Food Archives - Page 52 of 86

Articles tagged “Food”

You have to eat sausage in Vienna. You have to.

by Annie Scott on Mar 22, 2010

I don’t know your life, but I do know you need to eat sausage in Vienna. If you are a vegetarian, I get that, and there are options for you at some of the finer purveyors, so you are included in this. Weiner schnitzel is delicious and all, but it actually originated in Milan. You should probable have a Sacher Torte at some point, but none of this negates the fact that you absolutely must eat some sausage — or wurst, as they call it — in Vienna. You have to.

Overview

Sausage in Vienna is the customary fast food. It’s what people eat on the go or when it’s a nice day for hanging around outside at one of the stands. The Viennese go for sausages after the opera, on their lunch breaks, before clubbing, after clubbing, and basically anytime they feel a little peckish. It’s delicious. It’s protein. It’s sausage, all day, readily available, whenever you want it.

Sausages in Vienna are generally served sliced up and with mini forks. You will be asked whether you’d prefer a roll or bread with your sausage, and from what I understand, the correct response is “bread” (makes you sound like you know what you’re doing). Also, you will uniformly be given mustard, even if you’ve ordered currywurst (sausage doused in curry powder). If you’d prefer a different sauce, you can certainly ask, but you’ll probably look silly. The appropriate beverage to consume with your wurst is a beer — and yes, it is perfectly acceptable to drink beer in the street in Vienna. Nobody does it much, at least not further than a few yards from a sausage stand, but it is, in fact, legal. I found this to be a killer cheap thrill:

Not all sausage is made equal. There are three particularly well-known sausage slingers in Vienna. Two are stands, and one is a micro-restaurant with some crazy, inventive flavors and art from local university students. We’ll cover that one first.Kiosk

Kiosk is the city’s best-known indoor sausage stand (for lack of a better term). The cozy corner shop has a Lower East Side, NYC vibe, from the layout to the music to the staff. The blackboard serves as the menu, and you can order sausage, wine, beer and bread, and a few other options are available in case you go with lame friends. There is a vegetarian sausage option here, but the true star of the menu is the “Bosna.” Kiosk is notoriously tight-lipped about how they make their sausages, and which kinds are made of what, but you know what? We don’t really want to know how sausage is made, do we? No. In addition to their well-beloved Bosna, their currywurst is also extraordinary, and probably the best sausage I’ve ever had anywhere.

Kiosk also, as I mentioned, displays art work by local art students. In the gallery, you’ll see a photo of the current display of portraits. Each one is available for just 100 euros, in case you’re interested in investing in promising young artists, or would like a piece of local art for a souvenir.

The One By the Albertina

The Albertina is a historical museum/event space which we’re not going to talk about; we’re going to talk about the legendary sausage stand outside of it. Also known as “the one behind the State Opera,” this stand offers all the standard sausage fare, and the patronage is half the fun. You’ll see everyone from slumming students to opera-goers in full evening gowns at this stand, drinking beer and eating sausage with mini forks. You can try sausages of the same names at stands all over Vienna, but this one just packs a little extra magic.

The One by the Bermuda Triangle

Did you know there’s a Bermuda Triangle in Vienna? There is; it’s what they call their confusing little district of clubs just off the city center in the northern part of the Ring. While it’s not a “cool” area, it’s always full of clubbers and drunken teens wandering around and getting lost (thus the name). There’s an especially good sausage stand right in front of it to serve said houligans, and you don’t have to walk through any complicated streets to get there from the main drag; it’s on the southern part of the area. By day or night, you’ll find some of Vienna’s tastiest offerings here, and if you map out your day correctly, it fits perfectly into a shopping or sightseeing schedule.

Check out the gallery below for more pics of these sausage destinations and, of course, more sausage.

%Gallery-88621%
My visit to Vienna was sponsored by the Vienna Tourist Board and Cool Capitals, but the opinions expressed in the article are 100% my own.

Photo of the Day (03.20.10)

by Mike Barish on Mar 20, 2010

This photo by Flickr user jwannie is entitled “How to build a salad tower.” The bright oranges and yellows caught my eye when I fist saw the thumbnail and that’s why I clicked on the image. As for what a salad tower is and why it’s so comical, I defer to the accompanying blog post on frites & fries for a full explanation.

I recently received an e-mail forward from my dad about the Chinese Pizza Hut salad bar from a Chinese colleague. The Pizza Huts there typically offers a salad bar but you can only fill it once in a small salad bowl – I think the salad is a free with purchase type of deal. To get their money’s worth, some people use their fantastic engineering skills to build salad towers.

I support this ingenuity 100%. You get way more food for your money and it’s salad, so it’s healthy. Way better than those Domino’s Pasta Bread Bowls.

Have a photo of some food that used for an impromptu game of Jenga? Submit your images to Gadling’s Flickr group right now and we might use it for a future Photo of the Day.

Let freedom (and its fries) ring!

by David Farley on Mar 16, 2010

I recently took a trip up to Cape Cod for a friend’s wedding. It was my first time in the area and, as I’m wont to do, I intended to eat my way through the seaside towns, stopping at roadside shacks for lobster rolls and fried seafood goodness. So I pulled into the first restaurant I saw: Marc Anthony’s in Onset. It was midday and the checkered table cloth-clad joint was awash in Red Sox cap-wearing locals. I ordered a lobster roll, which the cashier yelled out for the grill-slaving cooks behind him and then a side of French fries.

“And an order of Freedom fries,” he yelled out. Just then a needle scratched across a record from somewhere in the heavens above. Huh? Freedom Fries?

Remember those? If not, here’s a brief refresher: the anti anti-war politicians (and those who loved them) spent the lead-up to Iraq war by trumpeting this name change in 2003 because of the French government’s refusal to go along with the Bush Administration’s plan to invade Iraq. Two of those legislators, congressmen Bob Ney (R-OH) and Walter Jones (R-NC), had the House cafeteria officially change the name of French fries to freedom fries seven years ago last week. They weren’t the first to do this, but the press coverage of the event inspired many restaurateurs to jump on this jingoistic bandwagon. In my old Brooklyn neighborhood, a diner suddenly began serving “Freedom onion soup.” On a trip to California, I saw “Freedom toast” on a breakfast menu.

Two years later, Walter Jones admitted he was wrong for backing the justifications for the war and put the French back in fry in his workplace cafeteria. And so, much like the reasons given for the war, this ridiculous burst of anti-Gallic liberty-spewing re-monikering quietly went away. At least I thought it did.

Apparently not everyone got the notice. In fact, once I started searching for freedom fries, they weren’t hard to find. I even found Congressman Bob Ney who now has a talk radio show. I requested an interview with the congressman and he responded with another question: could we do it on the air? I agreed. And so later that day, I asked Mr. Ney on his radio show if he had any regrets.

“Would I do it again? Yes, I would,” he told me and then said something that kind of surprised me coming from the man who helped give us freedom fries. “Would I change my vote if I knew what I know now about weapons of mass destruction? I would not have given full authority to President Bush to do what he did.” Ney went on to say he really became the face of freedom fries for the troops, not really for the war.

So with this edible anachronism still around, it’s possible to go on a freedom food tour of the country. If you want to party like it’s 2003, your first stop should be Cubbies in Greenville, NC, the supposed first restaurant in the country to serve up these calorically terrific fried potatoes with a side of good ol’ American liberty. Geno’s, the famously “English only”-loving Philadelphia cheesesteak spot proudly serves them too. I called to find out if they were still on the menu, and when I asked why they haven’t gone back to the original name, gruff-voiced Geno (or some guy who sounded like his name would be Geno) hung up on me. The outcome was very similar when I called Marc Anthony’s in Onset. Other places where you can still get a dose of your freedom and your, uh, pommes frites in one basket are the mini-chain of Toby Keith-owned restaurants (now there’s a big surprise), I love This Bar & Grill (locations in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Thackersville, OK.

And when Congressman Ney goes out to a restaurant how does he order his fries these days?

“I’ll order French fries,” he said.

Let’s just hope the Italians don’t offend us next. A slice of pepperoni freedom pie or spaghetti with Uncle Sam’s meatballs just doesn’t have a very edible ring to it.

Be sure to check out Episode 5 of Travel Talk TV, which features a Santa Cruz beach adventure; explains why Scottish money is no good; shows how to cook brats the German way; and offers international dating tips!

Hold the dog, please. China’s proposed ban on sale of dog and cat meat

by Laurel Miller on Mar 12, 2010

Most people will agree that dog is man’s best friend. In parts of Asia, however, it’s also what’s for dinner. The consumption of dog and cat meat by humans is practiced in parts of China, Vietnam, Korea, and the Philippines. Cat is eaten in parts of China and South America. The times they are a-changin’, however, because the Chinese government is considering legislation that would make eating dogs and cats illegal there, in part because of how the practice negatively impacts overseas tourism.

The Chinese government has signaled a willingness to take the meat off the market. To avoid upsetting international visitors during the Beijing Olympics, officials ordered dog meat off the menus at local markets. Officials in Guangzhou have warned vendors to stop selling it ahead of the Asian Games, which will be held there later this year.

Professor Chang Jiwen of the Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences is one of the law’s top campaigners. “Cats and dogs are loyal friends to humans,” he said. “A ban on eating them would show China has reached a new level of civilization.” Anyone else finding irony in that statement, considering 2007’s massive pet food recall — the result of melamine-tainted exports produced in China?

While inconceivable to most North Americans and Europeans, these animals have been used as food for thousands of years, usually for purported medicinal purposes, although poverty also plays a role in some countries or regions.

While owning dogs and cats for house pets isn’t the norm throughout Asia, it’s certainly common in China. But the roles of ingredient and animal companion never cross: special meat markets exist that cater exclusively to the sale of dogs and cats for the meat trade. Chang cautions, however that there is always a chance they’re someone’s lost or stolen pet.

Regardless of how you feel about dining on dog, the most critical issue regarding this “specialty meat” trade is animal welfare. The animals can be kept in horrifying conditions until they’re sold at market, and subjected to cruel, inhumane treatment. And before you condemn certain cultures as barbaric, take a second to think about the conditions in puppy mills and factory farms in the United States. Livestock sold at auction for the commercial meat market, and live meat animals and poultry at slaughterhouses may also be subjected to inhumane treatment. The U.S. government is cracking down on these abuses, but factory farms don’t appear to be going away anytime soon.

The ban on eating dog and cat meat is part of a larger proposal to toughen laws on animal welfare. Individual violators could face up to 15 days in prison and a small fine. Businesses found guilty of selling the meat risk fines up to 500,000 yuan ($73,500.)

The legislation is gaining support from China’s growing number of pet owners. With living standards rising and disposable income growing, more Guangzhou residents are investing in house pets.

Meat vendors and specialty restaurants, however, see their livelihoods at stake.”The dogs you raise at home, you shouldn’t eat,” says Pan, a butcher who also declined to give his first name. “The kind raised for eating, we can eat those.”

According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the law prohibiting cat and dog meat could take as long as a decade to pass.

%Gallery-8934%

A snapshot of Hong Kong’s bipolar food culture

by Grant Martin on Mar 10, 2010

More than any other city in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong is a city of contrasts. Traditional Cantonese culture pushes hard against the raging, modern scene, strong scents of the recent British rule are encroached upon by the dominant, Chinese presence, people eat dim sum, seafood, sushi, Mexican, Burger King.

In no place is this contrast more obvious than in the gastronomic scene. Cracking open the Superfuture guide to the city is like opening a Pandora’s box of food delight, with rooftop bars, five star restaurants and haute cuisine leaping forth from every page of the document. Restaurants like The Pawn Shop dish up a dizzying array of delicious western and local food in a setting that’s worth the visit alone, while bars like Wooloomooloo offer a solid steak to accompany a heart-stopping view over Hong Kong Island.

Flip to the other side of the coin and one can find the same spectrum of food in a gritty, salacious setting. Steps from the night markets near Nathan Road, a tented, corner hovel houses two dozen tables circled by a smattering of dirty, uneven chairs. The bathroom, a hole behind a curtain in the back room, is separated from the kitchen by a grease covered piece of corrugated sheet metal and as you pull at the legs on your fresh pepper crab the cockroaches scurry under the corroded circuit breakers next to your table.In the open streets, late night food is a part of the everyday culture, folding tables set up on the streets where efficient, curt waitresses drop off a bucket of dumplings and Stella girls take your order for 22’s of light beer.

Without a doubt, the food and drink is good in either setting. Produce is clean, seafood is beyond fresh and the Chinese have perfected the art of professional eating. In Hong Kong we simply find that the spectrum of options is wider than that in other cities in the far east; in one setting, the true, high end gastronomic can eat foie gras and caviar until the sun comes up, while in another the budget traveler can eat street food and dollar dim sum until his belly fill with happiness.

One should expect nothing less in the spectacular kaleidoscope that we call Hong Kong. Pick up the Lonely Planet World Food Guide (and maybe a roll of Tums) to get your adventure started.