Jim's Cafe September 29th - 30th Food From Around the World + Bonus Question!

[Aurelia]

Welcome, my fellow SFers! The Cafe is officially OPEN

So I do have a question for you all...but first, for the cafe topic, since we're all from a lot of different cultures here, let's share some photos of a few signature dishes from those cultures.

So for instance, mine would be Russian/Ukrainian food

This is definitely a staple of Russian culture...Red Borsht Soup (beet soup with beef and a mix of other vegetables, with sour cream and parsley/cilantro on top)



These I definitely remember eating often when I was kid...baked cabbage rolls stuffed with ground beef and rice (and looks like some type of carrot garnish for this particular one).



And yes, we do love our caviar! I personally love both, but the black is way more expensive in comparison...like, ridiculously freaking expensive!



Okay, now, this one is going to sound very, very weird, I know....but it's basically jellied meat and very difficult and time-consuming to make. It's actually not bad at all, though. At least, I think, lol. Also, some people add boiled egg to it, and a bunch of other ingredients, but looks like this person just went the simple route with chicken, carrots, and parsley.




Moving on...lol.. this is a traditional Russian salad "Olivier" (pronounced Aah-leev-yeah) It had potatoes, carrots, peas, pickles, eggs, mayonnaise, and cilantro.

 

[Aurelia]

And lastly, for dessert, this is a classic Russian cake made of honey, sour cream, sugar, and egg. It's honestly very, very good! One wouldn't typically think to put sour cream in a cake, but I'm telling you, it works!

 

[Aurelia]

Now...as for the bonus question....

Let's say you randomly found 2,000 in your bank account tomorrow. What would be the first thing you would want to do with it for fun (which means aside from paying bills and debt and all that crap)? How would you spend it?

 

[Aurelia]

Alright, now I need people to help me tag lol because it's been so damned long that I forgot how to do this...

@Walker @Ash600 @Auri @may71 @JMG (I will respond to your message soon, btw, I promise! I didn't forget about you!) @Lux @HappyKitty @extraterrestrialone @DrownedFishOnFire @Shelly @Nick

 

[may71]

What does Caviar taste like? It's some kind of fish egg isn't it?

 

[Aurelia]

What does Caviar taste like? It's some kind of fish egg isn't it?

Yep. Red caviar is salmon caviar and black is sturgeon. I guess I would say it tastes very fishy and salty, lol. But I love salt, so to me, it's freaking awesome.

 

[Witty_Sarcasm]

My culture..well, I'm American so there's lots of choices, lol. But I have Scandinavian heritage, so I like to eat things like herring sometimes.
And with that kind of money, I could probably go on a cool road trip.

 

[JMG]

Tysm for tagging me @Aurelia and aw thanks for the other thing you said too that's so nice of you Hope you're having a good day and also congrats on the job (saw in another post you said you got it) I hope it's going well so far. I'll do some tagging here and then reply to the q cos I definitely have an answer to it.
Tags: @1964dodge @Dante @Kiwi2016 @johnDoen @MosesY @JDot @Road to Nowhere

And now the answer to the q

Let's say you randomly found 2,000 in your bank account tomorrow. What would be the first thing you would want to do with it for fun (which means aside from paying bills and debt and all that crap)? How would you spend it?
I know exactly what I'd do with it, which is buy 2 tickets for Dragcon next May that will be in LA. Not only would that amount of money cover the cost of buying the tickets (would be $80) but to get there and back since it's over a thousand miles away from where I live. The reason I want to go to that is cos then I'd get to meet, or at least see in person, Trinity who is my fave drag queen ever. If I had any money left over I'd definitely save it, doubt I'd have any left after that though lol.

 

[JMG]

More tags, and also meant to say that food all looks great! Never tried most of it but if I ever went somewhere where that was for dinner then I'd definitely want to try it all
More tags: @Baywasp @Bbear82 @Kira @Livelife @Somebody Else @GodIsWithMe @Citizen Insane @Blue Star

 

[Baywasp]

Thanks for the tag @JMG
My heritage that I know about is largely German and Swiss-German, but I'm not too connected with that heritage or know much about their traditional dishes.

Growing up I probably ate more PA Dutch food than many people due to my living in Lancaster County, "Amish Country." My one somewhat well-known ancestor (he is at least known in the area) was a Mennonite bishop, but we no longer follow that religion (maybe some distant relatives of mine do, idk. So yeah, to be clear, my church I grew up going to wasn't any form of Amish/Mennonite, but we just had the PA Dutch foods that were local.)

Some that I remember from that cuisine:

Chicken corn soup. Basically what it sounds like. But this recipe has small dumplings known as rivels (which is not a word I know.) We used to make this at my old church to sell in late summer during corn season, and I would also get it for dinner when my family would go to one of the local fairs:


Chicken and waffles, but not like the southern US or soul food kind with yummy fried chicken and butter and syrup. We used to have a chicken and waffle supper yearly at my old church. Plus this would be a school lunch every once in a while. Basically shredded roast chicken over a waffle with gravy on top. Not as good as the soul food version in my eyes.


And some desserts
Shoofly pie-- basically a molasses crumb pie. Someone would usually bring one of these to a church event and sometimes I'd take some.


This last one might be a little controversial, but I'm gonna say whoopie pies. They are seen to have roots in multiple states, including Maine, but it seems to have possibly been a recipe passed down for generations in PA Dutch families. If you've never had one, they're basically rounds of cake with frosting sandwiched in between. The one I've seen most traditionally (pictured below) is chocolate cake with white icing, but I've seen pumpkin ones, red velvet ones, and ones with flavored icing (often peanut butter, but I have seen mint as well.) Fun fact-- here in Pittsburgh they're called "gobs" but I refuse to assimilate. The best whoopie pies come from whatever stand they had at Central Market in downtown Lancaster that I used to go to with my family. IDK what it was called or if that particular stand is still there.

this is a traditional Russian salad "Olivier" (pronounced Aah-leev-yeah) It had potatoes, carrots, peas, pickles, eggs, mayonnaise, and cilantro.

I think I've had that. It is one of the appetizer options for a platter at a Middle Eastern restaurant that I like in downtown Pittsburgh. They called it Russian salad but it seems to be the same thing or at least extremely similar. I ordered it the last time I went. It was pretty good.

As far as the bonus question goes, I would love to see if I could plan some sort of trip, maybe back to visit San Francisco, or to go see my best friend in New York state. If that wouldn't work, I'd probably blow it on dining out.

 

[Road to Nowhere]

krumkake traditional Norway dish two of my Grandparents are Norwegian. One is Yugoslavian the other is Colville Indian.

 

[Livelife]

Yep. Red caviar is salmon caviar and black is sturgeon. I guess I would say it tastes very fishy and salty, lol. But I love salt, so to me, it's freaking awesome.

love the stuff

 

[Livelife]

Thank you for the tag @JMG

@Aurelia ....I grew up with the borscht and cabbage soup and rolls, blintzes and herring, potato pancakes, homemade Gefilte fish...the Russian and AustrianHungarian side of the family...

I would take a road trip somewhere with the $2000, maybe New Orleans or New Mexico...

 

[Auri]

Welcome, my fellow SFers! The Cafe is officially OPEN

So I do have a question for you all...but first, for the cafe topic, since we're all from a lot of different cultures here, let's share some photos of a few signature dishes from those cultures.

So for instance, mine would be Russian/Ukrainian food

This is definitely a staple of Russian culture...Red Borsht Soup (beet soup with beef and a mix of other vegetables, with sour cream and parsley/cilantro on top)

View attachment 48091

These I definitely remember eating often when I was kid...baked cabbage rolls stuffed with ground beef and rice (and looks like some type of carrot garnish for this particular one).

View attachment 48092

And yes, we do love our caviar! I personally love both, but the black is way more expensive in comparison...like, ridiculously freaking expensive!

View attachment 48093

Okay, now, this one is going to sound very, very weird, I know....but it's basically jellied meat and very difficult and time-consuming to make. It's actually not bad at all, though. At least, I think, lol. Also, some people add boiled egg to it, and a bunch of other ingredients, but looks like this person just went the simple route with chicken, carrots, and parsley.

View attachment 48094


Moving on...lol.. this is a traditional Russian salad "Olivier" (pronounced Aah-leev-yeah) It had potatoes, carrots, peas, pickles, eggs, mayonnaise, and cilantro.

View attachment 48095

Oh, all of these are the same as typical Polish dishes, except the caviar. I'm quite surprised. ^^ And I've ALWAYS hated all of them. Literally... I'm pretty convinced that my eating issues as a kid were just really me hating Polish cuisine, because at around 14 I started cooking my own dishes (more international and different ingredients) and taking a little bit of weight. As a kid I had all these strategies to avoid swallowing/finishing my meals, lol.

Fun fact : In Polish, the cabbage rolls are called pigeons, which sometimes confuses foreigners because they think they actually eat the bird. :P Perhaps it's the same in Russian and Ukrainian.

 

[Dante]

Thanks @Aurelia for the cafe and @JMG for the invite, and thanks to @Road to Nowhere for that excellent Norwegian dessert ^^

My mum also happens to be Norwegian, and this how I see Christmas Dinner as a result:

julepølse, its a very rich and delicious sausage, in fact Norwegians make amazing sausages, you you cant say otherwise until you have tried their Elk meat sausages ^^ just incredible.


Oh, and I always bring back some Rømmegrøt when I visit Norway ^^ I love it, i cant help but bury it in sugar and cinnamon :P

oh, and speaking of christmas.. it wouldn't be Christmas without Sirupsnipper and Kransekake. Norwegian Christmas food seems to revolve around Almonds, and these two deserts really show that off ^^

Sirupsnipper:

Kransekake:

 

[Aurelia]

Thanks @Aurelia for the cafe and @JMG for the invite, and thanks to @Road to Nowhere for that excellent Norwegian dessert ^^

My mum also happens to be Norwegian, and this how I see Christmas Dinner as a result:

julepølse, its a very rich and delicious sausage, in fact Norwegians make amazing sausages, you you cant say otherwise until you have tried their Elk meat sausages ^^ just incredible.


Oh, and I always bring back some Rømmegrøt when I visit Norway ^^ I love it, i cant help but bury it in sugar and cinnamon :P

oh, and speaking of christmas.. it wouldn't be Christmas without Sirupsnipper and Kransekake. Norwegian Christmas food seems to revolve around Almonds, and these two deserts really show that off ^^

Sirupsnipper:

Kransekake:

That's so freaking cool. I want to visit Norway 🇳🇴 so badly. Are you from there too or just your mom? Do you speak it?

 

[Aurelia]

Oh, all of these are the same as typical Polish dishes, except the caviar. I'm quite surprised. ^^ And I've ALWAYS hated all of them. Literally... I'm pretty convinced that my eating issues as a kid were just really me hating Polish cuisine, because at around 14 I started cooking my own dishes (more international and different ingredients) and taking a little bit of weight. As a kid I had all these strategies to avoid swallowing/finishing my meals, lol.

Fun fact : In Polish, the cabbage rolls are called pigeons, which sometimes confuses foreigners because they think they actually eat the bird. :P Perhaps it's the same in Russian and Ukrainian.

Lol yeah, we do actually call them that as well. The word itself technically means "pigeons" (gah-lu-btsi). It makes sense though that the food is basically similar, since the cultures are similar

 

[Auri]

I have some Polish origins, but unfortunately I dislike most of the typical Polish dishes. They usually contain a lot of fat, starch and meat, which does not fit my current eating habits at all. I'm not sure if it's even possible to find vegan traditional Polish food. :p I guess pierogi are ok depending on the filling.

In the past, a few things I found delicious :

- żurek, a soup made of fermented rye flour. Usually contains a boiled egg and bits of sausage. Tastes "comforting". :p

- rosół, a chicken broth, which doesn't always contain actual chicken like on the photo. Delicious and very common.

- kluski śląskie, potato dumplings. Those I still eat occasionally, really good if not bought processed from the store.

 

[Aurelia]

I have some Polish origins, but unfortunately I dislike most of the typical Polish dishes. They usually contain a lot of fat, starch and meat, which does not fit my current eating habits at all. I'm not sure if it's even possible to find vegan traditional Polish food. :p I guess pierogi are ok depending on the filling.

In the past, a few things I found delicious :

- żurek, a soup made of fermented rye flour. Usually contains a boiled egg and bits of sausage. Tastes "comforting". :p

- rosół, a chicken broth, which doesn't always contain actual chicken like on the photo. Delicious and very common.

- kluski śląskie, potato dumplings. Those I still eat occasionally, really good if not bought processed from the store.

I love the bread bowl for the first one, very cute idea.

 

[Dante]

That's so freaking cool. I want to visit Norway 🇳🇴 so badly. Are you from there too or just your mom? Do you speak it?

Just my mum, and I never learned to speak it, by the time I was interested in learning, my mum wasnt interested in teaching. (the reason i wasnt raised bilingual is another story)

I have been to Norway 1 or 2 dozen times, always staying with family and Christmas was always a very Norwegian affair, until she left my dad, now its gone full English and I miss the Norwegian christmases so much, but again, for reasons, we dont get on with our mum anymore. (main reason, she is a complete bloody idiot now)