Adventures at the Butcher

I tried two chicken vendors last week.  Seems poultry butchers have separate shops than other-meat butchers.  My mission was boneless chicken breasts.  Before I went, I wrote this down in French so I could simply show it to the butcher.  Both butchers had them.  The first simply cut up the whole chicken I picked out, the second butcher had a pile of boneless breasts on the counter.  Both butchers were friendly and anxious to help me. 

But I have to say the lack of sanitation is unnerving.  Here’s how it goes.  I indicate what I want.  The butcher picks up a chicken and takes it to the big butcher block where the other butchers are working and tossing chicken and turkey parts about.  He grabs a knife from the rack, cuts up and debones the chicken, puts the knife back in the rack.  Then he slaps the chicken parts on the scale just vacated by the meat purchased by the customer next to me.  Then he wraps up the chicken in paper, stuffs it in a plastic bag, and hands it to me.   I give him some money, he takes it to the cash register and fumbles about getting change and hands me my change.

Did I once mention plastic paper or gloves, wiping anything off, even paper towels?  No.  I was so unnerved that I rinsed my money in bleach when I got home.  I also gave all the chicken parts a quick rinse in water with a tad of bleach.  I hope I didn’t ruin the chicken, but I just had to do it.  I was too freaked out by the slapping around of chicken parts with not the slightest hint of a wipe down of any equipment, hands, or even money.

I have since cooked some of this chicken and we are still alive.  I guess the solution is to cook it thoroughly. 

Over the weekend we found a real mall (more on that another day) with a real supermarket called UNO.  Though nothing like a Safeway, the butcher at this store did have cleaner equipment.  Here we bought more chicken and some beef.  We'll report on how the beef is later.

Tipaza and The Casbah

Over Memorial Day weekend I went on two embassy-sponsored tours. 

Tipaza, a town about an hour to the west of Algiers, was one of many settlements constructed along the Mediterranean coast by early travelers, perhaps Phoenicians, on their sea journeys west from Carthage.  Tipaza reached its peak of wealth and influence around 200 AD under Roman rule.

Roman Ruins at Tipaza

Many of the original Roman tile floors remain in situ
and unprotected.  Visitors scramble all over the entire site.

Today Tipaza is a seaside archeological site.  The site is beautifully located above the sea and the ruins are remarkably extensive.  Several especially well-preserved segments, such as the tiled floor of the judicial building, were removed for museum preservation during archeological excavation; but today most of the ancient city is accessible and available for all to explore.  There are still several tile floors and wall paintings in situ and nothing is off limits.  We spent several hours in the morning with our tour guide exploring the Roman town.  Then we enjoyed a lunch of fresh fish by the sea.  After lunch we visited the “Dome of the Christian Lady” so named because of the cross symbols carved on the edifices, even though the carvings were done at the time of construction, prior to the arrival of Christianity.  It is an enormous pyramid-type dome sitting on top of a hill, which overlooks one of Algeria’s most beautiful and fertile valleys, nicknamed the “breadbasket of Europe” during the French period.

Select your lunch

Pyramid Dome of The Christian Lady

Breadbasket of Europe

During our drive along the coast, we discussed the enormous potential for tourism Algeria offers.  Our guide, an historian by profession, is passionate that now is the perfect time for Algeria to invest and to attract European tourists who love to be by the sea but are a bit nervous about going to Tunisia or Egypt.  And the resources here would likely appeal to so many: the history, the archeology, and of course the extensive Mediterranean coastline.  Our guide tells us that he and his colleagues cannot seem to raise the government’s interest in investing in the infrastructure to make Algeria a world-class tourist destination.   

The Casbah

Going again the next day with our guide, a small group of us explored the maze of the ancient city, the Casbah, for several hours on Sunday morning.  (Though it’s inside – and truly the center – of the city, it is off-limits for us without special arrangements.)  Built before the 18^th century, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site listed as a “unique urban environment,” and unique it is.  Still occupied by Algerian families, the buildings are mostly interconnected step-like structures rising up the steep hillside from the sea front.  When constructed, no one house (each 4 or 5 stories tall) was allowed to block another’s view.  And the tiny alleys and hallways connecting everything allow for excellent shelter – from the sun and from adversaries, thus its reputation as a place where anyone can hide out for years.  Such was the case during the Algerian fight for independence when the freedom fighters slipped into the Casbah and out of the grasp of the French.  Our guide (this is my third tour with him) took us all through the twists and turns, ups and downs, of the alleyways and inside several of the buildings.  One of the “rules” during the early days of the Casbah was that no one could show his standing or wealth on the exterior of his dwelling, so all the homes looked then and look now, pretty much the same on the outside.  But inside some are actually palatial villas covered with Dutch tiles, marble fountains, and lush gardens.  We were treated to a wonderful lunch on the terrace of one of the residents.  He and his family love cooking for visitors and so it was quite a spread, very traditional with all of us sitting on big cushions and sipping mint tea.  The lunch lasted a couple of hours, and we all agreed a nap in the shade of the terrace would have been perfect.  But our day in the Casbah was done after that.

A Scotch-Tasting Soirée

Last night we attended a scotch tasting.  How timely!  It was a very informal affair at the home of the Dutch consul and her husband, who is a Scotsman.  His collection was quite impressive.  And all the guests brought a bottle to add.  Apparently, they have established a sort-of club, getting together once a month or so to taste whiskey.  So the stash actually belongs to the group.  Baboo was happy to contribute the Edradour he bought during our trip.  http://www.edradour.co.uk/enjoyframe.html  There were some interesting things presented, but I'll let Baboo elaborate on the scotch.  I did taste several, and still like Glenmorangie best, which was one of the first ones I ever tried in Scotland.

I especially enjoyed meeting so many nice people including a gentlemen in the shipping industry and his wife from Denmark, an oil man from France, the Deputy Chief of Mission and her husband from Britain, the Consul from Canada, and, of course, lots of our new friends from the American embassy.  Our group went together in a big armored van and, as often happens, we were the largest contingent - even more Americans than Dutch, on whose compound the party took place.

No photos this time.  One of our colleagues took lots of pix; maybe I can get a few from him.

A Vacation in Scotland

For his first R and R, Baboo arranged a 17-day trip to Scotland for late April/early May.  I knew none of the details except the dates and general locations.  He outdid himself; he is the best tour manager you could imagine.  I will be hard pressed to describe all that we saw and did.  I can tell you it was magical.  We visited 29 castles and stayed in 6.  We visited a couple prehistoric sites (standing stones and cairns).  We visited lots of abbeys and churches, mostly ruins.  We tasted lots of scotch and I found myself starting to enjoy it by the end of our trip.  We went to a show (Chicago), visited the National Gallery in Edinburgh, attended a concert in St. Giles Cathedral, and had tea on the royal yacht Britannia.

Our main itinerary was from Edinburgh to Spittal of Glenshee to Fort William to Tarbert to Sterling to Culzean near Maybole to Bonnyrigg near Edinburgh.  One giant circle mostly through the central highlands. We drove over 1200 miles through the Scottish countryside.  It took us both a couple of days to get used to the right-hand driving in the UK.  I did none of the driving and kept feeling like we were slipping off my side of the road.  Amazingly, as soon as we were outside the city, the roads were mostly single-track.  This does not mean one lane in each direction; it means only one car can fit on the road, and the roads are bi-directional!  So if another car should be coming along in the opposite direction, both must stop and back up to the closest “passing place” (these are basically mini shoulders the size of one car randomly placed along the roads) and then passing can occur.  These roads went up and down, round and round the hills and glens so we had to drive very slowly, which gave us plenty of time to enjoy the gorgeous countryside.  Fortunately for us, no one in Scotland ever seemed to be in a rush, so this system worked fine.  Anyway, Baboo did a fabulous job getting us around these tiny roads.  He remarked that the system seemed to keep the driving and drivers calm, everyone smiled and waved.

We considered ourselves very fortunately regarding the weather in Scotland.  Of our 17 days, we had only 2 rainy ones and mostly sunny ones.  We had a few sprinkles at times, but those only lasted a few minutes.  But it was cold.  I never left our room without four layers -- a long-sleeved t-shirt, a turtle neck, a blouse, a sweater -- before I put on my vest, wool blazer, wool jacket (sometimes I could get by with either the blazer or the jacket), and rain slicker.  And of course a scarf and gloves.  It was cold!

So how do I begin to describe this magical journey of castles and scotch?  The history, the geography, the people, the castles, the food and drink, and the climbing and climbing and climbing.  

 

View from Our Room at Culzean

Castles and History

As I said, we stayed in six castles.  One of them was so magnificent that I lost my breadth as we drove up.  Since “spending the night in a real castle” was my last major bucket-list item (the A list anyway), I was overcome that Baboo had done this for me in such a big way.  Each of these castles was so different too.  Some had big, magnificent bedrooms, some small cozy ones.  One had a very challenging 6-hole golf course on site.  (No carts here since you have to climb up and down ravines from hole to hole.)  One had archery and falconry available for guests.  A couple had spas and fabulous gardens.  With the exception of walking the 6-hole course and a couple of the gardens, we did not take advantage of any of the on-side activities (except, of course, the bars and restaurants) since we were out and about every day. 

Most of the castles we stayed in dated to the 18^th century, during the heyday of European opulence.  Castles were no longer built for fortification by then but for the pleasure of the lord and mostly to impress his peers.  One castle, Culzean, had a bit of modern history to it since the apartments on the top floor of the central tower were reserved for Dwight Eisenhower and his family during his lifetime.  We stayed in those apartments.

We visited so many different castles, and every one seemed to have some claim on Scottish history.  Some of the ruins made it hard to visualize the great feasts and events that had occurred there and some of those were especially hard to reach, but we managed to climb up and into all of them.  The restoration work at Sterling Castle was particularly spectacular.  It looked like it had been built yesterday.  Several of the castles were still occupied by the owning lairds (earls, dukes, and even the Queen (Balmoral)) and could only be visited when the laird was not in residence.

Below is a list of the castles we visited:

Edinburgh Castle

Holyrood Castle

Scone Palace

Dalmunzie Castle (stayed in the MacKintosh suite in the turret)

Balmoral Castle

Glamis Castle

Dunnottar Castle

Fyvie Castle

Kildrummy Castle

Blair Castle

Inverlochy Castle (stayed in the Princess suite)

Doirlinn/Tioran  (not sure about the correct name of this one)

Stonefield Castle (stayed here; our room had no name L)

Castle Stalker

Barcaldine Castle

Dunstaffnage Castle

Carnassairie Castle

Inverary Castle

Kilchurn Castle

Tarbert Castle

Balloch Castle

Culcreuch Castle (stayed in the Baron’s suite)

Sterling Castle

Doune Castle

Newark Castle

Dundonald Castle

Culzean Castle (stayed in the Eisenhower Apartment; we could see Ireland)

Craignethan Castle

Dalhousie Castle (stayed in the Laird’s room)

And for ancient history, we found a few prehistoric sites of standing stones and cairns (burial mounds) in Kilmartin Glen.

We also visited many abbeys, a priory (we had to take a shuttle boat to reach it), some cathedrals, and the famous Rosslyn Chapel, which I found to be even more mysterious and intriguing than it was in Dan Brown’s book.  (This site had an impressive, brand-new, high-tech visitor center … I’m sure thanks to Mr. Brown.)

Eating and Drinking

Baboo was on a scotch quest.  And he was successful.  We started off at the Scotch Whiskey Experience near the Edinburgh Castle.  This seemed at first very touristy, but it was a very well-done instructional tasting.   They had a good multimedia presentation and a very nice special collection museum and tasting room.  I knew nothing at all about Scotch, except that it was made in Scotland and burned my mouth, so I highly recommend this as a starting point.  I learned how to pick out some of the scents and what the properties of the different Scotch-making areas were.  By the end of our trip, I was ordering my own wee dram. 

We visited a couple distilleries and an especially great little shop near Loch Fyne.  The proprietor was so passionate and he shared some of his special advice and favorites with Baboo.  He even shared a taste of a very special limited release, which of course we bought.  This tiny little shop had more Scotch than I had ever seen in one place, even filling rafters in the ceiling.  And they ship to the US!  Check out their site at http://www.lfw.co.uk/.

As for the food, all the castles we stayed in had superb service and outstanding food.  We were surprised to find such excellent chefs out in the countryside.  We ate and drank like royalty.  In a couple of the castles, we were the only guests and so we really were treated like royalty.   Each night we would convene in one of the drawing rooms for cocktails and canapés.  We’d discuss the evening’s menu with the staff, place our order, and a bit later be escorted to our table.  Every single night was an event.  We often dressed up for dinner or occasionally we just caught a hearty pub meal on the run.  I had a lot of seafood, especially local salmon.  Baboo was especially excited about the opportunity to eat pork products, so bacon for breakfast every day!   And the most surprising thing … when we finally got up the nerve to try some haggis, we were delighted.  Delicious!

It’s hard to select a few photos to include here from the hundreds we took. So I invite you go to Baboo’s Facebook pages to see those that he posted along the way.  We arrived back home to a bright sunny day in Algiers with our driver waiting and bags heavy with liquid souveniers.  A wonderful, dreamy vacation and I thank Baboo for taking care of every little detail (one of the things I love about him) and making it so so special.

My Prince

Grocery Shopping

First I should mention that we do not have a car.  And I’m glad.  Driving appears to be a complete free for all with every man for himself.  This seems to include pedestrians too.  Apparently the zebra stripes are just for decoration.  That being said, how do I lug groceries?  Well, I am still exploring, but for now there are a few options within walking distance.  I take a canvas bag and a small backpack.



105 steps from our little street to the main street.
I practice counting in French.

You might remember I mentioned the hills.  My first challenge is climbing up the hills.  Fortunately, the uphill parts of this adventure happen before I load up with purchases.  But sometimes I convince myself that, after huffing and puffing up the hills, I need an energy boost; and where better to find that than … no not the minimarket along the way where I could buy water and an energy  bar … the patisserie.  Just a quick little cookie or tart or … oh how can I pick just one!  And I need the energy!



Does this look like buttermilk to you?

I find my way to a small store that’s like a mini supermarket, where I can get dry goods, dairy products, sodas, cleaning products, and other things but not meats and produce.  This is not to say that I have a clue what any of the labels say.  All the labels are in Arabic and if I’m lucky some include French (although most of the food products are clearly labeled, even in English, that they are free of pork products or derivatives.)  The pictures help.  For instance, I know lait is milk, so I get the bottle that says lait with a picture of a cow.  No, I don’t want sheep’s milk or, yes they have it, camel’s milk.  And once I ended up with buttermilk.  (That was a big surprise in my morning coffee!)  Also, the fresh milk is often not homogenized having a thick layer of cream on top.  I do love cream, but would like to know before I pour a big blob of it on my cereal. 


The Market At Kennedy Square

On the way back home, I browse through the open-air market.  This looks like you would expect … packed with people buying and selling everything from used hub caps to Persian rugs, from plumbing fixtures to gold jewelry, from bras to shoes.  I am headed for the veggies.  There are lots of things to choose from and believe it or not, it looks mostly fresh.  But no touching is allowed.  I cannot pick out the specific pieces I want.  And I have decided that it’s best for me to go to one of the actual stalls rather than the guys with stuff on tables out in the open because the stall guys can show me on their little calculators what I owe.  When I buy from the open-air guys, I can never understand what they are saying to me and I just hold out a pile of money and let them pick out what they need.  Not a good strategy.

When I get home I need to wash all the produce.  First I rinse everything in a sink full of tap water (which we are not supposed to drink, by the way - we have a water-distilling machine in our kitchen).  Then I drain and refill the sink with water again this time adding a bit of bleach.  I let everything soak for about 15 minutes.  Then I rinse twice with tap water, and then soak everything one last time in a basin of distilled water.  After that I let everything drain and dry. 

I haven’t found a butcher (that I will buy from) close by yet; the one we like is far away – a good 45-minute walk, and did I mention the hills.  Nevertheless, I hope I will learn how to go there by myself before too long.  On the way to that shop, there are other grocery and sundry shops, so I am anxious to explore but still too nervous to try to find my way without Baboo.

This is a butcher's window.  It looks very scary to me and all is I know is that none of this is pig.