Good Eats – More Greens Please

I was in Vienna two weeks ago. I loved their pastry among other things. It is a beautiful city. One evening, my colleagues and I sat at a dinner table and we were discussing about food in different countries. Most of them did not find any American food worth mentioning. I actually like American Steak and a hearty salad. With a glass of red wine and a roll or two, I needn’t ask for more to please my taste buds.

One of the things I missed so much when I was outside the United States was a bowl of salad with Oliver oil and Balsamic vinegar. I’ve been to quite a few countries, and surprisingly people outside the US do not eat as much green leaves salad as the Americans. In Taiwan, they don’t have the greens as in the States and the choice of salad dressing is very limited. In Corsica, their salad is in a different context. I remember one time when I was with a colleague in a café for lunch at the Lightning workshop in Corsica in 2008. I was overjoyed when I saw salad on their menu. The menu was in French, but I thought salad should be universal. How different could they be? So I ordered a salad and a sandwich. When the server placed my food on the table, I was both speechless and disappointed. It was a dish of rice with tomatoes and some herbs. “That is not salad.” I blurted it out after my initial silence. Then my colleague, who can speak French, said to me, “It is. It is a rice salad. I thought you knew and I thought that was what you wanted.” Well, I saw the word “ritz”, but I thought it was not the main thing on the plate. So instead of one side dish (which would be the salad) and the main dish, I inadvertently ordered two main dishes. Naturally, the sandwich became my dinner. Essentially, it is very hard to find places that serve good green salads outside the States.