Det kan være svært at finde julestemningen i Manly, når termometeret står på 25 grader -- vel at mærke klokken syv om aftenen ude på balkonnen. I går havde vi inviteret en masse folk over til julefrokost. Jeg stod for at lave glögg og sildemadder. Gæsterne guffede ikke mindre en 48 sildemadder med karrysalat i sig. Senere fik vi frikadeller og risalamande. Peter Tuthill fra fysik stod for at lave en herlig isdessert på 2 minutter! Den blev lavet fra grunden med æg, youhurt, mango og passionsfrugter ved hjælp af flydende nitrogen (-200 grader C).

 

Billedet her er taget nede i gågaden i Manly. Bemærk skiltet der siger: "Merry Christmas! The lights on the tree are solar powered!" Ja, det kan være svært at få julestemningen helt med her i december.

(0)

Vi har scoret et træ, der faktisk næsten ligner et rigtigt juletræ (se billedet). Vi har ikke mindre end tre flæskestege i køleskabet. Vi har ingredienserne til at lave gløgg, rugbrød, brune kartofler og karrysalat. Vi har sild, rødkål, marcipan og nougat. Kort sagt: Julen er reddet.
Glædelig jul til alle her fra Sydney.

(2)

 X-mas in Sydney! We have not yet decided on the colour of our juletræ. This picture shows a bright green tree with beautiful purple decorations. I was hoping for a black tree, but nothing is settled yet. Today we went to IKEA to get some Christmas specialties from Sweden: Pickeled herring (sild), brunkager and a rugbrødsblanding. That is the essence of Christmas, so I am happy. We are planning to go to the beach on julemorgen, since all the Aussies will be celebrating Christmas on this day. Stay tuned for more Aussie X-mas.

(2)

I've started producing gourmet salami here in Sydney. As you can see the tag line is, "you can tell by the taste it's Hans". The top-selling product this month is the "mild Danish salami" . We've had good sales in the first quarter of 2007. The next step is to export the brand to Denmark. I'm not sure if the tag line will translate very well. Suggestions are welcome!


(5)

The Greek cuisine features several families of sweet cakes. One family is baklava which is made of nuts, pasty, and syrup. Different varieties are also known in the Middle east, the balkans (e.g. Turkish delight), and south-east Asia. My favorite Greek cake is the galaktoboureko which is made of phyllo dough, custard, and syrup. I got it the first time when my room mate Ben Lloyd bought it for a party in Sydney. Last week in Crete we bought some Kalifaki (a kind of baklava cake) which was really nice. The galaktoboureko is so sweet that you need very strong coffee to go with it. Kali orexi!