As I've mentioned before, I'm not a scientist, but I do get paid to write about them. Here's an excerpt of my latest interview with a scientist working in Belgium, in town for a break. We met at Kerbey Lane Cafe.
ME: So, you live in Belgium. Tell me about that.
RESEARCHER: I'm studying at KU Leuven, developing cartilage intermediate. It's scaffold material for patients whose bone fractures don't heal easily--
ME: What do you like the best about living there?
RESEARCHER: I enjoy the work I'm doing and my colleagues--
ME: No, I mean about Belgium. Not your work, but the country. Let's talk about the food.
RESEARCHER: Oh, (laughs) I thought this was an interview about my work.
ME: It is, but I also want to know about the culture of Belgium.
RESEARCHER: Well, there's good beer.
ME: Yes. I've heard that. What about the chocolate?
RESEARCHER: Oh the chocolate is fantastic!
ME: I've heard that.
RESEARCHER: But what's really mind blowing are the waffles!
ME: Waffles! Yes, yes tell me about the waffles.
RESEARCHER: They're so good! They sell them in food trucks.
ME: Really? I would not have thought that.
RESEARCHER: They're warm and the texture is amazing, and it almost doesn't matter that the sugar crystals in them burn your tongue. They're so delicious.
ME: Wait, sugar crystals?
RESEARCHER: Yes. These small pieces of sugar that crystallize when they're cooked.
ME: Wow. They sound delicious! I really want a waffle now.
RESEARCHER: Wow. Yes...so as I was saying we're working on a cartilage substance that will help bones with critical-size fractures fuse--
ME: Have you seen the waitress? (picks up menu, reads it) Ugh. Can you believe it? They don't even have WAFFLES?
RESEARCHER: That's a shame. (reads menu) Maybe a pancake?
ME: I mean they're good, but they're not waffles.
RESEARCHER: French toast?
ME: Not even close.
RESEARCHER: Oh, look they have gluten-free pancakes.
ME: Shoot me.
RESEARCHER: It's kind of the same with tissue engineering; even if a substance is close, it doesn't matter. We really need the exact material to accomplish a scientific objective---
ME: Sure. So is there any place in Austin that makes these waffles?
RESEARCHER: No, not that I know of.
ME: No place?
RESEARCHER: No place in the U.S. that I know of.
ME: Huh.
RESEARCHER: You really can't get them unless you're in Belgium. Shall we get back to my research?
ME: ....
Update: On December 10, 2014, roughly seven days after this interview, I discovered a place on 32nd Street and Red River, newly opened, that sells Liege-style Belgian sugar waffles. I believe I manifested it.
VALERIE NIES
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