FOOD!

It has now been 4 weeks since I first arrived in Ireland. Much has happened in the way of food- trying new things, parties with friends, talks about food turning into competitions, and a whole lot of new vocabulary (both new english and spanish/french/italian words!) More on language in another post- but food vocabulary and cooking vocabulary, specifically, is difficult to translate. There are many things that we do not have words for in english and vice versa. It is also fun to hear the names for certain items of food in each language. Often many words are similar in 3 languages and then completely different in the 4th. I love teaching new slang words as well - the newest and most applicable to our eating habits here... "chocoholics!"

Dinner party culture

My French roommate Julie, American roommate Macey, and I have had many conversations about the culture related to eating in various countries. Macey and I have noticed that all of the Europeans love to get together, many times for lunch and for dinner both, to cook and eat and have a good time together. These are not typical "lets order some pizza" or go get sandwich deals- we cook full meals for 5-10 people on a regular basis, sometimes twice a day for lunch and dinner. Julie told us that this is very common at college in Europe. To spend lots of time cooking and lots of time together eating. Macey explained how many times, our fast paced culture leads us to eat-on-the-go. I am not sure I am speaking for all Americans when I say this, but when we are at school, meals are not usually taking the time to make lasagna, quiche, omelets, chicken carbonara, homemade vinaigrettes, crepes, etc. When eating with friends, we often go out to eat, or order pizza or chinese food. It has been lots of fun getting together to eat- more recently, though, I have found myself trying to limit eating lunch together as they can easily turn into 2-3 hour ordeals! 

Potatoes

I think something needs to be said about the use of potatoes in all European cooking. In Ireland, virtually everything is served with "chips" - or french fries as we like to call them. Pizza comes with chips in the boxes with dipping sauce, sandwiches, everywhere you go people are constantly asking "would you like chips with that?" Interestingly enough, the first time I ordered a sandwich from the library cafe, the server asked if I would like chips with my meal. I said no, however, when she came to my table to bring me my food, there were potato chips on the side. I had not paid for them and thought something was strange. The second time I went to the cafe, again they asked me if I wanted chips. I said no, and again they brought potato chips. I soon figured out that "chips" are french fries, and that if you do not want french fries, the automatic alternative is potato chips. So some kind of potato comes with every meal. And it is not just the Irish. 

Spanish, French, and Italian use of potatoes: 

Even though potatoes are often thought to be synonymous with Irish culture, they are used quite commonly in other forms of European cooking. The most interesting use is probably that of potatoes in omelets. I have had Spanish and Italian omelets with egg, cheese, and potatoes- sometimes peppers, onion, and meat are added depending on the cooks of the day. We usually take turns making dishes from our own countries- and of course, this has led to disputes and eventually a competition arose for the best cooks!

Competition is on! French vs Italian vs Spanish cooking:

This is a quiche made by French friends- I have posted the prettiest one here, but know that it was one of three quiches we tasted for lunch last Sunday. Thankfully there were 10 of us to share all three omelets. So much food, but it was so delicious! This one contains ham, garlic, cheese, and a few more ingredients I cannot remember. 

Applesauce! 

As predicted, grocery stores in Ireland are different than in America. Aldi and a similar shop called Lidl are very common shopping destinations for University students as they are very cheap. I have dearly missed my grocery stores back home. But what we cannot find at grocery stores, we make up for by cooking ourselves! One thing we have not found is applesauce! So Julie and I made some tonight. It turned out quite good! However Julie says the apples she uses to make this in France are different than in Ireland. We may have to alter the cooking time for our next applesauce project (I told her about raspberry applesauce). 

Introduction of the word "chocoholics" 

Along with all of the healthy quiches, applesauces, and potatoes, there comes dessert. And I have to say that our friends, who come from all over the world, have found a common language with dessert- in the form of chocolate. Below is a picture of me at a sort of farmers market that takes place every day in the square of the students union. There are booths set up with vegetables, fruits, fish, and of course pastries and chocolate. One day, we were deciding what to eat for dinner- after some discussion, we came to an agreement that we should just eat chocolate- all the time, for lunch and dinner. Of course this was a joke, but a new word was added to everyone's vocabulary for the day: we are all chocoholics! 

 Fudge from the farmers market on campus!