Belfast Christmas Market
Seasons greetings. After a long batch of PhD application nonsense as well as finals to worry about over here, I finally have some down time. So for you committed followers, thank you for waiting. A bit of an update, the blog has had 2,300+ views and has racked up about $13 in advertising revenue, none of which I see until we reach $100, so click on them ads! Anywho. Christmas market time. So, over here Christmas markets are kind of a big deal. Think state fair food, but with more international flair. Unlike our lame Christmas markets back home, which target audiences of the 75 year and older range, selling absolutely useless craft nonsense to seniors in what can only be described as a social security swindling scam, the market here is quite awesome. And I'm told the one here is rather small and lame by people who know such things. For a foodie, though, the Belfast market is a nice little sample-fest. There are so many things here, it literally took me a couple days to sample everything I wanted to sample. For starters, I have seen waffle stands all over this damn country and the one next door. You would never see a waffle stand in Amurrica. It's a breakfast food. Here, it's also a nice dessert type snack. Observe:
Why, yes, those are in fact waffles with about 10 different toppings. Not pictured are the cones of churros (yes, a cone of them, drizzled with chocolate), and the mini Swedish pancakes (you get about 20 of them) topped with powdered sugar and jam. So yeah, you could get sick on them alone. But there's also the French pastry tent:
With oodles of mini pies,
oodles of regular-sized pies,
and for you Narnia lovers (I'm looking at you, Tweet) real freakin' Turkish Delight.
But dessert is for later, you say. That's ok. There are plenty of regular food stuffs to be had as well. At this particular stand you can get just about any meat you can think of: kangaroo, ostrich, zebra, wild boar, you name it. Hell, if you slip the dude a twenty, you can probably get griffin. See:
Served in a bun with delicious fried onions. I got wild boar as I had already tried most of those weird ones in France last Christmas:
But hey, cartoon meat not your thing? No problem, because in addition to a noodle place (noodle, don't noodle) and a french baguette place, there's also the Welsh pig on a spit place where you can get pork and onions four different ways, including in a roll:
Now, the food is all well and good, but the really special part of the market for me, the crown jewel of this place, is the beer tent. Well, there are two, actually. One is sponsored by a pub in town, and the other is a German beer tent. Guess which one I went to?
Das ist gut, ja? Honestly, I think the ghost of Mark Campbell pushed me in. Or one of his ancestors seeing as how I haven't killed him yet. Anywho. The inside:
I was plum surprised (that one's for you Mikey). It was fantastic inside. My friends got a cactus beer and a raspberry beer, both quite smooth. I came back a couple days later and got an apple cider (the hard stuff) and a brat:
All in all, I had a great time over the few days I sampled stuff there. Special thanks to: Kate, Heather, Janine, Miki, Maria the Bubble, Zort (all hail emperor Zort), Leonie, and Jana for going with me to sample stuff.
I will be trying a new experiment in my abomination of a kitchenette tomorrow, so hopefully I will have that post up soon. You guys deserve better so I will try to deliver. Click on them ads! Remember to be generous in this season of giving and to be fearless in the kitchen. Foodies never die. That is all.