Daedalian Adventures

The road ahead is rarely straight…

By Lynelle Barrett

Put Another Log of Cheese on the Fire

In a surprising turn of events, I am once again writing about experiences involving food. A couple of weeks ago, I visited friends in Grenoble, France. Lanna is an American from Florida married to Philippe, a Frenchman. I know it sounds like a Meg Ryan movie, but in real life it is a lot of work. Just this morning, Lanna emailed me that she is out of Philippe’s will for bringing Spanish wine to a wine tasting party.

As a special treat, Lanna and Philippe made arrangements for a dinner of local Alpine cuisine. The evening started with a drive up a mountain road… a nauseating, winding ride. Just when I thought I was going to have to ask him to stop the car, we arrived at a small parking area near a trailhead. We all got out of the car and geared up with coats, gloves and flashlights. Then we started hiking on a trail up the mountain, the darkness illuminated by our mini-maglites. It’s been a warm winter this year and the snow is melting early. So as we climbed the trail, it started to get muddier until we were slogging though sucking mud. As we got higher, we reached patches of snow and ice. We had to hold onto each other so we didn’t slip on the ice. After about half an hour, just as we were all starting to breathe a bit harder, lights appeared ahead.

By now we were really hungry. We skated with our muddy hiking shoes to the front door of a lodge. When we opened the door we were cuddled by a warm, cozy room of rough stone. Everyone was wearing sweaters and hiking shoes and sitting around wooden tables piled with big bowls of food. A fire blazed in the fireplace and either side of the hearth was stacked with large half wheels of cheese. We were here for Raclette, a traditional dish in this part of the Alps.

While we all drank our aperitifs, the food started coming…and kept coming. A big bowl of salad with French mustard dressing, baskets of bread, bowls of little potatoes, plates of ham and salami, little bowls of pickled vegetables and jugs of wine. Once we put some potatoes on our plates and smashed them with forks, the waitress took our plates to the man tending the fire. He took one of the half wheels of cheese and scraped the melted cheese onto our potatoes. Every time we put more potatoes on our plates the waitress came around again, asking if we wanted more cheese. It was a caloric sin-fest but we kept on eating.      

Just when we thought we couldn’t eat any more, they brought us crème brulee. Then, bellies distended like sated puppies, we hiked back down the trail to the car. The ride down the winding mountain road was very quiet as we all concentrated on not getting carsick.

There seems to be a recurring theme this month that I must work for my food. Shortly after my return from France I attended a bachelorette party. Eight of us met at a local café first for wine and tapas. Then we took the train to a cooking studio for a special cooking class and dinner. The studio was located in an old church and looked like a kitchen in a cooking show: big professional stoves, shiny pots and pans on the wall, long work counters. We had our own chef, assistant and dishwasher.

Our assignment was to prepare a “Festive Love Menu”. The menu included Pasta with Pepper Salsa, Tilapia en Papillotte, Timbal of Carrots, Hot Tropical Salad, Spicy Couscous and Wedding Cake. First we were offered glasses of wine. Then the chef described what we would be cooking and let us each choose a part of the meal to prepare. There were eight work stations set up with recipes and all the ingredients measured out. We all put on our chef’s aprons, washed our hands and chose our weapons of destruction.  I volunteered for the wedding cake. I decided to be brave and use the recipe in Dutch even though I was offered one in English. This got a nod of approval from a couple of the Dutch girls in the group. I am glad I have watched lots of cooking shows and knew what to do with fondant! I was also given a big lump of marzipan to tint with food coloring and use for cake decoration. One of the other “chefs” and I made marzipan dolls of the bride and groom to put on top of the cake. They came out so funny-looking that we all had a good laugh.

Then we were lead to a lovely dining room. The feast we prepared had been baked and plated by our “staff”. Still wearing our aprons, we dined on our fabulous creations. At the end, the cake was brought in, sizzling with a sparkler. After we had cake and coffee, the little marzipan bride and groom were boxed up for the bride-to-be to take home. I sincerely hope the groom forgives me for his “portrait”!

Lynelle Barrett is residing in The Netherlands, where there are still opportunities for tasty vittles even though Dutch cuisine includes eating herring and mashing all sorts of vegetables into your potatoes. Check out photos and notes of her adventures on her website at: http://spaces.msn.com/lynelleinholland

Daedalian Adventures

The road ahead is rarely straight…

By Lynelle Barrett

Cast of Characters

It was a rainy Friday evening at Schipol airport in Amsterdam. I stood in line with the rest of the commuters, festival-seating boarding pass in hand, to board an Easy Jet plane for a weekend in London.  The friend I was visiting was French and I was promised a visit to the National Gallery on Saturday if I would watch the France vs. Italy rugby match first. So we spent the early part of the afternoon in a pub eating lamb burgers and salt & vinegar chips, drinking Guinness and watching TV. Europeans seem to like a lot of drama with their sports, so it’s all good fun (although I have heard that German football players are the stars of sports injury dramatics).

On Sunday we went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The original theatre no longer exists. Many years of research and fundraising went into recreating the theatre as close as possible to the original. The tour was fascinating. The plays are performed as they would have been in Shakespeare’s time, with an interactive audience. Audience members close to the stage can belly up to the proscenium, rest their drinks and snacks on the edge of the stage (although you would risk losing them to a hungry performer) and participate in the play.

Shakespeare said that all the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. It occurs to me that with my new job, I have also acquired a new cast of characters in my life’s play. And so, I present:

AN AMERICAN IN HOLLAND

Dramatis Personae

Jennifer - a girl from Essex, England. Newly arrived in Holland, after teaching English in Japan. Says the best things about living in Japan are swimming at sunrise at Shimoda, beer and sushi, autumn leaves drenched in the early evening glow of the sun at Nikko, Tokyo nights and Karaoke. When she met her husband, it was love first sight. They started planning the wedding two weeks after they met and are still very much in love. He is working on his Ph.D. and has learned French Bullfighting as part of his Anthropology studies.

Shannon – a girl from Atlanta, Georgia. Studied dance and came to Paris at 23. Has danced at the Lido and performed all over the world…Europe, the Middle East, South America, Russia. Has sung musicals in Dutch, including a Dutch version of Saturday Night Fever. Says the best things about living in Paris were living near Montmartre, having a view of the Eiffel Tower from her window and simply living in Paris. Has now been in Europe for 14 years, but has an American boyfriend from California.

Charlotte – a girl from South Carolina. Has worked in law enforcement, managed a lingerie store and had her own acupuncture practice. Married to a Dutch guy. Has two boxers that are spoiled rotten. She cooks them home-made dinner every night and has driven on vacations from Amsterdam to the South of Portugal and to the Amalfi Coast so she could bring the dogs with her.

Steve – a guy from Malta. Has also lived in Sydney, Hamburg and Berlin. Has worked as a project manager, business teacher and a pilot. Says the best thing about living in Malta is that life is a never ending holiday. He misses the azure Mediterranean and snorkelling. "Let’s go for a snork" was his most commonly used phrase last time he lived there. Has an American girlfriend from Colorado who lives in Berlin. Says that she is a bleeding heart liberal and he is a bit more conservative but still has a wild streak somewhere.

Kathryn – a girl from Exeter, England.  Used to own a bar in Amsterdam, now is a corporate trainer. Spent 17 months backpacking in India, Nepal, Thailand, Australia, Hawaii and Malaysia. Says she doesn’t have much furniture because she likes to carry a light backpack. Never bought a stereo until she was 29, then left it behind to go backpacking. If she could choose whether to fall in love with an Englishman or a Dutchman, she would choose an Englishman because she knows their humor, watched the same TV growing up and would understand all their friends and family.

Chorus - Other English speaking expats from far and wide, including the US, Canada, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India and the Caribbean.

ACT II.

Scene I. – An office building in Amsterdam Zuid, an hour commute by train from Leiden.

                Enter an American…

Lynelle Barrett is residing in The Netherlands, where the drama continues and the cast of characters keeps growing every day. Check out photos and notes of her adventures on her website at: http://spaces.msn.com/lynelleinholland