Food & drink

Food, glorious food! How could I have deprived you of 'the food issue' for such a long time? Shame on me.. But here it is, finally, in all its colours, shapes and sizes. Take your tastebuds for a ride!

Although large parts of Asia are experiencing a serious food crisis, Banda Aceh does not seem to be much affected by this phenomenom. In fact, Indonesia is doing quite well on the rice, coffee bean and cocao production front. And isn't that is all we need; sushi (no problems with fish either), coffee and chocolate?
Actually, as many Dutch can confirm, the main national dishes are Nasi Goreng (fried rice), noodles and anything else 'goreng' - fried. The more fat, the better and please pass the sambal -chili sauce- for that extra local touch. If that isn't enough, wait until they start adding the garlic! I have personally seen our cook cutting up a bucket full of garlic to prepare for the day - maybe that's why my fresh fruit for breakfast always has a suspicious taste to it...

To compensate for all the fat and sugar -'without sugar please' means nothing here- there is an abundance of fruit and vegetables. Especially fruit seems to be popular among the Acehnese, there are fruit stalls can be found all over town, often side by side, displaying the most fantastic rows and pyramids of colourful fruit. This suits me perfectly and I am already a respected, well, at least loyal customer at the stall by our house. I let my friends Boy and Azihr 'Hello Lau!' rip me off every other day - with a smile! The vegetables are surprisingly familiar, with broccoli and cauliflower among the favourites. I had not expected this, but it seems that they are easy and fast to grow, with a small chance of ruining the crop. After the tsunami, many farmers who lost their land and had to start afresh were taught to grow these vegetables as part of their economic development programs. When it comes to meat, the clear winner is ayam, chicken. Be sure you get a Kota -city- chicken and not the Gampong -village- alternative, also known as 'meatless chicken'. If you want to be sure you can get the freshest bird there is, go to the 'headless chicken bridge'. The pictures say it all (note the live chickens in the background, awaiting their fate). Although not used for sushi, there is a lot of seafood to be found. Another one of my favourites! At Simang Mesra -the romantic intersection- (the curve in the road is so sharp, that you end up sitting very snug to that cute passenger next to you when taking the local bus), you can pick a fish, weigh it, bargain for price and watch it being tossed on the bbq. Smells and tastes fantastic!

Well, all this writing about food has made me rather hungry. Good thing I had the local noodle-guy make me a take away (They have developed this to perfection, an art; even coffee is sold in a neat little plastic bag). Banana leaves make for the ultimate waterproof packaging material!