night today, but I don't think I want two
more of these sleepless nights full of self-doubt and fucked up
dreams.
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During
this cleanse, the evenings are truly terrifying experiences where I
get to meet the worst sides of myself. I'll spare you the glimpse
into the abyss of my mind. Maybe all this means my mind is detoxing,
as well?</div>
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The
mornings are filled with yoga, tea and work, the afternoons with a
little more work and lots of relaxing: absolutely easy, but I start
feeling a little numb. As I get ready to meet a friend in town, I
catch my reflection in the mirror: does my skin seem much clearer, my
eyes a lot brighter? Or is that just the expensive Clinique cream I
recently (stupidly) splurged on? Usually, I put on a little make up
when it's for going somewhere fancy or evening entertainment. Today,
I skip it. I feel energetic, happy, accomplished, ready to take on
the world. Not all is great, though: I'm still really cold today, but
not as much as yesterday, and I've been strangely bloated all day,
although I didn't eat anything that could cause it. Except... that
I've been drinking too much, and way too fast to keep the evil
monsters away that tell me that I want to eat. Not need to, want to.</div>
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<span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-weight: normal;">After
a cup of tea and a depressing Chilean movie (during which my stomach
is so loud the woman next to me stares at me) with the bes</span></span><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">t
</span></span></span><em><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;">Porteño
in town, the unthinkable happens again: I eat an onigiri, not because
I'm hungry, but because eating is fun and that Argentine guys is just
so wonderfully convincing. </span></span></em>
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<em><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;">A
few grams of rice and seaweed, is my cleans spell now broken? My
stomach seems happy now. My tastebuds? Somehow, it's not a rewarding
experience. People speak of 'heigthened senses', but the rice just
tastes like nothing. </span></span></em>
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<em><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;">(Note
to self: don't buy any more onigiri in London, they're all crap. Make
your own or stick to Japan, or at least Düsseldorf Japantown.)</span></span></em></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<em><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;">I
get back home around 10 pm and keep reading until... 3 am. Still not
really </span></span></em>
</div>
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<em><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;">tired,
I force myself to go to sleep. Definitely not over the moon.</span></span></em></div>
</div>
Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-56711161604001251642013-02-27T09:51:00.002+00:002013-02-27T09:51:49.227+00:00Day 3: – Tuesday, 12. February<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I
wake up in better spirits, but with a funny taste in my mouth and a
mild headache. I'm also a little cold and my back hurts. So there is
some poison in me, after all! I manage a few half-assed sun
salutations and get on the Google, where everyone agrees that the 3rd
day of not eating is the hardest, because on this day, the body
finally switched into self-support mode.
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It
think it's a really good thing to know that your body, just as you
are now, is able to go on by itself for weeks and weeks. A very
empowering thought on many levels!</div>
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Anyhow,
I still have this headache, and as people advise for any kind of
problem during the cleanse, have another go with the tiny
micro-enema. Surprise: an hour later, I really feel brilliant, except
for still being a little cold (but to be fair, it is a really cold
day today).
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At
1pm, I lie down for the magical detox hot water bottle over the right
side of my belly (“to help the liver detox”) and wake up... 3
hours later. So that's that for going into town today. Instead, I go
for a walk around Little Venice and yes, feel a little light-headed.
On the way back, I stock up on juice at the Sainsburys, where lots of
ads ask me “How would you like your pancake?”. Hm, pancake...</div>
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When
I get back, I tackle a project I've been meaning to accomplish for
the last two months: mend some clothes, and above all, figure out if
I still really want to wear all that stuff that has been sitting in
suitcases for the last two years. Turns out mending doesn't take that
long, and yes, it all still fits me and I like it. After all, I
cleaned out 90% of my belongings before I first left, and it seems
things have not changed all that much since.</div>
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As
the sun sets, my self-pity grows into a giant monster that tells me
“You can stop anytime!”. Trying to study Japanese doesn't help,
so I bury myself in a marathon of watching “Tatort”, this time
the Zurich edition. But the Swiss are not great at doing crime
fiction, and it doesn't help that every single German show I watch
seems to have a carnival theme and people are eating lots of sweets.
</div>
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I
then turn to the worst thing you can do: reading food blogs and
checking cookbook reviews on Amazon. As a consequence, the voices in
my head get so loud that I nibble on a flapjack from my Graze box,
which is luckily divided into three parts. After one third, I stop
and pity myself and finally fall asleep around 2 am. Not a good day
at all.</div>
</div>
Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-14661814140267482822013-02-14T13:34:00.003+00:002013-02-14T13:34:55.868+00:00Day 2 – Monday, 11 February 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I
wake up at 7, still – or again – full of energy. It might sound
like a total paradox, as I'm giving my body barely any calories, but
think of it this way: around a third of your body's energy is usually
used for digestion (pretty ineffective, if you ask me...). When
there's nothing or very little to digest, that energy is set free.
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…
and used for a miserable 20 minutes of yoga in which I establish that
my upper back and shoulders are tense like those of a 55 year old
civil servant. This is what happens if you drop yoga for over a year,
even after 8 years of daily practice.
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More
tea and it's back to work, which seems to flow much faster than
usual. My concentration has definitely improved and I get the same
amount of work done in 3.5 hours that would usually take me 5-6
hours. It's noon and my work for the day is done!</div>
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Yet,
I still don't feel any effects of 'detoxification'. After my lunch -
Whole Foods Parsnip and Ginger soup - I lie down with a hot water
bottle on the right side of my stomach, which supposedly helps to
expedite the liver functions and flush out all the toxins.
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I can
only nap lightly as my flatmate is having an operatic Italian crydown
with her boyfriend in Rome over the phone (really, I'm sure he can
hear her well without her shouting into the phone), so I flee to
Tesco to buy some more tea, and yes, a Starbucks Espresso (at
Starbucks, not Tesco). Caffeine used to be forbidden for any kind of
cleanse, but recent studies show that a little, without the dairy, is
only beneficial. So much for 'toxic' coffee.
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The
rest of the afternoon and early evening is spent with another round
of yoga, another guided meditation and a lot of reading.</div>
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At
night, I have another scrub and shower. And then, doubts start
creeping in on me. I'm feeling great, but also feel that I have
already achieved most of my goals (on Saturday, I wrote down a list
of things I want to achieve, which seemed crazy at the time. 48 hours
later? All done). But I don't seem to be detoxifying. Why am a doing
this? Plus, my feet are really, really cold. While I plot to break
the fast, I somehow fall asleep just past 11 pm.</div>
</div>
Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-1084601272215953462013-02-13T12:24:00.003+00:002013-02-13T12:24:47.113+00:00Day 1: Sunday, 10 February 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So
much for "fasting when spring is coming"; London has decided to give me
sleety rain instead. The first thing I do today is actually clean the
flat, not cleanse myself.
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Then,
I make myself a cup of peppermint tea and make friends with the mini
enema. Things work out well. I have lots of work to do, so there is
not much time for any intense feel good private wellness or woo-woo.
In between, I have a tablespoon of honey (by the spoon, not in tea);
it's meant to be “therapeutic”, but mostly, it's to prevent your
blood sugar levels from crashing (which mine love to do and turn me
into evil jittery bitch). I also cut a lemon (the organic ones from
Sainsburys that go mouldy so quickly...) into eights and suck on them
during the day. This is meant to give your body vitamin C and those
invisible mini-micro-nutrients. Mostly, it's good to prevent the
taste of well, nothing, in your mouth.</div>
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You
are supposed to create a routine during the cleanse, but unless you
can manage to not work at all, that won't work, as much as anybody
would love to spend their entire days napping and being massaged with
fragrant organic oils.
</div>
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So
today, I quickly make my fasting 'broth': 2 potatoes, a carrot, a
quarter of an onion and two sad looking spring onions are boiled in
water for 30 minutes. And nope: you don't get to eat the veg, just
the resulting stock, which is eaten slowly and meditatively. The
cleanse gurus say you shouldn't add any salt, but medicinally, this
leads to nothing but a total lack of any taste (unless you have
issues with your body retaining water, then going salt free would be
the solution), so I add a little bit of salt and pepper. Presto: it
doesn't taste half bad!</div>
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So
far, I don't feel hungry at all, but the big challenge awaits: I have
been invited to meet friends for a matinee of “Jiro – Dreams of
Sushi”. 1 hour and 16 minutes of sushi. When 10 minutes into the
film, my stomach starts to grumble, I have the Innocent smoothie I
brought along, and magically, I am not longing to EAT ALL THE SUSHI
THAT EVER EXISTS. Not even when after the film, I manage to convince
my friends to go to Whole Foods instead of the pub. Irishman manages
to find the unhealthiest food in the entire shop and chomps down on
fried chicken while I have a hot spiced tomato juice (which also
tastes like the most delicious concoction on earth now!). As a short
online search reveals, lots of people actually do eat the veg from
their stock, pureed really finely – so I decide to take two pots of
lovingly handmade organic vegan soup home with me as my friends hit
the pubs.</div>
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For
me, surprisingly, the hardest part of the cleanse is to say “No”
to much of my London social life, which always seems to involve some
kind of food or drink. Wednesday, there's a big communal lunch with
Canadian vegan icon and cook book author Sarah Kramer, and I'll have
to miss it. Food is a massive part of my life: I love to buy
groceries, to look at recipes, to cook, to eat, in or out. I even
read cookbooks before going to bed.
</div>
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But
tonight, instead of going out in Soho, I go back home, work a little
more, have a shower, scrub all the dead skin cells off my body,
lather on lots of coconut oil and then try a guided meditation. Aum,
surprisingly still not hungry at all.</div>
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I try
to go to sleep at 11 pm, but am full of energy. Funny, considering I
gave my body a maximum of maybe 300 calories all day. Sometime around
1 am, I fall asleep.</div>
</div>
Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-70717842408370727472013-02-12T11:44:00.001+00:002013-02-13T12:25:24.734+00:00 The big German cleanse, Day 0<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I haven't posted here in a
long time, and am not sure if anyone is still reading this. The big
disappointment: I will not be posting about food for the next week.
Instead, I'm writing about NOT having food for a week.
<br />
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<br /></div>
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For a variety of reasons,
I'm doing a cleanse, but not one of the usual 'crash diets' or 'Dr.
X' Amazing Juice Wonder'. Sticking to my roots, I'm doing a German
'fast' losely based on a German doctor named Buchinger, who called
the thing “Heilfasten”. A healing fast, literally, because it was
first used in his clinic for people with chronic diseases. But there
are many benefits for healthy people, and it's very easy to do at
home.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In Germany, this is not
really a woo-woo kind of thing; lots of people fast for a couple of
days or do this type of cleanse in one variation or the other (there
are no hard and fast rules), often twice a year, but mostly during
Lent. It's not a method to lose weight - you might lose some during
the time, but it's mainly water and you'll put it back on in no time
after starting to eat again.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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Will it detoxify my body?
I'm not quite sure. The last time I did this, I did not experience
any of the supposedly typical symptoms of toxins being flushed out of
your body (e.g. furry tongue, bad breath and general smelliness,
headaches or dizzyness). I was a young and health-conscious vegan at
the time, though, with daily yoga and 8 hours of swordplay training
in the Aikido dojo. There's no medical evidence that the body builds
up toxins, but many people swear the cleans helps do detoxify their
bodies, especially those with asthma and allergies. I don't believe
that the body will build up toxins that it's unable to cleanse by
itself, but let's see if two years of eating animal products have
made my body toxic.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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People report about
experiencing the fast as a deeply spiritual experience, many speaking
even likening the feeling to being high. Again, I'm not so sure. I'm
not a particular spiritual person, though I have no issues with
meditation and yoga. Replace 'spiritual' with 'psychological' and
much of this stuff makes sense.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But really, the cleanse
doesn't have to be for anything like this.
</div>
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I returned to London after
almost 2 years of travel, and I'm happy to be here. Work is going
well, my social life is going well. Yet, I feel strangely unsettled,
have trouble concentrating, trouble sleeping, eat way too many animal
products, waste a lot of time on the internet instead of doing things
that are important to me, that I enjoy and benefit from. Telling
myself all these things doesn't seem to help. I work from home and
could go out any time, but I barely do so. My yoga routine has
completely disappeared.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I need a spring cleaning
for my mind, and it probably won't hurt my body, either. I need to
push the stop button and instead of spending so much time buying
food, cooking food, eating food, going out to eat, focus on things
that are important to me. Maybe even push the reset button and get a
new start.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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I meant to start the
cleanse from Monday, but after a boozy night in a lovely country
cottage, I don't feel like eating much today. Maybe a good reason to
get started today already.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Day 1 of the cleanse
simply a day where you eat lightly, with lots of fruit and veg and no
or little animal products.
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<br /></div>
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And get the equipment all
ready!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>The equipment:</b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yHdtEOZz6eg/URoqJKTxhTI/AAAAAAAAB8c/ic3WW3yLZ34/s1600/IMAG0840.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yHdtEOZz6eg/URoqJKTxhTI/AAAAAAAAB8c/ic3WW3yLZ34/s320/IMAG0840.jpg" width="241" /></a>
</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hot water bottle and
micro-enema. Sexy times, I know!
</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As your digestion mostly
comes to a halt during the fast, it's really important that you...
well, cleanse your colon first. Otherwise, you'll keep feeling hungry
as your stomach thinks the digestion keeps going (and some say the
undigested stuff in your gut can lead to re-toxification. Whatever).
This isn't as nasty or terrible as it sounds. Many people take Epsom
salts or similar to create artificial diarrhoea. The medical industry
has also invented these nifty mini enemas, which are as easy to use
as a suppository. Because I refuse to drink something that tastes
nasty, when drinking is all I will be doing the next days.</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A propos drinks: There's
no need to get any fancy stuff. Many people make their own juices,
but honestly I can't be bothered and use organic proper juices
instead. What I will be doing myself this time is to cook my own
vegetable stock each day, but I've done it with storebought ones
before. Get good quality, organic stuff, without added sugar or nasties. Smoothies and very thin, finely puréed soups
are ok, too (that's my take on it at least).</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The outline for the fast
recommends that you only drink a certain amount of juice and soup,
but I'll disregard that one – if I am not eating, I at least want
to decide what and how much I'm drinking (and I don't fancy fruit
juice too much anyway, so probably won't experience any sugar shock).
</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So in addition to fruit
and vegetable juices and “soup”, the menu will feature herbal
teas, water, fresh ginger tea, plain miso soup, and if things get
hairy, the leftover pumpkin soup in my freezer. Also, lemon for the
vit c and against the general taste of nothingness in your mouth.</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My last meal: a salad of
mixed green leaves, cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seeds and a tiny bit of
'Drunk Goat' hard goats chesse (next time, Deborah!)</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Let's get started.</div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>P.S.: The girlfriend is
worried that I might be 'starving' myself. Not so – they human body
can go without solid food for a remarkably long time, and with this
kind of fast, you give your body about 300 calories a day and all the
minerals and vitamins it needs.Unless you are very underweight, pregnant or suffer from a severe chronic disease, it's perfectly safe.</i></div>
<i>
</i><br />
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Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-63650071437548839672011-11-09T10:50:00.001+00:002011-11-09T11:25:27.450+00:00On the move... in every way!<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So, yeah, that food blogging thing. I still love it and read and comment on people's blogs, but writing about things myself is a bit silly as at the moment, I don't really have a kitchen. When I do (as in Osaka), I'll post food and recipes, but to be honest, right now, <b>TRAVEL is my life</b>. So, not to annoy anybody here, I have started a new blog <a href="http://queernomad.blogspot.com/">here</a> (it will be pimped in the next weeks, right now it's pretty much a blank canvas for posts - it has some posts though).</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I will still post here when I actually do some cooking or foodie things, but I'd be very happy to see some of you follow me over there and through Asia ;) </span>Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-28405503312573258512011-08-26T16:27:00.012+01:002011-08-26T17:24:18.831+01:00Hiking for the Dutch and a short history of the Nara Period<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kikKC3WaO5Y/TlfG_cKjmNI/AAAAAAAABMc/C3HPfe0XEbQ/s1600/DSCI1468.JPG">
<br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D7YRVwvFhAI/TlfGlXtm0ZI/AAAAAAAABMM/5wx3AobDrkQ/s1600/DSCI1477.JPG">
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HW-kRBlXdag/TlfGdmHRTFI/AAAAAAAABME/m0HxW7AGA6g/s1600/DSCI1475.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HW-kRBlXdag/TlfGdmHRTFI/AAAAAAAABME/m0HxW7AGA6g/s400/DSCI1475.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645198869681753170" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">I was born 5 miles away from the Dutch border, and grew up about 10 miles from it. I was severely shocked when I moved to London and started exploring the outsides of the city that there were... mountains... ok, actually, they are tiny hills, but I hadn't lived anywhere that wasn't totally flat before.
<br />
<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">So Japan seems to be made of about 80% mountains, real ones, and surprisingly, I enjoy them...</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">passing them on the train, haha! I love walking and in theory would make a great hiker, but anything with more than a 5% elevation freaks me out. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">So I was delighted to find a trai</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">l in Nara pr</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">efecture calles </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.pref.nara.jp/nara/kaido/kokaido/eg/yamanobe.htm">Yamanobe no Michi</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> that follows the foot of a mountain, but only really has 2 hills - the rest is countryside: orchards, rice paddies, sweet little Jap</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">anese villages and old temples and shrines.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gVmLgIS7s7U/TlfF6gsuJoI/AAAAAAAABL0/qdFrIQbQdF4/s1600/DSCI1472.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gVmLgIS7s7U/TlfF6gsuJoI/AAAAAAAABL0/qdFrIQbQdF4/s400/DSCI1472.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645198266932799106" border="0" /></a>Apparently this is one of the oldest roads in Japan. I was a little disappointed by the temples and shrines: they were touted as well-preserved and beautiful, but especially the shrines were in a sad state, which somehow is often the case in Nara Prefecture, maybe because it was supposed to be Buddhist capital?</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">
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<br /></span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kikKC3WaO5Y/TlfG_cKjmNI/AAAAAAAABMc/C3HPfe0XEbQ/s1600/DSCI1468.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kikKC3WaO5Y/TlfG_cKjmNI/AAAAAAAABMc/C3HPfe0XEbQ/s400/DSCI1468.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645199451126733010" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">[</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family:verdana;" >Steffi's short history of the Nara period</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">: Japanese emperor discovers this great new thing called Buddhism someone brought over from Korea via China (yeah... and India, I know). Emperor thinks 'Heheee, I shall build my capital as a kind of Buddhism Theme Park and all should admire me. I also fancy the Chinese capital</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">, so I can copy that as well.' He (and his hot empress daughters) went and built lots of temples so convert the local peasants from their folk religion. When the boys took over and moved the capital eventually to Kyoto, Nara was forgotten.
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<br />Fast forward 1200 years: Nara prefecture's government thinks 'Damn, no one is visiting our boring little city and we have all these old temples standing around, but everybody is visiting those in Kyoto or eating their body weight in takoyaki in Osaka, only a couple of miles away. I know what! Let's make a Buddhist theme park out of those temples and put lots of crazy deer in there so kids, religious people and American tourists who will eat the deer crackers will visit us!' So in the end, the emperors of the Nara period got their Buddhist Wonderland!]</span>
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<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D7YRVwvFhAI/TlfGlXtm0ZI/AAAAAAAABMM/5wx3AobDrkQ/s1600/DSCI1477.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D7YRVwvFhAI/TlfGlXtm0ZI/AAAAAAAABMM/5wx3AobDrkQ/s400/DSCI1477.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645199003254968722" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">I went there during O-bon, which can be likened to the Japanese Christmas: it's when everybody goes home to visit their family as the ancestors' spirits are said to return home during those days. It sure made for an eerily quiet Osaka, and also made me one of maybe a handful people who decided to walk the trail that day. There was nothing going on at all - luckily, the signage was quite good (if you read a little Japanese, the English signs can be misleading!), otherwise there might not have been anyone to ask for the way. The few hikers I met were very friendly and I actually ended speaking a lot of Japanese that day ("Where are you from, what are you doing in Japan, why are you standing in the middle of a plum orchard?").</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">
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<br /></span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M4FNcQbkMnE/TlfGxazxK_I/AAAAAAAABMU/Y2ZN_eNY7LA/s1600/DSCI1481.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M4FNcQbkMnE/TlfGxazxK_I/AAAAAAAABMU/Y2ZN_eNY7LA/s400/DSCI1481.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645199210244549618" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">The funniest thing that happened was when at about halfway on the trail, a car pulled over and a middle-aged couple asked me where the baseball stadium was. We were surrounded by rice paddies in a radius of a mile! It sure meant they couldn't find anybody else to ask, as most Japanese are really hesitant speaking to a foreigner. They must have gotten really lost, because I still haven't found a baseball stadium anywhere near there (baseball is really popular in Japan). </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">
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<br />I can recommend this path to anyone, even if you are not a walking/hiking person. It's about 1 hr on the train from downtown Osaka to Tenri, from where you can start walking south to Sakurai station. There is a train station you get on every 2 miles near the trail, so even if you don't feel like going the whole 8 miles, it's still worth visiting. It gets my mountain hater stamp of approval!</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2BJUD9-eH2Y/TlfHRWXgjpI/AAAAAAAABMk/tkVjXug-tX4/s1600/IMAG0043.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2BJUD9-eH2Y/TlfHRWXgjpI/AAAAAAAABMk/tkVjXug-tX4/s400/IMAG0043.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645199758808092306" border="0" /></a><span style=" font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Village house - yes, there were people living in there. Gives you an idea of what Japan was like before it was rich.</span>
<br /></div>Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-57984293995282909512011-08-19T23:48:00.008+01:002011-08-20T00:26:53.720+01:00Kimchi udon (delicious) & cute fish (unharmed)
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9WvoLuN5znQ/Tk7u6fH-VuI/AAAAAAAABLc/1vM9in5VFvQ/s1600/DSCI1465.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9WvoLuN5znQ/Tk7u6fH-VuI/AAAAAAAABLc/1vM9in5VFvQ/s320/DSCI1465.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642710071696578274" border="0" /></a>
<br />I love kimchi. Kimchi is one of the staple foods of Korean cuisine, and in its most common form, it's spicy, garlicky pickled cabbage. Yes, not exactly sexy and it takes some getting used to, but once you like it, you're hooked.
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<br />Sadly, much of the kimchi that you can buy in Europe has been sitting on the shelves too long and it over-fermented already. You can still eat it, but it is much more pungent than the fresh stuff (which led me to believe that I don't like kimchi! I DO!!!).
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<br />The other thing is that virtually all the brands I have found in the UK include shrimp or anchovy. You can always <a href="http://vegan8korean.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/welcome-kimchi/">make your own</a> though (no outdoor jar needed, the fridge does the same trick), and I have heard that there are many vegetarian brands available in the US which is blessed with more Korean immigrants.
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<br />So, in Japan, kimchi can be found in many varieties in any supermarket or even posh Japanese pickle shops (yes, they have pickle shops here). The best thing is that is very cheap, too, and I have been cooking all kinds of stuff with kimchi the past weeks.
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<br />One of my favourites is kimchi udon, which is probably more Japanese than Korean... or is it Japanokorean fusion? Well, it's delicious!
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<br />What you need for 2-3 bowls (depending on size) of spicy noodle soup:
<br /><ul><li>1 tbs oil</li><li>half a bunch of spring onions, finely chopped</li><li> 1 tbsp grated ginger</li><li>200g fried tofu, bite-size</li><li>200g shiitake mushrooms, sliced</li><li> 100 g kimchi, finely chopped (and with the kimchi 'juice' if you are hardcore)</li><li>1 tbs Korean chili paste (or Japanese shishimi togarashi, 1 tbs chilli oil - spicy red stuff)</li><li>500 ml soup stock (I used instant konbu dashi that you can buy in any Japanese shop in the West, too, sssht... but you can get away with regular veg stock) </li><li>4 tbsp mirin (or sake and a bit of sugar if you want to be sacrilegious)
<br /></li><li>2 servings udon noodles (depends on your idea of a serving)
<br /></li><li>1 tbsp miso paste</li><li>soy sauce if all this is not spicy and salty enough for you!</li></ul>Heat up some oil in a deep wok or saucepan. Fry the ginger and shiitake gently for 2-3 minutes. Add your tofu and kimchi, fry for another 3 minutes. Add the mirin and stock. Mix the chilli paste and miso with some stock and add it to the pan (or, if you are lazy like me, add water, stir in the instant stock and wait until it boils). Simmer for another 5 minutes.
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<br />Cook your udon noodles separately according to packaging directions, drain and place in the serving bowls. Ladle the soup over it just before serving and garnish with lots of spring onions. Guaranteed to kill any cold or other germs hiding inside you!
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<br />The other day, we went to Osaka Aquarium. While I was very unhappy about how some of the animals live, others are taken very good care of. It's not like they have a general welfare policy there, or maybe it is lack of funds because they are doing a lo<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_j3Y053zI_s/Tk7vHOycCyI/AAAAAAAABLk/ihdZMwYGn48/s1600/DSC_0390.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_j3Y053zI_s/Tk7vHOycCyI/AAAAAAAABLk/ihdZMwYGn48/s320/DSC_0390.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642710290649582370" border="0" /></a>t towards the preservation of rare species. They had a special exhibition going on which cute little fish (of course, no Japan without the kawaii), which was my favourite. Look at this funny little guy! He kept hiding in the tiny shell until we got out the camera. Then he turned into a total attention-seeker!
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<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dxi_If4fxMw/Tk7viPPoTlI/AAAAAAAABLs/XLrtFuU--Rk/s1600/DSC_0384.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dxi_If4fxMw/Tk7viPPoTlI/AAAAAAAABLs/XLrtFuU--Rk/s320/DSC_0384.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642710754628488786" border="0" /></a>These bouncy dudes were my favourite. They don't really swim, just sit around and roll from one side to the other on the rocks... yes, it's a normal thing for them. They are less than an inch tall. So funny to watch!
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<br />Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-67507627078532349892011-08-14T15:02:00.010+01:002011-08-14T17:11:25.603+01:00Osaka eats (and grumbles)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xI9oGIuDPqk/TkfmGKb-yII/AAAAAAAABLU/gfieHQzstPA/s1600/DSCI1304.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xI9oGIuDPqk/TkfmGKb-yII/AAAAAAAABLU/gfieHQzstPA/s320/DSCI1304.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640730051860154498" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">{Sorry, first I need to rant. For food only, move on to the black text.}</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family:verdana;" >I have long been a lover of all things Japanese, but always laughed at the anime otaku crowd that said they absolutely want to travel/move there. Anyhow, when a good friend was working in Osaka, I decided I might give it a go and absolutely fell in love with the Kansai area (that is, the area in central Japan that includes the ancient imperial cities of Japan, Kyoto and Nara, and Japan's anti-capital and second biggest city Osaka).</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family:verdana;" >I couldn't stop thinking about it ever since, and the trip also fuelled a wanderlust unbeknown for me ( I have spent about 2 days off in London in the past year, usually I was just travelling).
<br />
<br />When my freelancing started to make enough money, I decided to give this location-independent thing a go, packed up in London and have a little flat in central Osaka for a few weeks.</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family:verdana;" >So, here's my verdict after a month being here: I am finding it really hard to connect to people, and that's not due to language issues. There is an absolute lack of decent GLBT places and culture which makes me feel very alienated. There are a few places of the loud, neon-signed clubbing type, but in general, if you're gay in Japan, you stay well in your closet.
<br />
<br />There's an enormous pressure on women to be stereotypically girly. I like to cook and have a thing for quirky skirts and dresses, that is about as far a girly as I get. No excitement about hairstyles, makeup or pop music, thank you very much. I'm a queer artsy nonconformist gal by heart, which means: I won't fit in here.</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family:verdana;" >
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<br />Usually I could fall back on the couchsurfing community, but even that here is extremely flaky and superficial. I must have been stood up for meetups about a dozen times by now. I met some people who are nice, but most are just travellers on a super commercial shopping tour through Japan.</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family:verdana;" >
<br />
<br />Now, the good:</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family:verdana;" >The Japanese people I have met are brilliant! I actually have a penpal who lives in a suburb of Kyoto, and now we can meet for coffee (or Donuts, as she particularly loves Mr Donut in Kyoto's central station). My landlord is an awesome punky bagpacker in his 50s, and my neighbour runs a guitar repair shop (his name is Hiro, but sadly he looks nothing like the guitarist in Gravitation), speaks as much English as </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family:verdana;" >I Japanese but we get on well. Japanese couchsurfers are also awesome. Osakans are just such a friendly and curious bunch, I could tell lots of stories!</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">So, Osaka aka Japan's Manchester (seriously, it's about as much like Manc as Tokyo is similar to London), is a brilliant and cheap place to live, especially for its awesome foods. What's even better is that I get to try all the stuff in the Japanese supermarkets in my tiny kitchen. They have a massive tofu aisle in every supermarket! So, on to the foods!</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">My local superma</span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4W1EL_lSu7I/TkfaEtDRWgI/AAAAAAAABKk/r8rWCAzJVNw/s1600/DSCI1460.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4W1EL_lSu7I/TkfaEtDRWgI/AAAAAAAABKk/r8rWCAzJVNw/s320/DSCI1460.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640716832652483074" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">rket, I am not sure if the Italian makes any sense (must ask the Italians in my life):</span>
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Suprisingly, eating out in Osaka seems to be much cheaper than buying food. A 2kg bag of rice costs about 900 yen or £8! And that in a country where rice is the staple food.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Fruit is also crazily expensive, though not as expensive as often touted online. Yes, you can get those £40 melons, but they are thought as presents. You can get a small melon for about £6, though there are none of the big watermelons I have seen in Europe. Still, an average apple will cost you about £2, and a tiny bunch of grapes £4 pounds. You know what's the worst? The cost actually seems justified. It sounds totally silly, but I've never eaten juicier, higher quality fruit in my life! Things in Japan might not be cheap, but they are always good value.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">On the other hand, I had this delicious kitsune udon for 320 yen, which is £2.50 - it's udon in a clear broth (it's Japan, so most likely some fish has been sieved through it. I know it's horrible, but if you ignore the fact that the base of Japanese cuisine is fish stock, your life is so much easier. In 9o% of the cases, you will still get fish stock even though you ask for something vegetarian. If you can somehow ignore that 1 tbsp of fish flakes of passed through 10l of stocks, there are many otherwise animal-free options. Otherwise, eat bananas, seaweed rice balls or move to Tokyo and spend £30 on a meal in a fancy veggie place).</span>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e52-OPLLzL4/TkfcVHbB7gI/AAAAAAAABK0/ZkZGhsxO6-M/s1600/DSCI1464.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e52-OPLLzL4/TkfcVHbB7gI/AAAAAAAABK0/ZkZGhsxO6-M/s320/DSCI1464.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640719313632620034" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">So, Kitsune udon... it's udon noodles in a clear soup with a giant sheet of aburaage (deep-fried, sweetish delicious tofu) as a topping. 'Kitsune' means fox and the stories goes that the cheeky fox stole the meat that was to go with the dish and replaced it with cheap old tofu. It's awesome.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I usually boycott all Coca Cola products, but had a good look at the vending machines: they are on every street corner here, and 95% are owned by Coca Cola. So there goes acid green fanta (I couldn't actually figure out the flavour).</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The vending machines that aren't owned by Coke are those owned by Kirin and look like this:</span>
<br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uHnqcrXIqMo/TkfdyMq_UiI/AAAAAAAABK8/5qem-V4BPi4/s1600/IMAG0034.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 241px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uHnqcrXIqMo/TkfdyMq_UiI/AAAAAAAABK8/5qem-V4BPi4/s320/IMAG0034.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640720912769569314" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The fabled beer vending machine, selling very cheap ice cold beer! Everyone can use these without proving their age (the legal age for anything in Japan is 20). They are usually next to liquor stores so kids would be afraid to go there in case they are seen. Not sure how that works. Curiously, they close down at night (some after 9pm, others from 11pm) so kids can't get anything. How about closing them from 3pm - 9pm instead when kids are out after school?!</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Last year we went to the ridiculously named Blarney Stone pub near Umeda (central station in Osaka), which has plenty old Brits as well as cider, so I decided to go again with some couchsurfing folk. I tell you, you know you'e a Euro when you go somewhere and everybody wonders what this strange 'Blarney Stone' is that the place is named after.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Cheesy name and £8 pints ignored, this is a nice little place that served me this awesome VEGAN falafel p</span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aqbfVN7aDe8/Tkfe5IlUw1I/AAAAAAAABLE/D5xIV4TGk7w/s1600/DSCI1454.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aqbfVN7aDe8/Tkfe5IlUw1I/AAAAAAAABLE/D5xIV4TGk7w/s320/DSCI1454.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640722131442778962" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">late with chips, salad and a pita pocket full of falafel goodness for just 500 yen (it had olives! even a tiny 100g bag of olives costs more than 500 yen here, another reason why I cannot live in Japan permanently), and they had a good live band, so I'll be back!</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Oh, and the pasta! Italian will hate me for saying this, but there are quite a few places that do nice pasta, and much cheaper than in Italy. While there are such curious things as the Japanese </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.justhungry.com/spaghetti-napolitan">Neapolitan Pasta</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> and other seaweed/fish egg concotions, I had a really nice arrabiata lunch set the other day at Namba Parks, a big mall/park complex in the southern downtown area. I also got a ridiculously tiny cup of hot liquid with this that I mistook for dressing - it turned out later that it was the soup that was advertised on the lunch deal that I couldn't find anywhere. Cultural differences... I mean, it was in an espresso cup!!!</span>
<br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F1bOuN4RWbs/TkfguRnV8BI/AAAAAAAABLM/CGNlwSayEbU/s1600/IMAG0026.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F1bOuN4RWbs/TkfguRnV8BI/AAAAAAAABLM/CGNlwSayEbU/s320/IMAG0026.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640724143911858194" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">I've taken quite a few pics from my cooking efforts with real Japanese ingredients in my tiny Japanese kitchen and hope to post some recipes here within the next week or so!</span>
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<br />Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-34032637772121102042011-04-03T15:18:00.001+01:002011-04-03T15:18:38.416+01:00Long time no bento<div><p>Brilliant, as our internet at home is gone for a bit, I got myself this fancy phone that has the internets and all. I can use it as a modem for my laptop but for some reason Blogger is blocked. However, it has a Blogger app. Silly. Anyway, I made a decent bento the other day, with my new addiction, kimchi fried rice, carrot kinpira and mizuna salad. What is your favourite way to eat kimchi?</p>
<br/><img src='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TZiBu42EIDI/AAAAAAAABKc/zNTL1GfiW4w/IMAG0001.png' /></div>Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-63882516479775770132011-03-02T11:40:00.008+00:002011-03-02T11:51:21.199+00:00Portugal and baklava<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N7E5crRcapY/TW4tMm7om_I/AAAAAAAABJ8/Fnd_KMvYYos/s1600/DSCI1091.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N7E5crRcapY/TW4tMm7om_I/AAAAAAAABJ8/Fnd_KMvYYos/s400/DSCI1091.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579446682990975986" border="0" /></a><br />... I know, how do these go together?<br /><br />Well, it felt almost like spring when I went for a weekend trip to Porto in north Portugal with some awesome people. We were drinking beer at the Atlantic coast at 18°C and sunshine. I want to see more of this beautiful country!<br /><br />Right now, it's the first time in 2 years that I don't have a trip planned ahead of me, as it's job hunting time. We will see where that leads me.<br /><br />As a nod to my culinarily less exciting trip to Turkey, I had to try the Baklava recipe from The Urban Vegans' new book. Now you might know that I don't really have a sweet tooth and pretty baked items never look pretty when I make them... and I tried anyway, here's the result:<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ff7cuGFopUA/TW4uo6dg11I/AAAAAAAABKE/1MIYdlbGzQE/s1600/baklava.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 233px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ff7cuGFopUA/TW4uo6dg11I/AAAAAAAABKE/1MIYdlbGzQE/s400/baklava.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579448268781311826" border="0" /></a>I know, not pretty, and I felt like I had too few (or too small) filo sheets - do they come in a normed-size package in the US that I don't know of? At least they were delicious :)Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-49760669318460085692011-01-01T19:49:00.008+00:002011-01-01T20:25:49.392+00:00Turkey for Christmas<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TR-MvM41bqI/AAAAAAAABJs/Cpszn6-I1ec/s1600/DSCI1022.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TR-MvM41bqI/AAAAAAAABJs/Cpszn6-I1ec/s400/DSCI1022.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557315207739829922" border="0" /></a><br />... no, it's not what you think. For this year's end of year trip I went to Istanbul for a week from Christmas Eve until New Year's Eve - what's better for a Christmas hater than a city that doesn't celebrate it?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(By the way, Happy New Year!)</span><br /><br />I returned to London just in time for New Year's celebrations and now, am still a bit hungover from traveling... I'm not sure what to make of this city. I was hosted by the most amazing and welcoming people in the world - which absolutely saved the trip!- and although nobody in the city spoke English (not even at the tourist information!) or any other European language, everybody was incredibly friendly.<br /><br />Suprisingly, Istanbul, a city that sits on two continents, European City of Culture 2010, seemed more European to me than any city in the UK. While the notable sights were over-crowded with tourists more than I have seen in any other place, the rest of the city is somehow lacking soul. Istanbul is about the same size and age as London and the history of the city even more exciting, but it doesn't feel like it. Sultanahmet, the 'tourist' area, while pretty, feels sort of fake, and the rest of the city mainly consists of thousands of high-rise apartment blocks that were built within the last 30-50 years, with suburbs that never seemed to end. The 'clubbing' quarters were awkwardly tame, even at the weekend, and people seemed very monotonous - few 'foreigners', very monotonous fashion. The same goes for the food, which was essentially all the same Turkish fare, with the generic pizza and pasta thrown in.<br /><br />The highlight of my Istanbul must have been the Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı in Turkish, literally 'Egyptian Bazaar') - a short walk from the main train station and ferry terminals in Eminönü, it's much smaller but more interesting than the heavily commercialised, touristy Grand Bazaar (no way of comparing this to the souks of Arab-influenced countries).<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TR-LldwSP6I/AAAAAAAABJU/tp9QnXtHjBc/s1600/DSCI1021.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TR-LldwSP6I/AAAAAAAABJU/tp9QnXtHjBc/s400/DSCI1021.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557313940957052834" border="0" /></a>Teas, and spices. Ironically, they keep selling Apple Tea in all the tourist places in Turkey, although it's not a traditional drink at all.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TR-L4Tl909I/AAAAAAAABJc/chCsni4Vg4M/s1600/DSCI1024.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TR-L4Tl909I/AAAAAAAABJc/chCsni4Vg4M/s400/DSCI1024.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557314264646931410" border="0" /></a>I was very tempted to buy some of these beads of dried veggies, but ah, the easyJet hand luggage restrictions! I thought they were only for decoration, but apparently, they are popular in winter, as stuffed vegetables and more.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TR-Mb2TZFfI/AAAAAAAABJk/yTQBLSF0aig/s1600/DSCI1020.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TR-Mb2TZFfI/AAAAAAAABJk/yTQBLSF0aig/s400/DSCI1020.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557314875259688434" border="0" /></a><br />Sweets! Why is it that sweets and drinks in the Middle East must always be so cloyingly sweet?<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TR-LZRaW-VI/AAAAAAAABJM/0jrCjAlGWxY/s1600/DSCI1062.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TR-LZRaW-VI/AAAAAAAABJM/0jrCjAlGWxY/s320/DSCI1062.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557313731485432146" border="0" /></a>Guys fishing at Galata Bridge - they are actually catching quite a lot. The bridge is always filled with people fishing, which makes you think a) don't they have anything else to do? b) How come there are such rich fish stocks there, when it's after all, a massive urban area?<br /><br />Istanbul wasn't exotic enough to be fascinating, but not familiar enough to feel comfortable. In a nutshell, while it was all rather nice, it didn't excite me much. Have you been, and what did you think of it?<br /><br />On another note, and to reconnect with the misleading title, I found this adorable Japanese cooking show on Youtube some weeks ago - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/cookingwithdog">Cooking with Dog</a>. It has a great mix of traditional as well as westernised and 'everyday' Japanese favourites you wouldn't get in a fancy Japanese restaurant. Plus, it's ultra cute!Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-19556909648547289522010-12-18T20:33:00.006+00:002010-12-18T20:49:20.943+00:00Testing!<span style="font-family: verdana;">After all this moving, traveling and being ill, I felt like I needed to get back on the cooking track. I was stuck in such a horrible food rut in the last few weeks!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">So I was happy to hear that I can test some recipes for The Urban Vegan's new cookbook. I'm working on the presentation as my new flat has a limited selection of dishes, especially bowls.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I barely ever use plates, as 80% of my everyday cooking is either Asian -hard to rice with chopsticks from a plate, soupy or some sort of pasta with lots of sauce, which is also easier to eat from a very deep plate or bowl. I adore French breakfast 'bols', too! Anyway, I need to invest in some pretty donburi-able and ramen-able bowls. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: verdana;">Are you a bowl or a plate person?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The first recipe I tried was </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;">Farfalle with Shallots and Chard</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">. Dynise is right when she says shallots are often very under-appreciated. You can get them easily enough in the UK, but if you go into a big supermarket in a French-speaking country, the variety of shallots (and all other allium brothers) will blow you away!</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">This was a very basic dish but the shallots gave it a wonderfully deep aroma!</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TQ0cN-c8PFI/AAAAAAAABIw/W5by3LuI0h4/s1600/DSCI1009.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TQ0cN-c8PFI/AAAAAAAABIw/W5by3LuI0h4/s320/DSCI1009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552124942045953106" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Tonight we had 'a lot' of snow in London. That is, about 2 inches, but it sufficed to create an utter chaos. I had the final handover for my old flat today, and it took my 3hrs to get home -normally they journey would take 30minutes- after that because the public transport was totally fucked and there also were powercuts on the tube. It's not much fun sitting in a dark tunnel somewhere below Kings' Cross for an hour with no way out! I hope the situation improves, as I'll have to take the train to work on Monday. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">So when I finally got home, I started up this nice </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;">Humble and Hearty Vegetable Soup</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">. I just adore chewy barley in soups! I'll try to get some new bowls for the next pictures, and maybe sunlight, too!</span><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TQ0c9pjC5xI/AAAAAAAABI4/uWwvirOcufc/s1600/DSCI1011.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TQ0c9pjC5xI/AAAAAAAABI4/uWwvirOcufc/s320/DSCI1011.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552125761068132114" border="0" /></a>Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-91903801905435433962010-12-03T12:21:00.007+00:002010-12-03T12:49:52.787+00:00Morocco<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjnO5Vk4QI/AAAAAAAABII/YNEoBtszbxM/s1600/DSCI0956.JPG"><br /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjm3FEyDoI/AAAAAAAABIA/SxACR-bAFc4/s1600/DSCI0930.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjm3FEyDoI/AAAAAAAABIA/SxACR-bAFc4/s320/DSCI0930.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546436775036194434" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjm3FEyDoI/AAAAAAAABIA/SxACR-bAFc4/s1600/DSCI0930.JPG"><br /></a><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Look, it's a banana flower!<br /></span></div><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-family:arial;">I had been warned before that going to Morrocco would be dangerous as a single woman, and that I would be hassled all the time.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">The truth is: I wasn't hassled at all, met awesome people (locals and travelers alike) and felt much safer than in most European cities. I enjoyed speaking only French for a week, too. As I've read so much about this 'female traveller' issue in advance, I will probably write an article for Bootsnall or something about this soon.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Now I'm back home with a nasty virus infection. I'm blaming Ryanair germs and our crappy flat, not the maghreb.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Now, the vegan thing? That was the only downside. I know proper home style Moroccan food and love it above many other cuisines, but this country does not have a restaurant culture at all. They do nice French style breakfasts (coffee, juice, croissants and baguettes with jam), but apart from that, everything was pretty bland. Well, at least it was cheap... Except for the croissants, cafe au lait and some horrid pizza, I stayed vegan, so on the whole it was a nice lacto-veggie trip.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">My major disappointment was to find the bread stale and the olives dry and over-salty. Apparently all the nice olives go to Europe.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">I visited a traditional bakery in Fez. Even today, many people in the medinas don't have an oven, so it's common to prepare the bread dough and bring it to the local bakery in the morning and pick it up later. Often, the kids do that before and after school.</span> <a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjje-B5nmI/AAAAAAAABHg/a3_qXzQx4cc/s1600/DSCI0903.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjje-B5nmI/AAAAAAAABHg/a3_qXzQx4cc/s320/DSCI0903.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546433062293315170" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjkTYlAFjI/AAAAAAAABHo/tGn0u1h5DMM/s1600/DSCI0902.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjkTYlAFjI/AAAAAAAABHo/tGn0u1h5DMM/s320/DSCI0902.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546433962773059122" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">And the spices! I only bought one spice mix as many were clearly of inferior quality and being sold to ridiculous tourist prices, but it's just so beautiful to look at all the colourful piles!</span> <a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjk0NGfYkI/AAAAAAAABHw/41mLJI0b9Zk/s1600/DSCI0988.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjk0NGfYkI/AAAAAAAABHw/41mLJI0b9Zk/s320/DSCI0988.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546434526627979842" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I wasn't smitten by the famous Jme el fnaa square in Marrakesh, but then I never like the obvious touristy places. It's the main square of the city, where at night, music groups, storytellers, snakecharmers and all sorts of other crazy folk meets, and there's also a night food market with food stalls (this is featured in Jamie Oliver's 'Jamie does...' series and book). Sadly, 80% of the people there were middle aged tourists with fanny packs staring at the 'exotic', and the rest seemed to be pickpockets. I would have loved to visit this place 10 years ago or so.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">While it was enjoyable to see all the food stalls advertising 'As seen on Jimmy Olivier' and 'Johnny Oliver', I didn't dare eating there... I'm adventurous, but everything looked like the last time it was cleaned was... not this year.</span> <a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjmurq_J0I/AAAAAAAABH4/ApJq45r4l1Y/s1600/DSCI0957.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjmurq_J0I/AAAAAAAABH4/ApJq45r4l1Y/s320/DSCI0957.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546436630778160962" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjnO5Vk4QI/AAAAAAAABII/YNEoBtszbxM/s1600/DSCI0956.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TPjnO5Vk4QI/AAAAAAAABII/YNEoBtszbxM/s320/DSCI0956.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546437184202268930" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course I have many more pictures, but not really food related ones. Maybe next post :) </span></span>Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-21335774063124035962010-11-20T21:14:00.002+00:002010-11-20T21:17:47.201+00:00WowCan I possibly say thank you enough for all those wonderful comments to my last post?<br /><br />I funny thing is, ever since that post, I haven't actually had any non-vegan food, but lots of vegan acquaintances telling me that they 'turn a blind eye towards non-vegan food' quite often.<br /><br />So I'll be moving to a new part of life, and a new flat/kitchen soon (Couchsurfers watch out for the Kitchen Surfing London group!).<br /><br />First, Morocco. Pictures around this time in a week :)Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-11768184580855159862010-10-17T23:39:00.004+01:002010-10-17T23:45:40.367+01:00Outgrowing veganism<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }a:link { }</style> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I have thought about this for a while and as I would like to keep blogging,<br />though I assume a lot of people will stop following me after this, I need to get this out there. </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">With the title I'm not implying that I'm above anybody who is a strict vegan, or that veganism is a phase you will eventually grow out of. Although I did. I don't expect you to read further. I am also writing this for my vegan friends and hope they will accept my decision, even if they don't understand.<br /><br />Over the past few months, I have found myself falling off the vegan track repeatedly, and have not felt guilty about this at all.<br /><br />I used to be a poster child for veganism - honestly, I never missed any animal products because except for a little yoghurt and fish once or twice a month, I have not consumed any animal products since I've been 13/14. I love cooking for others to show them vegan food is not bland and boring. I never thought of veganism as hard in social contexts, or travelling, or anything else.<br /><br />I still don't - I would hate being one of those 'I tried veganism but it was too hard/my doctor told me to eat cheese/etc' people. Maybe I'll even got back to being vegan eventually. Right now, at this point in my life, veganism isn't for me.<br /><br />If you care about my reasons:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1) The guilt question or: Animal rights vs human rights vs Ecological decisions</span><br /><br />I used to be a passionate animal rights advocate, and in many cases still am. Now I have increasingly become interested in how other humans the world over live - and no, this is not a 'why veganism when there are so many other things wrong in the world' point I am trying to make. Simply said, it put things into perspective for me, and made me feel a lot less emotional about animals being exploited for human consumption. </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Provocative question: If you travel to an economically deprived country where the monthly village chicken is slaughtered a day early in your honour as a special guest from far away, will you refuse it, knowing that these people live on a handful of rice a day usually? (Not a 'What if a monkey made you a sandwich?' question, but a scene from a friend travelling in SE Asia).</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Another situation: Another friend of mine is super eco aware – all his clothes are fair trade, his house uses mostly renewable energy sources, they re-use water and shop all organic. If he travels, he does so by train, I don't think he's flown anywhere in the past 8 years (might be due to a flight phobic wife, though). How can I judge him for eating two eggs and a little bit of chicken once a week?</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">No, I am not playing down that it is horrible how animals are a commodity in this world. What I'm saying is that there are other things that matter at least as much.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2) the Vegan Scene</span><br /><br />This might be one of the main reasons for me and also was what put me off veganism in the first place. When I was 13, I met a guy who would later become one of my closest friends, but back then, he was just the vegan nutcase. Although his arguments made a lot of sense to me, I could not relate to someone who was in his early twenties and still lived off his family/girlfriend, and spent all his time at demos or other direct action events.<br /><br />When I moved to London, pretty much everybody I knew here was on a certain vegan forum. For a few months, I felt part of a big loving alternative community. Until I realised that apart from veganism, we did not really have much in common, and have values that are nothing like mine.<br /><br />On the one hand those who are part of a high flying elite, and do not have to worry about money, or those who have never experienced any hardship in their lives (apart from stuff like: 'My parents got a divorce when I was 17' or 'Where shall I go on that round the world ticket my parents bought me?').<br /><br />On the other hand, there were too many people that were just nuts - people who have been studying for the past 200 years, or have been on the dole for a similar time, and of course everybody has a bloody mental disorder!<br />(Ok, I get that some people are not in good health, or life has fucked them really badly so they are not 100% ok mentally. But it's my decision whether I want all this drama in my life or not).<br /><br />On both ends of the scale, I found that people did not care about the same things as I did, apart from veganism: I will not buy anything made by a multinational corporation that is well known for its nonexistent environmental policy or animal testing. No, I will not have this damn take out, no matter how vegan it is, because I would like to have control over what I put in my mouth, and I feel bad for the illegal delivery man/waiter/kitchen assistant who works for 2 pound an hour. Wow, and all these amazing vegan convenience products that come with an extra 400% of packaging that causes our clean vegan eco record to skyrocket. </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I don't want to be associated with these people. That said, I have met some awesome vegan people that I hope do not only like me for being vegan.<br /></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">(And no, I don't want a dozen vegan household cleaning products in my home, either.)<br /><br />Which leads me to:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4) the Environment</span><br />A big part of their holier-than-thou attitude comes from many vegans' assumption that a vegan diet equals a zero carbon emission diet. Well, it isn't, except if you grew 80% of your own food and supplemented the rest with locally grown, organic produce. I don't believe this is possible for anybody in Western Europe, even if you were a farmer. Milk consumption makes for 0.001% of carbon emission of an average omnivore's diet, and even if you eat big fat Argentinian steak, that only adds about another 0.2 per cent. Only reducing the amount of packaging of what you buy has a much bigger effect.</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">And the story with the meat that needs 10 times as much water as soy or wheat to grow (or whatever is the exact number)? Well, this applies only when the crop is grown in ideal conditions, otherwise the relations aren't that extreme. </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">To be honest, from this environmental point of view, I'd rather eat 50g of local, organic cheese a month than 300g of soy products imported from Asia or the Americas, and rather eat a few bits of sushi with tuna than buy a pair of vegan trainers that were made from fossil fuels (yep, I know that leather is an environmental no go, as well. Though it lasts longer).</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">PS: Rather build in some double glazed windows in your houses, Brits :) </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Last but not least, and this is a very selfish point:<br /></p><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: bold;">5) Travelling</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I'm a foodie, and I love travel, and for the first time in my life I can do this quite extensively now. Being in Japan this summer opened my eyes. It's very easy to eat all vegan in the UK, but even in my family's village in Germany it's nearly impossible (when I asked at the supermarket where their organic range was, I only got blank stares – all I was looking for was a vegan spread, even if it only was margarine!). Or in a supermarket in Paris. Or – coming back to Japan- in Asia. My Japanese is fairly good, and I was with a friend who speaks fluently in the local dialect. We were in the second biggest city in the country, in an area where (religious, buddhist) vegetarianism has a long tradition. And still, nobody really knew what we were talking about when asking for vegan food (or explaining what exactly that meant). This was in the most developed country in Asia.</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Next month I'll be going to Morocco, where the only vegan options will be olives, dates and bread, and essentially every 'vegetarian' stew contains meat broth. I fancy myself a traveler rather than a tourist, and I don't what to be the rich white bitch in a developing country.I'm going to be there for a week, on my own, and believe that I'll have plenty to put up with as a single western woman in her 20s, without creating a fuss about food. </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">So, will this blog be all steak and kidney pie from now on? No, because I still like the idea of veganism, and vegan food, and will continue to lead a 95% vegan lifestyle. Over the past weeks, I let myself have anything I wanted, and all the animal products I consumed were some salmon maki (and this kind of on accident, because I had ordered vegetarian ones), a croissant and few pieces of feta cheese in a salad – in two months. I can't imagine eating meat, or eggs, or drink milk. Just every now and then, I feel like a little bit of dairy or fish, and I don't want to deny that anymore because of an idealistic idea that no longer moves me (animal rights).</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I will most likely keep my house, including pantry and fridge, vegan, as I don't know it any other way (I went vegan shortly after moving out of my parents' place). <b>Recipes and pictures in this blog will stay vegan. </b>I won't start wearing wool, or silk, or leather, or visit a circus. If anything, my eco-awareness has increased. I won't be buying any more non-fair trade chocolate, or coffee, or tea, or clothes. I will increasingly try to buy mostly organic food.</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Things like these matter just as much as not consuming animals. Ideally, all of us would avoid all the 'bad' products in this world (woops, I forgot to mention/rant about Made in China and Made in Israel!), but each person's options are limited and we all pick and choose what's right for us. </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-58806427544914582172010-09-28T20:06:00.009+01:002010-09-28T20:40:03.956+01:00Turning French - cake salé<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKJDXINLgHI/AAAAAAAABGw/ym9CnR4ry3Y/s1600/DSCI0844.JPG"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKI_8_I6ewI/AAAAAAAABGo/Bq9KXFhxYB8/s1600/DSCI0603.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKI_8_I6ewI/AAAAAAAABGo/Bq9KXFhxYB8/s320/DSCI0603.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522046410083171074" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >No, not Japanese for a change!</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >Ever since I finally got a copy of Linda Majzlik's A vegan taste of France (I tried for years in vain to get it through Amazon Germany), I've been forcing lots of quiche on everybody around me. Furthermore, I heard of this wonderful invention called cake sal</span><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">é. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">Now that's not something you might have heard among the croissants, vichysoisses, cassoulets, ratatouilles and other famous French foods. Cake sal</span></span></em></span><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">é is a proper home style French food, and cannot be bought in shops usually.<br /><br />What it essentially is is a moist, wonderful, </span></span></em></span><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > </span>savoury snack that's very easy to bake, even when you're me and cannot really bake. You can use everything you like - olives, peppers, herbs, cubes of (vegan) cheese, tiny bits of seitan or tempeh, sundried tomatoes, grated courgettes or carrots...<br />It's wonderful on its own, with a spread, or along a soup or salad.<br /><br />I love doing a simple olive and courgette version. This is for a small loaf tin.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cake Salé type Backyard</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">N19</span><br /><br /></em></span><ul><li><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em><span style="font-weight: bold;">1.5 cups of flour</span> </em></span></li><li><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em><span style="font-weight: bold;">0.5 cup soy yoghurt</span> </em></span></li><li><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em><span style="font-weight: bold;">1 courgette, grated</span> </em></span></li><li><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em><span style="font-weight: bold;">100g olives, chopped</span> </em></span></li><li><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em><span style="font-weight: bold;">1 teaspoon salt</span> </em></span></li><li><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em><span style="font-weight: bold;">1 tsp baking powder</span> </em></span></li><li><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em><span style="font-weight: bold;">about 1 tablespoon dried/ 2 tbsp fresh chopped herbs (I used a mix of rosemary, sage and </span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">water where necessary (might depend on the size of your courgette)</span> </em></span></li></ul><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Mix everything - the batter should be like muffin dough, not overmixed, and not too moist. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for about 30 mins at 180°C. Eat hot, cold, toasted, whatever way really!</span><br /><br />Speaking of France, I went to Paris for the first time in ages this weekend. It was wonderful, the city wasn't busy and I got to see many things that I haven't seen before, including L'Orangerie with Monet's waterlilies (not sea roses as I awkwardly translated literally from German :) ). It also was the first time that nobody attempted to speak in any language other than French to me, which means my French must have improved quite a bit in the last few months!<br /><br />Sunday afternoon when I had some time left before my train, I went to Mus</em></span><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em><span style="font-style: italic;"><span>ée de Carnavalet in Le Marais, which is touted as "the Paris history museum", but actually it was much more than this. It's a beautiful old town villa with a wonderful (herb) garden and a collection of paintings, everyday things and exhibits of actual historical value. And the best: admission is free, a rare thing in Paris! </span></span></em></span><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search"><em><span style="font-style: italic;"><span>I'll be back!</span></span></em></span><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKJDXINLgHI/AAAAAAAABGw/ym9CnR4ry3Y/s1600/DSCI0844.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKJDXINLgHI/AAAAAAAABGw/ym9CnR4ry3Y/s320/DSCI0844.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522050157728465010" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKJDdwFdrzI/AAAAAAAABG4/k-39sS5R7rI/s1600/DSCI0845.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKJDdwFdrzI/AAAAAAAABG4/k-39sS5R7rI/s320/DSCI0845.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522050271512735538" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKJDk5XFy0I/AAAAAAAABHA/drumfzaU__I/s1600/DSCI0839.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKJDk5XFy0I/AAAAAAAABHA/drumfzaU__I/s320/DSCI0839.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522050394261670722" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKJDsEObUBI/AAAAAAAABHI/Lp8YNbEDRHQ/s1600/DSCI0843.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKJDsEObUBI/AAAAAAAABHI/Lp8YNbEDRHQ/s320/DSCI0843.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522050517437206546" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKJD45GP2CI/AAAAAAAABHQ/azGqs4Hx4Aw/s1600/DSCI0840.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKJD45GP2CI/AAAAAAAABHQ/azGqs4Hx4Aw/s320/DSCI0840.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522050737788409890" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKJD_kX_-tI/AAAAAAAABHY/xp7NTuJAtIU/s1600/DSCI0851.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TKJD_kX_-tI/AAAAAAAABHY/xp7NTuJAtIU/s320/DSCI0851.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522050852484807378" border="0" /></a>Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-13523985129674544062010-09-11T10:07:00.008+01:002010-09-11T10:26:54.055+01:00A weekend in Amsterdam or: Full of tempeh!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TItK_seuptI/AAAAAAAABGg/IyBgEFZzdJM/s1600/45126_1559133976388_1176445312_1639923_7475186_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TItK_seuptI/AAAAAAAABGg/IyBgEFZzdJM/s320/45126_1559133976388_1176445312_1639923_7475186_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515584626777564882" border="0" /></a><br />As much as "Eat, pray, love" was a major disappointment (although it deals with three countries I am quite interested in - including Indonesia), our bank holiday trip to Amsterdam was amazing and full of great food.<br /><br />There are plenty of vegan/veg-friendly restauraunts in Amsterdam, however, we didn't go to any. Because of that amazing "Dutch" (colonial) speciality - Indonesian!<br /><br />Now there are plenty of Indonesian places in London and elsewhere. The problem is that they usually are half Indonesian, half Malay, half something else. Nothing wrong with Malaysian food or any other South East Asian cuisine, but I like my authenticity.<br /><br />Now there is this wonderful Dutch invention called Rijsttafel (literally "Rice table"), aka a buffet of Indonesian food. The great thing is that Indonesian cooking doesn't use any dairy to begin with, and very little eggs, so if you go for vegetarian options you pretty much have a guaranteed vegan meal.<br /><br />Our first meal in Amsterdam was at a cute Indonesian deli - spicy tempeh (be praised for this invention, Indonesia!), spring rolls, corn fritters!<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TItKNUCzCDI/AAAAAAAABGI/CFNbWOkoDQM/s1600/toko.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TItKNUCzCDI/AAAAAAAABGI/CFNbWOkoDQM/s320/toko.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515583761224501298" border="0" /></a><br />Late that night, we went to <a href="http://www.purimas.nl/">Puri Mas</a> for our big vegan rijsttafel. For €20 each, we had: plain rice, spiced rice, veggies in peanut sauce, spicy tempeh, tofu in a bbq-y sauce, sauteed mushrooms, aubergine in spicy sauce, cucumber salad, a mixed veggie salad, grean beans, friend bananas... and quite a bit more. It was amazing, and the service was just wonderful. And the condiments! I could sprinkle those sweet-salty roasted coconut flakes on everything I eat!<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TItKhot3HEI/AAAAAAAABGQ/9esImRC_7Sk/s1600/45634_1559139936537_1176445312_1639957_1261432_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TItKhot3HEI/AAAAAAAABGQ/9esImRC_7Sk/s320/45634_1559139936537_1176445312_1639957_1261432_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515584110371216450" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TItKn81f8uI/AAAAAAAABGY/fpltebdo7o4/s1600/46030_1559141336572_1176445312_1639962_1006046_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TItKn81f8uI/AAAAAAAABGY/fpltebdo7o4/s320/46030_1559141336572_1176445312_1639962_1006046_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515584218851177186" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TItIUZbv-OI/AAAAAAAABGA/Lu15mS_vxqw/s1600/amsterdam.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TItIUZbv-OI/AAAAAAAABGA/Lu15mS_vxqw/s320/amsterdam.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515581683907164386" border="0" /></a><br />Now I am somewhat at a loss regarding authentic Indonesian recipes, because I can't seem to find any that turn out right. I am lacking some of the basic knowledge about this cuisine, that's why. Any book/website recommendations (except for The Asian Vegan Kitchen)?Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-48986381018097877252010-08-08T23:58:00.010+01:002010-08-09T00:36:49.429+01:00Nishiki Market, KyotoSooo the big trip has been made... and my passion for Japanese food has become even stronger. The first days I was back in London, I popped into the Japan Centre Deli on Piccadilly every day<br />(which also means I'm even more broke now). I so miss having onigiri for every meal :) (I know, not traditional, but still). Out of the 300something pictures I took, at least a third of them involves food (yeah I know, surprise...).<br /><br />So, I went to Kyoto, the supposedly most traditional and amazing city in Japan... truth be told, I was rather disappointed. All the big sights are really really for from each other, and most of them charge entrance fees when you could actually see something similar for free elsewhere in the area. If you're not totally into buddhism, or architecture, most of it is not worth it.<br /><br />A highlight of my trip was the visit to Nishiki Market, though. It's a covered food market a 10 min walk from the main station that makes a wonderful stroll on a rainy afternoon. And while there are lots of non-vegan items (fish is the staple after rice in this country, after all), I bought a wonderful selection of tsukemono (Japanese pickles) at the market. I would have loved to buy some of the tofu specialities, but they all needed refridgeration so I didn't dare taking them on my 12hr flight.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF86yQJm7qI/AAAAAAAABFw/T3uCZxFNTP0/s1600/DSCI0439.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF86yQJm7qI/AAAAAAAABFw/T3uCZxFNTP0/s320/DSCI0439.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503181904673173154" border="0" /></a>A Scotsman's dream, fried everything! I loved stuffing myself with shoga, which costs an arm and a leg, if you can get it at all in Europe.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF86T2wWOdI/AAAAAAAABFo/TCcuEd0sr60/s1600/DSCI0437.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF86T2wWOdI/AAAAAAAABFo/TCcuEd0sr60/s320/DSCI0437.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503181382460258770" border="0" /></a>They had a big variety of pickles, especially nukazuke (rice bran pickles). Stupidly, I never found the nuka to make your own in Japanese shops at home... because all cookbooks show it in rectangular boxes! It comes in plastic bags, just like miso paste and is often found on the same shelf. I know, d'oh! Reading labels and learning kanji helps, sometimes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF84nRbwTqI/AAAAAAAABFA/kAEXz7QlU3k/s1600/DSCI0432.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF84nRbwTqI/AAAAAAAABFA/kAEXz7QlU3k/s400/DSCI0432.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503179517015903906" border="0" /></a>This dapper chap was in charge of the tofu stall... they had tofu anything, and every variety of tofu on top!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF86E72kcpI/AAAAAAAABFg/_1QENwqjKZE/s1600/DSCI0436.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF86E72kcpI/AAAAAAAABFg/_1QENwqjKZE/s320/DSCI0436.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503181126130496146" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF85j0lGF8I/AAAAAAAABFQ/QFS7yQjQPpM/s1600/DSCI0434.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF85j0lGF8I/AAAAAAAABFQ/QFS7yQjQPpM/s320/DSCI0434.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503180557242472386" border="0" /></a>... dare I say, welcome to Asia? Scary fish heads :(<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF85ocGm72I/AAAAAAAABFY/gMaOcJY4GU8/s1600/DSCI0435.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF85ocGm72I/AAAAAAAABFY/gMaOcJY4GU8/s320/DSCI0435.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503180636571496290" border="0" /></a>The price of fruit and veg in Japan is crazy. Seasonal, local Japanese foods, such as Asian greens and sprouts are really cheap, but even tomatoes are not affordable. I saw a tiny sad courgette for 400yen (that's about 3 GBP!).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF84s6Dsq2I/AAAAAAAABFI/Cfp5TCpYRHc/s1600/DSCI0429.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TF84s6Dsq2I/AAAAAAAABFI/Cfp5TCpYRHc/s320/DSCI0429.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503179613820201826" border="0" /></a>The pickle shop!<a href="http://www.nishiri.co.jp/"> Nishiri</a> is probably the most famous pickle shop Japan wide. I bought myself the biggest gift package of tsukemono. Their packaging is so pretty though, I don't dare opening/eating any of it!!!Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-87194138985940603582010-07-06T20:55:00.013+01:002010-07-06T21:28:57.019+01:00BBC Good Food/Gardener's World live show Birmingham<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOOxYJ6XJI/AAAAAAAABDw/JRXndtqLX4k/s1600/DSCI0174.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOOxYJ6XJI/AAAAAAAABDw/JRXndtqLX4k/s400/DSCI0174.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490889349643525266" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOOxYJ6XJI/AAAAAAAABDw/JRXndtqLX4k/s1600/DSCI0174.JPG"><br /></a><br />WARNING: GARDEN NERDY POST AHEAD!<br /><br />I didn't mean to make this a post about plants, seriously. I have loved food festivals/fairs all my life, even more since working in events, and specifically now that I can claim visiting them is skill enhancement for my job ;-P Plus, in spite of the gourmetness of the situation, there are usually lots and lots of vegan free samples. With my current gardening obsession, it was only natural that I got myself a ticket for the BBC Summer Good Food/Gardener's World show in B'ham last month.<br /><br />Sadly, it was quite a disappointment. It all started with Birmingham being Birmingham, especially Digbeth (the area around the coach station). Bleurgh. I do love me a Brummie accent and the locals are wonderful, but I can't begin liking this city.<br /><br />Then, not only did the driver not tell me where to get off the bus as I had asked, so I took an impromptu trip to Coventry where I was rescued by an incredibly nice Irish lady... who told me how she worked in Selfridges in the 1950s selling underwear, and also that the next pope must be a paddy (no, I do not make up these stories about crazy old ladies I meet in random places. They just always appear, like the one who showed us the way into the woods at last year's Beltane festival).<br /><br />When I finally arrived at the venue... after a long time... I cursed the NEC just for the sake of the NEC and many things that are wrong with it, or at least were done wrong by BBC this time. Seriously, burying the show guides in giant bins with no signs on them whatsoever?! I won't go into further details, but it was an event organiser's nightmare.<br /><br />Next big disappointment: the food. There were about 12 sausage stalls, 25 pastry stalls, and 80something cheese and salami stalls. To be able to try some of the wine/drink samples, you had to first buy a special 'show tester glass' (crappy plastic champagne flute) for 4 quid.<br /><br />I cannot speak for the cooking demonstrations - I didn't book any tickets as TV chefs are not too famous for their vegan food, anyway, maybe they made up for all of this. But meh.<br /><br />The ticket also included entry to the Gardener's World show. While plants were mostly ridiculously overpriced, I managed to get a few quite rare seeds (Japanese herbs! Purple beans! Wohoo!). And then I went to the flower parlour and then outdoor area... and yes, I am aware I sound like I am at least 65, but the displays were gorgeous, especially the show vegetable patches. They caused major courgette envy in me (as I am writing this, 3 weeks later, the plants in my garden are showing the first tiny blossoms)! And ohhhh, it was so pretty! See for yourself:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOO5EwStcI/AAAAAAAABD4/TT1wFUFW9Pk/s1600/DSCI0173.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOO5EwStcI/AAAAAAAABD4/TT1wFUFW9Pk/s400/DSCI0173.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490889481874748866" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOO_8VuNFI/AAAAAAAABEA/FcVnTsqk248/s1600/DSCI0176.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOO_8VuNFI/AAAAAAAABEA/FcVnTsqk248/s400/DSCI0176.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490889599874905170" border="0" /></a><br />There was a garden theme competition that was truly amazing. There was an Alice in Wonderland garden that I was looking forward to more than anything else. When I got there, it turned out that some schoolkids had designed the thing and it looked like utter chaos, but not in a Lewis Carrol kind of way :( So I didn't take any pictures. But I loved this Indian garden:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOPiGJfh3I/AAAAAAAABEQ/uvn7_mJGYqk/s1600/DSCI0179.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOPiGJfh3I/AAAAAAAABEQ/uvn7_mJGYqk/s400/DSCI0179.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490890186623518578" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"Salad bar garden", very Islington.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOPvXto-dI/AAAAAAAABEY/nOJzfuUHKns/s1600/DSCI0184.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOPvXto-dI/AAAAAAAABEY/nOJzfuUHKns/s400/DSCI0184.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490890414676834770" border="0" /></a>The supposedly Swiss garden - it was a Ricola marketing thing, not a good one. I was deeply saddened that the promoters were Midlanders, not Helvetic :(<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOP53R5BiI/AAAAAAAABEg/TvBLuYnti9E/s1600/DSCI0189.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOP53R5BiI/AAAAAAAABEg/TvBLuYnti9E/s400/DSCI0189.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490890594949072418" border="0" /></a>"The wild classroom" - I loved this, especially the screens... I have many more pictures but couldn't be bothered to upload them onto my computer yet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOQNwXsTXI/AAAAAAAABEo/hXQbaudy1Ng/s1600/DSCI0195.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOQNwXsTXI/AAAAAAAABEo/hXQbaudy1Ng/s400/DSCI0195.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490890936691740018" border="0" /></a>Last but not least... a Japanese inspired garden. Not bad for one designed by a Westerner, if you ignore the middle aged people and weird wooden boards... and yay, Japan. I'm leaving for Osaka in 5 days, I've never been so ready for a holiday!!!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOQrqC3r3I/AAAAAAAABEw/Zm6F6BKvHVc/s1600/DSCI0182.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TDOQrqC3r3I/AAAAAAAABEw/Zm6F6BKvHVc/s400/DSCI0182.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490891450389868402" border="0" /></a>Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-79272728545848767882010-06-27T21:16:00.007+01:002010-06-27T21:41:40.779+01:00Photo backlog!<span style="font-family: verdana;">Ahem, no, I haven't given up the yoga + writing challenge, actually it's going quite well, just not on the food writing level. PMS does not make a good cook, or eater :( Neither does getting back to cooking for just yourself. I might re-think that. Or just get very fat.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">However, I discovered there are many forgotten meals on my camera from more ambitious times:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">This was a meal with recipes all from A vegan Taste of North Africa by Linda Majzlik, my favourite book in the serious. Pea and mint couscous, tomato, cucumber and herb salad and sweet onion baked aubergines, plus ajvar (ok, Turkish). I used fancy Japanese aubergines I found at Japan Centre - I was so excited to see the sexy slender Japanese ones, but when I got home, I discovered that I don't really know all that many Japanese aubergine recipes, so they were used just like the plain fat mediterranean ones.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TCeydvUn-uI/AAAAAAAABDQ/wQsI9YToF70/s1600/DSCI0138.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TCeydvUn-uI/AAAAAAAABDQ/wQsI9YToF70/s320/DSCI0138.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487550894963161826" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I love orzo, I could eat it every day. Just like gigant mushrooms and garlic bread (although I am starting to think we have eaten our garlic bread allowance for a lifetime by now... for weeks, dinners evolved around 'garlic bread and something'). Also, lots of parsley and parmesan (or was it plain nooch?).</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TCezppXm8mI/AAAAAAAABDY/L-HPR0ElbCk/s1600/DSCI0139.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TCezppXm8mI/AAAAAAAABDY/L-HPR0ElbCk/s320/DSCI0139.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487552199035122274" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Oh Phoenicia, I love you. In case I haven't told you yet, Phoenicia is an amazing Middle Eastern/Mediterranean supermarket/deli/cafe in Kentish Town. Their mezze are all 70p for 100g, which is not only cheap for London, but unbelievable for this part of the city. I also love the staff and they love me right back with free Turkish Delight. What I don't love is that I could go there every day... ok, I do go there at least every other day... I leave less of my money in Whole Foods.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Anyway, a no-cook dinner, consisting of Phoenicia's pickled peppers (just like the ones you get in Döner Kebab shops in Germany), olives, a big mixed salad and the weirdest but yummiest, mullusc-like Lebanese stuffed roasted Aubergines with pepper, tomato and walnut filling. The good thing is that everybody thinks they look so gross that I get to eat those all by myself! Oh, and hummus.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TCe0QJ-3YBI/AAAAAAAABDg/PZ4FoocRdlI/s1600/DSCI0144.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TCe0QJ-3YBI/AAAAAAAABDg/PZ4FoocRdlI/s320/DSCI0144.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487552860624740370" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Last but not least, weird cakes from Chinatown! I read only good things about </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.qype.co.uk/place/222253-Wonderful-Patisserie-London">Wonderful Patisserie </a><span style="font-family: verdana;">but couldn't imagine them having any vegan options as it's a very Chinese place. Until my Sunday morning Soho co-foodie pointed out that he goes there all the time. Definitely check this place out - all the freshly baked cakes and pastries have detailed ingredients lists, and the staff is very helpful. So I sampled quite a few and took home a sesame-red bean pastry, a heavenly pineapple pastry and a weird and gooey, but tasty, banana dumpling thing with something like a pink peace sign on it.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TCe2A65MW4I/AAAAAAAABDo/xjTnjomgTok/s1600/DSCI0146.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TCe2A65MW4I/AAAAAAAABDo/xjTnjomgTok/s320/DSCI0146.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487554797899635586" border="0" /></a>Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-82248504379050314342010-06-20T10:48:00.009+01:002010-06-20T12:04:21.816+01:00Quiche and my very first harvest<a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TB3pUgds8FI/AAAAAAAABDA/a8oPoHy5p0E/s1600/DSCI0165.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TB3pUgds8FI/AAAAAAAABDA/a8oPoHy5p0E/s400/DSCI0165.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484796459728302162" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I don't know about you, but grew up not liking quiche very much. Quiche was what our French teacher made us cook (yup, we cooked in our French lessons) when we actually couldn't cook or what I was served on family holidays in Belgium. It was always fatty, soggy and generally bleh. The fact that I've always hated everything with an eggy texture didn't help much.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">When I worked in Düsseldorf, everybody would bake something for the others for their birthday, and I was in pieces when our 60-something omni accountant made a wonderful vegan quiche </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://applesntwigs.blogspot.com/search/label/quiche">only for me</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">. (damn, I must make the butter "chicken" seitan from that post again!)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">So last week I was blessed with a giant bag of Swiss chard and we had 2 packages of silken tofu in the pantry for weeks (which my flatmate urgently needs for...something. Men.) and I had time to make pastry from scratch. On top of that, my first batch of baby salad leaves was ready to harvest. They made a whole tiny bowl full of salad, with a tomato thrown in - it's too cold in this country this 'summer'. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">The recipe I used was the basic quiche recipe from The Urban Vegan cookbook, except I threw in the swiss chard and some sun-dried tomatoes and also sprinkled some Mozarella Scheese on top.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Quiche verdict: I loved it and will be buying a quiche pan to make bigger ones, regularly.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">This weeks veggie box brought me fresh mint, so I'm drinking lots of Morrocan-style mint tea :) My garden mint is doing so-so as the slugs love it. I didn't know mint had any natural enemies.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Also in this week's box: green peppers, lettuce, lemons, mushrooms, garlic, aubergines, broccoli, cherry tomatoes and a cucumber.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TB3rGhtKpmI/AAAAAAAABDI/onSSuuebg6s/s1600/DSCI0168.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TB3rGhtKpmI/AAAAAAAABDI/onSSuuebg6s/s320/DSCI0168.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484798418566686306" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">To be honest, I'm thinking about changing box suppliers or not getting boxes anymore at all. I get my box from </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.justorganic.org.uk/box_options.asp">Just Organic</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, based in Stoke Newington, so essentially, it's a local business to me. The guy who own it is a lovely chap in the early/mid-Thirties and he goes out of his way in terms of customer service. He delivers in the evenings and is just wonderful when we have complanints. But to be honest, lately I've had a lot of complaints. I know how to store veggies and I know that organic stuff doesn't last as long as supermarket pesticide-laden veg. But when you get a tomato on Thursday night, it shouldn't be mouldy by Saturday morning. The same happened with this week's aubergines and many many of their lemons :( I've never seen a mouldy lemon before I got their boxes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Plus, while they don't air-freight, the boxes do not really show the change in seasons and I don't get to know what comes from which country.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">If you live around London, have you got any recommendations?</span>Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-79002550103044439712010-06-13T08:59:00.002+01:002010-06-13T09:03:50.624+01:00On authenticity<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TBSQz7JHW4I/AAAAAAAABC4/95RtvtXdRD4/s1600/fusilli_pasta_food_242171_l.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 310px; height: 232px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TBSQz7JHW4I/AAAAAAAABC4/95RtvtXdRD4/s320/fusilli_pasta_food_242171_l.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482165868140387202" border="0" /></a>
<br /> <meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <title></title> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Linux)"> <style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> </style> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">I have a surprising confession to make: I am a conservative. No, it's not that I brought the tories back in power, silly. </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">I have been frequently accused of being snobbish about food, or even a food Nazi (the burden that comes with a German passport). </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">People tell me that cooking shouldn't be taken that seriously and that there are millions in the world that are underfed, plus, not everybody has the time to learn 'the right way' to prepare certain dishes. </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">If somebody serves me mushy pasta or a risotto that is really a pilaf, or a pizza that's more of a pie – or miso soup that was made with a powder and has been boiled to death, to get away from the Italian, I will eat it, and appreciate the effort involved. If it's home cooking and somebody that I like has done it.</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">But still, it makes me cringe. Usually the wine that comes along with it makes me forget. The horrible thing is, this happens in restaurants as well, so frequently that I have given up on most London vegan places. I love you wonderful vegans and your aspirations to feed everybody vegan food, but 9 out of 10 times, I'd rather visit a decent 'ethnic' restaurant.</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">I am no fool, and I know what it's like not being able to choose from a variety of ingredients and having time and knowing techniques, but needing to figure out how to get the most bang for your buck (or quid, you know what I mean). </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">I was raised on very little money by a single mum in her 20s that had never been taught to cook. And yet, while much can be said about my mother's housewife qualities (or lack thereof), and ready mixes and microwave meals were a regular mainstay in our house, some things were uncompromisable:</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">Our soups and stews were made with homemade broth, and if French cooked with a proper bouquet garni and if Mediterranian, based on a good soffrito.</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">Vegetables were never overcooked, and sauces were made from scratch. </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">Pasta was always superb, just al dente and spaghetti never broken into pieces (the moment that I lost all faith in British people cooking!), and eaten with a fork. I remember having spaghetti and tomato sauce parties: from when I was about 3 years old, my mum would invite her girlfriends and their kids round and feed us all spaghetti. As you can imagine, not only the kids but the walls, sofas etc were covered in spaghetti sauce, but all of us now know how to eat and cook wicked pasta.</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">I believe that this has influenced my view of food and some good basic skills just make everything better. I don't like muddling my way through in the kitchen.</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">As a teen hanging out with squatters and a lot of other gypsy folk, I made friends from all sorts of places, and a lot of them were veggies and hence interested in cooking vegstarian food on the cheap and without fancy kitchens. </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">What do you think were the results? </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">Wonderful creamy risottos, lasagnes, pizzas from the Italians. No no-stir risottos (if you don't have the patience to work on a dish for 20 mins, give up the idea of cooking altogether. Risotto is one of the easiest things to do in a pinch) or jarred sauces (they weren't available in Germany back then, anyway).</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">Noodle soups chock full of flavour and ace stir fries, curries etc from Thai and Japanese people.There was no way you could take a short cut and just buy something half ready made, because even if you had the money, the shops didn't have it (where I grew up, they don't have any Asian ingredients in supermarkets to this day. Cities are a whole different thing, mind you). We even made sushi from fish that people had fished for themselves at the Dutch coast (not veggie, I know), just because there was no decent fishmonger around.</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">Curries with freshly ground and roasted spices and coriander that grew on the windowsill, if you were lucky. An abundance of Indian restaurants is pretty unique in English speaking countries (and most of them cook British Indian, anyway). </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">And Middle Eastern food! Oh how homemade hummus and baba ganoush and home baked flat breads excited me, also because nobody else around had ever heard of them and it was part of my teenage rebellion (and of course, because they are just wonderfully delicious foods sent from heaven).</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">None of these people were particularly foodie, or affluent. I believe that good ingredients and the right techniques go a long way, and that the traditional ways are the way they are because they have been working just fine for a long long time.</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">I like fusion cuisine when it combines the best of two worlds (check out Vapiano for that, they make awesome pasta dishes with Asian twists as monthly specials and have restaurants in most European cities and a few in the US, as well), not when it just ends up in a half-hearted medley of randomness (PizzaHut or your common TexMex, anyone?).</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">I don't mind variations, such as endless fruit variations for clafoutis or fillings for quiches, or using bok choy in a pasta dish. As a matter of fact, a lot of vegan versions call for substitutes that aren't traditional to begin with. As long as the base it done right, go ahead, that's all exciting. </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">But seriously, the next person who serves me a pizza with a 2 inch high shop bought crust with sugary Dolmio sauce and a 4 inch pile of toppings will die a slow and painful death.</p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-family: verdana;">How about you? Do traditional cooking techniques matter? Where do you draw the line between variation and bastardisation in cooking? </p> Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-491958279126958823.post-4567858371415035902010-06-12T10:16:00.003+01:002010-06-12T10:28:55.004+01:0021.5.800 - blogging, more writing and yoga<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TBNTSBrET9I/AAAAAAAABCI/mKDrei9Y34E/s1600/Picture-2.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 192px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c3XDLaL_Wiw/TBNTSBrET9I/AAAAAAAABCI/mKDrei9Y34E/s200/Picture-2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481816740591849426" border="0" /></a><br />Today I woke up way too early and had a nice and easy 45 minute sun salutation/asana/meditation session. There are no word to describe my love affair with yoga and the addiction it becomes once you have established a routine... which, um, I haven't had for the last year or so.<br /><br />So with all my spring ambition (yes, it's almost summer technically, but have you looked out of the window recently, if you're a UK dweller?), I decided I shall take up my daily yoga habit again.<br />Then, with a cup of tea, I started reading my bloglines updates and stumbled accross Bindu Wiles' <a href="http://binduwiles.com/buddhism/my-new-project-21-5-800/">21.5.800 project</a>, which technically started 4 days ago, but wtf, I need a project to keep me going until the big summer holiday :)<br /><br />So what is this mystical thing? A new suggestion for a date when the world will come to an end?<br />Naw, it means I (and more than 500 other people) aim to<br />a) do at least 20-40 min yoga a day, be it in a yoga course or at home.<br />b) write 800 words a day, no matter what - blogging, short stories, letters, emails... text messages if it has to be -<br /><br />at least, for 5 days a week, for 21 days. Just what I was looking for!<br /><br />Hence this blog is now looking a little bit like a construction site (but hey, it's now RED! with poppies!) as I realised it needs some work.<br /><br />Now the big question is: does writing at work count?Steffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959913577738939924noreply@blogger.com0