As my week has come to an end, I'm putting all my foodie-type chatter into a single post. My strategy with food was just to try whatever I encountered in these receptions and at breakfast at the hotel. My biggest food challenges are heavily fried foods (more common in America than traveling) and my only food allergy is both (a) rare and (b) mild. So, time to be adventurous!
At the breakfast buffet at the hotel, there was always a nice selection of fresh fruit, including one that it took us a few days to identify. Turns out it was passion fruit! I have tried it now, and it turns out it's very tart. It's good, but I liked it better sprinkled with a little sugar or mixed in with yogurt, rather than plain.
I did try a jaffle (pronounced like baffle, not waffle).
Mom - you know that sandwich press you have, that makes the little
pocket pies/stuffed grilled cheese sandwiches? That's pretty much what a jaffle is -
a toasted sandwich with edges crimped shut from the special toasting
press used. They come with a variety of fillings; like subs or deli
sandwiches, it's really whatever you want to put in. I had a cheese and
tomato and pesto one. Quite yummy.
I
also went twice to a seafood restaurant here (back to back days in
fact). Not living on the coast at the moment means that our only
seafood restaurant in town is Red Lobster. Call me a snob, but that's
NOT seafood. This place was real seafood. I had fish and chips too! Crispy, not heavily breaded, fried but not dripping grease, real fish and chips. I was a happy camper.
The Magnum Pink is pomegranate ice cream, with a pink-colored white chocolate shell. Delicious!
And for something very new, I really liked the Cape Malay foods that I tried. But then, it seems I'm a sucker for curry. The Cape Malay curries (I tried a chicken kabob, a chicken wrap, and a curried meat on a little bun) are a little sweeter than the Thai or Indian curries I've tried, but that doesn't mean there isn't a kick. It is just one of the spicy heats that sneaks up on you, instead of taking the roof of your mouth off at first bite.
The Cape Malay foods were really the reason I wanted to get a South African cookbook (which I eventually found, at the airport bookstore - last minute find!). The book also had a recipe for milk tarts, which a dessert I tried at the reception on Tuesday, but didn't catch the name for at the time. Flipping through, I saw the picture - "Hey, I've tried that!" It's rather like a flan or custard in a crust, nice and light and not overpoweringly sweet. And browsing the book, I found a whole chapter on jams and preserves, including a watermelon preserve I want to try. Seeing as I can eat my weight in watermelon, I'm very intrigued by that one. We'll see how it comes out!
So, yes, am very excited to try some new recipes. Thank goodness Zach is an adventurous diner too!
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