Discoverings, adventures and survival guide of a Spanish student in Dublin, Ireland. The author doesn't guarantee the sense of the posts. Follow the food recipes at your own risk.
Hi!! Do you want to surprise your friends with a fine cuisine meal? You'll probably have to look other blog, then, haha.
The recipe I'll write tastes better with high quality ingredients; but I'm a student, I've a budget... and any food is grand (look! I'm using an Irish expression ;) ) for me.
Today... Saucisse avecsauce au vin blancet oignons... or what is the same: Sausages with white wine and onion sauce (In French it always sounds more avant garde, haha).
Ingredients
Sausages (as I said: better quality-better taste. However, you can use the Irish breakfast sausages. They're cheap and are ok).
White onion (as much as you want/like)
White wine (better wine-better taste. But I use the cheapest and it taste well xD)
Olive oil
1. Put some (not much) olive oil into a pan/casserole to heat.
2. Fry a bit the sausages.
3. Cut and add the onion.
4. Put the heat lower and fry the sausages and the onion a bit more. Don't cook them completely, we just want them a bit golden-looked.
5. Add white wine until it covers the sausages.
6. Let it cook (if you want, you can add more white wine. Depends on how many sauce do you want).
7. When the sausages are made and the sauce get a bit thick... eat it!
Hi!! Did you lost any of the Irish quotes of the week? Don't worry, here you can read them :) They say that the day you understand the jokes and sayings of a place, you have known it completely. Good luck!
"Is túisce deoch ná scéal""A drink precedes a story" "Any man can lose his hat in a fairy-wind"
"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast". Oscar Wilde
"Má tú ag lorg cara gan locht, béidh tú gan
cara go deo"
"If you are looking for a friend without a fault
you will be without a friend forever"
"It is the ability to tell a man to go to hell so that he
looks forward to making the trip"
"There are only three kinds of Irish men who can't understand women— young men, old men, and men of middle age"
Hi!! I'm not sure if this is a revelation or just a theory. On Mondays, it rains.
Yes, I'm in Dublin, Ireland. Yes, Ireland is known because of its rainy weather (what is not exact). Yes, I'm very bored.
Against all the beliefs, I don't think that in Dublin rains as much as people think*. Since I arrived, the weather has not been so bad. We had enjoyed wonderful days. According to http://www.met.ie/, in Dublin it only rains an average of 11 days/month.
However, there's been a day in which the rain has always appeared... Mondays. 4 pm. Just when I have to go to my class. Maybe we enjoyed a sunny weather the rest of the day, but at 4pm, rains. It happened the last 4 or 5 Mondays...
UPDATE: Today, my theory has been invalidated. I'm working in a new one, don't worry.
Anyway, now we're speaking about the weather (what a wonderful topic to fill space or awkward conversations)... There's something I have discovered in my -busy- life in Dublin. The problem isn't the rain, the wind or the windy-rain. The problem's that you're not wearing the right clothes.
Which are the right clothes?
Well, considering that when you wake up it can be sunny, at midday clouds appears magically, during the afternoon rains so heavily that you can't see where you are, and by the end of the day you can enjoy a breathless sun set; I would say that the right clothes are... a four-season outfit, obviously. (If someone know a place where I can buy them, please contact)
The best way to describe Dublin's weather would be: four seasons in one day. Keep that in mind if you are visiting the city. Oh! And don't trust the weather forecast, bring a water-resistant coat with you and enjoy of pub's atmosphere while the rain is falling. Nevertheless, you can always follow the Dubliner old ladies' style: a floral plastic hood. Just lovely.
I'd like to finish this post with an Irish saying. Wisdom in one sentence: "It's a fine day for young ducks". I could not agree more. See you!
*The flood we lived a month ago is not usual... I hope so :S
Hi!! What a long time... sorry, too many assignments. Who said the Erasmus student's life was easy?
To charge all the batteries, let's eat something good. Recipe time!!
What's the most famous Spanish dish after the Paella? It can be eaten hot, cold, with ketchup, bread... and if it's done correctly, it is delicious. It's the star meal in all the Spanish celebrations and friends/family meals. I'm talking about... The Spanish omelette*, of course.
One day, a genious decided to put the most basic ingredients together and create the most gorgeous meal. Since then, generations of grandmothers and bars have developed the recipe and improved it. However, the basic one is always the best.
By now, you'll wondering what you do need to start cooking this awesome Spanish creation. The secret is revealed (drums, please): potatoes, eggs, onion (optional), olive oil and... salt. I know, too perfect to be true.
But nothing in life is easy... Don't understimate these simple ingredients. This recipe can be very tricky. Let's start.
Ingredients (for 4 people):
At least 4 eggs (depends on how big do you want your omelette to be)
3 big potatoes (don't put a lot of potatoes, it'd be very dry).
White Onion (it's optional, there're people who don't like onion. If you do, put as much as you want -not more than the half of the onion-).
Olive oil
Salt
Instructions:
1. Peel and cut the potatoes in thin (2-3 mm) slices, they will be done quicker -be patient, potatoes need a lot of time to be done-.
2. Chop the onion.
3. Put some olive oil in a pan.
4. Heat it.
5. Add the potatoes and the onion and reduce the heat. We want to cook the potatoes and the onion, but we don't want to fry them completely (or burn them). Be careful, the potatoes usually stick to the pan, and the onion gets burn easily.
6. Add salt to the potatoes.
7. When the potatoes are done, remove them from the pan. Drain the olive oil. Otherwise, it'd be very greasy. Add the potatoes and the onion to the eggs in a separate container.
8. Mix it
9. Put again the pan on the heat. You don't need to put more olive oil, you can use the same you used to fry the potatoes and the onion. Don't put the heat very high.
10. Add the mix of potatotes, onion and eggs.
For the next step, you'll need a big plate, enough to cover all the pan's surface. Be careful and quick.
11. When the bottom is cooked -the middle don't need to be done-, cover the pan with the plate and turn it, flipping the omelette to do the other side. This must be done very QUICKLY.
12. Wait a bit until the bottom is cooked.
The omelette surfaces should be golden-coloured. If you like the eggs very done, you can let it on the heat more time. Personally, I like when the eggs are not done completely, it's more tasty and less dry.
I like it when it looks like this
Don't worry or desperate if you aren't able to do it the first, second or third time. Spanish omelette is not easy to do. The most difficult part is flipping it. The best way to improve is practicing. Practice, practice, practice. And if you can't conseguirlo... Scramble eggs with potatoes always taste nice xD
Potatoes are not enough?
Maybe you'd like to add more ingredients. The most common ingredient to add to the Spanish omelette when potatoes are not enough are courgette. You can put some parsley too.
I hope you enjoy it!
I found this video on Youtube... It's acceptable, LOL
*In Spain, it's known as "Tortilla de patata" (Potato omelette) - we're very original naming stuff, as you'd have noticed, xD-
Hi!! There's something you should know about Ireland: the car wheel is on the right side, which means that they drive in the opposite direction than the one we're used to. It seems obvious and easy, but crossing the roads can become an epic adventure.
When I arrived to Dublin the taxi driver warned us about it. It seems there're a lot of accidents. At first I thought it was because unwary tourists... but no. After two months I have learnt one thing: the traffic lights are just shiny colours. Pedestrians have developed an amazing -superpower- ability to circumvent cars, bikes, and any other wheel vehicle. There's a reason (or at least I understand why we they do it): time. You can easily await seven minutes since you push the bottom to cross the road until the light turns green. The funny thing is that when the long waited moment arrives, it only lasts 2 seconds (it must be a metaphor of life or something xD). True story.
I'm still developing the Dubliner traffic-sense, but I have learnt some tricks: red is just a nice colour -that helps you to do exercise-, the yellow is your friend, and the green... is a four leaf clover xD
Hi!! Are you ready to start developing your culinary skills? This course is cheap, light and easy to do. You can take a picture and show it to your mother. She'll see you're responsible and are eating healthy things (proven results).
Today... Cucumber and potato puree*.
Ingredients (for 2 people):
1 cucumber
1 potato (If you buy the baby potatoes, use 4)
Olive oil
Salt
One of these to make the puree (they call it "blender")
1. Boil water with some olive oil and salt.
2. Wash and peel the potato and the cucumber.
3. Cut them in medium/small pieces (that way they will be cooked quicker).
4. Add them to the water.
5. Let them boil until they are done. Add more water if it's necessary.
6. Remove the 'soup' from the heat and mash it. You can put a bit of pepper if you want.
Voilà! It's done. It's usually eaten cold so put it in the fridge :)
Enjoy it!!
* You will see that I cook a lot of puree. It's easy and cheap. Other reason is that they sell big amounts of vegetables in one bag and I don't know what to do with them. Actually, I did the cucumber puree because I bought one for doing Gazpacho (I will write the recipe in future posts) and I didn't use it all. I don't like cucumber much so I added potato to make the taste lighter. The recipe isn't mine, I asked my mother, obviously xD. After boring you all with my stories, just adding that I hope you enjoy the dish. Buen provecho!!
Hola(Hi)!! Here starts what I hope will be a good -or at least enjoyable- report of my discoverings, adventures and survival guide from the beautiful and rainy land of Ireland.
Being an Erasmus student is always a wonderful experience to discover new things, meet new people... and learn how to survive on your own -I miss you, mom-. Things can be very different depending on the way you look at them.
What are you going to find in this blog? The point of view of a non-typical-Spanish student with atypical likes, easy recipes* –eating fast food all year isn’t advisable, sorry-, and random stuff… I like the random stuff.
A couple of days ago made a month since I arrived to Dublin. I’m just going to say that it seems only a week ago. The city has so many things to offer! –and I don’t mean Temple Bar’s pubs… not only-. I’m still not used to have to speak/listen English all day… I need more time to adapt. However, by June I hope to speak like a native, Irish accent included. I’m proud to say that I’m starting to pronounce ‘Dublin’ as a Dubliner.
I’m studying in a college located in the south of Dublin and living in its residence. I share the apartment with two amazing girls from different countries, it's an incredibly good experience. Actually, I have met a lot of people from different countries but… where are the Irish?
If you are considering of going to an Erasmus… do it. If you’re considering going to Ireland… do it. I know, the weather is not the best –it’s bad-, but it has a lot of good things to discover. I hope to do it during this year and I hope you enjoy discovering them with me. Clap, clap. I know, it's been a bit affected.
*Note: The author does not guarantee results. Follow the instructions under your own risk.
