Food Fantasies

I wouldn’t be surprised if I got someone wondering what exactly I mean by 'food fantasies'. Well, it was a pretty long week, and the weekend is finally here. Yippie! But too bad, it’s never a long weekend :(

Eating the same thing regularly tends to get boring after a while (that’s my experience anyway), but it is quite strange that some never get tired. Yes, Quite strange to me! I have a Dutch friend who eats porridge for breakfast every morning, bread for lunch (it’s not uncommon in the Netherlands) and potatoes for dinner. These are pretty much his regular meals, and they have been for a while. Trust me, he gets excited at the mention of something different, but whenever I suggest a change in his meal menu, he is quick to say he loves it just as it is… well, what do I know?

So, for the past two weeks, I have been hooked on Turkish meals. I have to say I really like Turkish food. I have had Gozleme, which is basically spinach, cheese, parsley and some other fillings wrapped inside flat bread, and then put in the oven for some time. It tastes good. Here is what it looks like.

There is sutlac, which is rice pudding, and there's also a really nice youghurt soup (cant quite remember what its called), but it looks something like this

How on earth can I leave out one particular meal I had (i just had to google the name of the meal), and found it to be 'kisir' . New to me, but totally awesome. I was told it's hand-made, and no exageration, but the meal i had was totally like this. Seriously! It was lined with lettuce, so you basically take one of the balls, wrap a lettuce around it, open your mouth, put it inside, close your mouth, chew, swallow, and repeat the process again. *chuckling*. I think it's a snack, but I must say that it is pretty filling. I had just 4, and was almost falling asleep ;)

Well, with so much Turkish meals, I decided it was time to try something different, and that was how the search for Chinese cuisine began. Okay, its not like there are no Chinese restaurants around, there was just this craving for a variety of Chinese dishes, which led to the resurfacing of my exploration skills (involving a rather long walk)  and voila, I discovered a Chinese buffet ;). At this point, I felt as though I had found the proverbial needle which got lost in the haystack!

I proceeded to have dinner with a special friend, and just after the starter, I was filled up. Oh no! I refused to accept that. I had not even advanced to the main meal, and my stomach was claiming to be full. How did I respond? I totally ignored the rebellious stomach and went on to have my main course. Unfortunately, you just can't cheat your body. I could go no further,  so I had to relax :( . However, i was not going to leave without helping myself to fruits. All in all, it was a frustrating experience, because I could not eat all that I wanted to. Oh well, its one of those things.

 Becoming Wiser And Stronger...

Anyway, despite my last disappointment, I could not wait to spread the news of this newly found buffet, and who were the first recipients of the news? Friends of course. So we set a date.

Date: - Friday 22^nd February

Occasion: lunch

Strategy: come with an empty stomach… lol

 So, we all arrived at our new place. Sharim, Graciella, Bella, Jeff and I… *smiles*. We were more than prepared… (Oh, how can I not love them all?). We just sat there eating and drinking away the stress of the past week, having a chat and taking occasional rests in between meals, with Bella and Sharim revelling in their sweet and sour sauced chicken and spare ribs… ewwwww (please excuse my dislike for sweet and sour sauce)

Jeff feeling cool with his Chinese tea (hehehe),

 and Graciella concerned about not being able to have her spaghetti with chop sticks.

 

 Our Friday Afternoon was soooooo nice :), everyone was grinning from ear to ear by the time we were leaving our newly found 'best place' (well, until we discover something else interesting).

I will be posting some recipes for mouth-watering Chinese food soon, but for now, I leave you with a taste of this. Hey! I mean the food ;)