#halusky

NEOHALUSKYPUNK _// KUNIKONDA /most popular cartoon characters of 2073 in bratislava /最も人気のある漫画のキャラクター //

MySpace blog entry from February 10th, 2007

Peter and I were with the Slovaks yesterday evening, for the promised meal.

Peter took some sparkling wine, and I took a bottle of Pernod, thinking that they may never have dabbled with French aniseed drinks. Mind you, the Slovaks are not without enthusiasm for alcohol; they were amply stocked with beer (Czech, Staropramen), a blended malt whisky, and Slivovica. The latter is a home distilled  fruit vodka, generally using plums but in this case, founded upon apples. I don't think it counts as one of your five a day! It is drunk in shots, a la Russe.

We got stuck in - and I was reminded of Poteen or Eau de Vie. We chatted with Simone, Peter, Joseph and Mark whilst ongoing preparations went on in the kitchen. Mark displayed a blossoming enthusiasm for Pernod and secured an option on the bottle.

Peter and I were invited into the kitchen to see Mark finish the preparations for the Halusky - he was cutting segments from the big, wet pile of sloppy dough, and allowing them to tumble one by one into a pan of boiling water. Once they were cooked, the ewe's cheese was stirred through and the plated helpings were topped off with salty cubes of bacon.

When we sat to eat, I was very surprised to notice that the festive fare was for Peter and I alone: none of the Slovaks were eating!! They were, however, taking pictures of Peter and I scoffing the food: Mum, dad, look at these strange Englishmen, eating halusky...

It was a delightful nosh - a very unusual dish, flavoursome, with contrasting textures. Goes well with Slivovica or chilled beer. After making a determined effort to clear the plates (and failing), Peter and I were treated to a Slovak soup. It was essentially a cabbage soup (very finely grated) with mushrooms and pieces of sausage. The cabbage was sauerkrauty, and the soup was served with pieces of a flat doughy bread, hot from the oven. Surprisingly, to diners accustomed to English meal protocol - this soup is intended as a second course.

Once again - it was too filling to empty the dish. It's important to save room for more alcohol at these events.

So, we adjourned to the living room to see pics of Slovakia, empty the whisky and have more slivovica. Mark stuck determinedly with the Pernod and got snap happy with his camera phone - God knows what Peter and I looked like on the photos  - I was decidedly merry by this point.

And so we chatted and drank and relaxed until it was time to call a taxi and head off. Peter and I learned a bit more about life in Slovakia, and about the Slovaks themselves. And they made lots of complimentary remarks about English hospitality and friendliness. An excellent night - and that's not the Pernod, whisky, beer and Slivovica talking!!