Posted in Eat, Holiday, tagged Daniel Boloud, La Esquina, Locanda Verde, Mercer Kitchen, momofuku, New York City on April 27, 2010| 63 Comments »
Fruit Loops Milk Panna Cotta
New York City is like one great big meal. A bit extravagant, somewhat pricey, but overall an unforgettable experience. So what makes New York so special to me? Like any great meal, each dish has to be well executed, a little bit edgy, sometimes unexpected, each plate should be unique but complementary to the whole experience.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged la broche, sergi arola gastro on April 19, 2010| 58 Comments »
Tortilla Espanola from Sergi Arola Gastro
In my previous visits to Madrid, I have always had this impression that this city had such a deep and long-standing history with food. In fact, many of the well known restaurants in Madrid (such as Lhardy, Casa Botin & La Bola) have been around for over a hundred years. It feels like you are stepping back in time when you have a meal as the owners have made every effort to preserve the atmosphere of these restaurants as they were generations ago. In such a city that is in love with preserving the old, and its traditions, particularly in food – is there a place for the new as well?
One big “Claro que si!” I’d say.
Posted in Holiday, tagged dogs on April 16, 2010| 37 Comments »
Cheek to cheek
Today I received an email from my Dad, telling me that my two labradors were fine… that is… “fine but undisciplined”. When I read this I showed the note to my husband and we both agreed my Dad was wrong. Sure, they have had their share of accidents, but we firmly believe that they are just adventurous explorers (also known as notorious scavengers)! (more…)
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged casa botin, casa labra, casa lhardy, casa lucio, madrid, museo del jamon, tapas on April 13, 2010| 55 Comments »
Casa Labra, Madrid
Every year, thousands of pilgrims head to the town of Santiago de Compostela where it is believed that the body of St. James is buried. Some people will undertake the pilgrimage as a way of penance, and a way to get closer to God. The pilgrimage can take as little as five days (I was told) or as long as several months. A pilgrim can also purchase what is known as the credencial or a pilgrim’s passport which is stamped with the official St. James stamp in each town where the pilgrim has stayed. At the end of the journey, pilgrims receive a certificate of completion, called the compostela, which means they have walked the last 100 kilometers to get to the destination.
They say, this is a spiritual journey of a lifetime that I one day hope to experience. But in the meantime, I find myself in Madrid instead, and am about to embark on another type of pilgrimage. This culinary pilgrimage starts at our hotel and I stop at various restaurants and tapas bars along the way to reach, around five hours later, my destination. The final stop is a street called Cava Baja. At first glance, it looks like an almost impossible feat to eat in this many places in one night, but like any pilgrimage, there are mini and longer breaks. My mini breaks are the tapas bars where we enjoy one or two little dishes and move on. The longer breaks find us in restaurants like Casa Botin or Casa Lucio for a proper meal. At the end of our journey, the certificate of completion I get is not a compostela, but instead, a few extra kilos on my frame!
Posted in Eat, Holiday, tagged 7th arrondisement, eiffel tower, le clos des gourmets, paris, rue cler on April 8, 2010| 66 Comments »
Eiffel Tower, 7th arrondisement
Come and take a walk with me, along my favourite arrondisement in Paris.
The 7th… while home to the Eiffel, is so much more than that!
Posted in Eat, Vacation, tagged christian constant, jardin des tuileries, les cocottes, paris on April 6, 2010| 54 Comments »
Step away from the fridge!
“Step away from the fridge! ” I barked at my husband. “It’s wired!” I continued.
“You’ve just picked up the bottle of water. We’ve got five seconds before we’re charged. We can still salvage the situation. Put the bottle down and slowly close the fridge.” I added.
And this begins our first day in Paris.
Posted in Cook, El Comedor, tagged bacalao, easter, fish dishes, salt cod with red peppers on April 4, 2010| 46 Comments »
Bacalao a la Vizcaina
It seems to me that in Australia, one of the staple Easter treats, are hot cross buns. In my family, it’s Bacalao a la Vizcaina. Every Easter, particularly, on Good Friday, this is the one dish, we all looked forward to having. Growing up, the idea was that on this particular Friday, we were required to fast the whole day and the one main meal we’d have, we’d have to abstain from meat. Bacalao, being the first meal we’d have for that day, was something we eagerly anticipated.
In my younger years, I always associated Lent and Holy Week as a season of sacrifice. Which is why we had to fast and abstain from meat on Fridays, say extra prayers and go to confession. I always had this notion that part of the sacrifice was having the Bacalao dish. Not because it wasn’t any good. In fact, I thought, it was so delicious, that the “grown-ups” (as we used to call the… uhmm… “grown ups” in the family) decided to serve it but only in very small quantities to torment us. Can you imagine, fasting the whole day and only having one small serving of this dish along with a slice of tortilla espanola? It was pure torture!
Now I think the only reason we had so little of it was because Bacalao was not that easy to come by in the Philippines – at least then. Luckily, Sydney has a few stores that stock up on salt cod and last Friday we all managed to have generous portions of this dish. Honestly, it was so enjoyable, I almost felt sinful for being able to eat so much!
Posted in Bake, tagged brioche, chocolate babka, easter treats on April 1, 2010| 59 Comments »
Chocolate Babkas
She’s Back!…
It feels like only yesterday that I introduced you to the Blog Monster and was sharing some of her lovely recipes. And my Mom’s coming back tomorrow and I can’t wait! I thought that the best way to welcome her was with a freshly baked babka which I took from the Australian Gourmet Traveller April Issue. This babka is made with chocolate and a hazelnut paste and is one of the best brioche recipes I have tried so far. This is the second time I’ve made it and, I like the dough so much, I am thinking of using it as a base for other sweet (and savoury) creations! I’m thinking along the lines of Lemon and Orange, or maybe even Chorizo and Caramelized Onions, or Ham and Cheese?! The choice is endless so stay tuned!
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Trissalicious
Trissalicious 