I am a member of INC. It is the International Newcomers Club. There is one for ex-pats in most major cities around the world. I have met many of my friends here through INC. It is a wonderful and fun group made up of people from around the world. Every month there is something going on - lunches, evening get-togethers, touristy things around the city.
Today was a monthly lunch with the group. We were to go to a Scandinavian Restaurant. Now there are many kinds of restaurants here like in the States. There is a restaurant for whatever country exists. It is hard to find really good Mexican though. And taco shells are like $20 a box. But I digress. So today was a Scandinavian restaurant. We initially had a difficult time finding it because it does not have a sign on the outside that says here is the restaurant. It only says Scandinavian Association. We took a wild guess and entered. Voila! We were there. We had a mini cocktail hour before lunch was served, and we were able to catch up with people that we haven't seen in two days, or ten. Then comes lunch...
It was buffet style. But there were no markers on any of the foods. What am I eating? I personally would like to know before it hits my plate. I have MANY food issues, just ask my kids. So I grab a lady who lived in Sweden for a while to see if she had any clues. Some - the stuff in the sauces in the back is the herring (fish), the meat with the congealed fat on top is pork belly, don't know what the meat in the pan is but it is red meat, potatoes, meatballs, sauerkraut made with purple cabbage, what looked like roast beef slices but were roasted reindeer, liver pate, breads, beets, breaded and fried eggplant, and a few other things. I really should have eaten before I left the house. I ate the meat in the pan, which was good but tough. I ate the purple sauerkraut which wasn't too bad, maybe a little too pickley, I ate the meatballs which tasted like bratwursts and extremely delicious. And yes. I ate reindeer. Or what we think was reindeer. It could have been something else sliced and unidentifiable. It was a little bit between gamey meat and tongue. Yes I have eaten tongue before, but not on purpose. My friend at the time said it was deli chicken slices. Needless to say this person is not my friend anymore. Not because of the tongue or anything like that. At least not consciously that is.
You know, I like Scandinavian things. Swedish meatballs are a staple at any football party. The reindeer sweaters you receive from gramma for Christmas are... warm. I read and liked all of Stieg Larsson's books. Norway visited the New World way before Columbus. My husband likes Heineken. No wait that is a Dutch beer. Well I like Thor. He was really cute and carried a big hammer. But, I can tell you that my belly does not like reindeer. Even my kidneys hurt from trying to digest the new and interesting foods. From now on I will leave the reindeer to Santa. It is just not worth it.
So Scandinavian food does not sit well with me. I think my husband will appreciate that since I will not be asking to visit there any time soon. Easier on the travel budget I would think, and the digestion.
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