eyes on utrecht // what i've been eating

Before I ventured abroad, I had this idea that the next six months would be full of foreign foods. After ten days in this new city, reality kicked in: I'm going to be cooking most of my meals. 

I live on a street with more fresh produce vendors than it knows what to do with. Five avocados for €1? Yes, please. A manic man trying to sell me mangoes every time I pass? Why not. There's a horse meat shop that I have little interest in and a bakery that sells the best bread I've ever eaten. 

Oh, and I should probably mention that most of these stores are owned and operated by people who have migrated to The Netherlands from places like Morocco and Iran. I was informed that my new home is a little bit foreign for even the Dutch, which really doesn't affect me because I can't speak either of those languages. Luckily, everyone has enough English that I'm not completely helpless. 

But back to the cooking and eating. I share a kitchen with 15 other people. If I use more than one pan for a meal, I feel guilty that I'm denying someone the tools to cook. (This has yet to be an actual problem; I'm not sure where the apprehension comes from.) By the end of the day, the majority of the dishes in our kitchen have been used. It's been interesting to share a space with students from other countries. Their go-to, know-it-by-heart recipes are obviously so different from mine. 

Jingeol, from South Korea, prepares Asian food with chopsticks. Mustafa, from Denmark, uses coconut milk instead of water for his basmati rice. Hans, from Germany, has snagged some fantastic discounted pizzas from the supermarket. I clearly have a lot to learn. 

My vegetarian diet has been noticed by most. It's kind of hard to miss when I'm peeling and chopping vegetables for dinner. If you've been around me, you might have seen me take a bite of a hamburger (or eat an entire turkey leg at Thanksgiving, a fact that my best friend continually reminds me about.) The vegetarian, pescatarian if we're gettin' technical, diet isn't for the animals. It's just something I've been doing for the past six years, and that's why I didn't say no to that kroket. 

Here's proof that I've been eating:

This was my first meal in Utrecht. I got to the city later than I expected. Night had fallen, I didn't understand the Dutch street signs and the hostel seemed to be miles and miles away while I rolled my fifty-pound suitcase down the sidewalk. After finally finding my lodging, I needed sustenance. I found Café Hofman and took a seat at the bar. A few sips of the Belgian beer, Cuvee du Chateau, and I didn't feel so cranky. The bartender handed me a menu with an apology that it was in Dutch and a promise to help me when he returned. I guessed that the first two items were bread and soup, so I just asked for that. The celery soup was delicious - creamy with perfectly balanced flavors. Celery makes me apprehensive, but it was reassuring and homey in this recipe. The bread basket came with two olive relishes and a beet spread. All three successfully complimented the fresh bread. A fantastic first meal.

Back to that kroket I mentioned. The fried stick on the left is typical Dutch street food. At the international orientation, we were offered meat krokets. (I think that I'm calling this the right thing.) I burned my tongue with the first bite - always remember to break a fried stick open to let the steam out. The soup was a tomato-based broth, topped with sliced leeks and crunchy croutons. 

I moved into my new home on Saturday evening. Too tired to cook, I snagged falafel from one of the cafes on my street. This pesto pasta was cooked on Sunday. I didn't do much to make this happen other than boiling water and slicing the cherry tomatoes. The pesto was pre-made and pasta is impossible to ruin. I did pick out the bread from the bakery - two 8-inch loaves cost me 80 cents! 

Fries. With mayonnaise. All you mayo-haters can look away, but if you're with me on this condiment, high five for you. If you ask for naked fries, the vendor will 1) be flabbergasted and 2) will probably curse you and your family. The Dutch like mayonnaise. Granted, it's got a lot more flavor than any of the American store-bought jars I've ever tried. (Homemade mayo/aioli in this situation obviously doesn't count.) The fries aren't too thick, they're perfectly crunch and you eat them out of a paper cone with a little wooden two-pronged fork. Dip each in the mayonnaise. Avoid touching your tongue to the wooden fork - feels real weird. Repeat. I've seen more fry vendors than McDonald's (thank God.)

 This is the last/latest food picture I've taken. After an all-you-can-eat sushi dinner at Sumo, I ordered two scoops of ice cream. The orange is mango and the grey is black sesame. Both were delicious. Oh, you want to know more about the unlimited sushi? Hmm, well, you can choose five items from the menu in each round. You're entitled to as many rounds as you can manage, but you can't stay longer than three hours. The menu included other Asian things like fried rice and ramen, but I stuck to sushi. Henni and I shared most of the things we ordered. She tapped out after nearly choking to death on a shrimp egg roll. Not an egg roll, but a roll (or seaweed pocket, rather) topped with shrimp eggs. 

I'll keep you posted as I try more typical Dutch cuisine.

xoxo//hc