Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

Well, now there are quite some good cheese products that are made from cashew & macadamia nuts. Have you ever tried them? There's a French brand called Jay & Joy that makes this kind of cheese almost as good as normal cheese. Their Blue cheese is actually one of the best I've ever had

I know what you mean with those hard chunks of soy, lol. I always encounter this kind of soy in the local organic supermarket but I've never tried it. Do you prefer it vs. firm tofu/tempeh? I normally go for tofu, as it's easier to chop and mix with certain spices.

Plus, since the Dutch food culture is strongly influenced by former colonies like Indonesia, there are a lot of well known dishes for which we can use firm tofu or fermented tofu (tempeh), like gado gado (rice, vegetables and peanut sauce) and nasi komplit (rice, vegetables and pepper paste).

There's a wonderful type of fruit that could be a great substitute for your faux meat in goulash. Have you ever heard of jackfruit? It actually has the same texture as pulled pork. You don't even have to cook it. Only thing is that you add some spices in the mix and you're good to go. I've tried it a few months ago for a goulash recipe. And I have to say: it tastes like the real deal

You're totally right, vegan cheese still is quite, well, let's just call it, a challenge. It's far from my favourite alternative product, even though you can taste the progress they've made
I haven't come across the French product you've mentioned but it sounds like something I'd like to try. I'll have to keep my eyes open, maybe something similar or even the real deal will be available soon.

As for jackfruit, we used to have a tree in our garden in OZ, so I know what the fruit looks and tastes like, sigh... So far, I've only found a couple of ready-to-eat products here which weren't really my cup of tea because they didn't get the seasoning right. But yes, as far as the consistency is concerned jackfruit makes for a great meat substitute.

I'd really love to get my hand on the fresh and unprocessed fruit because it tastes amazing. But since they one jackfruit is the size of big loaf of bread, I'm not holding my breath for them to become available here anytime soon. Then again, we've got no problem, importing watermelons...

A friend just returned my German copy of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and told me he didn't get past page 150 because the story was so boring to him. I know what's boring to one is a thriller in the eyes of another, yet, I'm still crying bitter tears here because I just love Larsson's story telling. Maybe I'll do reread this summer to make things right again with the universe

Interesting! I didn't know that jackfruit is a thing in Australia. I can imagine that it is only easy to grow something like jackfruit in a (sub) tropical climate, so perhaps we'll just let climate change do it's job and we'll soon have jackfruit trees in our own garden

Haha, what a fun story. I remember that a pupil of mine was absolutely into Stieg Larson and devoured the entire series in less than 3 months. Have you also read the following series of Millennium by David Lagercrantz? It seems that his books have received some pretty decent reviews.

I'm personally more into theoretical books that are focused on philosophy, politics, economy & history. My personal favourite is the book on the history of mankind by Yuval Harari. It's very well written, especially in the way how he portrays ancient societies and how social constructs like the value of money come into play. I bet it's not a buzzkill for a lover of literature like you;p

I really like "A Brief History of Humankind" and "A Brief History of Tomorrow" by Prof. Yuval Noah Harari.

I bought the books because I wanted to learn a little bit more about history but was in for quite a surprise because instead of isolates events and dates...

... I got an amazing overview of how we got to where we are today and where, possibly, we are going form there and how it is all connected. Prof. Harari has the amazing ability to not just brush on a thought but think it through to the very end.

I really liked his books when they came out. They're the kind of books that ought to be mandatory reading. Unfortunately, you're the first person I know who's read them, too.

I read all kinds of books but I've stopped forcing myself to read stuff I that's poorly written (in my opinion) or that can't get into. Life's too short to waste it on things that will only make you talk about how little you've enjoyed doing / learning / ... them.

For a while I thought something had to be wrong with me because I was hardly able to find anything that held my interest.
But then I'd come across an author like Harari and realise there's just a lot of low quality books on the market and that just because somebody's done a bang-up PR job doesn't mean the work they're promoting has to be brilliant

PS: Sorry for not being in a very chatty mood today, but my little budgie died a couple of hours ago and, as much as I know that it's all part of life, I'm still really sad.

I'm sorry to hear about your Budgie, Leila. I understand that losing a pet is a huge grief. And having a budgie for 15 years doesn't make it easier. I hope that your other budgies give you comfort in this difficult time

It's indeed remarkable how well Harari connects historic events in a linear way without going too much off topic, which is a thing most historians have problems with. It's also interesting how he uses history in a logical and precise manner to make predictions about the future. In my book, he should not only be regarded as an accomplished historian, but also as an equally well-grounded futurologist.

Have you also learned from books that are badly written? Alan Moore, who is a well known British writer of comics like V for Vendetta, said in a recent BBC special that if a person wants to become a good writer, one needs to analyse books that are generally considered as poorly written.