eG Foodblog : yunnermeier - Hungry in Holland,Oberhausen & Budapes

[Kouign Aman]

A candlelight dinner - very romantic. What's not to like?

[racheld]

. . . making the sick eat/drink horrible stuff. 

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Not from personal experience, but the Old Southern Wives' Tale, told to chill the hearts of maidens everywhere, was a concoction past believing, but I had it on VERY good authority from a couple of aunts whose verity was a solid as their own sturdy personages. It was the redneck version of the above pak chan.

I will not elaborate on the recipe.

Nanny Tea.

[kaneel]

I'd love to know what a Malaysian person thought of the Dutch-Indonesian-Malaysian-Surinamese-Indian-Chinese hybrid food that is such a staple of restaurant/takeout eating here.

mark

Mark, I am glad to see your familiar with surinamese food.

Cool blog yunnermeier!

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[kaneel]

I'd love to know what a Malaysian person thought of the Dutch-Indonesian-Malaysian-Surinamese-Indian-Chinese hybrid food that is such a staple of restaurant/takeout eating here.

mark

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Mark, I am glad to see your familiar with surinamese food.

I am enjoying this blog yunnermeier!

[C. sapidus]

Mei: Your foodblog is delightful, and your zest for life is refreshing. Thank you for sharing your stay in the Netherlands. I made some nasi goreng and shrimp chips in your honor and posted it on the Dinner! thread. Enjoy (or not, and tell me all the things I did wrong).

Nasi goreng (clickety)

[markemorse]

Mark, I am glad to see your familiar with surinamese food.

I am enjoying this blog yunnermeier!

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I became "familiar" with some pom (an amazing Surinamese dish of baked chicken, taro, salt pork, habanero/Madame Jeanette, and citrus) for lunch today (well, yesterday by now)...fantastic as usual. we've got to get a good Suriname thread going around here...

Edited November 4, 2006 by markemorse (log)

[MarketStEl]

Sandy , tell me how it turns out!

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Will do, via either PM or post to the "Dinner!" thread in the Cooking forum.

[Milagai]

Every time I read a new blog, I think "things can't get more

uniquely interesting then this"; then along comes the next

one and tops that!

Fascinating stories, great pictures .....

Here's a link to a story from the travel section of today's

New York Times that has something on Malaysian

food in general and Nyonya/Baba food in particular:

http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/trav...&pagewanted=all

Thanks again

Milagai

[yunnermeier]

I am writing this on the train now. My flight leaves at 1935 from Eindhoven airport and was so busy this morning that I didn't have time to update but I have some new pictures of the market in Arnhem (taken around noon) for you!

I don't shop at this market often. I 've only been there 2-3 times as it's a little bit too faraway from where we live.

Vegatables

Shop sellings nuts, beans , arare etc.

The Kaasman

Cumin Cheese was on sale...

Sweet shop (of course this being Holland, more than half of it was drop ).

Do you like drop (Dutch liquorice)? I don't, especially the old-fashioned ones with salt but I'm quite addicted to krijtjes (pronounced krai-tjes). I'm not even sure how to describe them but they're filled with 'something'and there's a layer of drop in the middle.

OK this is really expensive, I think my card is going to run out so see you guys later tonight or tomorrow!

Oh wait: here's lunch (kibbeling- fish nuggets)

[yunnermeier]

Quick reply,

Abra: those brown bits are raisins

Kaneel : I'm not at all familiar with Surinamese food. The only ones I've ever had came from the supermarket with names like Tjau Min (Fried noodles in Chinese) and which also happen to taste like a kind of Chinese noodles we have in Malaysia. I'm wondering if Suriname has a large Chinese population??

C.Sapidus : Thanks for the nasi goreng. Or rather, no thanks You're making me crave this pink-ish/orange-ish nasi goreng my Mother would occassionally make...

Milagai : Great link, it sounds like he really enjoyed Malaysian food! One thing though, Baba & Nyonyas DEFINITELY eat pork (pork is the meat of choice, barely any beef )

Edited November 4, 2006 by yunnermeier (log)

[Abra]

I actually do like the Dutch/Scandinavian salted licorice, in the same way I like bak kut teh and maybe pak chan. I like salt and sweet together, as well as savory and sweet, and the licorice appeals to that taste too.

What's that hanging up next to the bananas in the produce stand picture?

[MarketStEl]

In this picture:

The Kaasman

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is the phrase on the all-yellow sign on the right "10 Years"?

And if so, could you tell me what 10-year-old cheese this fellow's selling?

Your answer could help settle a long-running dispute in another discussion on this forum.

[markemorse]

In this picture:

The Kaasman

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is the phrase on the all-yellow sign on the right "10 Years"?

And if so, could you tell me what 10-year-old cheese this fellow's selling?

Your answer could help settle a long-running dispute in another discussion on this forum.

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Sorry, but that sign is 10 eggs for 1 euro...wish it held the answer to your 10-year-old Gouda question...

Edited November 4, 2006 by markemorse (log)

[yunnermeier]

eGullets will hate me; I have gone to the dark side

We had a burger. From McDonalds . And we are not sorry Farmboy is pissed off at the room and was already in a bad mood because the cab driver cheated us (I was pissed off about this too!). The fare was 3500 HUF (1 euro= 250 HUF) . We gave him a 5000 HUF note and wanted to leave a small tip of around 500HUF. He stuffed a few notes in our hands and drove in a hurry but there was only two 200HUF notes there. Ah well, it's really not the amount of money but it's just something which iritates me I still like Hungary though, the buildings are GORGEOUS! I'm going to take lots of pictures tomorrow morning!

We stopped by McDonalds for a quick dinner before dropping our stuff at the hotel (hostel ,really).

I don't know if this is only available at Hungarian McDonalds but we certainly don't have this in Japan, Malaysia and the Netherlands:

McCafe

I was admonished by the guard after taking this picture. He told me "NO TAKE PICTURE!" Oops

I've never seen this burger elsewhere too . It was great, actually. I wish they sell this at all McDonalds

McFarm Burger

I think it was some sort of turkey burger. Really tasty.

After checking in, we went to a local bar for a drink. Farmboy had a 0.75 liter glass of Hungarian beer and I had a bottle of Tokaji wine. The bill was only 20 euro!

I will elaborate further on Hungarian wine tomorrow . It's probably not a good idea for me to type so much now lest I accidently type something inappropriate.

Horrid picture of wine glass

We felt hungry after our drinks so we went to this very busy restaurant which had a small casino upstairs.

Farmboy ordered pizza and I ordered some kind of Giant Lobster pasta. Both our orders were DISGUSTING. The pizza was hideously salty and my pasta had no taste at all!

I'm sure tomorrow will be much better! I'm going to recover from that awful meal now. The bill was 25 euro ,including drinks and we should've left a 15% tip but we didn't simply because the food was awful and took 30 minutes to arrive.

Good night and sorry that this is such a boring post. Promise to write something more interesting tomorrow

[tejon]

How did you like the Tokaji? I remember smuggling a bottle out with me when I visited Budapest back in '88. Wish I'd brought back more!

[Pan]

Some questions:

What's arare?

Are tips expected in Hungary?

OK, now that you're in Hungary, you will of course have gulyasleves (goulash soup), and I presume you will also pig out on pastries (you should; they're fabulous!) and keep room for some palacsintok (I think I did that plural right; the singular is palacsinta, and they're sweet crepes that are flambeed), but you might not know that their cucumber salad (uborkasalata, pronounced "_U_bor-ka-sho-la-to") is great! I probably liked that more than almost anything else other than the pastries. Don't forget to try some, and I hope that you are served the version without sour cream. Yes, I like sour cream, but I prefer uborkasalata that is made with only vinegar, water, a moderate amount of salt, a bit of sugar, plenty of paprika, plenty of onions, and nothing else (a little black pepper is also fine).

Have fun!

Edited November 5, 2006 by Pan (log)

[Tepee]

I was told that Tokaji => aphrodisiac.

[SuzySushi]

What's arare?

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Japanese snack crackers -- the little ones often made from rice flour. Either they're popular in the Netherlands, or the Dutch make something similar!

[markemorse]

My favorite eating in Hungary has been lunchtime goulash and dinnertime schnitzel...oh wait, I wasn't even actually in Hungary, this was eastern Austria next to the Hungarian border. Nonetheless, fantastic goulash and fantastic schnitzel...would love to see photos of both if you can make it happen...

mark

[markemorse]

What's arare?

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Japanese snack crackers -- the little ones often made from rice flour. Either they're popular in the Netherlands, or the Dutch make something similar!

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I think it's both: they are in fact very popular here...just about every grocery store/night shop has them...but I'm pretty sure they're made here as well. But very much in the original Japanese style.

Edited November 5, 2006 by markemorse (log)

[yunnermeier]

Jó napot!

Budapest is gorgeous! It's surprisingly clean- cleaner than Tokyo, Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur and almost as clean as central Singapore

We switched hotels this morning and was again conned by metro ticket checkers who wanted to fine us 7000HUF each because our metro tickets were invalid or something?? Eh? We finally compromised by buying a 3-day unlimited transport ticket which we will probably not use for 3500HUF each.

For brunch, we stopped by a small café called Nelson's (I think) close to our new hotel. It's very close to the synagogue (2nd largest synagogue in the world) and had the most amazing foie gras sandwich ! For something like 6 euro, you get a crisp,fresh baguette with foie gras and some red onions on the side. I'm definitely going there again before I go back! I forgot to take my camera to brunch though Budapest also has a wide® array of coffee than the Netherlands and luckily for us (first time for me!), the euro is stronger than the Hungarian forint so nothing was expensive!

Some pictures of nearby buildings (good thing the hotel wasn't so far or no pictures )

Farmboy and I are going to hunt for Hungarian food tonight. Bye!

[yunnermeier]

Pan: Yes, Hungary is a tip conscious society but is a little bit different. It is considered bad taste to leave money on the table for the waiter. Instead if the bill is 4000HUF, you hand him 5000HUF and say keep the change or state how much change you want back. 10-15% is the norm. Of course, if service charge is already included, you don't have to tip but most people still round up ( 3000HUF for a 2700HUF bill etc). Apparently, you not only tip waiters but also cab drivers, hair dressers and even doctors!

[kaneel]

Markemorse ...i will be going back to surinam in a month or so so when i come back there will be lots of pics. Pom is my husband favorite food....i never made this before the reason is because it is only a certain type of taro that you use in the recipe and i can't find it in houston.

Yunermeier...you are so brave and adventurous for travelling to these places. This was /is one of my dreams but i will have to wait until my 4 year old gets older. I am really enjoying this thread .

And yes there is a huge population of chinese in suriname. My mom and brother who live in Breda tell me they haven't found tjaw min that taste the same as back home.

Edited November 5, 2006 by kaneel (log)

[yunnermeier]

Farmboy and I stopped by a restaurant called Box Utca today. According to the pictures of the wall, Paul McCartney and Mika Hakkinen have been there before. We only planned to have a drink as it was only 5.30 but then thought ah,what the heck, we might as well have dinner here!

I wanted to order the fillet mignon with roasted goose liver but then decided to order the grilled sirloin outlet filled with letcho-eggs . It was served with paprika sauce and noodles. The waitressed said it's a Hungarian dish and I was really looking forward to it but somehow , I didn't enjoy it that much. It seemed as if the beef was over-braised; so much so that most of the flavour has disappeared and the noodles tasted like 'mee hoon ke' minus the sauce (Price: 2450 ft).

Dutchie had the pheasant breast rolled in bacom with pickoing onion date ragout with croquette potatoes. This was delicious! I wish I ordered this! The croquette potatoes tasted like oliebollen , very nice to finish whatever sauce with. (2650ft)

Too full for dessert but we may stop by somewhere before going to bed.

Edited November 5, 2006 by yunnermeier (log)

[Pan]

When I was in Budapest in 1994, I stayed in an apartment complex on Realtanoda Utca, close to the Jewish quarter (and one block away from the street that leads into the Chain-Link Bridge). In those days, there was a good, classy, medium-priced neighborhood restaurant across the street from the apartment complex and a good bakery a block away on that main street, where I used to have somloi galuska as a nighttime snack. In the Jewish quarter, I found a bakery that made delicious retes (strudels), and I loved the meggyes retes (sour cherry strudels) most of all (makos retes -- poppy seed strudels -- came in 2nd). I wonder if any of those places are still there 12+ years later.

Mei, are you going to have libomaj (goose liver)? I was so cheap, I avoided it, because it cost around 1250 Forint (~$12) at the restaurant on Realtanoda Utca, and if I got cheaper items, my whole dinner could cost around 950 Forint for two or three courses. Libomaj is considered a real delicacy, and I'm sure I would have liked it.

I don't think that Budapest was so tip-conscious in 1994. I had a fantastic meal of roast goose leg with saeurkraut at an Austrian-style restaurant. The cost of the meal was 800 Forint, and I gave him a 1000-Forint note and said "tessek" ("take it!"). He really objected that I was giving him too much, but a couple of bucks were not much to express my appreciation for what was perhaps one of the best meals I had had to that point - certainly, one of the very best I had had at that price in dollars.