Gastronomic Firsts: Pasties, Fish and Chips, Profiteroles, Muesli

Since orientation is finally over and I'm done shopping for stuff I need, I have time to properly write about some notable gastronomic firsts.

Pasties:
*Pronounced past-ee, past like "the ghost of Christmas past."
John and I first tried pasties during the Arcadia orientation last week in London. A pasty (singular, and short for Cornish pasty) is essentially a calzone, but with pot pie filling. Depending on what filling you get, it could very well be just like a calzone-shaped Hot Pocket. I had two pasties during the course of orientation from The Pasty Shop in the London - Euston train station. The first one I had was chicken and vegetable. The crust was soft and flaky, but not so flaky that it left a crumb trail down the front of my pea coat. The crust was lightly greasy, thus enabling the pasty to be sufficiently filling and a meal in itself if needed. The filling was just like that of a chicken pot pie -- chicken and vegetable in a thick broth-tasting sauce. Very delicious.

The second pasty I tried was a chicken balti. Thanks to my Interp class freshman year (the food class), I knew that balti implied curry in terms of food in England. So I ordered one and it was quite good as well. Not too spicy, but not too bland; exactly as you'd expect curry chicken in a pot pie to taste like. Actually, I really liked it a lot -- I'm getting hungry just writing this.

Fish and Chips:
OK, not much to say here actually. Fried fish filet with potato wedges. Mayonnaise comes with it (not tartar sauce!), and a wedge of lemon for seasoning. Quite alright, but I didn't notice anything distinctive from just taking a Gordon's fish filet and adding a side of fries. However, fish and chip outlets are plentiful throughout the UK, and I've only tried it at the food court in the mall on Queensway (London).

Profiteroles:
This is a very delicious dessert pastry that I had during my first night at homestay. At first appearance, I thought they were round eclairs, but they taste slightly different. For starters, profiteroles are moister because the chocolate sauce poured over the puffs does not harden. Also, the chocolate sauce may contain liquer (there was sherry in the chocolate sauce on the profiteroles I had). If that's not moist enough, cream may be poured over the puffs as well (which is how I had them). I consumed these cold, but I'm not sure if they can be consumed warm. Definitely recommended for chocolate lovers or just sweets lovers in general. Again, I'm getting hungry just thinking about them. ::Eyes jar of nutella, the closest thing I have to it::

Muesli:
I had some muesli at breakfast while I was at homestay. At first look, I thought I was having trail mix for breakfast, but my host family told me to add some milk to it and eat it like cereal. Indeed, it tasted just like I imagined trail mix with milk would taste. The muesli I had was a blend of almonds, coconut shavings, sunflower seeds, dried fruit pieces, and rolled oats. Definitely healthy and nutritious; I enjoyed it very much. It wasn't very sweet, but for not having any added sugar or honey, it was pretty tasty.