"reading"

I've been "reading" this Japanese book on tea time in Europe. The author visited several European countries over 10 years and talks about her observations as well as the different tableware and food items for each of the countries that she visited. The thing I love about this book is that the photos are beautifully taken and there isn't too much narrative....why?

One thing when I "read" Japanese books is that I usually need to look up kanji (Chinese characters) that I'm not familiar with (and that is usually a LOT). I usually take out my kanji dictionary, a Japanese-English dictionary and I also write down the kanji that I don't know into a notebook. (I have had this kanji dictionary as well as the Japanese-English dictionary since college.) If I don't have a lot to look up, I usually write the kanji and meaning in the margin of the book.

By writing down the kanji in a notebook, as I am "reading", I can look back at the words I have looked up and it usually helps me "read" the rest of the book a little more easily. As you can tell, since it takes so much effort, I don't usually "read" a lot of Japanese books.

So, I was reading the chapter on Holland and the author talked about warming caramel waffles (stroopwafel) on top of her mug. (Man, I wish I knew about this when Satoshi and I were visiting Amsterdam in 2000). Of course after reading about it, I needed to try it for myself.

Since I was near my favorite gourmet supermarket on Tuesday, I picked up some stroopwafels as well as two new teas.

Pukka had a black spiced chai tea & BOH had an earl grey with tangerine. (Pukka also has a herbal chai and a green chai, the green chai uses green tea.) I usually make my chai with black tea and fresh spices, but was interested in seeing how a teabag type would taste.

I immediately brewed a cup of coffee when I got home, and put the first waffle on top. I don't think I waited long enough because the caramel didn't get gooey.

After finishing my cup of coffee and the waffle, I surfed around on the net then had dinner. Then for dessert, I brewed a cup of chai using the Pukka tea, while I was waiting for the tea to steep, I placed my other waffle on top.

The waffle got so soft, it almost fell into the cup! The chai was delicious, though I think I should have steeped it for longer.

I've read some blogs that Starbucks has a caramel waffle, I will have to check if ours does.

p.s. I also tried the BOH earl grey, it was very citrusy and fragrant and delicious with a splash of milk.