“Osterpizza” was pretty much regular pizza with a dash of relabelling to fit the occasion (and hide the fact that nobody remembered to bring actual Easter cake). It kind of caught on, though, and people keep asking, did you have a sweet pizza with chocolate eggs on it?
My Italian friend said there actually is something such as dessert pizza in Italy. I’ve never had one with a sweet topping myself, but maybe it’s something I ought to try. After all, we all eat chocolate spread on toast, how different can it be?
And yes, the LGBT+ community is larger than it seems. Fortunately, it has become a lot easier to identify as queer because the knowledge required to do just that (especially, if you belong to a minority within a minority) is far more readily available today than it was when I was a kid.
Oh boy! I feel so stupid right know for thinking that Osterpizza is genuine German dish:) I do think this should be a new tradition that's worth keeping. Chocolate on pizza sounds delicious.
I know an Italian pizza restaurant around here where they sell pizza with Nutella frosting and some raspberries on top. Too bad it contains milk, otherwise I would have tried it myself
I'm glad that more and more people are more open-minded toward diversity in this matter. I've seen at my previous school, where I've worked as a teacher,
that there was a special student movement for LGBT+. One student of this organisation has a seat in the school direction and he/she is allowed to help form LGBT+ friendly policy concerning accommodation , (sport) facilities and extracurricular activities.
Hm, do we have traditions that don’t revolve around beer, white socks in Birkenstock sandals, blocking sunbeds at 3 a.m. - just in case , you know - and being terribly on the righteous side ;)
Well, one tradition I like is called “Backesfest” or something the likes, depending on where in Germany you live. It originates from when people didn’t have individual stoves in their homes and bread and cake was still baked in a communal “Backhaus”.
Some of the villages whose old Backhaus is still functional have small fair once a year, where everything is prepared / baked the traditional way. In some villages visitors are welcome to participate, in others they just come to join in the festivities and buy / eat some traditional Sauerteigbrot.
Wow, your old school (or is it Dutch schools in general?) is very progressive to offer this kind of support to their LGBT+ students. I think it’s a great idea, because kindergarden and school is where change has to start.
As long as adults and children alike still use terms such as “Du Homo!” or “Du schwule Sau!” (not necessarily towards a gay person but) in jest or to just cuss at one another, the message hasn’t sunken in deep enough. But I can also see that we’ve come a long way already, too!
Oh, and don’t worry about the “Osterpizza” - I’m not sure if it is a German or a my family thing to create Verlegenheitsworte ---“Oh, it’s your birthday today, I've got no present but here, let me buy you birthday cigarette / chewing gum / tea ...!”
PS: The dish you describe sounds just like the one my friend talked about. Is it the dough or the Nutella you can't have? Because I wasn't aware they put milk in either.
I really laughed at the sunbeds part. I can't imagine people being that hardcore about fighting for a sunbed, even if it's in the middle of the night. But in a way, we also have a lot of competition on our beaches for a decent spot. Especially in the Summer when the German tourists come out in droves to Scheveningen :)
Ah, having a backhaus in the near vicinity sounds lovely. You've given me another good reason to visit Germany. You Germans do know how to bake the best bread and pastry.Sauerteigbrot is also my favourite bread (which we call zuurdesembrood over here). There's a German bakery nearby where they have this particular kind of bread, apfelstrudel, sachertorte and lots more.
Well, it's not a general thing, but I do know quite a few high schools where they are progressive towards LGBT+ issues.
I agree with you that it should also be accommodated on primary school level and even kindergarten, but I think there's still a pervasive conservative culture in that section of education so hopefully that will change sooner or later.
Well, that anti-LGBT+ pestering was unfortunately quite a thing that I've seen up close at vocational schools during one of my internships. Children from certain conservative-religious backgrounds often parrot their parents that being different in this matter is not 'normal'. It's also the responsibility for teachers to address this in class, but most of my former colleagues couldn't care less
Oh, it's not the dough I've problems with:) Nutella actually contains milk products. Luckily there are also popular brands nowadays like Vego that make hazelnut chocolate paste without any traces of milk and the like.
By the way, lots of vegetarians and vegans here love the German brand Veganz. Have you ever tried their products? Their chocolate, sweets and meat substitutes are the best!
I just had to check if my Nutella really has milk in it only to realise I’ve been buying vegan “Nutella” for years. It seems certain brand names have managed to replace the generic term in my head because chocolate spread = Nutella, sticky tape = Tesa, hankies = Tempos,... Weird!
Oh, my vegan version is called Bionella and tastes absolutely amazing. If you have Kaufland in the Netherlands, you should be able to get it there.
I’ve tried some of the Veganz products before and you’re right, they are really nice. I was quite surprised how much better their cheese tasted compared to what I’ve tried before. It’s unbelievable how much v-products have improved over the years!
Do you still remember marinading rock hard chunks of soy for vegetarian goulash or sauce Bolognese? A while back, I watched a YouTube video where a young man was telling the world how to prepare his favourite v-dish. I the end he added what he called crunch balls---but only for the last couple of minutes, so they still have this nice crunch to them (his words, not mine).
It made me laugh so hard, because back then, when dehydrated soy products were the only substitutes available, we've tried everything humanly possible to make them easier to chew and have them lose the weird soy flavour. But now, apparently, they’re crunch balls, and the weird aftertaste and chewiness is part of the dinner experience :)
Don't be too bothered about switching things up:) Haha, so apparently you're already a borderline vegetarian-vegan since you're using a vegan chocolate spread.
I wish I could try Bionella. There are quite some positive reviews on consumer sites. I had never heard of Kaufland until you've mentioned it. We're only stuck with Lidl and Aldi, but they are pretty rad in various kinds of ways.
Have you ever dared to try vegan cheese? Wow, you have more courage than I do:) I honestly can't eat faux cheese that contains coconut oil. For me, It gives that plasticky texture and it always reminds me of a cooking set with fake fruit, cheese and vegetables that I used to have when I was 6 years old
Well, now there are quite some good cheese products that are made from cashew & macadamia nuts. Have you ever tried them? There's a French brand called Jay & Joy that makes this kind of cheese almost as good as normal cheese. Their Blue cheese is actually one of the best I've ever had
I know what you mean with those hard chunks of soy, lol. I always encounter this kind of soy in the local organic supermarket but I've never tried it. Do you prefer it vs. firm tofu/tempeh? I normally go for tofu, as it's easier to chop and mix with certain spices.
Plus, since the Dutch food culture is strongly influenced by former colonies like Indonesia, there are a lot of well known dishes for which we can use firm tofu or fermented tofu (tempeh), like gado gado (rice, vegetables and peanut sauce) and nasi komplit (rice, vegetables and pepper paste).
There's a wonderful type of fruit that could be a great substitute for your faux meat in goulash. Have you ever heard of jackfruit? It actually has the same texture as pulled pork. You don't even have to cook it. Only thing is that you add some spices in the mix and you're good to go. I've tried it a few months ago for a goulash recipe. And I have to say: it tastes like the real deal:P
You’re totally right, vegan cheese still is quite, well, let’s just call it, a challenge. It’s far from my favourite alternative product, even though you can taste the progress they’ve made :)
I haven’t come across the French product you’ve mentioned but it sounds like something I’d like to try. I’ll have to keep my eyes open, maybe something similar or even the real deal will be available soon.
As for jackfruit, we used to have a tree in our garden in OZ, so I know what the fruit looks and tastes like, sigh... So far, I’ve only found a couple of ready-to-eat products here which weren’t really my cup of tea because they didn’t get the seasoning right. But yes, as far as the consistency is concerned jackfruit makes for a great meat substitute.
I’d really love to get my hand on the fresh and unprocessed fruit because it tastes amazing. But since they one jackfruit is the size of big loaf of bread, I’m not holding my breath for them to become available here anytime soon. Then again, we’ve got no problem, importing watermelons...
A friend just returned my German copy of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and told me he didn’t get past page 150 because the story was so boring to him. I know what’s boring to one is a thriller in the eyes of another, yet, I’m still crying bitter tears here because I just love Larsson’s story telling. Maybe I’ll do reread this summer to make things right again with the universe :)
Interesting! I didn't know that jackfruit is a thing in Australia. I can imagine that it is only easy to grow something like jackfruit in a (sub) tropical climate, so perhaps we'll just let climate change do it's job and we'll soon have jackfruit trees in our own garden:)
Haha, what a fun story. I remember that a pupil of mine was absolutely into Stieg Larson and devoured the entire series in less than 3 months. Have you also read the following series of Millennium by David Lagercrantz? It seems that his books have received some pretty decent reviews.
I'm personally more into theoretical books that are focused on philosophy, politics, economy & history. My personal favourite is the book on the history of mankind by Yuval Harari. It's very well written, especially in the way how he portrays ancient societies and how social constructs like the value of money come into play. I bet it's not a buzzkill for a lover of literature like you;p
I really like "A Brief History of Humankind" and "A Brief History of Tomorrow" by Prof. Yuval Noah Harari.
I bought the books because I wanted to learn a little bit more about history but was in for quite a surprise because instead of isolates events and dates...
... I got an amazing overview of how we got to where we are today and where, possibly, we are going form there and how it is all connected. Prof. Harari has the amazing ability to not just brush on a thought but think it through to the very end.
I really liked his books when they came out. They’re the kind of books that ought to be mandatory reading. Unfortunately, you’re the first person I know who’s read them, too.
I read all kinds of books but I’ve stopped forcing myself to read stuff I that’s poorly written (in my opinion) or that can’t get into. Life’s too short to waste it on things that will only make you talk about how little you’ve enjoyed doing / learning / ... them.
For a while I thought something had to be wrong with me because I was hardly able to find anything that held my interest.
But then I’d come across an author like Harari and realise there’s just a lot of low quality books on the market and that just because somebody’s done a bang-up PR job doesn't mean the work they're promoting has to be brilliant
PS: Sorry for not being in a very chatty mood today, but my little budgie died a couple of hours ago and, as much as I know that it's all part of life, I'm still really sad.
I'm sorry to hear about your Budgie, Leila. I understand that losing a pet is a huge grief. And having a budgie for 15 years doesn't make it easier. I hope that your other budgies give you comfort in this difficult time
It's indeed remarkable how well Harari connects historic events in a linear way without going too much off topic, which is a thing most historians have problems with. It's also interesting how he uses history in a logical and precise manner to make predictions about the future. In my book, he should not only be regarded as an accomplished historian, but also as an equally well-grounded futurologist.
Have you also learned from books that are badly written? Alan Moore, who is a well known British writer of comics like V for Vendetta, said in a recent BBC special that if a person wants to become a good writer, one needs to analyse books that are generally considered as poorly written.
Are there any books that are well written and that you'd like to recommend? Despite that I am currently reading 3 books at the moment, I'm certainly open for suggestions.
Comments on Profile Post by Leila