Fish 'n' Chips, Dolmades and Falafel in the Harbor town of Howth

Howth is a harbor town just a few miles from Dublin, but is a quaint village that feels countries apart and millenniums away from the hustle and bustle of the capital's city center. After a twenty minute ride on the aptly named DART, a train serving the greater Dublin area, it was like I had stepped out of a transporter and back in time.

Howth had things I could feel Dublin longing for. Howth had fishermen. Howth had sailboats. Howth had a fresh food market.



Of course, the first thing we did was stave off our hunger with some treats from the locals. I rekindled my long term love affair with food from the middle east with two dolmades and a falafel wrap from a Lebanese vendor in the Sunday market.


Jake, sticking to the town's true palate, had a fresh serving of Fish 'n' Chips.


Our hunger for legitimate edibles satiated, we began to satisfy our need to find a beautiful landscape. On the way we found these guys, also enjoying a lunch of local fare:


Bellies full and content as a couple of lazy seals, we decided to change our focus from gastronomical pleasures to aesthetics. We began a winding hike around the peninsula of the town and it was not long before we were salivating over the views du jour.

Gyros with Tzatziki

This meal was, as Sandra Lee would say, "Semi-Homemade." Not all that appetizing, but I like this gal's pluck and shiny outlook on things, despite the fact that she has come to grips with the notion that she really won't ever have the time or energy to make something from scratch. As a college student, I have the luxury of being able to say that "Time is on my side," like some crooner on a soft-rock radio station, and I don't always have time. So I'ma throw that lady a bone, and say, "I hear ya, Blondie, and I appreciate your sense of reality."

Okay, so by "semi," I meant just one ingredient was home-made. And get this Martha, it was only a sauce, a sauce that merely required some folding in of ingredients. What it lacks in complexity, though, it makes up for in taste. I give you Tzatziki:

(This recipe comes from the Greek cooking class I took when I studied in Athens. Stavros, my Athenian teacher, gave it to me. If you knew Stavros, you would know that he would want this recipe barked aloud, in a heavy Greek accent with a heaping dose of agitation.)

TZATZIKI DIP

INGREDIENTS FOR 1 ½ KILO

STRAINED YOGHURT 750gr

CUCUMBERS 800gr

GARLIC 5 cloves

FRESH MINT 1 bunch

FRESH DILL 1 bunch

OLIVE OIL ½ tea cup

WINE VINEGAR 2 table spoons

SALT ¾ of a tea spoon

PEPPER ¼ of a tea spoon

OUZO 2 table spoons

METHOD

First we pass the cucumbers from the grater and leave them for an hour in the strainer.

We make sure that all the juices have gone.

Then we chop the mint the dill and the garlic very fine and we mix them together with the yogurt and the cucumber. Now we add the salt-pepper-oil-vinegar and ouzo and mix again until make sure that is ready. We cover the bowl and keep it in the refrigerator. We can serve it with vegetable sticks and pitta bread.

I put mine on warmed pita with falafel from a box--surprisingly good.

Alright, I know I have put you and all of the rest of the real Foodies through a whirl wind of food related debaucheries today, but I'm about to slam you with the ultimate in Foodie crimes.

The Sultan of Sick.

The College Cliche.

I PUT THIS ON RAMEN NOODLES!!! Bwaahahahahahaaa! I know, I know, I should be balls deep in embarrassment right now, but to Hell with it, I am a college student after all...