The Himalayan Hombre

The travels of a certain Mr. Saunderson

[thehimalayanhombre]

I have a new favourite grocery store - Toscano's! I have been holding off on going, mainpy because Regina goes early, but I bit the bullet and have stuffed our fridge, fruitbowl, cupboard and drawer each full!

There are at least two fruits/vegetables in here that I have never seen before and cannot remember the name of, and a couple that I have never managed to cook well... Okra and quince anyone? We now also have 6 types of potato at home, 4 types of apple, and 2 colours of carrot!

I really like fresh produce! 🍉🍎🍏🍅🥬🥑🧅🥕

[thehimalayanhombre]

Wonton Soup... without Wontons!

Andrea made us Wonton Soup tonight, but our wanton wrapper/pastry was gone off and the shops were too far away so we improvised by adding noodles to the soup and eating the wonton filling she'd spent hours chopping and preparing with cabbage leaves as a fancy side 🤗 ingenious!

However, first we also tried boiling lasagne sheets and making fake wontons but they were too thick and fell apart so that didn't work. And my suggestion of tortillas was met with harsh mockery 🤨😣 good job I'd made ANZAC biscuits already 😁

[thehimalayanhombre]

It appears that I have signed up to nightly dance classes in our living room! Table shifted, tv hooked up, water ready, and then we get started!

The first night was good, we could follow along and the background dancer (Sabrina) showed us the more chilled out way to do the moves. We liked her!

Tonight was less-followable, but more of a full routine 🤣 All three of us worked up a sweat, partly in exasperation at not being able to remember any of the moves, but it was good fun nevertheless! I wonder what tomorrow's class will bring 🤔🤗

[thehimalayanhombre]

She might be concentrating too much to see, but that is Andrea getting all excited on Day 1 of Thai Month! We decided that a Thai Green Curry was a great start to the month, nice and warming but definitively Thai and exotic.

We were very organised, lining up all of our ingredients...

There’s kaffir lime leaves, Thai basil, coconut milk, bamboo shoots, and we even trusted the recipe when it told us to put in our less-than-ideal-smelling fish sauce. We then left it simmering away :)

And...

VOILA!

Probably not as soupy/stewy as I was expecting, but more so than Andrea was, meaning it was a happy medium for us both, and Regina joined in as well, along with a Chang beer each - a very good combination and a good end to the Easter weekend :)

But, not content with only one hit of Thai food in an evening, we then watched an episode of Chef´s Table, following a Thai chef in Bangkok by the name of Bo. She was a feisty woman who wanted to show Thai people what they were missing out on in the modern world, foodwise. She was a big critic of processed ingredients (even down to using a tin of coconut milk as we had just done), and lamented the loss of traditional food as it was tempered down for the western palate. She openly stated that if people wanted Thai food they should be prepared for the intense flavours, the spice, and the unique combinations - can’t say that I disagree!

The programme followed her and her English chef-husband Dylan between their restaurant in Bangkok, their home, and the farmers and artisan food craftsmen who produced all their raw ingredients. The episode probably focused slightly more on her story to the exclusion of showcasing the food that she wanted to reintroduce people to, but it was definitely an interesting watch nonetheless, and Andrea is delighted that we have gone foodfirst into Thai month! Lots more to come :)

[thehimalayanhombre]

Welcome to Thai Month!

As you may have guessed from the flag, today is the first day of Thai month :)

Andrea is already bouncing with excitement, mainly because of the food, but she has also found a couple of documentaries that she is very keen on - the first is about Thai street food, and the second is about a Thai chef!

We’ve also plans for documentaries on elephants and the wildlife in general, plus hopefully a couple of films. Alongside the daily facts, we’ll also be giving some Thai music a go, which should be eye-opening as we have no idea what to expect. Who knows, we might even try an online Thai dance class for some of our Quarantine Keep-Fit sessions.

I have also been trying to thai in a related book each month, but I’ve been a little slow with my reading this month and I’m not even halfway through my Iranian book. It’s thrown up a bit of a quandary because it’s very interesting and I want to find out more, but it also defeats part of the point of Culture Club to read a book about Iran whilst getting deeper into the Thai culture. Needless to say, I’m yet to make a decision on what I’m doing literature-wise for the next few weeks!

However, regardless of that, I’m now making yet another vow to be much better with blog entries, after the disappointing attempts at documenting our Chinese, Greek and Persian months. Fingers crossed that I do better this time!

[thehimalayanhombre]

Cochinita

It's not Persian-themed, but it is one of my favourites - Cochinita!

Andrea found the banana leaves a few weeks ago and they've been in the freezer waiting for the right moment. First, she slow-cooked the pork shoulder in an achiote marinade, all whilst wrapped in banana leaves, and then she also whipped up some fried black beans & onion, and red onion and habanero! 👩🏻‍🍳⭐ Add in my oddball side salad, and some new tortillas we've just discovered, and we had a mini Mexican feast 😊😊

[thehimalayanhombre]

🥰😊😁 All of these were empty this morning! 👨‍🍳👩🏻‍🍳👩🏻‍🍳

We've had a lot of fun, done a couple of experiments, and even a good sulk, but we now have marmalade, pickled cucumbers, fermented cucumbers & habaneros, habanero & plum salsa, Persian fermented veggies, and jalapeño & potatoes! Good old stock up for the apocalypse! 😆🥒🍋🍊🥕🧂🍯🥫

[thehimalayanhombre]

Greek month was a success, but I somehow never got around to uploading any of the photos 👎However, I am determined to put it right this month, as we welcome in... Persian Month!

Two new facts up already, and a happy photo of us three on the fridge 😁 looking forward to some films and food, and hopefully a new book!

[thehimalayanhombre]

With the end of this book, which I thoroughly enjoyed but don't think I understood (and was set in Taiwan, not mainland China), I have brought the Chinese month of the Inkerman Culture Club to a close! A very unusual read, particularly if you have an interest in Taiwanese culture, butterfly handicrafts, war from an Asian viewpoint, old elephants, a multigenerational family tree, or the history of bicycles...

But back to Culture Club - here is a quick run-through of some of this month's highlights:

Dragon Boat Racing

Super Wide Noodles

Home-Cooked Chinese

A Photography Exhibition

Tiny Chopstick Practice

And...

Ip Man!!!

It was all lots of fun, we learnt a couple of things and had some good food, but this was only the start of the Inkerman Culture Club - we're now onto Greek month, and we've already made a strong start! Stay tuned 🥰🥰

[thehimalayanhombre]

It is a moss, made up of thousands upon thousands of tiny, tiny cacti!!! My new favourite plant 😊😊🌵 and the Melbourne Botanical Gardens are my new favourite place 🥰🌱

[thehimalayanhombre]

Very proud - 500 consecutive days of Spanish, spanning two hemispheres, three continents, at least 7 countries, and a few big life events, both good and sad. And Duo has been there all the way 😊

Here's to reaching 501 days, and learning how to communicate in such a beautiful language 🥰

[thehimalayanhombre]

Mystic Nights, like Mystic Days

The theme was mystic, the interpretation was varied, and I had my tarot cards revealed, before watching at least 15 different people take turns to freestyle to the impromptu jam session! Such a crazy party - there were pianos, bongos, a drumkit, food for the five thousand, four birthdayers out 150+ people, and even projected stars illuminating the walls ☄⭐🌠🌛

We should go to more parties where we don't know anybody 😆😅

[thehimalayanhombre]

Nooooooodles!!!! 😍😍🥰

We went to a Chinese noodle restaurant yesterday, and I was so happy! I got the extra wide noodles, with special beef, and they were great 😊 plus the choice of fanta orange on the side was perfect! It instantly took me back to the good old bing fung days 😆🥰

Unfortunately, Andrea wasn't quite as impressed with the numbing/tingling sensation of Sichuan peppers, so we shared and I got two hits of China all at once 😊

Inkerman Culture Club is one of my best ideas ever! 😁

[thehimalayanhombre]

Not-ANZAC Biscuits

I decided to make ANZAC biscuits the other day, but then I changed the recipe whilst making them (Dom Baking 101), so they're not actually ANZAC biscuits.

Chocolate chips (which melted) to the left, and raisins to the right:

And then they each grew into giant pizza cookies!

Very very rich, almost a toffee-like taste sometimes, but great as a chewy little snack to give an intense energy boost! The previous ANZAC biscuits I've tried have been somewhere between a cookie and a flapjack - these were totally different! A master baker I am not 👨‍🍳🍪

[thehimalayanhombre]

Culture Club Cooking

As part of the Chinese month of our Inkerman Culture Club, I've turned my hand to cooking a few new dishes! Tonight's effort was a prawn and red pepper stir fry with the distinctive five-spice flavouring of southern China. I swapped out the prawns for extra red peppers though, and added some shredded bamboo shoots 😆

I have also been enjoying playing with cucumber salad. Of course, there will be a proper name for this dish, but I can't remember it. Essentially you chop a cucumber (homegrown here!), slice garlic very thinly, add fresh chilli, and leave it to sit in soy sauce for a little while. Very simple, very fresh, very nice as a side dish to almost anything! 🥒🌶

And here are last week's attempts, which are not as closely photographed: egg fried rice, cucumber salad, and kung pao cauliflower. Very tasty! We even put on a playlist of Chinese songs to give us the full experience 😋

[thehimalayanhombre]

AUBERGINE

Our first homegrown aubergine of the year!

It was very exciting, maybe the heaviest and sturdiest aubergine I've ever come across, with nearly pure white flesh in the middle.

I decided to roast it with just a little salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme, and some roast veggies alongside it 🤗😁 (I forgot to photo it until halfway through the meal 😅)

There is another one on the plant that is a good size, and a few more flowers have appeared since picking this one so hopefully it'll keep going throughout the summer!

[thehimalayanhombre]

El Jardin de los Tidgios

We've had a lot of fun growing things this week. Here is just some of the homegrown grub to show you 🤗 and don't worry, there'll be plenty more on the way!

First up, alfalfa and broccoli sprouts (right and left respectively, I think, but who really knows?!)

Then a little side salad to go with Andrea's tasty wine and mushroom pasta 🍝👩🏻‍🍳 rocket, and... salad leaves whose names escape me.

And finally, Patita nicely demonstrating a) our first ever plum tomato, and b) just how small the world's smallest fully-ripe bell pepper really is!