So the final thing I want to talk about in the food department from our holiday (before I move onto how it left me with a craving for salads, fresh fruit and Asian cuisine) is the drinks! Now sadly I am not a beer drinker so I cannot tell you about the millions of beers and the differences between them. Nathan did try many and I tasted some of his and they all tasted like the same gross beer taste to me. But I can tell you a funny story about the beers in Munich. Maybe this is not so strange to non-Australians but it seems in Munich it is perfectly acceptable for a man to order a "radler" which we all know as a "shandy." Now I always under the impression that a shandy (1/2 beer and 1/2 lemonade) was a complete chick drink and it was an absolute sin for a guy to drink it (and for a girl over the age of 16). But it is on the menus in the restaurants and beer halls in Munich. I do have to admit though that it only comes in 1 litre mugs... so you are still drinking 1/2 litre of beer! But couldn't you just order a 1/2 litre and skip the lemonade? Truly bizarre. Anyway I will move onto the yummy drinks that I tried which are unique to central Europe.
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| The "radler" |
Firstly the mulled wine. You can get mulled wine everyone (and I did) but is particularly prevalent in Prague - especially at the Christmas markets. You can get both white and red mulled wine and both are truly delicious - and so good at warming you up in the cold weather. As far as I can tell it is wine simmered with cinnamon, cloves and either lemon or orange. It becomes spicy and sweet and simply delectable. I will have to get a recipe and try to make it myself. As an aside it seems perfectly accepted to drink mulled wine from about 10am in the morning onwards - so pace yourself! All the restaurants and cafes in Prague have urns out the front and a little bell to ring and then they come and serve mulled wine from the urn - costs about $1.20 Australian.
Moving on to the hot apple and hot pear drinks that I had in Prague. These were fantastic! Fresh juice which has been simmered with cinnamon and cloves (similar to the mulled wine). It can then be refrigerated and kept for a few days. They reheat it with the milk frother on a coffee machine so it is piping hot and a bit frothy. They then throw in a cinnamon stick for even more flavour, also it looks pretty and is fun to swirl your drink with.
And finally the hot caramel! I had this drink in Budapest and it was the only place that I saw it. I guess it is like having a hot chocolate.... but not at all. It tastes like a caramel milkshake that has been heated up. Now I know that does not sound particularly appetising at all, but I think you should try it. It was absolutely delicious and I think definitely better than a hot chocolate. It is served with frothed milk on top and I think it was a favourite of mine on this trip.... I think... so hard to decide these things.
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| The Christmas markets Prague |
Anyway that concludes my European series. I fully intend to get recipes and try my hand at making all these delicious meals and drinks - and then of course I will share them with you all :)
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