Too many dishes

.com

2011-06-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

Dear readers, I have now learnt a few more things about the internet (^^) so you can now follow me on my website! Come and check it out :

toomanydishes.com

2nd stop: Warsaw

2011-02-20T09:27:00.000-08:00

On my first trip to Poland in 2005, I remember eating all sorts of things while not knowing what much of it was made of nor what it was called. Now I have finally learned a few things (!) and I can now say that my favourite polish food is baked pierogi, thanks to Kasia!

I have actually never made them myself so I have been looking for recipes on the internet and will try it next time I have access to a kitchen! I am going to attempt this recipe that I found on the internet.

PIEROGI RECIPE

3 c. all-purpose flour
1 egg
3/4 c. warm water
1 tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. salt

Work egg into flour with fork. Add salt, warm water, and butter; mix well. Knead until firm and soft. Cover with a slightly damp cloth and let stand for approximately 10 minutes. Roll dough to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut into 3 inch circles. Spoon filling on one side of round and pinch edges firmly to seal. Drop Pierogi into salted (optional) boiling water. When they rise to the top, lower the heat and cook for approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Drop into cold water and drain. Pour a little melted butter on Pierogi to prevent sticking.

FILLING:

8 potatoes
4 tbsp. butter
1 onion, chopped fine
1 c. grated Longhorn cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes. Saute onions in butter until transparent. Mash potatoes. Add sauteed onions, cheese, salt, and pepper immediately to mashed potatoes and mix well. To serve, saute onions in butter and pour over Pierogi. (If Pierogi are cold, add Pierogi to sauteed onions and heat slowly.) Other fillings to consider are sauerkraut, cottage cheese, prunes or lekvar.

First stop: Berlin

2011-02-09T11:32:00.000-08:00

I visited my friends Jelena (left) and Naomi (right). Jelena used to be my tandem partner when I was an exchange student at Potsdam University in 2005-2006. Naomi studied at Plymouth university and later moved to Potsdam university for her PhD. Naomi and I shared this flat for a few months in 2006!

Curry Wurst is a common snack in Berlin and can be found at any train station. It is a simple sausage, usually cut into pieces and served with ketchup sprinkled with curry powder. It doesn't look nor sound very apetizing but trust me it's well worth trying!

2011 travels

2011-02-09T09:50:00.000-08:00

Since I have left university with no serious life plan for the coming months except visiting a friend in Berlin, meeting 2 friends who were working in Tokushima with me in Spain in April and moving back to Japan by the end of the summer, I decided to take it easy and travel for a while.

I had thought about staying in Berlin for a few months but after a week there, the winter blues crept in. So when my friend Jelena told me about a cheap train ticket to Warsaw, I jumped on the occasion! I have decided to go explore Eastern Europe and will do most of my travelling by train. Here's my rough itinerary for the coming months:

New Year's Fondue

2011-02-09T08:52:00.000-08:00

I spent the week between Christmas and New Year with my friends from Plymouth university in La Clusaz, a nice little town of Haute Savoie. Michi, my former housemate picked me up in Annecy and smuggled me in late at night. The guys sharing the same room thought he had picked up a girl at the bar so they were quite shocked to find out it was me in the morning!On New Year's eve, we made a fondu, a common dish in the Alps which consists of 3 kinds of cheese mixed with white wine, melted on the stove for a while and put on the table in a heated pot in order to prevent it from setting.

Guests then dip pieces of bread and twist cheese around them! There is a tradition that says that if you lose your piece of bread in the pot, you should run outside the house naked. Since this dish is mostly eaten in the winter, you better be careful!

Recipe:

Ingredients (for 6)
- 400 g of Comté
- 400 g of Beaufort
- 200 g of Emmental
- 300 ml dry white wine
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp corn flour
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 salt and pepper

(1) Cut cheese in small bits.

(2) In a thick pot, rub garlic and pour 250ml wine. Heat up.

(3) In a small container, mix 50ml wine, corn flour and nutmeg.

(4) As soon as the wine is warm, start adding cheese gradually and mix well with a wooden spoon. Keep it on low heat.

(5) Add the nutmeg mix to the cheese.

(6) Season with pepper and serve hot!

5 months in the Great North (Norway)

2011-02-09T07:56:00.000-08:00

In August 2010 I joined the university of Tromsø master program in Indigenous studies. I quickly started doubting it was the right program and the right place for me but I decided to give myself at least a semester to try it out.

Tromsø in winter

I didn't cook half as much as in Naruto because ingredients were much more expensive and my kitchen wasn't as nice. I did try to make a few specialities like Fiske kaker (fish cakes in béchamel with curry served with boiled potatoes) and Bolle (sweet bread rolls with cinnamon) with my friends. I can't say I am very fond of Norwegian cuisine though...

I spent the majority of my time at the international café Bodéga, conveniently located between my reading room and the lecture rooms. It became my social hub and favorite place for lunch: a waffle a day keeps the doctor away as someone once said!

Norwegian waffles are lightly perfumed with cardamom and can be eaten with Norwegian brown cheese (which tastes more like caramel than cheese) and wheeped cream. My favorite combination was half with cheese, half with chocolate spread. No wonder I gained 5kilos there!

However, even my love for waffles couldn't keep me in Tromso so I have decided to leave.

Brunost and Waffle

Brownies

2011-01-04T11:19:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe 10years ago from a friend in high school. I made it so often back then that I got fed up, but I made it for my New Years Eve and fell in love with it again (^^).

Ingredients (for 10 hungry people)

-400g chocolate

-200g butter

-8eggs

-160g flour

-110g sugar

(1) Melt the butter and chocolate together

(2) Mix the egg yolks and sugar

(3) Mix (1) and (2) together

(4) Add flour. Mix well.

(5) Beat the egg whites until firm and add gently to (4).

(6) Bake for 20-25min at 200°c.

You can also add nuts and a table spoon of instant coffee.

Egg Nog

2010-11-24T10:25:00.001-08:00

Until last xmas, I had never tried Egg nog- and I have to admit the idea of eggs and cream mixed with alcohol didn't appeal to me much. But I wanted to organise a xmas cooking event for my students and thought if I could eat fish eyes, why not try drink eggs and cream?!

I found this egg nog recipe online and omitted the alcohol. It turned out great: my students were interested and my American friends loved it! Try it!

Ingredients (4-6 people)

4 egg yolks

100g sugar

500ml milk

2 teaspoon all spice ( or cloves if you can find some!)

Pinch of cinnamon

250ml cream

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

(1) In a large bowl, beat egg yolks until they become lighter in color. Slowly beat in the sugar, whisk until fluffy.

(2) Combine the milk, cinnamon and all spice in a thick-bottomed saucepan. Slowly heat mixture on medium heat until it is steaming hot, but not boiling.

(3) Temper the eggs by slowly adding half of the hot milk mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly while you add the hot mixture. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.

(4) Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until it begins to thicken slightly and coats the back of the spoon. Do not allow the mixture to boil, or it will curdle. Remove from heat and stir in the cream. Let cool for one hour.

(5) Mix in vanilla extract and nutmeg. Chill in the freezer for 10min.

Far Breton

2010-11-23T02:19:00.002-08:00

This is a typical cake from Brittany, where I grew up. It is more or less like a baked flan and its texture is similar to mochi.

Ingredients:

- 250g flour

- 150g sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 4 eggs
- 1L milk
- 100g prunes (soaked in hot water for 30min) (you can use raisins instead)

(1) Mix flour and sugar. Add the eggs one by one while mixing.

(2) Warm up the milk and add to mixture gradually. Add vanilla essence.

(3) Bake for 10min in a greased dish at 180°c. Add prunes. (this helps prevent all prunes to sink to the bottom of the cake)

(4) Bake for another 30-40minutes.

Mousse au Chocolat

2010-11-23T02:19:00.001-08:00

Every now and then-usually when I have something important to do and I don't feel like doing it- I look at what I have in the cupboards and google the ingredients! This is how I came up with this chocolate mousse without cream. It's very simple and tasty!

Ingredients (for 4 people) :
- 3 eggs
- 100 g chocolate (dark or milk)
- 1 tsp vanilla essence

(1)Melt chocolate in a bowl.
(2)Add the yolks and vannila essence. Mix well.
(3)Beat the whites until firm.
(4)Carefully fold the whites with the chocolate mix.
(5)Pour in small bowls and refrigerate for 1hour.

Apple Walnut Cake

2010-11-23T02:18:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe from my friend Louise in September 2008. I have yet to meet anyone who didn't like it (^_^)!

ingredients:

200g margarine or butter

2 eggs

2 cups sugar

A. peel and dice 1 apple into 2cm cubes

B. 80g walnuts chopped

C. 5ml baking powder

D. 5ml cinnamon

E. 5ml vanilla essence

F. 3 cups flour

Mix the eggs, melted margarine and sugar well.

Add A,B,C,D,E,F

Pour into a 30cm square tray and bake at 180degrees for 45min-1h

Outrageous Chocolate Cookies

2010-11-23T02:17:00.000-08:00

This is the ultimate chocolate overload recipe (^^)! I wanted to make chocolate cookies to give away on Valentines Day- it's customary for women to give chocolates to men on this day in Japan- their turn comes a month later on White Day.

Ingredients:

-225g baking chocolate
-40g flour
-1/2 tea spoon salt
-1/2 tea spoon baking soda
-60g butter
-175g sugar
-2 eggs
-1tsp vanilla extract
- 300g chocolate chunks

(1) Preheat the oven at 175c.
(2) Melt the butter and baking chocolate in a big bowl
(3) In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
(4) In a third bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy.
(5) Add the chocolate and butter mix to the third bowl.
(6) Mix in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chunks. (It will be quite liquid, but don’t worry!)
(7) Bake cookies for 10-15min until they look crispy on the outside.
(8) Cool for 10min on the baking sheet before transferring to a rack

a million dishes later

2010-11-22T14:05:00.000-08:00

Or possibly a billion?...It's been about a year and half since my last blog entry and obviously an awful lot has happened since.

I pulled myself together and attended an intensive Japanese (beer drinking) Course in Sapporo

fell in love in Osaka

drank 'like 10 Japanese men in their entire lives' in Prague

showed my younger brother around Naoshima

discovered balloon volleyball at the Special Olympics

passed my JLPT 3 and acquired a spot coat

landed on the most stunning beach in Naruto

fished David's underwear from Kamiyama Amagoi waterfall

saw my first sumo tournament in Osaka

picked thousands of pet bottles

camped by the roads, rivers and beaches of Kyushu

made my TV debut on おはよう徳島 Tokushima

left Japan....

......then slept for a week in France before heading to Tromsø, Norway!

Monday to Friday...

2009-07-06T06:05:00.000-07:00

I sit at my desks.

This school year, I have fewer classes and more club responsibilities- technically. But sometimes, fun things happen.

Last Friday, a few of us went to the German House to see the exhibition of Werner Schaarmann, a German photographer.

I was glad to not have to sit in the teachers' room since I had a very short night and was obsessed by Stupeur et Tremblements. I am not yet reduced to replacing toilet paper rolls...but it would certainly be more interesting than some aspects of my job (like writing about my 'reading history').And like Amelie Nothomb, I find the bathroom a nice place to hide...

Il va sans dire que la defenestration imaginaire du 2eme etage de mon lycee ne serai pas aussi delivrante que celle du 44eme...

Un an de plus ici. がんばります。

Learning Japanese

2009-06-28T06:58:00.000-07:00

I am trying to learn Japanese but I haven't found a single textbook I enjoy learning with! So I have more or less given up learning in a traditional way and concentrate on listening to my colleagues speaking all day. Recently, I have started watching more Japanese movies...I can't say I understand everything, but I understand enough words to follow the stories.

I watched Kamome Diner tonight (with English subtitles!). It's the story of 3 Japanese women who end up working together in a small Diner in Helsinki. They are convinced Japanese food is the best in the world and that Finnish people will rush in to try onigiri (rice ball). The movie is a bit slow at times, but I enjoyed it all the same. Maybe also because I am hoping to move to Finland next year...

Naruto is famous for....

2009-06-28T05:25:00.000-07:00

All towns and cities in Japan are famous for something. Don't ask me why!

I have been thinking about my hometown, Querrien, there really isn't anything unique about it...but I am sure a Japanese tourism office could find the winning formula!

Here are a few things Naruto is famous for:

its whirlpools;

wakame (sea weed)...

Naruto Kintoki (sweet potato that taste more like chestnut)

Otsuka Museum (pay €25 to see 3000 reproductions- not one painting is real!!!)

And last but not least, Naruto is famous for being the first place in Asia where Beethoven's 9th Symphony was played! Naruto had a German POW camp at the end of the 1st world war and somehow, German prisoners managed to get enough instruments to play it...

New Neighbours

2009-06-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

The bell rang at 8h45 yesterday (Saturday)morning...Joy! It was a young woman offering me a big box of tissue. Although I repeated 'iranai' many times, she wouldn't let me not take it. Then she excused herself profusedly for waking me up so early and making noise.

I only put two and two together when I looked at the box and realised what was happening in the car park. Now, if you were working for a moving company and about to make a little bit of noise outside someone's apartment, would you make sure you'd wake the entire building up by ringing their bells to offer them a box of tissue? Please say NO!

Later that evening, my new neighbours followed the Japanese custom of new comers and came around with a small gift. I'd try to do the same when I moved in two years ago, but didn't find anyone at home. Anyways, here is what I received...

五月病 gogatsu byou

2009-06-28T04:42:00.000-07:00

(May desease/la maladie du mois de mai)

One of my colleague told me that this is like what foreigners feel around xmas time when they aren't with their family. But I think there is more to it and that foreigners who have lived in Japan for a while are likely to suffer from it in May too!

In Japan, a lot of things seem to change in April: new fiscal year, school year, staff, etc. So when things don't run so smoothly and you let stress build up for weeks, in May, you end up suffering from some form of 'adjustement disorder'. I guess it didn't hit me until the end of May..and I am still finding it tough to get motivated for work. Rokugatsu byou or lazyness on my part?

too many dishes

2009-05-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

You might wonder why I chose to call my blog 'too many dishes'.

In Asia, we tend to use a lot of small plates for different side dishes, pickles, etc

...so when I have friends over for dinner, it sometimes looks like this:

which means my sink very quickly looks like that ^^

But that's not all! The first time I went to a restaurant with my colleagues in August 2007, I got really confused because people were saying my name all the time although they didn't seem to be talking to me nor about me. It turned out this chinese character '皿' means plate or dish and is read [ sa ra].

Since then, I often introduce myself to Japanese people that way:

'My name is Sarah. I like cooking and eating. Remember me as 皿.'

where I live (3)

2009-05-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

Si vous avez un peu de temps et que vous voulez comprendre la societe dans laquelle j'evolue en ce moment, je vous recommende de voir le film Okuribito (Departures) qui a recu un oscar l'annee derniere. Le sujet du film est un peu particulier, mais les relations entre les personages sont tres realistes.

Pour avoir une meilleur idee de ce que c'est de travailler dans une ecole au fin fond de la campagne Japonaise, je vous recommende le livre Botchan de Natsume Soseki. C'est un classique Japonais, ecrit en 1905. Le personage principale Botchan est un jeune prof originaire de Tokyo et envoye sur l'ile de Shikoku pour enseigner les maths. Il raconte son experience dans le village et a l'ecole. C'est un peu particulier, mais mis a part quelque details, mon experience et celle d'autres assistants de langue ici est TRES similaire a son recit. 100 plus tard! 100ans!

La ou je vis (2)

2009-05-18T06:17:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of Tadao Ando 安藤忠雄? Probably not, but he has built museums, places of worship and apartment complexes around the world. If you want to know more about him and his work, check this page www.designboom.com/eng/interview/ando.html

T.A. about his work "In all my works, light is an important controlling factor, I create enclosed spaces mainly by means of thick concrete walls. The primary reason is to create a place for the individual, a zone for oneself within society. When the external factors of a city's environment require the wall to be without openings, the interior must be especially full and satisfying."

I happen to live in one of his building ^^!

La ou je vis/Where I live

2009-05-17T04:12:00.000-07:00

I live on the island of Shikoku, about 1h30 from Kobe (by bus).

I am in Naruto city, Tokushima prefecture.

team teaching manzai style

2009-05-17T02:37:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, one of my colleague told me that working with me was like doing manzai.

I'm a language assistant so most of my job consists in team teaching English classes with a Japanese teacher of English (JTE). It can be fun, frustrating, a waste of time, amazing, boring ...every teacher (I currently work with 11 JTEs) and every class (25 ) reacts differently so it requires a lot of adaptation.

When that teacher compared our working relationship to that of manzai comedians, I thought it was hilarious but I had forgotten all about it until I saw a manzai show on TV today ^^.

Manzai (漫才) is a style of stand-up comedy in Japan, which usually involves two performers—a straight man (tsukkomi) and a funny man(boke)—trading jokes at great speed. Most of the jokes revolve around mutual misunderstandings, double-talk, puns and other verbal gags.

I wonder if I am the boke or the tsukkomi...

ChewyChocChipsCookies

2009-05-17T02:11:00.000-07:00

La meilleure recette de cookies/ the best cookie recipe

ingredients:

-250g farine/flour

-170g beurre/butter

-300g sucre/sugar

-1 oeuf/egg

-1 jaune d'oeuf/egg yolk

-1/2 c-a-c de sel /tsp salt

-1/2 c-a-c de bicarbonate de soda/tsp baking soda

-1 c-a-c d'extrait de vanille/ tsp vanilla extract

-200g de pepites de chocolat/chocolate chips

(1) Melanger le beurre mou et le sucre. Ajouter l'extrait de vanille et les oeufs.

Mix the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla extract and eggs.

(2) Tamiser la farine, ajouter le sel et le bicarbonate de soda. Bien melanger et ajouter les pepites de chocolat.

Sift the flour, add the salt and baking soda. Mix well and add the chocolate chips.

(3) Garder la pate au frigo pendant 10min et prechauffer le four a 165c.

Keep the dough in the fridge for 10min and preheat the oven at 165c.

(4) Former les cookies et cuire environ 15min.

Form cookies and bake for about 15min.

Bon appetit!

Bienvenue/Welcome/Willkommen/Yokoso

2009-05-17T01:15:00.000-07:00

tattadaaa!

Je me suis enfin decidee a ecrire un blog! Ca fait presque 2ans que j'habite au Japon- le temps passe vite!- et que mon quotidien est rempli de choses etranges et farfelues que je ne remarque meme plus...Je vais tenter ici de vous decrire ce qu'est ma vie au fin fond de la brousse Japonaise!

- et partager mes recettes preferes

I am finally getting my own blog! I have been in Japan for almost 2years- time flies by!- and my daily life is full of weird and funny things that I hardly even notice anymore...I'll try to give you an impression of what life is like in rural Japan!

- and share my favourite recipes

Tanoshinde kudasai ^^ Let's enjoy together!