Chips, kebabs, and Shake Away

So I've been getting some questions about all the little things about my trip... like food and clothes and laundy and all that good stuff. I'll do my best to incorporate as much about that as possible, both as a record for myself and as insight into another culture for whoever might be reading this.

So today, lets talk about food. Mmmm....

How I get my food: The students here get 36 pounds a week to spend on food, which, when you do all the math, means you can buy about one full meal on campus a day. The canteen (what we would call the cafeteria) is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on weekdays and is closed on the weekends. Everything is paid for separately. For example, a bowl at the salad bar is about 2 pounds, chips are 1 pound, a serving of meat might be 2.50 pounds, a banana is about .45, etc... I haven't been to a breakfast yet, but lunches and suppers generally follow the same format. There are three different counters in the canteen, plus a salad bar and a cooler with drinks, cut fruit, premade sandwiches, etc.

At lunch, one counter is usually sausage and bacon and potatoes, left over from breakfast as well as a meat and pastas or chili, etc, the second counter always has chips (french fries) and pizza or a steak pocket (stewing beef in a flaky crust, sort of like a homemade hot pocket) or jacket potatoes or something along those lines. The last counter has a Subway like assembly line where you have them make a sandwich for you. Sandwiches here aren't our typical American varieties though... there's a lot of chicken salad, ham and pickles, egg salad, turkey and cream cheese or mayo, cream cheese and cucumber (yay!), thick ham and relish and sausage, plain chicken, hummus and green salad, prawns, turkey and cranberry, etc... Also, we have not seen sliced cheese since we arrived. The closest thing in the sandwich line is chunks of brie cheese. They even use shredded cheese on burgers instead of sliced. Also, their chips are bigger than ours, more like the big thick ones we see at restaurants sometimes. A lot of Brits put vinegar and salt all over their friends instead of ketchup. Another popular thing is to fill a plate with chips (fries, remember!) and then top with shredded cheese and ketchup and eat with knife and fork, like nachos. Another thing I've seen a lot of is a plain jacket potato topped with a large portion of baked beans. They really like those canned baked beans here. I've seen people walking around the dorms just eating them with a spoon straight from the can, and they pour them over lots of random stuff at the canteen.

At supper, the first counter almost always has a couple roasts--beef, ham, turkey, or lamb, or sometimes a variety. There's usually also vegetables (usually peas, carrots, and/or cauliflower), small white boiled potatoes, then a pasta or at least something vegetarian as an option. Kitchen staff wait on the other side of the counter to carve the meat for you and place it on your plate or to scoop up portions for you. There's usually also always a pudding and a custard, one of the best parts. Pudding is pretty much any dessert, usually ends up being a brownie/cake like sustance. Custard is what we might call warm vanilla pudding (tastes just like that lovely hot jello pudding we make in the microwave). The idea is to put the pudding in a bowl and then pour the custard over the top to fill the rest of the bowl. Quite good, once you realize that their desserts aren't usually as sweet as ours. In fact, I haven't noticed it too much, but a lot of my American friends have said that the food here is more bland and they have to add a lot of salt.

Well, if you've been doing the math, the canteen food only accounts for about 5-7 meals a week, depending on how you spend at each meal (whatever you don't spend that week gets erased and you start over at 36 pounds the next week). That means you're on your own for quite a bit. I've been to the grocery store about twice now for a few simple things I keep in my room--a box of cereal for breakfast, milk (which I keep in the shared fridge down the hall), Digestives (which sound kind of gross, but are actually delicious whole wheat cookies--they were made in the war time for soldiers and have lots of fiber in them, hence the name), apples, yogurt, and some chocolate (they have amazing chocolate here that puts Hershey's to shame!). This works for breakfast and sometimes lunch. There's also farmer's markets most days of the week here, which is nice for buying fresh bread or fruit (I bought a loaf of wheat bread last week). Farmers markets here though are about 50% meat (pheasants, rabbits, partridges, lamb, beef, etc...) 30% breads, and the rest fruits, vegetables, and beer. A bit different from ours.

In town there are also some excellent food shops I've had lunch at, including a pasty shop (pasties are sort of like turnovers filled with potatoes and different vegetables, meats, and/or cheese) and a kebab shop. My favorite discovery so far though is Shake-Away, a modern wonder. Imagine Coldstone with twice the topping choices and add a blender--you get Shake Away. Basically, it's a brilliant milkshake store with a zillion mix-ins, including cakes, muffins, all different chocolate bars, lemon meringue, etc... So good. My friend Karen and I have decided to make it our tradition to go once a week.

Well, that about sums up food for now. I'll add more if I think of anything or come across anything too out of the ordinary. Next time I'll try to write about clothes or something fun like that. We'll see. Anyways, I'm off to figure out how laundry works around here. Should be a blast.