Lilac Colored Glasses

It’s funny sometimes, the closer we get to the wedding, when CB and I realize we don’t necessarily know about each other.

I don’t mean little factoids, but rather moods or behaviors. I also can tell you that these discoveries are fairly one sided (with a few exceptions, of course, like the first time I ever saw CB really drunk, which wasn’t until earlier this month).

For example, let me first introduce you to two of my friends, Blingy and Strong Mama (formerly referred to as my Dutch and Romanian colleagues):

Blingy

Strong Mama

Blingy and Strong Mama are probably my first real real friends here in Belgium (there’s also La Capitana and Chica, who I’m sure will end up in another post at some point). By real friends I mean that I met them on my own, we got along wonderfully from day one and we hang out outside of work.
I know those are things that sound simple, but for me, it’s actually a big thing to make friends. I have many acquaintances, but only a few real friends. Up until recently I met most people either directly through CB or through his prodding me to socialize. My coworkers from the call center in Antwerp were all very nice people but I never felt motivated to ever spend time with them outside of work and my two coworkers from Brussels were a. primarily French speaking and b. not people I could really relate to whatsoever.

So anyway, the three of us went out on Thursday afternoon, just to hang out a bit before I’d be gone for almost 2 weeks and we had a blast, like we usually do. It’s not that we did much…mostly walked around Gent in search of an open restaurant with a terrace because Strong Mama is pregnant and craving meat and fresh air a lot of the time. We eventually found a nice Turkish place with an open kitchen and terrace and fake palms trees.

Afterwards we went on a long ambling walk in search of the best gelato in Gent. I know where to find this amazing ice cream (a little place called Nonno on the Korte Dagsteeg), but not a short way to get there from where we were. On the way, CB called and said he was finished working so I asked him to come meet us. We all sat with our ice cream and chatted before I finally said goodbye to my friends who headed back the train station and CB and I came home.

Once we got back, CB looked at me strangely and asked me if I’d had much to drink at the Turkish place.
Because he’s never seen me acting like I was with Blingy and Strong Mama with the exception of when I was under the influence. Because I was acting carefree and silly and giggly. Because I was with my friends.

And he’s never actually seen that before.

Let’s talk about milk.

Or specifically, how we ran out of milk today (again…but we won’t get into that) and were left with 3 liters of soy milk and 6 liters of skim milk.

And how people here are totally clueless/act really disgusted by the thought of skim milk.

I personally have been drinking skim milk (or half percent, which they don’t have here) for as long as I can remember and find the thought of whole milk pretty disgusting. Mostly for the sheer fat and calorie content, but also because I don’t like to chew my milk, and that’s what drinking whole milk feels like to me. The only time I ever drink whole milk is if I have severe acid indigestion and antacids haven’t worked, and then I have to chug it because I don’t like the texture in my mouth.

Here in Belgium it’s a bit different. In America I’ve seen whole, 2%, 1%, 1/2% and skim milk available in most stores, while here I’ve only ever seen whole milk, half milk (I’m guessing that’s 1%), and skim milk. From what I can tell, most people drink the whole or half milk. I never really thought about why that is, but today I think I got a bit more insight.

When offering skim milk to customers today in lieu of the whole milk I got questions like “Does it still make foam?” (for a capuccino) or “Eew, does that even taste the same?” (for a chai steamer). I’m really not sure why people assume that the fat is the part of the milk that foams. In actuality, skim milk is easier to foam and holds foam longer than whole milk. And as far as taste goes, fat has no taste. Therefore, reducing fat does not change the taste of milk. It definitely changes the texture, but it’s not like regular soda versus diet soda where you can actually taste a difference. Is a drink made with whole milk richer and creamier? Yeah, it is, definitely but the taste itself is not different.

So, what have we learned today?
Well, Americans…you probably haven’t learned much of anything really, but Belgians, just know that when you are visiting a coffee place, it is not a sin to be offered skim milk in place of whole. The foam on your cappuccino will probably be better. Your chai steamer will taste the same. The main difference is that you’ll have 60 extra calories (per 30 dl) that you can fill up with extra mayo at the frietkot.

Muffins are not a Belgian thing.

Neither are brownies.
But we sell both of those things at the coffee kiosk (despite the fact that the company is British and brownies/muffins aren’t British things either), so occasionally I have to explain what a brownie or muffin is.
More often the muffin, since the brownie is slowly creeping onto the shelves in supermarkets.
And sometimes this is a dilemma because terminology here for baked goods is different than in the U.S.

For instance, in America, we have specific names for everything. There are the blanket terms “baked goods” and “pastries” but within those categories there are specifics like cupcakes and pies and brownies and muffins and scones. Or danish and blintzes and croissants and eclairs.

Descriptions here are often much more broad. Pretty much everything baked that isn’t “brood” (bread) or “taart” (cake) is grouped under the category of “koek” (everything else). This includes all pastries, crunchy cookies, wafer cookies, etc.
So, if I’m running to the bakery for pastries? I’m going to get “koffiekoeken.” If I’m describing a brownie then I say “het is een soort zachte chocolade koek” (it’s a sort of soft chocolate “koek”). If I’m looking for cookies I look for “koekjes.” So how exactly does one describe a muffin? It’s not flat or thin or crunchy or made of puff pastry. It’s obviously not bread and it doesn’t fit the Belgian definition of cake which is much softer and creamier than what Americans call cake.

Interestingly enough, Belgians distinguish their own cake (taart) from the spongier version, which they call “cake”. Keeping all of this in mind, can you see how, when someone comes up and asks me if the muffins are “cakeskes” (little cakes), my first instinct is to say no. Because they aren’t cakes, dammit, they’re muffins! Muffins have bits of stuff in them and they’re considered acceptable as breakfast food and they don’t have icing.

But they’re baked and spongy and don’t fit into the bread or taart categories…

So in the end, I give up.

“Ja,” I say, “da’s zo een cakeske.” (Yes, that’s a little cake)

I was just downstairs, casually spreading some shrimp in dill sauce on a cracker when it occurred to me that my eating habits and preferences have definitely changed over the past two years. Some of it definitely has to do with availability, but some of it is definitely exposure to new things and taste combinations. Here are some comparisons I came up with off the top of my head.

What I snack on?
Then: Kettle Chips and Helluva Good French Onion Dip
Now: Shrimp in dill sauce and wheat crackers (usually KrispRolls)

What I miss the most: Triscuits with sharp cheddar cheese and spicy mustard

Soups in my pantry?
Then: Campbell’s Hearty Steak and Potato, Campbell’s Chicken and Wild Rice
Now: Campbell’s Leek Bisque with Scallops, Knorr’s Broccoli with Boursin

What I miss most: New England Clam Chowder

Late night munchies?
Then: Sheetz MTO or nachos grande
Now: Kebap or fries

What I miss the most: Sheetz, I do so miss Sheetz. SHEEEEETZ!!!!!

Morning pick me up?
Then: Grande non-fat caramel macchiato
Now: Koffie verkeerd (a.k.a a simple latte)

What I miss the most: The choice to have skim milk or a larger size

Favorite restaurant?
Then: Toss up between Red Lobster, Shogun and Don Pablos
Now: Alaturka (Turkish cuisine, probably best Turkish pizzas in Gent), Kastart (really awesome pasta place)

What I miss most: Affordable seafood and real Tex Mex food

Tipsy time?
Then: Margaritas, SoCo and cranberry with a twist of lime, Yuengling or Guinness
Now: Pinot des Charentes, Kir Royal, Rodenbach, Tripel Karmeliet

What I miss most: Frangelico

And don’t get me wrong, this is totally not my day to day diet, just some noticeably different tastes I’ve developed since moving here.

Gent is not the place to go if you’re looking for fast food. Or chain restaurants in general. In the entire city they have one McDonalds and one Pizza Hut. They don’t even have a Quick, which most Belgian cities have in abundance.
And this doesn’t bother me at all. In the U.S. I ate way too much fast food, but that was for conveniance, not because I really enjoyed most of it (except Arbys…mmmmm…Arbys). So now, if I’m in need of something fast, it’s just as easy to go to a Panos (the only mega-chain foodwise in Gent) and get a reasonably priced, reasonably healthy, mediocre sandwich. I mean, Panos is okay, but the only choice you get is white or brown bread. Half of the time. The other half they’re out of brown bread, so tough shit. Cause the service is usually crap too.

CB has rarely eaten fast food in his life and actually tried Subway for the first time while we were in Cologne. He was a bit taken aback by the fact that he could basically pick whatever he wanted on whatever bread he wanted, toasted or not toatsed, etc. but otherwise he really enjoyed it. In fact, his exact words may’ve been close to:

“It’s a shame we don’t have Subway in Belgium, they’d kill Panos.”

And lo, last week in Brussels south Station, what did we see? A Subway!
And later in the week we spotted another one…in Gent center!!

So after some errands the other day, we hit up Subway for lunch. I ordered a large club, toasted and when it was time to choose veggies I asked for everything but onions and jalapeños. We ate our sub, it was lovely, and we were on our way when about halfway to the bus stop CB said, “I see what you did with the vegetables there.”

And I, confused, said, “Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well it’s just so American. No European, when asked ‘what vegetables do you want’ would reverse the answer and say ‘everything but these two things.’ They would pick 2 or possibly 3 vegetables, if the server wasn’t getting annoyed by then, that went well with the sandwich.”

“But I got a club! All veggies go well with a club! I mean, if I’d gotten steak and cheese, I’d only want lettuce and tomato…”

“But that’s not the point. It was just funny the way you asked for ‘everything but.’ It’s so American. But it was good! I liked having all the vegetables, it just never would have occurred to me to ask for it like that.”

So hey, at least some of my American philosophies are good for something, right?