French Friday...night

I made a fantastic discovery tonight. It all happened because I believed there to be a Sun Devil volleyball game at 7 p.m. this evening. I was scheduled to work the game, planning on making dinner when I got home, but upon arrival realized the freakin game got pushed back to 8 p.m.....

My blood was boiling. I arrived so early and no one told me?! Determined to make something of my evening, I went wandering near the ASU campus in hopes of finding dinner. Even penny-pinching grad students need to eat, you know.

That's when I decided to stop in at a Middle Eastern restaurant and grocery I walk past almost every time I'm on campus. When I lived in France, I used to LOVE North African pastries and Middle Eastern cuisine. Understatement.

Anyways, I sat down, ordered the Falafel Deluxe Pita -- hummus, tabbouleh, falafel and tons of fresh mint with a large side salad -- and a bottle of guava juice before the waiter started chatting me up. I never know what language I'm thinking or speaking in anymore... it doesn't help that I'm about to start taking German next semester either.

He asked me where I come from originally and then what I was doing in Arizona... when it came up that I'm a French TA on campus. He FLIPPED OUT and immediately began speaking to me in French. It came up that he's from Morocco, I shared that I had lots of family in Morocco and we chatted on and on in French for a bit. 

Long story short, he told me I had to come back and the next time I was not to speak to him in any English whatsoever. We're only going to converse en français from here on out... I also noticed my bill was much less than it should have been, by the way. In all, a fabulous outcome from what seemed to be a bleak-looking evening. It literally changed my entire mood around. And I will be back. The food was incredible! I could eat Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food every day of my life.

Quick trips to Brazil & Sweden

Let’s talk international travel for a minute. I’ve done a bit of it myself and am highly addicted. However, I haven’t had the chance to travel nearly as much as I’d like, but it’s a start. While I am fortunate to speak French and visit family living in France, I’ve only ever been to Europe – France, Germany, Italy, Monaco, Spain and Switzerland to be exact.

 

I’d LOVE to see other continents or continue exploring new European countries one day. Anyone wealthy want to fund my journeys? I’ll let you join me! :)

While I’m out of frequent flier miles and underemployment is keeping my finances stretched thing, my travel these days is limited to culinary journeys and armchair travel. Travel Channel, you are my best friend and also my biggest enemy! At least my mental “to see” list is growing.

This summer, for example, I have been to Sweden, Brazil and the African Sahara.

For J.D.’s birthday, he REALLY wanted to go to Fogo de Chão, a Brazilian steakhouse. So we went and it was wild. Literally, I’ve never stuffed myself with so much meat in my life (that’s what she said).

 

The “salad bar” to start the meal with was exquisite. There were ridiculous aged cheeses, realllly old balsamic vinegars and the first cuts of meat we’d see all day. The veggies were crisp and fresh and I wanted to go back for seconds, but at $45 a person I was saving my appetite for the meat course(s).

Then when you’re ready, you take that little red disc and flip it over to the green side. Then you’re fair game for all the meat servers. They had about 16 different cuts and types of meats, and I felt awkwardly like I was in the middle of some foreign market. People with accents were shouting at us, trying to get us to taste their goods. At times, I felt bad turning one down in anticipation of what was coming right behind him.

But there were steaks, sausages, duck, lamb, chicken, you name it. It was all there. And on our plates. I couldn’t tell you how many times we had them come refill our plates!

And then before we knew it, we were full. I didn’t want to eat meat ever again. I wanted to become a vegetarian.

…But we all remember how I baked bacon cupcakes for his birthday. However, we couldn’t leave before the complimentary birthday dessert. Yeah, it’s not Brazilian, it’s French. But it never fails to please.

It was excessive, and delicious and wonderful. Just how a birthday smörgåsbord should be! Saved for special occasions, no doubt.

And speaking of smörgåsbords, you realize that is a Swedish word, right?! And speaking of Sweden, let’s talk IKEA. Do I really have to be so stereotypical?

Yes, yes I do. Two reasons: we made Swedish cuisine from a cookbook free from IKEA and I recently read and enjoyed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, a book written by a Swede. One of my friends and I joked we’d make a drinking game for every mention of IKEA in the damn book. Clearly, he refers to it often.

On to the food. It didn’t look pretty, but it was delicious! I’ve also decided – and I can say this because J.D.’s family is Swedish – that most Swedish food doesn’t sound or look super appealing, but it’s tasty.

From the top, clockwise: coleslaw with carrots and cucumbers (vitkålssallad med gurka), baked cod (ugnsbakad gädda) and egg and cucumber baked rice. The fish is actually supposed to be stuffed with the rice, but we only had small pieces of cod and not large fillets of pike the recipe called for.

And now about the book. As I’ve already mentioned, I LOVED reading Dragon Tattoo. I’d recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat, with the caveat that it does get graphic. And bear in mind the original Swedish title is “Men Who Hate Women”, so that probably sets the tone for what you should expect when reading. I plowed through it in two days. Seriously.

And then I watched the Swedish movie version. It was horrible. It loosely followed the book and they skipped out on a lot of incredibly important details. But it was fun to watch a Swedish movie with subtitles. I still would like to see the English version which comes to theaters during Christmas. I really hope it follows the book more closely than the original Swedish version did.

While we’re on the subject of literature, I have one final recommendation for you. Read The Alchemist. It’s another book I devoured in two days that is less than 200 pages.

It mostly takes place in southern Spain and northern Africa. I think the reason I was so wrapped up in this story was due to the ongoing travel. Something my heart longs for as well. And it’s full of super cute one-liners and quotes.

The tale was so enchanting and well-written, that I was instantly transported to far away places and felt as if I were seeing many of the same scenes with my own eyes. As a lover of travel, that to me is an amazing book! The story is all about following your heart and dreams, no matter where they take you. I think that is a message anyone can support. And we shall finish full circle since the author, Paulo Coelho, hails from Brazil.

Now you understand how I’m getting my sense of travel and culture these days. Anyone care to join me?

Next time I’ll see you in Cuba, amigos!

…You know I don’t speak Spanish.