Tuesday, September 20, 2011

This Little Piggy

The breadth of my culinary experience has vastly improved in one day alone. Well, comparatively, anyway. 

Lessons were much better today - considerably more sleep last night and a lot more enjoyable overall. Students are fantastic. Mini Czech lesson from them tells me this is going to be quite the bumpy ride. 

Lunch at Paneria. Sound familiar? Just remove the 'i' and you've basically got it. Still, miles better than it's American counterpart. Had a Panini šunka, which is really just a ham, cheese and tomato panini, but as I've mentioned before, the Czechs certainly know their pork and dairy. While waiting for my panini, was stuck in front of their baked goods part. Wowzers. Where does one even start? (With an apple cake and a latte, that's where)

Had made my mind up yesterday that I was going to head to Anděl after class to go to Tescoes, home of the cheapest groceries and the most stuff. It just so happens that Tescoes is in a mall. So did a leisurely lap around all three floors before responsibly putting down the $130 riding boots and made my way to the 2 story Tesco (that's nothing, the other one is 5!). Was on the hunt for vacuum bags and screws (so glamorous), but ended up picking up a few more things and then before you know it I'm shuffling down the dairy aisle with an overflowing basket and detergent in each hand (for that evil machine that I'm never using again). I contemplate getting a kart but realize that I still somehow need to get this stuff all the way back to Holešovice, so quickly decide against that. 

I love grocery shopping in other places. It's like a giant treasure hunt, and having no idea what things actually are or how you can prepare them (no microwave!) makes it incredibly difficult (I only buy things with pictures, instructions on prep need to be in symbols). Tried finding oatmeal. I take it the Czechs are not big cereal fans because there's a somewhat limited selection (by limited, I mean there isn't a mile long aisle dedicated to Kellogg's). Found what I hope is oatmeal (but came in four individual bags when I opened it so I guess we'll find out at breakfast) and, Danielle will be excited, found the English cereal. And elderflower cordial. And Pim's raspberry jaffa cake thingies. And some other little goodies. Successful trip. 

Came home to find out we're going out to dinner with some friends. Should have been responsible and stayed in to do lesson plans, but... bleh. Went to a restaurant called Apetit. Once you get past the ridiculous and completely unappealing spelling of the word appetite, you'll be fine. I wish I'd had my camera for this little adventure, because first we saw this:


This sculpture, "Horse", by the controversial Czech artist David Černý and hangs in the Lucerna Palace in New Town. Wiki him for his other stuff - its amusing. And ballsy. Walked through the rest of Lucerna to get to Apetit (snicker), where they have drafts in the middle of each table for you to poor your own beer from - very handy. They have quite a big menu, but I decided I was going Czech, so I got the Prague Plate. That's a bit deceiving, as it should really be named Heart Attack in a Roasting Pan. This meal includes smoked pork neck, roasted pork backfat, a sausage, dumplings, potato dumplings, potato pancakes and both red and white sauerkraut. Oy vey.  While pork neck and backfat sound, well, not that good really, they were absolutely delicious. Very tender. (Probably because, as one might guess, there is quite a bit of fat in a cut of backfat) I put in a valiant effort but could literally feel my BP rising and my arteries closing about halfway through so had to give up. Still, excellent meal. And for 250ck for all that food and two 1/2 liter beers (wait. I drank a LITER of beer?? huh. Guess all that salt diluted it.). Not too shabby.

Came home, buckled down scratched out a lesson plan for tomorrow and now it's time for this little piggy to go to bed. 


1 comment:

  1. yessss THE cereal!!! i can't wait to have some :)

    ReplyDelete