6 awesome ‘exotic’ drinks you can make yourself

All of us get tired of the tried and tested once in a while, we start looking for something unusual, original and yet unknown.

When I travel I try to eat locally as much as I can and sometimes it leads to happy discoveries of really tasty dishes. Unfortunately you are not allowed to bring a year supply of something you liked with you. What about the recipes? Here are the recipes of the drinks that I enjoyed in different parts of the word – give it a shot and you’ll surely fall in love with these.

• Café Glacé – Russia, Iran

Do you like coffee? Yes! Do you like ice-cream? Sure, even more!

Well, if you combine these two together you will get a hearty drink. It is supposed to be served iced but I like it hot.

Simply put a spoon or two of vanilla ice-cream in your coffee. You can add chocolate chip, cinnamon or grated coconut.

If you’ve got some time you can follow this cute little recipe.

• Mulled Wine – Russia (popular throughout Europe, can be made with different variations)

In a cold winter day treat yourself with the warm spicy red wine.

The instructions are again simple – in a medium saucepan heat any kind of red wine with sliced apples, oranges, add cinnamon sticks, cloves and sugar to make the flavor richer (adjust the amount of spices and sugar to your taste). Do not boil! Let it sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.

• Horchata – Mexico

In Yucatan, you’ll see horchata frequently under the section of juices in a restaurant menu.

I was puzzled at first because I couldn’t find horchata in my dictionary and I wasn’t aware of any fruit that was called horchata in Spanish.

The truth is it’s not a fruit it’s a white as milk beverage made from rice and grated almonds.

The recipe as seen in Yucatan Today magazine:

To prepare it you’ll need a cup of uncooked rice, ¼ cup of almonds, 5 cups of water, 1 vanilla bean, 1 cup of sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Combine rice, almonds and water in a blender, blend until smooth, refrigerate the mixture overnight. Pour the mixture into a jar; add vanilla, cinnamon and sugar. Serve with ice.

• Kvas – Russia

Russians have been drinking this beverage since the pagan times. Kvas was the first drink to quench thirst. This beverage was considered to be a drink of heroes because it was supposed to bring strength.

Slice the rye bread or the combination of rye and wheat bread into cubes and put in the oven at the maximum temperature till the croutons are ready. Boil a saucepan of water, and then add sugar and croutons, let it chill. When the mixture is chilled enough add 10-15 grams of yeast. Cover the saucepan with cheesecloth and leave ferment for 2 days. Before serving first filter kvas through the cheesecloth.

 

Asian Yogurt Drinks:

• Doogh – Iran

A savory and refreshing Persian drink that goes with many Persian dishes especially rice and kabob.

Carbonated water I guess is the key here if you want to get a fizzy drink.

Link to a detailed recipe here.

• Lassi – India

Lassi is a sweet yogurt Indian  drink.

Both of these drinks have yogurt as a basic ingredient, you can experiment a little bit by adding your favorite fruit to the yogurt to make a different kind of lassi – banana, mango, pineapple etc.

Don’t forget to add cardamom for an exotic feel.

Link to a detailed recipe here.

What is your favorite exotic drink?  Share the recipe!

Dress Locally Or Choosing Outfits In Iran

The popular saying goes “When you are in Rome, do like Romans do” which is absolutely correct. When you are visiting a country you need to follow the tip every travel magazine will give– get familiar with the local habits, act like a local. You know how to spot a foreigner, right? May be they have that confused look in their eyes, a map in their hands and a phrasebook in their bags. What else can be a red flag of an ‘outsider’?
They dress differently, of course! So before going on a trip you can do a little research about what people actually wear in that place. You have a choice whether to dress locally or not, unless you are going to Iran where you have to obey the Islamic Republic dress code.
When I was preparing for my first trip to Iran I went to a Muslim dress shop in my area. They had a couple of nice outfits in there but as soon as I told a shop assistant I was travelling to Iran she immediately suggested …. a veil, because “Iranians are really serious about that”. The whole idea made me tremble I didn’t want to look like a batwoman ( by the way Iranians call this type of a veil chador-e khoffashee, which literally means a ‘bat veil’). I went out of the shop without giving it a second thought.

When I actually got into the country I discovered there was the whole other way to dress there apart from putting on intimidating black veils that of course do exist, there is no denying it. But it’s mostly worn by married women whose husbands or whose families are very religious or by Basiji women (Iranian militia) or the women who hold high governmental posts. So no one wears it unless they have to. Women from all over the world want to look pretty, don’t they?