Milk potato soup (easy to make but tasty)

1. Microwave a potato for 3-4 minutes.
2. Peel the skin of the potato.
3. Cut the potato into several chunks and put them into a blender.
4. Microwave 200ml of milk for 2-3 minutes (skip this step if you
prefer cold soup).
5. Add the milk into the blender.
6. Add half a teaspoon of salt and a full teaspoon of sugar into the blender.
7. Switch on the blender.
8. Serve the soup and add a dash of olive oil and a pinch of coarsely
grounded black pepper.

A quote from The Rough Guide To Sweden

"The other Nordic nations love to make fun of the Swedes. Witness the joke about the ten Nordic men stranded on a desert island. On day one, the two Finns have felled half the trees on the island for firewood. On day two, the two Norwegians have constructed a fishing boat from some of the wood to catch fish for supper. On day three, the Danes have set up a co-operative to organize all the work. On day four, the Icelanders decide to lift everyone's spirits with tales of the brave men of the ancient sagas. And on day five, the two Swedes are still waiting to be introduced to each other."

Info

The post on Zollverein was uploaded.

One more post on my trip to Cologne, Essen, and Bochum will be uploaded later.

Japanese foods outside Japan

In her latest cartoon in the December 5th issue of Mainich Shinbun (Japan's fourth or fifth major newspaper), Rieko Saibara, a Japanese cartoonist, reports "Japanese foods" she encountered outside Japan. (This particular cartoon can be seen on this page until December 19th.)

1. Katsu-don in India

Katsu-don is a bowl of rice topped with deep-fried breaded pork fillets. In India, it is stir-fried pork and vegetables soaked in the soy-sauce based marinade used for yakitori (skewed chicken).

2. Zaru-soba in Manaus, Brazil

Zaru-soba is soba noodle served cold on a bamboo basket (topped with shredded nori seaweed), accompanied with dip sauce made of soy-sauce, soup stock, sake and sugar. In Manaus, the dip sauce is black rice vinegar.

3. Cha-han in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia

Cha-han is Chinese-style fried rice. The good one contain little moisture in it. In Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, it is a bowl of vegetable oil with rice sunk on the bottom.

4. Norimaki in Myanmar

Norimaki is a sushi rice (with raw fish inside) rolled with nori seaweed. In Myanmar, rice is boiled with sugar only.

Well, these are rather extreme examples of wrong interpretations of Japanese foods outside Japan. But it explains why I don't want to eat Japanese foods outside Japan. Non-Japanese people that I meet outside Japan often assume I want to eat Japanese foods. That's totally wrong. It's much better to eat European foods (or foods of immigrants' countries such as Lebanon and Ethiopia) if I'm in Europe.

Papa Grappa

By chance, I found a grappa bar in Stockholm. It's called Papa Grappa on Hornsgatan 76 (a few minute walk from Mariatorget station). It's certainly not the best bar in Stockholm in terms of the atmosphere, but thanks to this, it's not packed even on the Friday evening. Grappa certainly doesn't fit the busy atmosphere, I guess. Following a waiter's recommendation, I had Sole Rosso Sangiovese Ris. It's got unique aroma and slightly sweet taste. I enjoyed it.

Hotel Review: Art Hotel Tucholsky

I stayed at Room 103 of Art Hotel Tucholsky for two nights from 26 to 28 November 2010. It cost 79 euro per night (as Single Room Comfort).

The Good:
The bedroom. It is decorated with minimalist design that gives an impression of cleanliness. I especially like Artemide's white, hollow oval-shaped lamp stand that brightens up the entire room. Windows seem to be sound-proof as I didn't need to wear earplugs while I was sleeping even though the room faces a street busy with cars. Despite near-zero outside temperatures at night, the room was warm enough I didn't need a blanket. The bathroom is clean and tidy.

Breakfast (included in the room charge). It's not fancy, but they just do it right. You can choose from German breakfast, English breakfast, French breakfast, etc. I tried German and English. Both were very tasty, allowing me to make a fresh start of the day. Waiters and waitresses are very attentive and nice.

The location. It's just 7-8 minutes walk away from Bochum Hbf railway station. The hotel is in the district of Bochum where lots of bars and restaurants are clustered. A supermarket (REWE) is just a few minutes walk away.

The Bad:
They don't offer shampoo in the bathroom. Given the design hotel features, I didn't expect this to be the case. You're advised to bring a small tube of shampoo.

There is no reception. A counter at the bar/restaurant on the ground floor of the same building (where the superb breakfast is served) serves as a reception desk. This is a bit confusing, although the staff immediately let me check in on a busy Friday evening.

The Ugly:
The small entrance space leading to the staircase smells of chemicals, with bits of construction materials scattered as if they were in the middle of renovation.

Verdict: If you happen to be in Bochum, this hotel is definitely worth staying. The bad and the ugly are something unexpected from a boutique hotel like this one, but you can deal with them.

Zollverein

 

 Kokerei Cafe, recommended for lunch if you visit Zollverein. They serve "typical coal miner meals" in an excellent way for an affordable price.

It's perhaps not a particularly new idea to convert the former industrial complex into something cultural. Beijing has the 798 Art District; Toronto has the Distillery District; Berlin has the Berghain nightclub (by far the best nightclub that I've ever been to). But Essen's Zollverein former coal mine industrial complex, particularly the Kokerei (coking plant) designed by Fritz Schupp (the 4th and 5th photos above), is probably the most aesthetic. It's worth a visit if you happen to be around the Ruhr district of Germany.

Cologne Cathedral

The Gothic architectural design, I learned, appears at its best if it's used for a very tall building. The Cologne Cathedral already looks magnificent from the outside, but the real beauty is inside. Soaring, rather thin pillars that are absorbed into the pointed arches on the high ceiling creates a kind of space that contemporary architecture cannot replicate.

Climbing the south tower (for 2.50 euro) is worthwhile not because of the view from the top (which is obstructed by the 2-meter high wire netting) but because of the views through windows on the way up. You don't often look down on a modern city landscape through the Gothic windows, do you?

And I'm surprised to see some contemporary art that's part of the cathedral. Gerhard Richter's contemporary counterpart of the stained glass window is only subtly out of place and somehow in place:

Among those stained glass windows, I love these:

Restaurant Review: L'Escalier

My lunch in Cologne was had at L'Escalier (Brüsseler Strasse 11; phone # 0221 205 3938).

They serve a two-course, delicate French lunch for 17.50 euro. The trick behind this affordable price for sophisticated dishes is serving in small portions. Having said that, every bite is enjoyable at this restaurant.

As an appetizer, three small heaps of orange-colored vegetables, pumpkins finely chopped and fried, carrots finely chopped and fried, and carrots thinly sliced and pickled, are served on a wooden, rectangular tray. Along with them come a basket of bread including fantastic home-made potato bread. The accompanied lemon butter is very nice. The amount of bread is generous enough that customers won't leave the restaurant with a hungry stomach.

Today's starter is carrot and ginger soup. Slightly frothed on top with chopped parsley, the soup that includes bits of carrots warms up my body frozen by near-zero temperatures outside. The amount of ginger in it is just right, not too much to disturb the taste of carrot and not too little to be insignificant.

The main course is a small chunk of pike-perch steak and several pieces of dumplings (nothing inside) served on vegetable ragout with tarragon flavor. Even though it is only a mouthful, pike-perch steak is beautifully done. And tarragon prevents the taste bud from getting bored with the otherwise straightforward taste of vegetable ragout.

After being satisfied with the foods, I feel like drinking a cup of black tea. This can be a risky way of finishing the meal. Black tea in Germany tends to be very poorly served. The most typical is a glass cup of hot water with a teabag and the lid, which is a total disaster to infuse black tea properly. (Why don't they put the tea bag into boiling hot water on their own before serving it?) But no such worry at this restaurant. They serve Darjeeling tea properly in a black tetsubin (Japanese cast iron tea pot).

Two waitresses work diligently and attentively. Even when I reveal my lack of knowledge on French foods (I couldn't tell tarragon from lemongrass), they just nicely correct my ignorance. They know what they are serving, so you can talk to them about the foods served. Of course, they speak English pretty well.

Highly recommended if you are around Cologne during the lunch time. It's a few minute walk from Rudolfplatz U-bahn station.

All Saints Day at Skogskyrkogården

Skitsch

Just around the corner from the Bvlgari Hotel, Skitsch is a nice interior good / furniture shop in Milan. The store sells Senz umbrellas, a must-have if you live in a place where it's windy whenever it rains (which is true in Stockholm).

The Kungsholmen restaurant

I went to Kungsholmen, a famous, eclectic cuisine restaurant on the southern shore of the Kungholmen island in Stockholm, for dinner with Japanese economists. All of us are impressed by the quality of food. This is something. We are all from Tokyo, the world's capital of cuisine. Our taste buds are very picky.

Vietnamese beef salad, although it doesn't really taste like Vietnamese, is a pleasant experience with occasional sweetness of fruits in it. And veal entrecôte with chanterelles mushrooms is divine.

The restaurant looks like a luxury food court. Dinner tables are surrounded by food stalls of 7 different cuisine (including sushi and Swedish) in which you can see chefs cooking. But they are part of the decor. You don't have to go to these stalls to place an order. Waiters and waitresses come to your table to take your order.

As they do serve some Swedish dishes, the restaurant is recommended to anyone including visitors to Sweden.

National Cinnamon Bun Day

October 4th is the National Cinnamon Bun Day in Sweden. The cinnamon bun is the most common baked good, found in almost every cafe in Sweden.

And I don't like it at all.

A taste of drumstep

There's a new sub-genre of music emerging at the intersection of drum & bass and dubstep. It's called drumstep. Here's a taste of it. Do wait until 1 minute and 8 seconds pass, when the gist of drumstep reveals itself.


Added on 5 June 2011: this tune was awarded the best track of the year 2010 by Drum & Bass Awards 2011.

Du Chef

Yesterday I found a nice lunch place in Hammerby sjöstad. Du Chef, a tapas restaurant in the evening, serves Swedish lunch, charging 85 krona between 11:00 and 12:30 or 75 krona before 11am or after 12:30. (This pricing scheme reveals when Swedes have lunch most likely: quite early.)

As usual for lunch in Sweden, you pick a main dish (either meat, fish, or vegetarian), help yourself at a salad buffet, and slice bread on your own. Of course, an unlimited amount of coffee (or tea bags with warm, not hot, water) is included in the price.

But the main dish (skewered salmon with grönsaksris, which is supposed to be stir-fried rice with vegetable but tastes like vegetable pilaf, and skärgårdsröra, which seems to be one of the Swedish specialties, made of cream cheese, finely chopped anchovy or shrimps, chives, and finely chopped boiled eggs) tastes good. Certainly better than any of the lunch places in my workplace.

If you are around in the area of Sickla Udde around the lunch time, don't miss it.

Taking taxi in Stockholm on Friday afternoon

I went to Ikea to buy a desk for my apartment. On the way back, I took a cab.

It was around half past three in the afternoon. The highway was pretty busy. Swedes seem to leave office quite early on Friday. The taxi driver decided to get off from the highway and took an alternative route. The taxi fare meter kept the number rising and rising. What's the point of going to Ikea to buy a cheap, big furniture if bring it home by taxi costs more than the furniture?

Then the taxi driver, still on the way to my apartment, asked me if my company would pay the fare. I said no. Then he stopped the meter at 450 krona (48.6 euro), saying, "Friday afternoon is the bad time to take a cab. I didn't expect to take this long route."

It's perhaps something good about Stockholm.

A great catering service in Stockholm

This evening I had one of the best dinner meals that I'd had in Stockholm at a PhD defense party. The caterer's name is Thomas Omfors.

If you plan to throw a dinner party by hiring the catering service in Stockholm, think of him as an option.

Johan Cöfcrantz Ramsey

With my colleagues, I went to a small jazz club (Glenn Miller Cafe) in Stockholm tonight. And my mind was blown up by an amazing jazz drummer named Johan Cöfcrantz Ramsey. He's a dynamo. He lifts up and down the tune very effectively with his drums. The way he changes the rhythm during the improvisation is always unexpected and dramatic, but he manages to avoid unraveling the whole tune. Usually, a jazz drum solo starts after other musicians stop playing, but in his case he's already started his solo when the audience realizes the solo has started. It's just fun to listen to his drums. Such a drummer is very rare in jazz, I suppose.

The experience was close to the one I had in New Orleans. Only if at least one of the other players were as assertive as he was. (I don't really like a band led by one musician.)

A theory of the origin of the state

I always wonder what caused the emergence of the state. The answer to this question has an important implication to poverty reduction in developing countries because one of the biggest causes of underdevelopment is state failure (the best example of this is Somalia).

Google search takes me to an interesting theory proposed by an anthropologist named Robert L. Carneiro in his 1970 article. In a nutshell, the state emerges in agricultural land surrounded by mountains, seas, and deserts. In such an area, when all the cultivable land is cultivated, villages start fighting each other to conquer more pieces of land to sustain the population. When the conquerors rule the conquered, there is a need to create the administrative structure. This is the origin of the state.

But this theory was proposed 40 years ago. There must be a refutation to this theory, or some refinement to this theory by now. If I learn those, I will write a sequel to this post.

Housing in Stockholm (again)

After 3 years of living in Stockholm, reading a news article on the rental housing market in Stockholm like this one doesn't make me feel anything. Otherwise you as a foreigner won't be able to feel happy in this city.

But when I read that new arrivals from foreign countries to Stockholm University are camping in the campus because they fail to find an apartment to live, this sounds too much.

As far as I know, none of the political parties in Sweden ever mention this issue in the upcoming elections.

I'm moving (again) later this month. I was lucky to find a Swedish PhD student who studies in the US for a year from this autumn. Which also means that I have to find yet another apartment after he comes back next June.

That's life for foreigners in Stockholm. If you plan to live in this city, be prepared.