Travel can be broadening... it can also be thinning as you gag your way through the local menu. However, after 2 weeks, like any captive, you start to look at the offered food a bit differently.
One of the delicacies here is sun-dried, salted fish. It comes in a package of 4-6 and is usually kept next to the beer section. It smells like old garbage. To eat it, you have to rip off the head and fins, crack it open, and shred out the tough, dried, salty meat. It's sort of like a fish jerky. The fun part is the dried air bladder which is toasted over a cigarette lighter until it is crisp. Yum ... with enough beer.
There is all sorts of sausage and I never thought I'd eat this one but this morning I had blood sausage... and it was actually not too bad. I cut 4 quarter-inch slices into quarters, cooked it in the microwave for a minute + 20 seconds, then set a fried egg on it, and drizzed sour cream (a staple like ketchup) over all. This was pretty good, believe it or not.
Forest mushrooms are also very popular here and so far, so good with them. Also, they're creative with different salads, such as shredded carrot with coriander and vinegar. Cheeses are big too, especially a forest mushroom-infused soft cheese spread which is very versatile. People also like to gnaw on a fresh ginger root like it was a carrot and also eat a big bunch of dill, which is supposed to enhance masculinity.
But the most painful food is the hot mustard called Gorchitza. It is so strong, it is used for mustard plasters on sick kids. But we squeezed from the tube a drop the size of a fingernail onto a small piece of rye bread. Nuclear. It got me between the eyes not once but three times. Gorchitza makes wasabi taste like baby food. It will wake the dead and sober any drunk.
Which begs the question-- do the people drink a lot of vodka because it makes the food taste better or are they eating this stuff because they're drunk?
Have you tried Limburger cheese? My grand dad used to warm it up in the oven.
