Eastern Europe Trip - The Food

The easiest way for me to describe my recent trip to four cities in Eastern European is through a series of thematic posts. This is how I will remember the trip, anyway. And to anyone reading this, it’s probably more interesting than the usual chronological re-telling of events or “activity stream” that attempts — incapably — to have you experience the trip exactly as I did. What a pointless exercise! Instead, I want to describe what I took away from the trip personally and share a few photographs.

The Food

I like food. I like to cook it, I like to eat it. I like to try new things and learn how to make them. For these reasons, Eastern Europe was a major treat! I have never eaten so much meat (82718 pigs worth) in such a short period of time (10 days). Here are some of the dishes I ate and where:

• stewed pork goulash with bacon dumplings (Prague, Czech Republic)
• roast pork with boiled cabbage and bacon dumplings (Prague)
• half a duck, roasted, with stewed cabbage and dumplings (Prague)
• ham cold cuts with cheese on dark rye toast (Prague)
• grilled pork neck with roasted potatoes (Prague)
• ham sandwiches (train to Warsaw, Poland)
• grilled sausages (Warsaw)
• scrambled eggs with tiny chunks of pork in them (Warsaw)
• roast pork fillet stuffed with bacon, mushrooms and cheese, breaded & deepfried, topped w/ melted cheese (Warsaw)
• pierogi dumplings with shredded meat (Krakow)
• ham cold cuts and cheese on toast (Krakow, Poland)
• more scrambled eggs with sausage (Krakow)
• tomato soup with beans and sausage (Krakow)
• roasted chicken breast wrapped in bacon (Krakow)
• more pierogi dumplings (Krakow)
• stewed pork goulash and spicy rice balls (Budapest, Hungary)

Did I mention yet that all of these food was C H E A P as hell? But when it got so frigid in Warsaw that I needed to buy a new hat and gloves at the local H&M, it struck me that the exact same items sold back in London for significantly less.

We found the locally produced fare in Eastern Europe to be very cheap, from food and drink to clothes and toys. On the other hand, imported goods from the USA, UK, and other European countries are way more expensive than the local Eastern Europe equivalents. We found this to be true with most consumables, for example vodka (Wyborowa vs Absolut) and groceries (Albert vs Tesco).

Signing off now so I can go for a bike ride and burn off more meaty calories!