How far have you ever traveled for food?
The blogroll subject of the week is "How far have you traveled for food". Unfortunately, I don't have any spectacular story of intercontinental journeys for tacos. I guess the farthest I've traveled would be clear across Vienna, on foot, for a hot dog (I'm using the term hotdog for all the myriad kinds of sausages sold at Austrian hotdog stands).
I was at a Halloween party hosted by some other Americans with two friends, Rebecca and Karen. Now, Halloween is great in Austria, because Nov. 1st is a federal holiday (All Saint's Day), which means you can sleep in and don't have to worry about being hungover or anything. Austrians don't quite get the Halloween costume, though. As in, they do not quite grasp the idea that you are supposed to dress like something or someone else (pirate, vampire, samurai warrior, crayon, etc). They consider putting on a funny hat sufficient, which I refuse to accept. Anyway, the party was fun, but around 3AM, the hosts clearly wanted to get to bed, so we left. Now, the party was on the outskirts of the first district, near Museumsquartier. I lived in the 12th district at that time, which is way too far to walk, Rebecca lived I think in the 10th, and Karen lived just on the other side of the 1st district, in the 4th, but was too drunk to walk it (see map).
Trouble is, the subways don't run at night. And we were hungry. But 24h establishments are practically non-existent in this country. So we started walking towards the city center. Or more accurately, Rebecca and I were walking and half-carrying Karen. I knew there was a hotdog stand on Hoher Markt (a square right in the middle of town) that was open 24h. They also have the world's greatest Käsekrainer, which are these sausages with chunks of cheese in them which melt and ooze when you cut them up and leak out and crisp up when frying. Mmmmm...
Finally, we made it. There was a line at that silly hotdog stand from here into the middle of next week, but it was moving pretty quickly and we soon got our hotdogs and beers. Well, Rebecca and I got beers, we wouldn't let Karen have anything but water. We sat on the curb, eating our hotdogs, admiring the strange monument on the square. If you've ever seen The Third Man with Orson Welles (and if you haven't, you really should), one of the final scenes (where the final chase begins) takes place on Hoher Markt. The movie was filmed in the 50s, when most of the buildings around the square were piles of rubble, but that very distinctive monument survived.
By the time we'd finished our hotdogs, it was around 4:30. We trekked to the nearest subway station and sat on the platform, waiting for the first train of the morning. Mine arrived around 5, and I was back in bed with a stomach full of greasy goodness by 5:30.
Since I'm already writing about food, here's another favorite recipe. I am a huge fan of soup. In the winter, Stefan and I will often make a big ol' pot of vegetable soup and work on it for a few days for supper.
We had the most delicious soup last weekend: cream of zucchini. It's super easy to make and really really good. What you need for about 6 servings:
2 medium zucchinis
½ cup of whipping cream (depending on how rich you want it to be, you could add more)
1 medium onion
bouillon cubes
garlic to taste (I used 3 cloves)
oil
pepper
nutmeg
Dice the onion and zucchini, slice the garlic cloves into thin slices. Add some oil to a pot and fry the onion until translucent. Add the diced zucchini and garlic and stir in until warm. Add enough water to cover the zucchini and onion. Add boullion cubes according to how much water you added. Add cream. Simmer until the zucchini is soft. Season with pepper and nutmeg, if you have some. Ladle the soup into a blender and puree. I find it really makes a difference if you then pass the whole mess through a sieve after blending. In other words, pour it through a sieve and force any chunks through with a rubber spatula. I used to think this was silly (after all, it's just been blended!) but I tried it once and it really makes the soup just that much smoother. I've been doing it ever since to all creamed soups. Return to the pot, check the seasoning and serve immediately. If it tastes a little bland, add salt or another splash of cream. Optional: reserve some of the whipping cream and whip it, adding on top of the soup just before serving.
This would be really good with some croutons in it or some crunchy bread twists. From this recipe, I ended up with two generous servings for dinner plus 3 for the freezer.