DC, Saturday 15th February at Buddha House 8 pm

Approximately 33 days, 6 hours, 14 minutes and 11 seconds ago I was sitting contentedly in the Kathmandu International Airport Lounge reflecting happily on a truly wonderful Himalayan adventure; whilst watching Neil meticulously scribbling his plan for (and I quote) “Ultimate Man Food: 1980s Action Movie Marathon Supernachos” on a scrap piece of paper beside me. Three episodes of Bauer sucht Frau, 8 visits to the fitness studio and serious effort at not removing all the old clothes from my wardrobe later, I am now officially missing the unapologetically vibrant tastes and aromas of traditional Nepali cooking; which is why this month’s gathering will be held at the Buddha Haus, Akazienstrasse 27, Schöneberg (http://www.buddhahaus.com/) on Saturday 15th of February. Please sign up by Wednesday 12th of February.

The Buddha Haus was Berlin’s first Nepali/Thai/Tibetan Restaurant and their website promises a varied assortment of dishes from traditional recipes in a fully Feng Shui compliant atmosphere. Hope to see you all there!

Sylvia

P.S. If any of you are wondering what “Ultimate Man Food: 1980s Action Movie Marathon Supernachos” actually consist of, here is the recipe:

Ultimate Man Food: 1980s Action Movie Marathon Supernachos

Preparation Time: 15 – 20 minutes

Serves: 1 x real man, 2 x men who drive SMART Cars or 3-4 x girls

Ingredients:

Lots and lots and lots of Tortilla Chips
500g of English Mature Cheddar Cheese (Strength 5 only!)
2/3 Small Spring Onions
Mixed Cajun Spices (If not the Old El Paso BBQ Fajita Seasoning also works)
150g Diced Bacon
2-3 large Frikadelle (according to taste)
2 tables spoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 clove of fresh Garlic
Mixed Red and Green Nigerian Chillies (to taste)
Sundried Tomatoes
Black and Green Olives
Fresh Chives
Salt and Black Pepper
Parmesan Cheese (to taste)

Preparation:

Select a large oven friendly dish (lasagne dishes work well). Dice chillies, spring onions, frikadlle in to a small bowl and mix well with diced bacon. Spread a layer of tortilla chips in to the oven friendly dish and sprinkle mix of chillies, bacon, frikadella and spring onion before coating in generous layer of mature cheese. Repeat process until you either run out of chees of tortilla chips.
Bake dish for 6-8 minutes at 220 until cheddar starts to brown.
Remove dish and garnish nachos with parmesan, chopped chives, sundried tomatoes, olives, crushed garlic and olive oil. Add salt and black pepper to taste, then serve with salsa, guacamole, garlic mayo and reggae, reggae dips and 1 very, very cold beer (preferably brewed in Bayern).

WARNING: THIS RECIPE MAY ACTUALLY MAKE YOU ENJOY A CHUCK NORRIS MOVIE!

How it went on the night...

To be honest, I really had high expectations of this restaurant as I truly enjoy real Nepalese Food. But overall I have to admit that the food here was very disappointing and had not a lot in common with the local food in Nepal. The dishes tasted very flat, and it seemed they had somehow forgotten how to include or use some of their spices. Maybe it is a bit too Europeanized. But still we had a pretty chatty and fun evening. We even had some action in the restaurant as a thief came in and stole a mobile phone from our neighbours' table. So half of the restaurant ran outside to pursue him. In the end they did not catch the thief but he didn't get anything as he had dropped the phone. So the lessons of the evening are: beware of "genuine" Nepalese joints in Berlin, and also watch your phone and bags in restaurants.