Foods of Many Nations

 

This is a restaurant in Singapore.  I didn’t eat there but had to take a picture because … yeah.  I figured it was a good image to start off this post about my food experiences of the past year.  In no particular order …

This is the weirdest mojito I’ve ever seen.  It was more like an alcoholic mint slushie.  I had it in a funky café in San Jose that had live music and was decorated with stuffed animals and a jungle theme.  The drink wasn't too bad if I recall correctly.

Near the Sacavem apartment in Lisbon, I sat down at what I thought was a steak restaurant.  Turns out I was one row away from that place.  I was instead seated at a sushi place.  Raw fish is not my food of choice, but I was already there so I ordered the sample platter and took my chances.  It was ... interesting.

It was always hard to find something to eat in Singapore.  Not because there weren’t plenty of restaurants, there were actually too many.  It was hard to choose, especially when most of the items on the menu were alien to me. I stumbled into this one place where they serve traditional Chinese dumplings.  The chefs even yell their greetings when you enter.  Never been in a restaurant where they do that and it was pretty cool.

The meal was good, though I was not feeling that pumpkin patty dessert.

The Portuguese do strange things with steak.  Not bad things, just … strange things.  This is bitoque, a traditional Portuguese dish that you can find everywhere.

I still don’t know what the fried egg adds to the dish, but it is my go-to meal when I don’t want pizza, fish, or a burger.  I’ve also had it swimming in sauce. 

See what I mean?  Strange things.

Türkiye was big with the kebabs.  You could find them everywhere.  Also big there are pides which are like a variation on pizza except shaped like a long wrap. 

I ate at a restaurant in Türkiye that served only pilaf dishes.  The base was always rice and chickpeas and then you could order other stuff on it like various meats and vegetables (I had chicken on mine).  A simple, cheap, filling meal you can also get anywhere.

This dining experience was particularly memorable.  I was seated outside and this cat parked himself by my chair.  I was more than accustomed to being stared at by stray beasts as I ate, but this creature upped the ante by repeatedly poking me in the butt.  With its claws, no less!  Being the crazy cat lady that I am, I did not feed him.  I tried to reason with him.  I explained that there was food all over the city and he wasn’t getting a scrap from me, so beat it.  He eventually got the hint and went to poke other customers in the butt (dang varmint). 

Behold the lethal concoction I’ve dubbed The Devil’s Lemonade.  Not exactly an accurate nickname considering that it’s made of cachaca, limes, and sugar.  A better name for a caipirinha is Houdini’s Limeade as these suckers disappear way too easily.  My first taste of one was in Lisbon back in March and it has become my mixed drink of choice.  It’s served all over Europe and is a lot easier to find than most other mixed drinks.  It’s either this, wine, or straight up hard liquor.

Breakfast in most of the places I’ve been to are usually simple meals.  Coffee and a pastry do it for most people.  The notable exceptions to this rule are Dublin with its full Irish breakfast (including a half pint of Guiness) and, of course, the epic deliciousness of Turkish breakfast.  The first one I had was still the best, but I did try a few other variations that weren’t too shabby.

Below is a sample of the famously odd flavors of snacks available in Asia.  Pictures only -- I wasn't bold enough or hungry enough to try any of them.

And one snack from Greece that I did purchase and they were absolutely delicious.