Biting the Hand That Fed You

One of the big adventures of traveling is eating the types of food of the country you visit.  Generally I'm pretty open about trying food, but I have to admit the word liver in any menu description is a big turn off. It's fairly easy in countries with a lot of tourists to eat safely. You may even find some of your hometown favorites in your host city.  I'll admit when I see a rare Dunkin Donut or even a Starbucks, I scramble for my 2 euro change.  But try to resist.  :)

When I was in Amsterdam a few nights ago, a person I met invited me to come try the restaurant he worked at.  They served Dutch food. I have to admit that on my previous trip to Amsterdam the Dutch-est cuisine I had was delicious pancakes. So this time I was going to try some traditional Dutch food.  

The traditional dish I chose was called Stamppot.  I liked all the ingredients in it. I just didn't know if I'd like them mixed together. Stamppot is mashed potatoes mixed together with vegetables. I chose sauerkraut, but that night carrots and endive were also available. Then it is usually topped with a sausage and gravy. Mine was also topped with a meatball and Dutch bacon.  I was offered Dijon mustard as a condiment which I generously used.  

The verdict: it was delicious. Maybe it was a little meat heavy, but All the ingredients plus the Dijon mustard complimented each other well.  If I made an American version at home, I might make it with potatoes, sauerkraut and just bacon on top.  

But what if it had been terrible? Oh well, then I'd have had a terrible meal that I could talk to people about until my last breath on my death bed. . But it wasn't terrible.  And while it wasn't something I'd usually been drawn to on a menu, I'm glad I gave it a try.  

I'm in Germany now, and it's proving to be tricky in Berlin which is in  northeastern kind of central Germany.  The German food I'm finding here  seems to be influenced by southern Germany and Austria.  I'm going to travel to both of those places next.  I'm going to have to open my mind to adventure.  I'm going to have to find some other menu options before I'm all schnitzeled out!