Sand and the City: Can You Say CARBS??

Today’s post is going to be about food. All kinds of food, but mostly carbs. Why? Because that is a staple in Kuwait. I have never seen so many chocolate stores, bread stores, bakeries of all kinds, you name it. Plus, rice is served with just about everything. Carbs are especially interesting because I am like a crazy person around carbs…give me sugar combined with fat and I am in heaven. And it is not a friend to me, by any means. So today I want to talk about carbs, sugar, fat, and a couple of other interesting foods that I have discovered here in Kuwait.

Hey, I said discovered! That means that I didn’t know about these things before I got here. By trial and error and being adventuresome, I have discovered a few treasures (and a couple of things not so good).

One day in a grocery store, I came across a very strange looking fruit. My friend Ian said that they are called dragonfruit. He used to eat them in an Asian country where he taught last year and urged me to try one, because they are sweet and delicious. Well, he was right… You eat these with a spoon. The little seeds remind me of the seeds in kiwi, but they are all through the fruit.

Another interesting find was at a little bakery not far from the apartment. Bea came across this place in her wanderings. These little sesame cookies are to die for! Sesame seeds cover the top, and pistachios are baked into the bottom! I don’t go here very often, because these are addicting!

There is an interesting little hole-in-the-wall Ethiopian restaurant a couple of blocks away from here. There are only a couple of items on the menu that we can read and understand, like chilli chicken or chicken and rice. We ordered these the first time we were there. That night we jokingly made a comment to the waitress that the next time we came in, we would eat the same thing that the people next to us were eating. A few weeks later, my friend Julia and I went there for Julia’s first time. The waiter didn’t speak very much English, and so my little waitress came out to take our order. I asked her to surprise us with two entrees, one chicken and one beef. She actually remembered what I had said earlier about ordering what the locals ordered! Imagine that! Anyway, we ate pretty well that night….with our fingers, like the locals. And afterwards, we had the coffee service.

Another great thing about Kuwait is that every restaurant delivers, it seems. Even Hardees! I order from a local Indian restaurant. Mutton curry was recommended by Roman, a young man on my floor. I loved the flavor of the curry, but the texture of the mutton was definitely not to my liking! They brought a container of the curry along with a large container of rice. The brown things in the rice are browned onions…yummy! And there’s always enough to feed an army.

One morning, a senior in my hallway who is always very nice and polite to me brought me a container of food that he and his mother had made. Of course I thanked him wholeheartedly and asked if it was a snack food or if it was a breakfast food. He said a snack food. I took it to my desk and looked inside. Oh no! It was a container full of little green "fingers"!!! They looked awful!! I set it on my desk, hoping to get brave later that morning, but it didn't happen. At lunchtime, I decided that I was going to just close my eyes and take a bite, but it looked like it needed to be heated up first. I took it down to the kitchen where I ran into Marie. I showed her my gift and she was excited! She explained that these are filled grape leaves (rather Mediterranean) and that there are two different sorts: the ones filled with rice are snack foods meant to be eaten cold, and the meat-filled ones are meant to be eaten hot. Since Khalid told me these were a snack, I guessed they were filled with rice. Well, okay. I went back to my room and decided to try one. This is definitely one of those "looks bad, tastes good" deals. I took one bite and am now hooked!!! These are yummy! By the way, my friend down the hall told me they are called warak enab.

You might be wondering if all I ever eat is ethnic food. The answer is NO! A new discovery is The Early Bird café. This little place serves the best Western breakfast ever! Well, maybe not “ever.” The only thing that would make this place perfect is if they served sausage/bacon instead of the fake stuff. I do have to say that once you get over the fact that you are eating lamb sausage, it’s actually not that bad…kind of like venison in texture. Anyway, it’s a little place started by a young Australian woman and when I say small, I mean SMALL! There are 4 tables inside and a few tables outside. People are happy to wait in line for breakfast here. They are famous for the most delicious French toast! French toast banana bread, even! Beautiful pancakes. Omelets and hash browns to die for!! And a club sandwich with cheese, turkey sausage, fried egg, and lettuce/tomato!! No one ever leaves disappointed! These beautiful women are Nikki and Karen….we stopped in for “brunch” after a morning of shopping at the Friday Market (outdoor market).