PAINPERDU: A FRENCH CLASSIC MADE FOR A STUDENT BUDGET

By Libby Barrett

As toast is a staple student food, I thought I would take some inspiration from our neighbours across the channel and try out this recipe for Pain Perdu – commonly referred to as ‘French Toast’ in English. As the name ‘perdu’ suggests, this medieval dish is a great way of using up the last few stale slices of bread which might otherwise be ‘lost’. Cheap, quick and easy to make, it makes an ideal student breakfast, snack or dinner.

Ingredients:

4 slices stale sandwich bread

1 medium eggs

2 tablespoons sugar

300 ml milk

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

20 grams butter

½ teaspoon cinnamon (Serves two)

WHERE ARE THE SPROUTS?

Directions:

1.Beat the egg, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract in a bowl until well combined. Whisk in the milk.

2.Dip the bread slices into the egg mixture, one at a time.

3.Melt the butter in a pan on a high heat. Then reduce the heat to medium and panfry the bread for 2 minutes each side or until golden brown.

4.Serve immediately - delicious with fresh fruit. Bon appétit!

By Sam Arrowsmith

Despite being a popular vegetable in Brussels, sprouts only seem to really come into their own around Christmas time, particularly in the UK. Brussels sprouts are often just associated with Christmas dinner, like pigs-in-blankets or roast turkey. This is probably the case if you spent Christmas Day in the UK, but what if you ate Christmas dinner somewhere else in the world? If you do, it's very likely that you wouldn't find some of the quintessential UK Christmas dinner items on the table (especially sprouts). So what would there be instead?

The Guardian recently published an article surveying what various families eat for their Christmas meal, in the UK and Europe. While most people eat turkey and sprouts as part of their dinner, a lot of Europe does not. Other meats tend to be more popular across Europe; Goose is particularly popular in Germany, as is Ham in Finland and Duck in Denmark. Certain countries, such as Sweden and Portugal, incorporate their specialty fish dishes into their Christmas meals (pickled herring and salt cod respectively).

Regarding the variety of food served on the table, each country will have a vast platter of meats and vegetables - however, France goes the extra mile with its Christmas meal, known as réveillon (literally meaning "waking"). Réveillon is a meal that starts in the evening on Christmas Day, with the usual trimmings plus lobsters, oysters and escargots, and the participants stay awake till midnight finishing it (hence the name). Other countries, such as Belgium, Brazil, Canada (Quebec) and the USA (New Orleans) sometimes have this particular dinner as well. However, lots of countries do seem to follow the UK tradition, such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Tamales are popular in Central America, whilst brazil nuts are popular in South America as part of this festive meal.

These examples just touch the surface of the variety of Christmas food enjoyed across the world. It goes to show that whether you like sprouts or not, there's much, much more to enjoy whilst partaking in the season's eating.

(For more information visit: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/dec/21/what-does-

I POSTI PIÙ BELLI PER SCIARE IN ITALIA di Klaudia Kowalska

Se vogliamo passare un weekend o una settimana bianca a rilassarci, ma anche praticando il nostro sport preferito, dobbiamo scegliere bene la nostra destinazione. In questo articolo, ovviamente parleremo di Italia e di suoi posti più belli per darvi qualche informazione oppure un’idea per questa stagione invernale, se non fosse troppo tardi, o per le vostre prossime vacanze. L’Italia offre tante stazioni sciistiche localizzate sulle famosi Alpi e sull’ Appenino centrale.

1.Cervinia, situata in Valle d’Aosta, è da sempre una delle mete preferite dagli sciatori italiani e stranieri, dove è possibile sciare anche in estate e tutta la giornata senza mai rifare la stessa pista. Qui lo sci non conosce stagioni e attrae i turisti anche in luglio ed agosto sempre con neve bianca ed aria fresca.

2.Livigno, situato in Lombardia, è una destinazione sfruttata ogni anno da migliaia di appassionati di sci, freestyle e snowboard. Lo snowpark è infatti il più grande e attrezzato d’Italia.

(Per continuare a leggere tutto l'articolo, visitate il nostro sito web: www.theuoblinguist.co.uk)