Hints 'n' tips for wanderlily
You may have noticed most of us choose to limit the amount of words we write in a single post.
And we make our paragraphs short; as short as a punctuated sentence, sometimes.
This is because many posters spend far too much time watching television and then expect 'quick hits' hereon. Unfortunate, for sure - but, alas, real.
So, if you expect people to read what you write hereon turn your paragraphs into sentences - and write less.
"Klippfisk" and "bacalhau" as well as Mergui(Southen Mynamar) salt fish make lovely sizzling hot,spicy sour curries like "devil curry" with egg plants and whole okra.
Cut into thin bite slice pieces and deep fried until crispy in bubbling hot oil they are delicious as bar and cocktail salty snacks that encourage copious glasses of chilled ale and larger.
Has anyone had Beerlao outside of Laos? I had fond memories of it from my time there in 2002, but I have ordered it a few times since in London and it was pretty rank, much inferior to other imported Asian beers such as Singha or Tsingtao and not a patch on Kirin or Asahi.
I'm not sure if this is because:
a) It's just not a great beer but my initial tastings were compromised because I was having such a great time in Laos
b) It's just not a great beer and in the ten years since I first tasted it I am now able to recognise an inferior brew
b) It is a great beer but the Laotians are keeping all the good stuff for themselves
c) It is a great beer but whoever is brewing it under import in Europe is making a hash of it
d) It is a great beer but the quality has been compromised during storage and transport
What does anyone else think?
I've had beer lao in Laos and in London and in Berlin and I can see a bit what you mean (I think the reason is that it's a pretty great beer but the location made it even greater). But stil, I think it's pretty good and the only beer I like
I've had it outside Laos. Their export stuff will of course contain additives that make it transportable and storable.
Thank you #66 and #68 for your information on lutefisk. It will amuse my Norwegian friends greatly when I bring it up with them. I will be sure to revisit that information in greater detail when I get a chance.
#72 There are many things that I could say to this but they wouldn't be nice and I frankly don't have time for petty, snarky comments by people that I have never met. That's one reason that I generally avoid online forums. I have only made the error of assuming that this forum was not like that and therefore replying thoughtfully to a number of interesting comments (always in good faith). I'm sorry that I was slow to catch onto the numbering system when responding to people.
Now please excuse me while I go plan my fantastic summer. And yes, caviar is very overrated, except for when I had it at a simple nautical restaurant in Copenhagen on a open-faced sandwich where it wasn't even a listed ingredient. Completely unpretentious and divine.
Wanderlily (#65) - I'm afraid I've never tried Russian cuisine, and have never been in Russia. What I tried in Georgia - lots of very nice khachapuri - sort of pies with a yeast bread base and usually cheese or egg - dumplings with meat - a particularly tasty dish called, if I remember correctly, ojakhuri, which was a sort of pork and potato stew which was a lot tastier than one might expect a pork and potato stew to be, and certainly several other things I don't really remember. It was five years ago. And a good deal of Georgian wine, including sweet red wine which was a taste I didn't have enough time to fully acquire, and 'white' wine which was actually deep yellow to brown in colour, and very nice indeed. The hospitality and friendliness of the Georgians made a more lasting impression than the food - I was travelling on my own, and was rarely let sit on my own anywhere outside Tbilisi, and had drink forced on me many times... The food was really very nice, but I was a bit disappointed having heard so much about Georgian food for years, perhaps from people for whom it had been the best food available in the Soviet Union. It's also quite possible that, not speaking the language or knowing much about the cuisine, I just didn't know how to get as much as I could out of it. (The first time I went to Syria I hated the food, having spent two weeks eating little but hummus, shawarma, kebab and falafel, whereas when I was living in Syria and brought foreign friends around the country, I was able to ensure that they never had to eat the same thing twice.)
