Thoughts on Vegetarianism

On the first date with the boyfriend, we went for sushi, and he sat down and told me that he’s vegetarian. I’ve never dated a vegetarian before so I freaked out wondering what the etiquette is and ended up ordering the same veggie sushi set as him, even though I love fish based sushi so very much.

As we got to know each other more, and when it was obvious that we would end up together, I made the decision to be vegetarian when I am around him – if I was the veggie one, I would think it gross to kiss someone who had just eaten a load of meat, and also I don’t want to make him feel uncomfortable so it just made sense to me. What’s more, at home I rarely buy meat and the only time I eat it normally is when I’m out for a burger or some German food.

Since making this decision, I’ve seen food in a new light. Checking food labels all the time is kinda a hassle and finding that things I thought were clean actually having animal products in them makes me sad – things like Worcestershire Sauce and kimchi. I’d say that overall, Frankfurt is pretty good with vegetarians but still sometimes there are places with only one or two options. That kinda sucks too, especially when I’m restricted by my gluten allergy as well.

But when we cook together, it’s amazing. I’ve learnt that there are two types of vegetarian food – one type that pretends to be meat with all the fake mince and fake bacon and whatnot, and the other type that is just meatless by nature. He’s been teaching me lots about cooking the second type of food, though when I cook for myself I still like a good slab of pineapple curry flavoured tofu to replace the chicken I would have had otherwise.

I enjoy this new way of eating and I don’t feel like it’s a negative choice, or that he is forcing me to do this. However, I have been surprised by some people’s reactions to this small change. People turn their noses up at food I’ve chosen because it has no meat in it, even when it’s still veyr yummy. In this day and age where I can go to a bakery in Germany and get gluten free bread and where there are whole supermarkets dedicated to people who have special diets (Denn’s… you are heaven!), it should go without saying that you can live as vegetarian and still really enjoy food. But it seems that even now people sometimes treat vegetarians like they are just being that way to be difficult. It’s pretty shocking, really.

The only worry I have is that some day, I’d like to take the boyfriend to Japan and show him my “hometown” and all the places I used to go – Japan uses fish stock in pretty much EVERYTHING. So it will be a challenge like no other. But we’ll see. Maybe it’ll still be do-able…

Spring in Frankfurt!

Spring is a good time in Frankfurt. The dark days of winter are finally over and the Germans start to very VERY VERY excited about things. One of the things they like to get excited about is spargel – asparagus. You would not believe how excited these white sticks make the locals…

This was the area outside department store Galeria this morning – a man on a mic, lots of official veggie people, SO many people crowding round to get their hands on asparagus… and a bored sound man eating a sausage sandwich.

But this is what we came for – the green sauce festival! Green sauce is a big thing here in Frankfurt and so we wanted to check out the festival dedicated to this herby, eggy sauce.

There is a closed off section that I think wasn’t open when we went. There are a handful of stalls outside, though, with 3 different green sauces to try with eggs, potatoes and sausages. Sushi circle have some special green sauce themed sushi variaties (none of which are vegetarian friendly) so there are a few things to check out there!

 

Our potatoes, eggs and sauce was so yummy we forgot to take a photo before we dug in! The sauce was pretty sweet and creamy. I much prefer it when it’s chunky and herby but it was still very yummy! The festival is lasting through to next weekend so check it out at the Roßmarkt in Frankfurt!

Piknickbank, Frankfurt (omg is that hummus?)

 

We had a busy Saturday running around town buying toasters and things to cook that evening. We planned a lovely lunch at Piknickbank, a Moroccan cafe/restaurant we went past once, and it was the perfect end to a busy afternoon.

The place itself is like a back-to-front Tardis – it’s much smaller on the inside than it seemed from the outside. Luckily we got the last table for two but other people were made to wait in the rain for tables.

The waitress was fairly aloof but she replied to our German in German and so she was all right by me.

I had the large Piknick Teller which wasn’t quite as large as I had imagined, but still filled me up. Boy had the vegetarian tajine and though he said I had ordered the best thing, his meal was very good too (though had hidden olives! Grown-up food alert!!) My hummus was lovely and the carrots were so good I am going to try to recreate them at home next week!

The other people there were surprisingly not young hipsters, but older, middle class groups. I don’t know what it says about the place but it was interesting anyway!

I hope to go there again soon – we both said we wanted to try all the things on the menu.

You can find Piknickbank at Weißadlergasse 7, 60311 Frankfurt am Main

Hooters, Frankfurt

The other week the Friday Night Drinks Club had an event at Hooters in Sachsenhausen. I’d never been to a Hooters before so I was pretty excited…

First of all, let’s be honest, Hooters is famous for their waitresses, right? Well…I must admit I was a little disappointed. These girls weren’t the skinniest around which was good to see but they looked so scary and grumpy which made them a lot less attractive. It was Friday night so they were busy, but still…a smile doesn’t hurt!

The food is also famous there – I tried the wings but my friend chose the spicy sauce so I wasn’t a fan. I’m hoping that their lemon and pepper wings are something like the wings at the Nagoyan restaurant Yama Chan since I miss those so much.

Instead I tried the Hooters gherkin chips which were recommended to me by a friend. They were simply delicious and very very more-ish, going down very well with the beer there.

They have various offers – including sometimes 50% off for women! – so you should keep an eye out for those. If you can look past the cheesy/sexist/tacky cover, this is actually a nice American diner with good food.

Find Hooters at Kleine Rittergasse 4, 60594 Frankfurt am Main

Yummy Things

I try really hard to lead a fit and healthy life. After spending my teens eating any and every food put in front of me, I am now trying hard to make it up to myself by going to the gym and exercising as much as I can, and making sure I fill up on fruit and veg. As you can see from my blog, I do still eat a lot – what can I say? I love food! But every little helps.

I found a few recipes for curly kale chips on the health blogs I follow, but it took me a while to get round to trying it out since Germany is (quite rightly) a country which supplies mainly things that are in season and nothing else. I think this can be hard for Brits like myself who are used to Tescos selling every kind of fruit and veg regardless of the season. Kale is still rare in supermarkets so I usually get mine on a Saturday when I go to the farmers’ market at Konstablewache.

I feel I should issue a warning with these, since they are highly addictive! I was over my friends’ house the other day and I even got them addicted to them!

How to make kale chips

Rip the washed kale into small pieces – you want to keep them small because when they are crispy the crispy bits go everywhere so it’s best if they are bite sized.

Rub them with a tiiiiiny bit of olive oil (I use this “healthy” oil and it still works great).

Put them in a really hot oven for about 5 minutes or so, then flip them over and keep them in for another few minutes. Depending on your cooker, the times will vary. The chips will need flipping when they get pretty scent-ful and you know they’re done when they are a nice dark brown colour.

Once cooled, pop them in tupperware and they keep for about 2 days – though you’ll be reaching for them so often they probably won’t make it that long!!

On a separate note, a colleague of mine let me try this lime and chilli hot chocolate! It’s from the British company Whittard, who make amazing drinks. Tubs of hot chocolate powder like this are pretty pricey and I remember as a student I would save up and treat myself to some every once in a while.

The lime and chilli version was… interesting. The lime hits you as an aftertaste and then towards the end of the drink the chilli kicked in. It certainly made a change from regular hot chocolate!

If you get round to making the kale chips, do let me know!

Paulaner am Dom

Ahh… one of my favourite restaurants. Paulaner am Dom is a lovely Bavarian restaurant right next to the cathedral here in Frankfurt. If this is what Bavarian food is like, I am living in the wrong part of Germany.

The best part of this restaurant is that on top of a good solid menu of the meats and potatoes you’d expect from a traditional menu, they have an awesome seasonal menu which always makes choosing a meal difficult.

The meal above is a firm favourite – the sausage symphony.

Vegetarian? Well you’re also catered for! It’s very rare for a German menu to have good vegetarian options, but Paulaner am Dom pulls through!

And lastly, the mighty schweinshaxe! It’s not the BEST I’ve had here, but it is up there in my top 5 I’d say. I went for the one with the beer gravy which wasn’t as good as the classic one so my advice is that if you are a haxe fan as I am, still to the basic ones. The gravy just ruined it all.

The food here is amazing and it’s known as the place where we take our parents and visitors when they come to town. However, depending on who you get, your service could range from helpful (the young non-German girl… I think she’s Polish?) to downright rude (the old German woman).

You can find Paulaner am Dom at Domplatz 6  60311 Frankfurt and I see there is an online reservation form if you need to book!

Tasty Donuts, Frankfurt

There’s a new kid in town, and this kid loves his donuts! Newly opened near to where Nom Nom was (RIP) is a donut shop called Tasty Donuts. Of course, myself and Danni from Sparrow Dove needed to check it out!

There were SO many to choose from that we were stood at the counter for way too long, but Danni had a kiwi donut…

And I had the cookies and cream one. They were SOOO good. They had sold out of the peanut butter and jam ones, but that is next on my list. I need it in my life.

Not only do they do awesome donuts, but awesome drinks, too! Danni had the apple tea which smelt a-may-zing, and I had the chai tea laté which was also SO good.

This amazing shop is open 7 (SEVEN) days a week, and from 8am on weekdays! Would anyone like to join the pre-work queue with us here?!

You can find Tasty Donuts at Stiftstraße 9, 60313 Frankfurt

On a side note, shops like this don’t stay around too long in Frankfurt (just look at Nom Nom which had people queuing up outside it not 6 months ago) so if you appreciate the existence of a donut shop in Frankfurt, please help us keep the business alive by getting fat on their goodies!

Tropical Spice Plantation

By far my favourite thing that I did in Goa was visit the Tropical Spice Plantation. I wanted to go because I have no idea what spices and fruit look like when they are actually plants. And that made me sad. It was really amazing and our tour guide was so funny. I’d go there again, for sure.

Though this looks so fresh and green, this is actually one of the hottest peppers on earth!

This man was rolling some kind of cigarette that the British men behind me bought up like crazy.

Ginger!

This man is able to climb trees…

With this on his feet!

There he goes!

Afterwards there was a delicious buffet.

There were lots of natural remedies to buy afterwards – you can see the slimming one was very popular! I bought some neem oil which seems to be how Indian women keep their skin so clear. I’m testing it out now, and will report my findings at a later date!

Afterwards, I had a ride on this lovely elephant called Mala. I wouldn’t normally do this but I had heard more than a few reports of this plantation treating their elephants particularly well and so I went for it. If you are going somewhere to ride an elephant then please do make sure that the elephants are treated well before you support their business.

This was SO much fun and really eye opening. And this whole day of fun cost me less than 10 euros in total.

Ladurée Paris

So when I was in Paris I was invited to brunch at Ladurée, which is a very famous tea shop in Paris. They’re famous for their macaroons and are apparently listed in every Japanese guidebook because in the 10 minutes I spent waiting for my brunch buddy, I watched a constant stream of Japanese people taking photos outside the shop (but only a few going in to buy something).

Brunch was around 30 euros, and included breads, pastries, macaroons, sandwiches and eggs. I had scrambled eggs, which were nice but a little bland. I loved everything else in the meal, though. The breads were really great and the pastries were sugar-coated-nom-ness. I especially enjoyed watching the Japanese father at the next table take a bite out of the stick of butter, thinking it was some kind of sweet.

The tea was awesome, too. I had the Marie Antoinette tea, which I loved. I may even buy a tub of it some time so I can enjoy it whenever.

It’s a little on the pricey side, and apparently not everyone got the same nice experience I did there, so I guess it’s not for everyone, but I’d go back there for sure. It’s right up my street with the quaint low ceiling, the antique furniture and the tiny tables full of yummy food to eat.

There are various locations for Ladurée, and even some that are not in France! Check their website to find the one closest to you!

London Food – Peyton and Byrne

While waiting for the Eurostar in St Pancras station, I had a small bite to eat at a lovely cafe called Payton and Byrne. It’s tucked away between many other food offerings in the main part of the station so it’s easy to miss – and in fact was pretty empty too, with just one loud and obnoxious woman and her male friend in there when I visited.

The muesli was OUT OF THIS WORLD. So good. I cannot even put into words how yummy this was. You need to try it, though. The apple and cinnamon yogurt was also pretty good, and washed down with some apple juice, it was a great start to my day!

The staff were pretty bored-looking and not very lively, but this was the only downside, I think.

Check out their website here, and see all the different offerings this company has! I’d love to visit more of their shops!