JTravel

When I have told friends at home about the Belgium/Netherlands cruise I always tell them that the Dutch bacon alone was worth the price of the trip. It was always VERY brown/black.....looked burned for sure. But it was crisp and porky, and smokey and perfect. We just don't find taste like that. A bit of that crumbled on the soup or anything savory would make the dish. In addition the hams and cheeses were fabulous. Never had ham and cheese sandwiches been so tasty. We tasted 2 cheeses each evening, and really liked the Delft Blue (though others found it too mild) and the Old Amsterdam.

What fun, shows the differences between "city" kids and "country" kids. We rarely, went out to eat in upstate NY, Mom cooked better than most places we could afford. Didn't discover lasagna till I was in college, Chinese food later than that. As someone else mentioned.....grilled Velveeta on white bread....made in a sort of very early panini grill. Oooooh that melted and sometimes burned cheese. Served with cream of tomato soup. Mom always let me choose Saturday lunch, and I almost always chose that. Sometimes canned Vienna sausages.....loved those little guys. Sunday dinner was after church and Sunday night was on our own. My parents were the only people I ever knew who had "popcorn and milk" for light supper. Based on the old farm meal of (stale) broken bread in milk the popcorn became family tradition on Sunday nights. Still eat it that way. Salty popcorn, with butter, with cold milk eaten with a spoon.....yum.

Several years ago I discovered "cubes" in Italy at an Elderhostel. The leader told everyone to go to the supermarket and buy the Italian mushroom flavored cubes to take home. Most did, I bought several boxes and used them for what was probably long past their "date". They were wonderful but I have not found them locally,,,,,I must look harder.....they really boosted risotto.

I agree, what a treasure Chufi is, and this thread is. I have read the whole thing, most of it in anticipation of some time in Amsterdam in July. We did the barge trip from Brugge to Amsterdam. Good food from a German cook, cooking "local". First meal we had started with a mustard soup....which is where you've ended. It was very good though I would have enjoyed it more as lunch than as first course, it didn't go with wine. Thanks for all the insights into Dutch cooking, it made my trip so much more enjoyable.

As a truly amatuer cook I have found this most interesting. I know I am a much more inventive cook than my friends (mostly as a result of interest, travel, tasting) but never thought about the actual skills. Never could figure out why people can't follow recipes. Almost everything I've learned how to do I learned from books. Making a roux or dealing with shellfish, or even whole fish is not in my area of focus. The question of memory....and being able to do things without a recipe....is a problem. I rarely need a recipe for main dishes, (unless new and/or unfamiliar ethnic) and I could make good simple yeast breads without one. But even for Mother's famous blueberry muffins I check the quantities. Then I might tweak it. Is that lack of skill , practice, or lack of little gray cells? Also, much as I enjoy many kinds of foods I am at a complete loss to duplicate what I enjoyed beyond the most obvious ingredients. Memory is that I liked it, but memory of the actual taste disappears. Maybe more concentration is what's lacking. Is this a skill all high level cooks develop? Plus, do "real" cooks know how things will taste from the combination of ingredients?

This was a favorite years ago for family breakfasts.....though with much less sugar I am sure. I always used a "deep dish" pyrex pie plate, pre-heated in oven with butter melting in it. Wouldn't do that now, but never had a problem .....though it was sometimes a tough cleanup. Thanks for all the topping ideas.....we just used syrup.

I would like to second the suggestion of Kasma Loha-unchit's recommendations. I especially like the the Mae Ploy coconut milk and curry paste, and the 2 kinds of fish sauce with fat baby or weighing scale. I took the North and South Thailand food tour with Kasma a few years ago. The food.....from street food (places we would never have eaten on our earlier trip) to nice restaurants was great, nobody got sick, we learned a lot, and we got a bit off the beaten track. She has published two cookbooks and really knows Thai food. There are some very good recipes (and info on her food tours of Thailand) on her website: http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/recipe.html