International Food

Hey Everyone,

I think I’m finally settling into a routine here which is nice. My life revolves around classes and spending time with friends. I had a presentation on Thursday on contemporary Turkish children’s literature that went surprisingly well considering I didn’t know anything about the topic till two days before the presentation. I think the fact the presentation was on 5 – 10 minutes had something to do with it’s success.

This coming Tuesday I have a presentation on American media – something I know about (at least a little anyway). This presentation is an hour and fifteen minutes long though.

This week has sort of been a week for international food, so I thought I would tell you a little bit about the food I’m encountering since I don’t have any cool trips to talk about.

I usually eat yogurt with müsli for breakfast. Sometimes I vary it with bread and cheese or a peanut butter and honey sandwich. It’s not that different from my American breakfasts.

Lunch I try to eat something “good” (which usually means hot). There is a café on campus called “Die Friseur” and my friends and I usually eat there. I’ve tried gulasch with pork there and really liked it a lot. I also tried kartoffelgulash which is like vegetable soup only with better spices. It is so good! If the special isn’t something I like I usually get pasta – it’s a safe fall back.

Dinner is a something different every night. If I’m not in the mood to go out or do anything it’s bread and cheese. I love döners which are good for lunch or supper. Pizza is also cheap and good here. There is a place up the road that makes it when you order it and bakes it in a fire oven – it’s cool.

Last night, Saturday, Maria cooked us Trinidadian (Trini) food which was AMAZING. Stewed chicken, homemade potato salad, macaroni pie (baked mac’n’cheese with carrots),“peas” (veggie mix), and salad. It was really, really incredible. I’m going to have to get the recipes from her.

Tonight, for the first time, I tried blinis which are little Russian pancakes. We put different toppings on them (ham, cheese, onions, sour cream, etc.) and ate them for dinner and then put sweet toppings (honey, nutella, fruit, jam, etc.) on them and ate it for dessert. It was pretty amazing.

I also snack on a lot of fruit and have discovered spekulatius, a kind of ginger Christmas cookie. I love them. I also like kasastanger – crispy cheese sticks, but I don’t buy those as often – they disappear to quick. I've also had the opportunity to eat crepes twice - once filled with bananas and nutella - what a treat!

My friend Maria’s host parents have invited me to tea twice (and I actually drank the tea) and they had really good homemade pastries. I can’t figure out why the pastries here are so much better than the ones in the States. There has to be some trick to it.

I’ll keep you update on my gastronomical experiences and the other more exciting ones as well.

Love, Elizabeth





Donnerstag (Thursday) is Doner-Tag!
My favorite doner place sells doners for cheap on Thursdays




















Embracing local culture with pretzels and beer at GSA Oktoberfest













Trini food night at the Blue House
From Left: Lyazzat, Maria, Ben, Kate
and whole lot of good food!












A plate of good Trini food!









Maria, me, Lyazzat, Ben