Green Olive Tree

Second attempt at the no-knead bread

2011-04-08T13:22:00.004+08:00

[No-knead bread]

Baked the no-knead bread once last year, wasn't too hard, but just didn't get around doing it again. Recently, I got interested again, bought some yeast and was waiting for the baking mood to come along. Realizing that the instant yeast I bought were going to expire in July, the frugal-not-wanting-to-waste me got to work. After consulting several food blogs and receipe versions online, and after lotsa trial and errors, I've been baking non-stop for the last two weeks....based on this this amazingly fool-proof recipe by www.seriouseats.com. Try it, happy baking!

A practical call

2011-03-15T13:03:00.003+08:00

[Call to conserve electricity - March 11 Japan]

For the Japanese, practicality overrides all things. First things first: BE ENERGY EFFICIENT - conserve electricity.

A hideaway enveloped by forests

2011-03-14T20:57:00.005+08:00

[Arcana Izu, Japan]

Was considering this onsen resort in Japan for my honeymoon, I guess not anymore... Would love to spend a weekend there at some point though. Monocle Magazine raves about it, looks like a fabulous place to escape from Shanghai for the food and fresh air.

Arcana Izu, Yugashima
〒410-3206　静岡県伊豆市湯ヶ島1662
T 0558.85.2700 F 0558.85.2701
E-mail: reservation@arcanaresorts.com

Japanese Black Seseame Butter

2011-03-07T13:10:00.003+08:00

[Breakfast]

Just the right tint of sweetness - goes with anything, especially good with Ritz Crackers.

Unique food gifts from Tokyo

2011-03-03T22:15:00.005+08:00

[Higashiya Ginza's sweet potato chips]

Uniquely sliced and packaged sweet potato chips - no additives, so it actually taste like nothing :)

Get it at Higashiya Ginza

Hot Pot King

2009-04-08T18:16:00.011+08:00

[Authentic Chongqing Hotpot]

This devilish concoction is none other than the famous spicy hotpot of China. Mind you, your spice tolerance level has got to be 5 chili peppers and beyond. Otherwise you're gonna suffer.

We savored this particular hotpot dinner in the city of Kunming, located in the Southwestern province of Yunnan, in the company of an old friend Qingqing. It was supposed to an authentic Chongqing-style hotpot from the ex-Szechuan province, made out of a sort of butter and lots of different spices including the tongue-numbing Szechuan pepper.

Notice the little partition in the middle, that's the non spicy broth for those without an acquired taste of all things spicy. The usual practice is for a group of people to sit around a table, order numerous plates of sliced meat, seafood, mushrooms, vegetables, tofu products, cook the food in the bubbling pot and dip them in their own custom-made dips. Indeed, the highlight of every hotpot place in China is the huge buffet-style dip section. You can make you own dip with every kind of sauces, spices and herbs such as vinegar, satay sauce, cilantro, sesame oil, sesame seeds, 5 different kinds of soy sauce, and 10 different kinds of chilli paste or sauce.

I was told by my chinese colleagues that the hotpot phenomenon is more of a winter get-together thing so I would suppose that hotpot restaurants would be less busy when the days get sunnier. In Shanghai, we like to frequent this less chaotic and more upscale chain - Hotpot King, at their two locations, one in the west side of the city and one in downtown.

Shanghai Eats

2009-03-12T17:24:00.012+08:00

[Xiao Long Bao]

It's unbelievable, we've been in kungfuland for almost six months now! When I first got here I found that I wasn't able to add new posts to this blog. Friends and readers have emailed me to inquire of my whereabouts and realizing it's been almost a year since I've posted anything, I decided to post this picture I took of my first xiaolongbao in Shanghai. Notice it has a little opening on top!

I had just saw some friends in Singapore over the weekend and all of them have asked how we've been adapting here. It' s been really easy considering there are so many comforts in this city. Massages are 7.70 euro per hour, housekeeping services are 2 euro per hour, and taxi fares are 1.10 euro. Food-wise, there are so many interesting restaurants around that I've probably got all the weekends for the rest of the year to check out new places to eat.

Before I pen off, here are two addresses to try out xiaolongbao while you're in Shanghai.

Ding Tai Fung
2/F, South Block, Xintiandi
6385 8378

Lynn
99-1 Xikang Lu
near Nanjing Xi Lu next to the Portman Ritz-Carlton on Xi Kang Lu
西康路99-1号, 近南京西路
6247-0101

An island getaway at Tioman

2008-04-23T12:15:00.009+08:00

[Japamala Resort, Tioman Island]

Blame it on writer's block... here comes the long awaited trip report. Three full days of complete indulgence and relaxation is how I would summarize our trip last month to Tioman, an under-the-radar island off the Eastern Coast of Malaysia on the South China Sea. The trip came about because I had to think of something unique for T's 30th. As I couldn't quite yet grasp his design barometer, so a piece of design junk was definitely out of the question. I thought hard and long, and since he had never been to any interesting parts of Malaysia, a surprise island getaway would be a novelty, I had hoped.

How should I describe this place that I finally nailed down? Japamala tries to be lavish yet laidback. With only 12 Thai-Balinese-styled chalets, the secluded resort made us feel like we were the only ones at the place. Service was impeccable with extremely well-trained and well-mannered Burmese attendants. After all, that's how you would coin a boutique hotel, wouldn't you. For me, it's that personal attention that matters. Here, you don't get noisy families and throngs of people everywhere at some of the mainstream hotels on the island. Along the sun-dappled beach on our side of island, we could kayak or swim out to see the colorful marine life underwater, or take a walk out to another stretch of sand for some solo sunning.

[Whole lobster fresh off the grill]

Apart from having time to just chill by the beach with a book and a nice cool drink, the retreat is sprinkled with what I call instant gratifications. You can get a Thai massage by a skillful Thai therapist on an open-air deck, or you can have a nice picturesque lunch at the bar-restaurant, pearched up on stilts 100 metres away from the shore. Pictured above, the kitchen serves up a casual Italian fare with quite decent pizzas, pastas and grilled seafood. It boggles my mind as to why the management didn't choose to focus on local cuisine, since most of the guests hail from international places. I guess the forgiving bit was that the seafood served are fresh catch of the day by local fishermen around the island. We had big tiger prawns, lobsters and fish such as sea-perch and grouper, locally known as Kerapu and Kerisi. And for the very least, the sauces accompanied are sprinkled with local flavors like tamarind, lemongrass and chillis.

The other restaurant at Japamala serves up scrumptious breakfasts and dinners that we savored daily. Thai and Vietnamese influences are heavy on this one since the resort grew out of the success of the owners' first Indochinese restaurant venture in Kuala Lumpur. We had some really good squid stir-fried, curries, and salads made out of local ingredients like cilantro, peanuts, and green papaya.

Dusk on the island -- the view of the restaurant on stilts -- is mersmerizing. Attendants start to light up candles everywhere on the wooden walkways leading to the chalets perched up on the hill. For the two of us, spending three days there was just about right given that all you do is to hone the skill of doing nothing. A time of rest, relax and reflection, can all be had at this tiny boutique resort if you're willing to forgo having to do different things on your vacation.

In the know:
Japamala Resort
Tioman Island, Malaysia
http://www.japamalaresorts.com/

Air-flown desserts from Hong Kong

2008-03-25T11:53:00.007+08:00

[Sweets from Hong Kong]

These cute little mochis in unusually creative flavors were a little surprise gift from T's recent business trip to Hong Kong. Milk Tea, Yellow Split Peas with Coconut Milk, Red Beans and Green Tea... how funky is that. My favorite flavor is Tofu with Fresh Mango, which got me hooked during my Christmas visit to the city. The filling is a smooth mélange of fresh mango bits in a mango-flavored tofu puree.

Traditionally, mochi is made by pounding steamed glutinous rice in a large wooden mortar with a wooden mallet until it becomes a powder form. This is made into a dough and formed into little balls with sweet red bean paste as a filling. The type of rice used is a stickier variety of rice - glutinous rice - different from the steamed rice on everyday dining tables.

Originally a Japanese confection, these small, round rice cakes with fillings are getting into the mainstream of Asian confections. To be fair, the Chinese has a variant version of mochi, which are called "lo mai chi", translated as glutinous cakes. It is so popular that even ice-cream versions can be found in the frozen department of Singaporean supermarkets.

The next time you're in Asia, do look out for them!

A whole lot of recipes from Weekend Herb Blogging

2008-03-17T14:00:00.025+08:00

From Seattle to Sydney, we've got 30 cooking ideas (including mine) for last week’s Weekend Herb Blogging. This should make a home dinner planner very happy for the remainder of spring with all these recipes featuring healthy vegetables, herbs, spice and grains. Let’s dive right through the list...

Meatball Barley Stew
Location: Vendee, France
Katie’s official good-bye to winter is this stew that she claims doesn’t require hours of cooking and could be adapted with ground chicken or turkey, and even a vegetarian version. Read more at her blog Thyme for Cooking.

Beans and Beans with Garlic and Tomatoes
Location: Seattle
Finding an innovative way of cooking green beans, Kaykat of Cooking From Matoz decided to create a gravy-laden dish with a can of cannellini beans and a generous portion of chopped tomatoes and crushed garlic.

Rogan Josh: the ultimate comfort food
Location: Toronto
Elizabeth from “Blog from OUR kitchen” features the Bay Laurel for WHB. Her recipe is adapted from a Kashmiri dish named Rogan Josh. She has made her own version with pork instead of lamb.

Salt Lassi
Location: Mexico
Relatively new to the food-blogging scene, chef and cooking school owner Victoria of Flavors of the Sun gives us a run down on everything we need to know about cooking with salt, along with her simple yoghurt drink.

Mushroom Fried Rice
Location: USA
DK of Culinary Bazaar shares with us a rice recipe using a variety of fresh and dried mushrooms and a whole lot of other vegetables. Sounds like a tasty and complete vegetarian meal.

Peruvian Quinoa Stew
Location: Sydney
Anna from Morsels and Musings conquered three of her 2008 Food Challenge and succeeded in replicating a Latin American recipe from the cookbook “Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. Her key ingredient is the quinoa grain, something that I would love to attempt as well.

Spring Carrots with Mint & Quinoa
Location: Southern California
Another quinoa creation, this time by White on Rice Couple’s Dianne and Todd. Their recipe is lovingly made with miniature palm-size carrots harvested from their very own edible garden.

Roasted Asparagus Recipe with Creamy Tahini-Peanut Dipping Sauce
Location: Utah
From the creator of WHB, Kalyn adapted a sesame-peanut sauce to go with roasted asparagus (instead of the usual way of cooking them in hot water). Sounds like a very easy starter, good for appeasing hungry guests at the dining table.

Borscht
Location: Southern California
Wandering Chopsticks features what she calls a “gloriously vibrant soup” with Ukrainian roots. Borscht is made with beets, and is said have been brought in to America by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.

Pineapple Prawns
Location: Clermont-Ferrand, France
Pamela aka The Cooking Ninja shares with us a stir-fried pineapple and prawns dish. Learn more about the pineapple fruit and try her tip of using its juice as a meat-tenderizer.

Nectarine and Raspberry Strudel
Location: Melbourne
Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe gives us this amazing fruit-paring dessert recipe complete with photographs of the assembly process and lots of research on the vitamin-rich nectarine fruit.

Sticky Ginger, Fig and Nut Loaves
Location: Sydney
Lemonpi has got some sticky ginger, fig and nut loaves to share. This cake is simple and not too sugary, and the figs make this perfect weekend treat fibre-rich and low in fat.

Lemon & Honey Drink
Location: Sydney
Zoe of Puku shares with us a soothing citrus remedy and tells us why lemons are great for cold and flu. Her entry is also loaded with lovely pictures of her cooling creation.

Mint Tea
Location: Melbourne
Featuring one of my favorite herb, Haalo from “Cook Almost Anything” creates a batch of mint tea using fresh mint leaves and gunpowder green tea leaves. Learn about the goodness of the herb on her blog.

Kohlrabi and Apple Salad
Location: Cesseras, France
Jennifer of Like to Cook introduces us to the curious looking kohlrabi or cabbage turnip. Love this healthy fruit and veg combination. Thanks for your courage of picking that first kohlrabi up from your market!

Chervil Kohlrabi Soup
Location: Northern Germany
Also using Kohlrabi as a key ingredient, Ulrike of Küchenlatein creates a soup with the addition wonder herb Chervil, which is purported to aid digestion and liver and gall functions.

Brussels Sprout Stir Fry with egg, chilli, ginger and garlic
Location: Oxford, UK
Sophie of Mostly Eating gives us a fun way to up our Brussels sprouts intake with her stir fry. She convinces us that growers have been working hard to come up with sweeter tasting varieties of the vegetable, and she offers a list of other recipes to tinkle with.

Herbed Hemp Seed Balls
Location: New York
The Chocolate Lady tries her hands on these balls with lot of other seeds that she thought turned out a bit more like falafel balls. A great finger food that also goes along perfectly good with pasta and sauce.

Olive Chicken Stew
Location: Lima, Peru
Olive-obsessed Gretchen of Canela & Comino gives us a lesson that olives cannot be eaten straight from the tree; only the processed are edible. Her recipe is a great complete meal fit to feed the entire family.

Vegetable Lumpia
Location: Philippines
Spring rolls are a mainstay in various Asian cultures, and Lumpia is the native name of these delicate parcels in Gay of Scientist in the Kitchen’s home country. This version is absolutely fun with its use of sweet potato, taro and Thai basil.

Shrimp Risotto with Sugar Snap Peas
Location: Canada
Jerry’s risotto recipe features the use of a homemade shrimp stock and a complex intermingling of flavours including a hint of mint, a touch of chili pepper spice and lotsa sugar snap peas.

Sun-dried Tomato Hummus
Location: Atlanta, USA
Chris of Melecotte gives us a fun variation of my favorite party food, the Middle Eastern chickpea dip, Hummus. Check this one with the addition of sun-dried tomatoes and parsley. Absolute yumm!

Kimchi Pork Stir Fry
Lcoation: California
Tigerfish of Teczcape is getting into the "heart" of kimchi -- Korean pickled cabbage. Recounting a little story she heard one day, she explains how a kimchi pork stir-fry is done.

Just-About-Spoonbread Quick Corn Muffins
Location: Iowa City, USA
Genie of the Inadvertent Gardener has got all the mileage for her prized Iowa sweet corn which she even got some frozen from last summer. There’s more you can do with basic cornbread and muffin mix with the addition of fresh corn kernels. Wicked.

Chicken Tikka with Onion Relish
Location: Victoria, Australia
Pam from the Backyard Pizzeria has got a great chicken dish you can’t resist, especially for a spice-seeker like me. This recipe has got the chicken sitting in a yoghurt marinade, complete with the flavours of coriander, garam masala and just a hint of chilli.

Lazy Potatoes
Location: India
Sra of When My Soup Came Alive has got it right with this spice-laden baked potato dish for that lazy day in. Her rethoric of “lazy days are great for food” proves that with the odds and ends that you have at home you can end up with a stunner.

Colcannon
Location: USA
Getting ahead of St. Patrick’s Day, Glenna of A Fridge Full of Food gets into the festive mood with her cardomom-spiced colcannon served with corned beef and green bread.

Rose Petal Ice Cream
Location: Somewhere on the globe
Ever thought about spiking delicate desserts with rose petals like what the Indian Maharajahs do? Snehal of Gel's Kitchen Blog shares this creation using perfect rose blossoms from her garden.

Taro Root Fry
Location: Glendale, California
Divya of Dil Se tries her hands for the first time at some taro root fries, easy enough to give yourself a try.

Butternut Squash and Pancetta Risotto
Location: Alaska
Laurie of Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska made up a batch of butternut squash risotto that looks absolutely lovely. She even shares with us a bonus accompanying recipe, pan-fried scallops and capers.

Fried Onions for Indian Cooking
Location: Croatia
Maninas gives us the run down on how to brown onions, a base for most classic Indian cooking. She tells you what fats to use, how to slice it and how to brown them to the edge short of burning.

Want to participate? Weekend Herb Blogging for March 16-23 is hosted by Katie from Thyme for Cooking. Send your entries to thyme2 (dot) kate (at) gmail (dot) com before Sunday March 23.

Tanja's sunflower & pumpkin seed wholemeal bread

2008-03-15T12:19:00.013+08:00

[Down to the last morsel]

As I butter the last piece of homemade bread that my friend Tanja baked for me, I pondered upon the possibilities of the aroma of freshly baked bread coming out of my own oven. I think what really appeals to me about making your own bread is knowing what goes in the ingredients. As a German living in Singapore, I bet what drove Tanja into making her own breads is the lack of hearty country loafs available. The local palate ranges from the fluffy to the chewy, more like a brioche than a bread.

Cookies, brownies, sweetbreads, all the baked goods not requiring proper machinery, I've been able to churn out with ease. But there's a whole lot of dog-eared pages in my recipe books that are classified for a later time when I've got more kitchen space for that bright red heavy-duty KitchenAid cake mixer... and now I'm toying with the idea of a bread machine.

It ain't gonna be an easy task, selecting the perfect bread machine. So far the ones I've seen on the market are pretty much aesthetically challenged. Armed with the curiosity of how bread machines actually work, I scoured the Net and found a fact sheet titled "Selecting a Bread Machine." How wild is that? There are also loads of discussions and forums on the Net about hand-kneading versus using the bread machine. I suppose there's no fool-proof way. Both methods require lots of trials to perfect the recipe.

For Weekend Herb Blogging, which I'm hosting this week, I thought it would be fun to feature Tanja's own adapted recipe. She's kind enough to sit down and transcribe it for me. I had thought about sending the recipe to my mum who is an avid baker and bakes her own bread as well. This recipe is really precious since it's the labored result of all of Tanja's trials and errors. THANK YOU TANJA!! For those who are gonna really try it out, I hope you get to taste the same wholesome goodness as this last piece I'm savoring.

Wholesome Bread a la Tanja

200gm plain flour
150gm wholemeal flour
1 packet dry yeast (about 1 tbsp)
1.5 tbsp fresh lemon juice or rice vinegar
1 potato
30gm wheat grain
30gm barley grain (or any other preferred grain)
40gm sunflower seeds
40gm pumpkin seeds
300ml water
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp sugar

Cook potato in about 300ml of boiling water in a saucepan. Add wheat and barley into the boiling water to soften them, half way through before potato is done. Drain and place cooked ingredients plus 250ml of the cooking water into a food processor or blender. Give it a few pulses until it becomes a mushy consistence. Add salt and sugar and let it cool down a little.

Mix both the plain and wholemeal flour and the yeast together and build a mountain with a hollow in the middle. Add the processed mushy grain fluid into the hollow, followed with butter and lemon juice (or vinegar).

Mix it all together and form a dough. The longer you knead the dough, the better it will rise, so keep kneading. Place moist and clean dish towel over dough and let it rest and rise for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, roast seeds in a dry Teflon pan (do not add any fats). Stir them every now and then and watch them carefully to prevent scorching. Let them cool, while waiting the dough to rise.

Knead dough again, add more flour when needed and add the roasted seeds. Knead carefully and leave it to rest again for an additional 30 to 45 minutes.

Now more kneading to be done; add some flour when needed and knead until you have a dough firm enough to form your desired loaf shape. Leave it on an oven-tray letting it rest and rise for another 10 minutes. Bake in preheated oven (180ºC) for 50 to 60 minutes.

Tip: You can place a cup of water into the oven; the water vapor will give your loaf a crispy crust.

Lunch at Waterstone Piccadilly

2008-03-06T15:41:00.013+08:00

[Salmon and chive quiche with chickpea salad]

I have taken the effort to think about some interesting things to write about my food experiences in Asia, but I have not been able to work with the log of pictures I have captured in my camera. There's a story idea related to Hong Kong, and one to my trip to Bangkok last weekend, and certainly there's one coming up on an island resort in Malaysia, which I'll be visiting tomorrwow, spending a long weekend of sun, sea, and savor.

As I've mentioned in my previous posts, there are several places in Europe that I've visted last year, which I've not finished blogging. So here you go, a little tip on a good meeting place in central London. A few reasons why this place is on my recommendation list, with the largest appeal being it's not too crowded (you can actually get a seat) and it offers a rooftop view of the city. Also, it bookstore location is great for killing time if your date is fashionably late. And lastly, they have a decent serving of lunch food in a classy casual environment.

Set on the fifth floor of what is coined the "largest bookstore in Europe", the cafe/bar in Waterstone's Picadilly offers a great selection of quiche, soups, and sandwiches. My picture above can attest to the quality and presentation of the food, I hope. I was told that the former tenant Simpson’s of Piccadilly was London's iconic menswear department store. The building was also the first British shop to feature an uninterrupted curved-glass frontage. (This last bit of information of course comes from my googling exercise.)

The last time I was in the city late last year. I met my auntie Christina there. We had a hard time deciding where to meet, me coming from East London and her coming from West London. We had a fabulous lunch and I was very pleased that she had a good time herself discovering some place out of the ordinary and she could do a little post-lunch shopping in the area too.

In the Know:
5th View Bar & Food
203-206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LE
Tel. +44 207 851 2433

I am hosting Weekend Herb Blogging for March 10-16. You can write about any herb, vegetable, or flower, and if you like, share a recipe with us. To participate, check out the rules and send me your entry by Sunday March 16. If you do not have a blog, send me an email to greenoliva (at) gmail (dot) com.

Herbed Risotto

2008-02-11T18:32:00.000+08:00

[herbed risotto]

Ever since the move to Singapore in October last year, things have been extremely eventful for us. Friends and family visiting, vacations abroad, the holidays… Even though the kitchen has been quite seasoned for day-to-day meals, I haven’t seen myself having extra time for baking cakes and whipping up a special meal from a cookbook, let alone styling and photographing food! Though there was an occasion when I had the inspiration to improvise an herbed risotto recipe I have.

The result is the picture above, which I’ve taken the effort to photograph a blog entry. The only misgiving was that I have procrastinated this post for two months, do forgive me. I’ve had an anonymous reader asking me where I have been and an aunt from London who inquired me of my whereabouts as she has not received any blog updates from me. So I thought I’d better pull my act together and get this post out. Here's the recipe...

Herbed risotto

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
1 cup spinach (you can substitute with another vegetable. I've used pumpkin and it was great!)
3/4 Arborio rice
2 cups hot chicken stock
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary (and, or other herbs)
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in a large skillet. Sauté onion until fragrant for 1 minute. Add vegetables and sauté for 2-3 minutes until rather tender. Add rice. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add stock, salt and pepper. Cook, covered until the rice is tender on the outside and chewy inside. While the rice is cooking, sauté the mushrooms in olive oil. When the rice is done, fold in the mushrooms, cream, herbs and cheese. I garnished mine with toasted black sesame seeds for some visual interestingness!

Meal Muji

2007-12-07T21:49:00.000+08:00

[Eating at Muji]

I must say as a big Muji fan myself, the highlight of my recent trip to Tokyo was a pilgrimage to the Japanese design retailer's flagship store at Yurakucho. Despite being housed in a warehouse-style building, the minimalist designs of Muji permeates each space, making all the 5000 well-designed and simple products stand out in its own "less is more" way.

[Healthy set at Y650]

The huge non-smoking deli-style cafeteria is a great spot to have a bite break from all the shopping one would have done. The food is a fusion of Western and Japanese, with entrees such as pumpkin quiche, broccoli with scallops and tofu, fried chicken, lotus root salad, and five grain rice. A set meal starts at Y650, which is a bargain, and the menu changes depending on the time of the day.

[Muji Yurakucho's flagship store in Tokyo]

For those not in the know, the name Muji is short for Mujirushi Ryohin, which means "no brand, good product". This alludes to their design philosophy of not having the company logo or name to appear on or inside their products. Even their advertising campaigns are so streamlined, it uses impressive images to convey its message with only a tiny "Muji" imprinted on it. If you are are tempted to make your own way to this huge Muji shrine, be reminded that it is just walking distance from the Ginza shopping district.

In the know:
Muji Yurakucho
3-8-3 Marunouchi
03-5208-8241
http://www.mujiyurakucho.com

Food as an art form in Japan

2007-12-03T11:30:00.000+08:00

[Artful Japanese kaiseki service on board ANA]

Most visitors to Japan will take notice of a uniformed monoculture society with a high level of politeness and civil awareness. On the contrast, there is also the high level of creativity and attention to aesthetic details that I marvel every time I'm there. Apart from the gift packaging tradition that promises a beautifully wrapped item that the assistant will bring to the store exit and handing to you with a full bow, a visit to the restaurants will ensure that all your senses are stimulated with the intricately presented culinary offerings.

A kaiseki restaurant offering haute Japanese cuisine is a case in point. Visitors are promised an odyssey of flavors, textures and colors. Originating from the Zen monks, the characters for kaiseki means "stone in the bosom", referring to the monks' practice of warding off hunger by tucking hot stones in their kimono sashes. My friend Michiko in Kyoto was telling us over lunch that this zen tradition where the cuisine evolved from explains why most kaiseki meals are so light and consists of largely vegetarian ingredients, such as different types of tofu, tiny cut vegetables in different colors and forms.

Today, a traditional kaiseki meal is often a multiple-course meal with a focus on harmony between food and nature. Emphasis are placed on seasonal ingredients, different preparation techniques and the presentation. From the tiny ceramic bowls and the few slivered sashimi floating on dry ice, everything shouts of the artful forms that the Japanese are so well known for.

[Mini Kaiseki in Kyoto]

Depending on how much you want to spend, a proper kaiseki meal averages about 8000 yen per person. However, in many restaurants in Kyoto, where this form of cuisine originated, you can get a simple version like the picture shown above for about 2000 yen.

Green Beans with Sesame Miso Dressing

2007-12-03T10:37:00.000+08:00

The following recipe is a sample course of a kaiseki meal. It is adapted from Kyo-ya Restaurant of San Francisco.

2 cups green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
Sesame Miso Dressing:
2 tablespoons shiro miso (white miso)
3 tablespoons white roasted sesame seeds + more for garnish
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Parboil green beans in a large pot of rapidly boiling water for 45 seconds. Drain and immediately plunge into a bowl of ice water.
Using a mortar and pestle, blend together shiro miso, sesame seeds, sugar and soy sauce. Smash and mix until the sesame seeds are not visible when stirred.
Drain green beans and blot dry. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the dressing until the beans are evenly coated.
Serve in small bowls and lightly sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Osaka's Okonomiyaki

2007-11-28T11:54:00.000+08:00

[okonomiyaki + yakisoba]

Delay no more... I'm starting to get emails from readers checking my whereabouts. My wanderlust has gotten me to Japan and back. This time besides shopping and more shopping in Tokyo, I got around taking the Shinkansen bullet train to Osaka and Kyoto for a bit of outside-of-Tokyo reality. Though I must say, I'd rather spend the entire 10 days in Tokyo alone. There's just too much to see and too little time to fit all in.

With a food-themed blog like this, a snapshot of the food I savored is a must. First off, let's check out this Japanese pizza-like delicacy from the Osaka area. Okonomiyaki restaurants are so much fun. They're more like street food than anything else fancy. You get a server turning the gooey dough into a irresistible crispy pancake filled with seafood or meat right in front of you on a grill. Top it up with bulldog sauce, mustard and Kewpie mayonnaise, you've got just the right flavors oozing through the thick yet light pancake. I'd say it's like a cross between savory pancake and pizza. To check out how this is done, here's a recipe to attempt.

[Japanese pancake/pizza]

In Osaka, we were fortunate to have an old college mate of mine to take us to the best restaurants around. Ryutaro and I went way back to our junior year when we both had part-time jobs at the same place. Those were the days when we had to show up at 7 in the morning, preparing salads, fruits, sandwiches and packing them into clear plastic cases for delivery across different cafes on campus. Now 10 years later, he's a successful businessman having been expatriated to Egypt where he met his wife and now having a new-born daughter named Marina. It's so much fun to relive the good old days with lotsa beer and good japanese bar food. Ryu is just how I remembered him to be, his ability to down pints of beer before the first course is served and his laughing reprise of what life brings.

Autumn notes in my pumpkin soup

2007-11-02T09:43:00.000+08:00

[La calabaza - Fresh pumpkin]

I love the seasons. They somehow serve as a time marker for me and I love the change of wardrobe and the different holidays and foods that comes with each change of season. With no signs of falling leaves and a drop of temperature, a bowl of warm pumpkin soup serves to remind me of November, the only month left before fairy lights are lit up and year-end reigns in.

Living in a metropolitan city means as long as you have the resources, you can get just about any ingredient you need for the enterprising cook. My first attempt with pumpkins here were quite a bit stressful as I realized right before serving my guests that the local variety made the taste completely off. So last minute measures to save the tureen of soup included throwing in some curry spice and that somehow helped.

While food-shopping in a Japanese grocer the other day, I discovered a completely different species -- Japanese pumpkins -- with its beautiful dark green hue on the outside and radiantly golden flesh in the inside. Aha! I found the closest substitute to recreate my trustworthy German pumpkin soup. With all those jack-o-lanterns chucked aside for disposal, you might want to think about using them to impress your love ones with this easy culinary treat, spiced with loads of tarragon and nutmeg. If you are a little adventurous, here's a spicy Asian take on the vegetarian soup, the Thai pumpkin soup, made with lemongrass and coconut milk. And most importantly, be mindful about how you would spend the second last month of the year. Before you know it, a good year would have just flown past.

adventure with vongole clams

2007-10-30T23:18:00.000+08:00

[one bag of vongole clams; two ways of serving]

My foray into Fishes one evening after work led me walking away with a bag of vongole clams flown in that very morning from Italy. I must say I was definitely in the mood for trying something new. With the enthusiastic assistant giving me a classic Italian recipe off the top of his head, I couldn't resist paying premium price for these tasty morsels from the sea.

I was busy thinking about how I should go about with this project -- well, following a recipe IS a project for me since I hardly ever cook with a recipe -- when T went, "don't you have to like soak those clams in salt water for a couple of hours?"

This coming from someone doesn't cook and who has yet to make me the risotto that apparently was the one star dish honed during college days. I was skeptical but dished out my collection of cookbooks right away in search for the proper way to deal with my clams. Voila, sure enough, there it was, instructions to soak clams in salt water for a few hours to naturally release the sand and impurities trapped inside the shells.

I was thinking that one big bag of clams for a simple pasta dish for two just doesn't do it. I could save one third of it for another new culinary experiment I thought. So the next day I decided to tackle the signature spanish dish -- la paella. Truth is I have been procrastinating about putting the paella pan that came with the rental apartment to good use. And with Mark Bittman a.k.a. the Minimalist at the New York Times publishing a simple paella dish that cuts the laborious steps of the traditional cooking method and ingredients used down to just one third, I couldn't help but got hooked on the idea of putting aspirations into action.

The end result was an improvised version from the combined wisdom of the Minimalist and Penelope Casa, who has a classical Paella a la Valenciana in her cookbook - the Foods and Wines of Spain. Ingredient-wise, mine has tomatoes, chicken, and clams. We had a German vistor that day from Singapore and he had the honor of being the "official taster" for my ambitious tryout. Wasn't too bad I reckon. Everyone had a nice share of the dish that evening.

If you want to try it out yourself, here are the recipes.

Tagliatelle alla Vongele

4 large garlic cloves, peeled and diced finely
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
30 vongole or little neck clams (about 3 1/2 pounds)
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper (chili) flakes, plus extra for serving
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 cup of white wine
12 ounces linguine
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
sea salt and freshly milled pepper

Soak clams in salted water for a few hours before hand.
Cook pasta in a plenty of salted water. While pasta is cooking, in a wok or large skillet add half the oil and all the butter and saute garlic till fragrant.
Add washed clams and saute on medium-high heat. Add salt and black pepper and pepper flakes. Saute for another minute. Add white wine and keep stirring and let sauce reduce. About 2 mintues later (when majority of clams are open) add chopped parsley and cooked pasta.
Serve right away garnished with more pepper flakes and salt to taste and the remaining olive oil.

Quite Easy Paella

Serves 5

4 cups chicken bouillon
Half a whole onion
1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into thick wedges
4 scallions, chopped
1 medium onion, minced
3 clove garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp of saffron
2 teaspoons Spanish pimentón (smoked paprika), or other paprika
2 bay leaves, crumbled
Chicken (wings or legs)
30 clams
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2.5 cups Spanish or other short-grain rice
Minced parsley for garnish.
Lemon wedges for garnish

Heat broth with the saffron, pimentón and whole onion. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
Remove onion and measure broth -- you need exactly 4 cups.
Preheat oven to 420 degrees. Put tomatoes in a medium bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle them with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Toss to coat.
Cut chicken into small serving pieces -- Dry pieces well and sprinkle with salt. In a metal Paella pan, with about a 15 inch base, heat the oil. Add chicken pieces and fry over high heat until golden. Remove to a warm platter.
Add the chopped onion, scallions, garlic, and pimentos and saute until the onion is wilted. Stir in tomato paste, saffron if you are using it, and paprika and cook for a minute more.
Add rice to the pan and stir to coat it well with the oil. Sprinkle in the chopped parsley and the crumbled bay leaves. (You can make in advance up to this point.)
Stir in hot broth and the wine. Salt to taste. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, over medium high heat about 10 minutes.
Bury chicken in the rice. Add clams and mussels, pushing them into the rice, with the edge that will open facing up. Put tomato wedges on top of rice and drizzle with juices that accumulated in bowl. Put pan in oven and roast, undisturbed, for 15 minutes.
Check to see if rice is dry and just tender. If not, return pan to oven for another 5 minutes. If rice looks too dry but still is not quite done, add a small amount of stock or water (or wine).
When rice is ready, remove from the oven and let sit on top of the stove, lightly covered with foil, for about 10 minutes. To serve, decorate with lemon wedges and chopped parsley.

Edible Lego building blocks

2007-10-24T18:41:00.000+08:00

[Lego cake]

Running out of ideas for your next birthday cake or potluck party? With color frosting and marshmallows on hand, you can recreate these fun-looking cakes. Here's how you put together the building blocks.

Three degrees north of the equator

2007-10-17T17:28:00.000+08:00

[Once a favorite of mine]

It was vacation, and the next thing it was relocation. I am now going to be based in Asia for those of you not in the know. This bar is in the National Musuem of Singapore and I took this picture back in March. Unfortunately, it's changed hands and it doesn't look and feel quite like it used to be anymore.

Until I get the inspiration to start taking pictures here again, I'll be blogging about a few places worthy of sharing in Europe that I've been lately. This little note signals that I'm alive and well, as they say in Spanish - dar señales de vida. Hasta muy pronto, te prometo.

De vakantie

2007-09-14T22:23:00.000+08:00

*The long-awaited vacation is finally here. I'll be in London and Venice till Sept 27. A presto!

Fishes

2007-09-13T22:23:00.000+08:00

[Fresh fish and seafood at Fishes, Amsterdam]

With a 9 to 5 work schedule, I could never indulge in the luxury of selecting the freshest seafood from one of the open-air markets in town. The neighborhood Albert Heijn (the ubiquitous Dutch supermarket) around the corner is one of the bigger stores in town but there’s no fresh meat or seafood counter in sight. Cellophane-wrapped ground round and chicken breasts abound, and so are cooked tiny shrimps and sickly colored farm-raised salmon. But other than that, I really did have a problem finding a good source for the fresh catch of the day.

That was before I stumbled on Fishes, an unusually sleek fishmonger, unbeknownst to the unsuspecting eye on Utrecthsestraat. Flanked by two facing rows of funky cafés, ethnic restaurants, quaint little shops, traditional delicatessens, hairdressers, and high-end furniture stores, the fish shop stays open 30 minutes past the 6 p.m. closing time for almost all stores in town, allowing people like me to slip in for a few fresh scallops for the evening pasta.

[A fish delicatessens on funky Utrechtsestraat ]

The minimalist and chic interior makes it an experience to select the freshest ingredient for that special homemade dinner. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful and they really know what they’re selling and what to do with them. Fresh whole dorados, deboned monkfish, marinated shelled jumbo shrimps, wild trouts, imported Spanish sepia... all these you can find alongside freshly made raw fish sushi and that emergency lemon that has yet to be checked off from the shopping list.

In my next post I’ll blog about one of my retail adventures there: a splurge that resulted in two surprise culinary creations, one of the recipes given to me on the spot by the enthusiastic assistant. Next up, I'm eyeing at the live lobsters swimming in a built-in tank in the wall. I'd have to research a little more about dealing with the king of crustaceans.

In the know:
Fishes
Utrechtsestraat 98
Amsterdam

Loading up on kitchenware in Amsterdam

2007-09-11T01:30:00.000+08:00

[Duikelman's porcelain section]

There's one address in Amsterdam that avid bakers and passionate cooks show up for their tools and wares. I first learned about Duikelman because Talia was raving about this awesome zester/grater that gets the zest off lemon without that white pith. And she was sure that I would be able to find it at this store loaded with every kitchen gadget imaginable close to De Pijp's Albert Cuypstraat open-air market.

Sure enough, the store had the Microplane zester that I was looking for. Not only that, the person who helped me was very helpful -- gave me a whole run down of all the options I had, and he seemed extremely knowledgable of every item stocked.

With two adjoining stores and a prominent window displaying a colorful row of Kitchenaid cake mixers, the family-owned business has been around for 60 odd years. Across the street, they have another storefront for fine porcelains and a showroom for home and professional kitchens. I was so drawn to the minimalist display in the porcelain storefront, with an upstairs corner dedicated to a fine collection of cookbooks in both Dutch and English.

My sudden urge to stock up on bakeware has gotten me a 30cm Kaizer loafpan, a glass-bottomed springform pan, and a fluted tart tin. I am comtemplating going back for a paella pan sometime this week, and for your information, the search on the perfect egg cup is still on.

In the know:
Dzuikelman
Ferdinand Bolstraat 68-68A
1072 LM Amsterdam
020-671.22.30/ 671.75.69

Sleek Restaurants of Amsterdam: Brasserie Harkema

2007-09-08T01:27:00.000+08:00

[Lunch fare at Brasserie Harkema, Amsterdam]

The last two times we dined at this sleek eatery, we found ourselves being the only guests at their premises. The reservation I made was unwarranted but the quality of service and food (rack of lamb and tuna steak) we found extremely good.

Second time around was a bit disappointing. The renovation in the main dining hall had just been completed, it was lunch time, the server noticed our presence, but went on about her business by the kitchen. It probably took us a good five minutes before we decided to seat ourselves by the huge window and at this point the server slowly strolled by. The saving grace was the food served -- best fries in town. I succumbed to my craving for a good hamburger and T had a dish made with mussels and a wine sauce.

Despite the fact that this restaurant is in the Wallpaper city guide, it's not getting a whole lot of traffic and momentum these days. And so it goes in the competitive world of setting up restaurants, the fad will aways give way to the other new kid on the block. However, if you want a decent meal in a design-conscious environment, this is a good place to go. It's very easy to get to with its location so close to Het Spui and the flower market. And you can easily take a design detour to visit Wonderwood and Droog nearby after your lunch.

In the know:
Brasserie Harkema
Nes 67
+31 (0)20 4282222

Sleek Restaurants of Amsterdam: Balthazar's Keuken

2007-09-06T00:35:00.000+08:00

[Assorted appetizers at Balthazar's Kitchen]

A fabulous girl I know from work, an accountant by day, is a serious kickboxer. Yup, think Million Dollar Baby. When it comes time for a match, she trains hard and consumes all the calories she needs. Lunching with her makes me feel like a wimp -- portions that throw any diet out of the window.

When it comes to food, Gabi is a connoisseur in the Amsterdam foodie scene. I "interviewed" her once on her favorite eateries in town and she was kind enough to list them all out on a piece of draft paper, along with a line explaining each place's key characteristic. Once, we've gone together to one of the places she'd recommended - Pata Negra, a lively tapas bar in Utrechtsetraat that has been faithful in serving latenight bites to merrymakers in search of the scarce working kitchen past 9.

Her favorite haunt in the list was this small Meditarranean place -- Balthazar's Keuken in the Jordaan. There's no menu. Instead, you get to choose a meat, fish or vegetarian set dinner that the chef would create for the evening. It comes with an assortment of appetizers and a dessert to complete the meal.

I made my reservation (open only for dinners from Wednesday to Friday), and showed up for the second seating at 8.30. There was a gathering crowd on stand-by for their reservations. The interesting thing was how the restaurant owners were able to control the traffic. They technically have a right to request the first seating guests to leave by that time.

We were completely pleased with the entire meal. I haven't been so excited about a particular food for a long time, but I remembered savoring every bit of the fried Indian-inspired appetizer with onions in a spice-loaded fritter-coating. The goat-cheese with olives went very well with the farm bread that was served and the server was more than happy to replenish the bread basket. We each had salmon on risotto and a duck with new potatoes as the main course, and was served a delightful coconut ice-cream to end the meal on a sweet note. Plenty to fill the tummy and lots to offer for a cosy dinner for two. This is truly a gem for Amsterdam.

In the know:
Balthazar's Kitchen
Elandsgracht 108, Amsterdam
Reservations in advance: +31 (0)20 420.21.14

Marrying table etiquette with outdoor dining

2007-09-03T18:05:00.000+08:00

[Snap and Dine single-use tableware]

What a quirky way of reinventing the idea of a picnic in the park. The work of product designer Demelza Hill, Snap and Dine is a "portable lunch setting that reinforces some of the tables manners and etiquette that have been lost over time." Presented at the Milan design festival and International Furniture Fair, the design won the young designer the British Council's National Design Award for 2007.

I would love to see it on the retail shelves some day! Bear in mind that it's truly green too: components made out of completely bio-degradable plastic resin.

*Image courtesy of www.demelzahill.com

Garden-fresh runner beans

2007-08-30T23:05:00.000+08:00

[Freshly picked purple runner beans]

Look at these beans, oozing with dizzying delectability! From the garden of T’s aunt in Sevenoaks right outside London. I was given a bagful to bring home to Amsterdam two weekends ago. Not sure about how long the beans will stay peak in my refrigerator, I “googled” and found these storing tips from a UK site advocating seasonal foods.

“Runner beans will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days but, as with all legumes, the beans' sugars start turning to starch after picking and they are best eaten as soon as possible.”

So to savor these freshly picked beans and optimizing the vitamin C and fibre it has to offer, I sautéed them in olive oil with garlic the very next day, and served them with some organic ravioli I picked up from the health store near Rijksmuseum on my way home from work. Real easy and simply healthy. Except the lustrous purple hues didn’t stay mauve when cooked. Yup, you guessed it, they all turned into the color what beans are normally known to be – green! The wonders of nature...

*This is an entry for Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen.

Bling H20

2007-08-27T23:30:00.000+08:00

[glitzy designer water for sale]

Would you pay 49€ for a bottle of water? I suppose someone crazy about displaying an empty bottle studded with real Swarovski Crystals might...

The owners of De Waterwinkel (translated simply as the water shop) in Amsterdam certainly knows people who would pay beaucoup money for designer water, as their entire store is a retail space for beautifully packaged water from around the globe. (Though they don't carry my favorite water on earth - the Vichy Catalan.)

We were wondering if their main business is largely based on corporate water supply accounts cos we just can't seem to make out the revenue equation one can get out of a pretty shop selling pretty water. We absolutely love the Ty Nant still water's bottle design, conceived by Ross Lovegrove who used to work for Frog as a consultant to Apple.

I have asked my visiting mum to double as special delivery service to bring this bottle back to my little brother as a little gift from Amsterdam. With all the airport security measures, she insisted on knowing the contents of the parcel.

"What's in this?"
"It's a surprise."
(feeling the outline of the parcel) "It's a bottle... what's in it? A special drink?"
"Well, it's a bottle of water..."
"You mean drinking water? Is it the sparkling kind that we had in the restaurant?"
"No..."
(Unspoken expression says: You want me to bring back a bottle of plain drinking water for your brother?)

Well, of course it buffles her that I'm giving her an extra half liter of water to add to her bulging suitcase. And of course, I can't tell her how cool the thing is until she sees the thing herself. Thankfully, my brother thought this was the coolest thing ever. I can only thank my product designer of a boyfriend for coming up with this idea.

In the know:
De Waterwinkel
Amsteldijk Zuid 197
(Across from the College Hotel, near Museumplein)

Foodie’s weekend trip to London

2007-08-23T20:57:00.000+08:00

[Food stalls at London's Borough Market]

Back from my weekend trip in London and all I can say is that it revolved around food. Surely, what else can it be since I write a food blog and am obsessed about taking photographs of edible items? These images can only attest to the decadent sights and smells (not to mention cheese sample tastings) that were to offer from my Saturday morning window-marketing, if there is such a thing.

It was not really just a short get-away. More like a get-orientated-n-meet-the-family trip, T carefully thought out that the most fun thing to do would be a morning foray at Borough Market, which he deemed “a very Kelly thing to do”.

The background information carefully relayed to me in amused detail by family members D + F were that ages ago the market used to be this truly original organic farmer’s market where Londoners, high on taste, style and health, could expect to pay a reasonable price for a basketful of wholesome ingredients for an at home gourmet meal.

Today, with its repertoire evolving into a standard Saturday-morning activity for a lot of Londoners and tourists in the know, the close-knitted group of stallholders are giving room to a wide range of gourmet food offerings from every corner of Britain and spilling over to the continent. Authentic Spanish carnicera, French cheese specialists, organic Italian Parmeggiano-Reggiano, you name it. One may still expect to find artisan food products like fresh organic raviolis, smoked tofu and handmade truffles. We were poking fun at one of the organic vegetable stands, which I was told, is now ridiculously over-priced and offers dirt-covered vegetables that one, adds up a good few pennies when weighed, and two, gives the customer a dilemma about putting away carrots with dirt.

Wholesale Spanish products retailer Brindisa has a full-blown retail space to attract its customers in search of the imported queso Manchego and Arbequina olives. As the well-known supplier of Moro, one of London’s most talked about Spanish restaurant, they even stock the Moro Cookbook alongside other Spanish culinary books. (Interestingly enough, my cousin is married to one of the original partners that started Moro, along with the Clarks – current owners, and a Sainsbury heir. Years later, Jake pulled out of Moro, and started his own Moorish-inspired restaurant Cigala at Lamb's Conduit Street.)

We were supposed to try out the best cheese sandwich nominated in Britain, but the guy was not there that Saturday. No luck this time around. We did wander into nearby Neal’s Yard Dairy, with me and D taking in every cheese bit that was offered. Since we were so close, and the restaurant offered a view of the Thames, lunch was decidedly fixed at Tate Modern. The walk towards the South Bank and London Bridge has a real London feel to it: trains running overhead, views of the Millennium Bridge and St Paul’s dome looming in the distance.

At Tate, the Cornish crab appetizer was a huge pleaser and so was the fish and chips made with haddock. I can’t help but notice all the Spanish servers and their very Spanish ways. It seemed to me from my last trip to London last year that a lot of young and not-so-young southern Europeans are quite attracted to a stint in the city, I assume partly to brush up their English, which is completely applauded considering they try.

In the Know:
Borough Market
London Bridge Underground Station

Neal’s Yard Dairy
6 Park St. 44-207/ 645-3554

Sleek Restaurants of Amsterdam: Envy

2007-08-14T23:40:00.000+08:00

[Envy of Amsterdam]

Close to the shopping streets of Negen Straatjes (9 Streets) and not too far from the Anne Frank Museum is the strategically located Envy, the talk of the town when it first opened a few years ago. One can never fail to notice the bar-restaurant's chicness as you walk past its glass-paned premises with immediate views of its busy open kitchen and Tom Dixon's installation of mirror ball pendants. The narrow and dark space concept was developed by the creative team at Concrete, known for their astounding designs in the city for places like the funky Supperclub, the renowned caterer AMAISON's concept store and De Lairesse pharmacy.

[Intimate dining at Envy's bar]

With a changing menu based on the fresh ingredients like Italian cheeses and prosciutto di Parma air-flown daily, the food is served a-la-delicatessen in small portions with very refined ingredients. The last time we were there for lunch, I had a lobster bisque and a veal salad and they were wonderful. It's one of those places that you pay for the ambiance and the foofoo-ness of the food, but it won't necessarily fill you up. (In Spanish, you say "pica-pica" for something like that - grazing.)

In the know:
Envy
Prinsengracht 381, Amsterdam
Reservations: 020 344 64 07

Aubergine lemon linguini with chicken

2007-08-10T22:36:00.000+08:00

[A healthy fusion pasta dish]

Entertaining is a form of art, albeit a tad challenging. You ought to present something completely innovative (from the guest's point of view) yet at the same time quite effortless to put together (from the host's point of view). Friends who have been invited over for dinner might know that one of my star dish repertoire is this aubergine lemon linguini with chicken.

This pasta dish combines a few distinctive spices like lemon zest and ginger, yet blends them so well into a flavorsome meal, completely balanced on the healthy diet scale. If you eyeball the ingredients and cooking directions below, you might notice a Mediterranean-Asian fusion thread. Happy entertaining!

Aubergine lemon linguini with chicken

1 aubergine/eggplant cut into 4 or 8 parts length-wise and subsequently into quarter-inch thick 'triangle' wedges.
Half a chicken breast thinly sliced across the grain into strips
Kikkoman soy sauce
2 tablespoon lemon zest
2 teaspoon grated ginger
2 tablespoon finely diced onion
1 clove ginger minced
1 teaspoon tarragon leaves
1 teaspoon black pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Durum wheat linguini cooked al dente

Marinate chicken strips with 1 tablespoon soy sauce and a dash of pepper and salt. Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients.

Put water to boil for pasta. Once water is boiled, add salt, and wait for water to reboil again. Add linguini. (If your pasta requires 11 minutes to cook, you could coincide cooking time so that both are done at the same time.)

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil on hot skillet and add onion, ginger and garlic. Sauté for one minute and add chicken. Stir-fry on high fire till cooked for a few minutes and add aubergine. Cook on high fire for 3 minutes till softened, while adding pepper, 2 tablespoon soy sauce, tarragon, in between.

Once aubergine is medium-soft, add cooked chicken, lemon zest, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon pasta liquid and simmer covered for 2 minutes.

Combine cooked pasta with lemon juice. Arrange aubergine chicken on top and serve. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and garnish with pepper.

*This is an entry for Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Melissa at Cooking Diva.

Bar Mundial in El Born, Barcelona

2007-08-07T22:43:00.000+08:00

[Bar Mundial en Barcelona]

Resuming my tapas run in Barcelona: for the same reasons you’ve got to be at Cerveceria Catalana to soak in the typical bar scene, Bar Mundial offers you yet another kind of down-to-earth neighborhood tapas bar tableau. Fresh seafood is the name of the game in this antiquated establishment, run by the same family for many many years.

That weekend I was in Barcelona, Nico and Ivan offered me the honor of choosing a dinner venue. And for T’s benefit, since I’m showing him MY Barcelona, Bar Mundial was my top choice, namely for the fresh-seafood-to-order tapas genre I want to orientate him through. We got lucky since Nico has an “enchufa” (literal translation for both plug and socket; Spanish slang for connections or network.) The “enchufa” is the co-owner -- the female counterpart of the husband and wife team, who went to school with the guy Nico was dating.

Okay, so we arrived, and we get (drum roll…) reserved seats at the bar – absolute prime real estate! You see, this is such a treat for me because I swear the first three times I tried to check this place out, I was flat down turned away cos it was full house, and it was late, and they simply couldn’t accommodate more. This was great. The fourth attempt and my first actual taste of the place, we were in the dining area, which was not all that fun. In contrast, the seats at the bar gets you all the action: people standing at the bar debating on the headline of the day and demanding for more cerveza, people beside and behind you talking loudly with their voice and their hands, tables so small all the food that arrives just appears to be larger and more inviting in size – you get it, it’s just more fun and less boring.

[Pulpo a la gallega]

To give you an idea of what kind of big seafood dinner we get, here’s what we ordered out of the menu: navajas con ajo y perejil (razor clams with garlic and parsley), mejillones a la marinera (mussels in white wine sauce), pulpo a la gallega (Galician-style octopus with paprika). We also had a huge serving of jamon Iberico, pan amb tomaquet (national Catalan dish – tomato and garlic on baguette) and patatas bravas (Spanish “fries” in its own right).

According to T, it was the best tasting fries he’s ever had. I’ve had some really good ones at Brasserie Harkema in Amsterdam past weekend but he insists that those Spanish ones are unbeatable, best tasting. I’m sure the olive oil used to make those patatas bravas does really make a difference.

So here you go, holiday-makers, you can’t miss this one if you’re heading to Gaudi town anytime soon. One online reviewer simply put it this way: “Popular with discerning Barcelona dwellers I cannot think of a more 'authentic' experience in the city.”

In the know:
Bar Mundial
Plaça Sant Agustí Vell 1, 08003 Barcelona
Metro: Jaume I
Reservations recommended: 933 199 056

Herbed Risotto with Portobello Mushrooms

2007-08-03T22:55:00.000+08:00

[First attempt at Risotto]

Okay, so the story was that I went completely berserked with risotto. Alright it was my first time making it, but rarely would I be completely satisfied with my own cooking (read perfectionist) let alone being so happy with it that I made it again and again for THREE consecutive days.

What is this?? Just rice in a creamy sauce? Well, surely not! This concoction has all the wholesome goodness of raw organic herbs and vegetables, namely rosemary, basil, tomatoes, portobello mushrooms, and red onions. And of course, imported Italian Arborio rice and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

The combination of fragrant herbs and tomatoes gives this dish a very light and airy taste. Completely flavorsome and fresh. With a recipe this uncomplicated; you will learn it by heart once you make it the first time. And maybe you’ll be remaking it again and again with your own variations for three consecutive days! Without further ado, here’s the easy recipe.

Herbed Risotto with Portobello Mushrooms
(adapted from Intercourses, an aphrodiasiac cookbook)

1 medium red onion finely diced
1 tablespoon butter
¾ cup Arborio rice
2 cups of hot vegetable stock
1 extra red and plump tomato diced
1 tablespoon of freshly chopped thyme
1/4 cup freshly chopped basil
2 medium-sized Portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
¼ cup crème fraiche
1.5 teaspoon olive oil
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
a generous amount of freshly ground pepper
salt to taste

Sauté onion in butter till fragrant and softened. Add Arborio rice and sauté for 1 minute. Add stock and let simmer with a lid for however long the packaging says it takes to cook rice (usually about 10 minutes.) Meanwhile, sauté mushrooms with olive oil for 2 minutes. When the rice is chewy and done, fold in the rest of the ingredients and add salt and pepper to taste.

*Style with more herbs and a sprinkle of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

This is an entry for Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen.

Best brown cafe food in Amsterdam

2007-08-02T03:00:00.000+08:00

[High Dutch Cuisine]

Amsterdam’s a great place to be, what with all the delightful culinary offerings I’ve been discovering. Thanks to fellow foodie Talia who sent some delectable brownies to my door in Barcelona some time ago, I was able to be in the know for some of the sure-fire finds in town.

Fluent in Dutch and blissful with her newfound role as mom, Talia has lived in Mokum (what locals call Amsterdam) for five years now. We met in person for the first time last month in a traditional brown café here in the Jordaan, De Reiger, which Talia chose for the “track record of good food” the couple of times she’s been there.

We both ordered the rack of lamb with fried gnocchis -- done to perfection, paired with a glass of red. So busy were we talking about life in Amsterdam, food, and one’s life passions that we realized that we kept missing the busy servers to place our dessert orders that we finally left without sweetening a tooth.

My second visit to De Reiger was with T cos I know how much he loves lamb. For a change, I ordered the fish of the day. It was a sea bass on a bed of mashed potatoes served with asparagus and this creamy and flavorfully complex sauce that was extremely good. Again, we didn’t get a chance to taste the chocolate mousse cos by the time we finished our main course, it’d already been a hearty-enough meal.

One of the online reviews warned about getting seats because it can get crowded at dinner time. However, my first hand experience was that reservations are not possible, so you’d have to show up either a little earlier or later than the usual dinner crowd. Be prepared though: Dutch customer service, when it comes to food, are notoriously leisurely slow. They’ll take all the time they want and you’d be lucky if your food get served within 30 minutes the moment you are seated. (That's if they take your orders within 15 minutes of you being seated.) This is just how things work. Good luck!

In the know:
De Reiger
Kitchen open from 6 p.m. to 11.30 p.m.
Nw. Leliestraat 34, Amsterdam
Tel: 020-624 74 26

La Cerveceria Catalana in Barcelona

2007-07-27T04:30:00.000+08:00

[Taking orders]

If you mention the name “Cerveceria Catalana” to someone who lives in Barcelona, the notion of clamoring for standing space at the bar at lunchtime amidst office workers and informed tourists comes to mind. With a name that literally means "the Catalan brewery", it's no wonder the place just exudes an air of heritage and prestige in terms of bona fide good traditional food.

Whenever someone visits me in Barcelona, this would be one of the must-do to expose them to authentic tapas and the whole chaotic and boisterous bar scene. There are three items I can’t miss ordering each time I’m there. The brocheta de langostinos (skewered grilled shrimps), montadito caliente de solomillo (the most perfect slice of sirloin on a piece of baguette), and patatas bravas (potatoes with a spicy mayo-based sauce).

[Cerveceria Catalana in Barcelona]

The best time to go is a good half hour before the official start of lunch time in Spain – 2 p.m. or right around 4 p.m. after the lunch crowd starts to disperse a little. It’s a lot more fun to find a seat at the bar than in the proper dining room as you can pick and choose the huge array of tapas and fresh ingredients displayed in front of you.

In the know:
CERVECERIA CATALANA
C/Mallorca 236, Barcelona
Tel: (+34) 93 216 03 68

Funky flavors of Cacao Sampaka

2007-07-20T22:17:00.000+08:00

[Tasting Menu: flavored cold cocoa]

Food gifts are my favorite kinds of gifts to give. In lieu of touristy souvenirs knick-knacks I would rather get some uniquely packaged honey, chocolate, tapanade that is characteristic of the city. In Barcelona, I have found that my chocolate gifts from Cacao Sampaka are a sure winner.

I introduced T to this warmly lit shop with an array of cocoa products smacked in the middle of Rambla Catalunya, the street parallel to Passeig de Gracia – the 5th Avenue of Barcelona. We happily stuffed our baskets with hostess gifts for the next couple of trips we’re making visiting friends. What took us a hard time deciding was which series of funky flavors we should pick for the chocolate gift boxes. There were eight of them all, very innovative selections including “Truffles-coated in bitter chocolate” and “Gastronomic innovations”. It’s a very common thing for the locals to present these “bombones” when they’re invited over for Sunday dinner, so it’s a right-on business model for the owners.

[Curry-flavored chocolate, anyone?]

The “Spices from the Americas” series for example has flavors like ginger and lemon; Jamaican pepper; cinnamon, coffee and cardamom. My favorite product in the shop are the “tabletas” shaped in two thin unconventional bars and packaged in a sleek plastic wrapper that purports to best preserve the flavors of the chocolate. They come in a great selection of flavors and textures as well as cocoa content. My two favorite are the dark chocolates. One with 71% cocoa content and raspberry- flavored, the other one with 60% cocoa and bergamot-infused.

We decided to take a break from all that walking and shopping at the in-store café. What caught our attention was a tasting menu of liquid cocoa in flavors that we get to choose from. We were completely delighted to taste the teaspoonfuls of cold cocoa, in flavors like saffron and orange, honey and vanilla, and jasmine tea. It was a shame we just feasted on an impromptu tapas meal, otherwise we would have gone for the bitter chocolate fondue with seasonal fruits. Well, all the more, it gives us an excuse to pop by again the next time we visit Barcelona at the end of August.

In the know:
Cacao Sampaka
C/ Consell de Cent, 292 • 08007 Barcelona
Tel. 93 272 08 33

Water, the Catalan way

2007-07-15T04:56:00.000+08:00

[El Vichy Catalan]

El Vichy Catalan! What more can I say? This elixir of life that fizzes with a taint of refreshing saltiness; a taste so unique it can only come from those natural minerals from Catalan resources. And yes, it’s my favorite kind of sparkling water, or water, period, for that matter. Too bad, I can only get it on a daily basis if I still live in Barcelona. Unless I don’t mind paying 5 bucks a bottle from some specialty online Spanish grocery.

Some people can have it at room temperature, some people insist on drinking them icy cold. I’ve been told that you either love it or you hate it. I think it can be true since water with bubbles (agua con gas in Spanish) let alone tasting a tad salty can be an all new experience for some.

I must say I’ve been raving about it so much that T had it already in his mental list of “must-try’s” in Barcelona. His first reaction wasn’t what I was expecting. “Why does it taste so salty?” he said grimacing. After the second sip, after a bite of food he went, “well, I think I can have this, with food.” Then he goes, approvingly, “Hmm, it’s salty but it doesn’t leave an aftertaste.” How bewildering, he must have thought.

By the second day of the trip, we have been ordering Vichy at every restaurant! This coming from someone who normally prefers still water? Well, I’ve sorta successfully converted my boyfriend into a Vichy lover, or so I reckoned.

A few eating finds in el Barrio Gotico

2007-07-13T05:24:00.000+08:00

[ Food, I need food! ]

Forgive me. This entry was drafted in May 2006 but I never got around publishing it. I thought this would be a great interim post as I work this weekend to get my pictures and writings ready from my four-day trip last weekend to good old Barcelona and the Costa Brava. So here you go a few delightful eating finds I discovered during my occasional strays from the different routes in the Barrio Gotico.

Just right off the street near Metro Jaume I, you will find a quaint cheese shop that offers an interesting variety of artisan Catalan cheeses. They have a little sampling menu that you could do when you need a little break from all the walking and browsing.

For a mere 2.40€, you can sample a selection of three cheeses and a taste of some wine, from noon till 8 p.m. daily. On Saturdays, from 12-3 p.m., you can get your hands on a more extensive sampler of three cheeses, bread, olives, with a beverage (wine, beer or water) for just 5.85€. Not a bad deal, eh?

One of the places I go if I crave for decent japanese food is this almost hidden restaurant near La Catedral. Considered one of the best Japanese restaurants with patrons like Ferran Adria himself, you can savor a Menu del Dia for about 16€. For that you get an appetizer like seared tuna salad, an entree - you can choose one of the maki selections - and a drink. The best seats are the ones up at the bar, where all the action of the sushi chefs can be taken into view.

IN THE KNOW:
Formatgeria La Seu

Plaza Sant Just

Metro Jaume I

Shunka
C/ Sagristans, 5
93 4124991
Metro Jaume I
Metro Urquinaona

Mapping Food Incubators

2007-07-05T20:20:00.000+08:00

[Participants learning how to make salsa de tomate]

Cities around the world are helping immigrants integrate into the economic fabric of their adopted homelands. The New York Times’ Laura Novak had an article last week about a nonprofit food incubator in San Francisco.

La Cocina (which means “the kitchen” in Spanish) allows immigrant women to get out of poverty by equipping them to start their own food businesses. The shared-space concept boasts a commercial kitchen space filling the need and affordability of adequate equipment for these entrepreneurs who otherwise would be cooking illegally out of their homes.

Largely funded by foundation and government grants, La Cocina works on a sustainable model in that they charge a fee to instill the concept of responsible business ownership. The incubator also provides training from high-profile mentors and participants are supported in the creation of business plans and marketing strategies.

Participants churn out weekly orders of healthy fare like vegetarian tofu egg rolls and traditional Mexican foods like huaraches and salsa roja for catering offers, coffee shops and farmer’s markets. Some of these are even picked up by mainstream grocers like Whole Food Markets.

Across the continents in Barcelona, a Catalan neighborhood nonprofit in the Parallel area has an annual program that takes in immigrants interested in learning the ropes of cooking for a commercial kitchen. Through a four-month program, participants learn all the basics of Spanish and Catalan cooking to prepare themselves for a career in the restaurant business.

Participants even get to display their newly-honed culinary skills as the entire class would have to create a menu for thousands of people at a fund-raiser food fair in Montjuic in the summer. Some of the traditional recipes covered include arroz negro (rice made with squid ink), fumet blanco (broth), salsa de tomate (tomato sauce), and the paella.

Of bagels and Internet

2007-07-03T03:25:00.000+08:00

[Chocolate chaude]

Someone significant was recently quoted saying that “it’s easier to live without a TV these days then it is to live without Internet.” Indeed! I am currently living in this kind of ordeal until work recently got me 3G broadband access on my work laptop (on the premises, of course, that it be work-related usage). Well, just over the weekend, while walking pass a bagel place, a saw those magic words beckoning at me: free internet access.

So on Sunday morning, with a laptop and power supply loaded up in a backpack, we headed to Bagels and Beans just around the corner (they’ve several outlets in the city) for a homey lox bagel and a good dose of free internet. Now what has this picture got to do with all these? Well, it’s not all irrelevant. You see, this bagel place does serve the best presented hot chocolate I’ve ever come across – a glass of hot frothy milk with a cube of pure dark chocolate on a stick.

So if you’re in Amsterdam, you’ll know where to get online for free and guaranteed comfort food. Or you can of course just pop in for these eye-candy-worthy hot chocolate… eet smakelijk!

Dutch 101
Eet Smakelijk: Bon appetite; translates to eat well and with taste

Well, well, wagamama

2007-06-27T21:18:00.000+08:00

[Ivan & Nicolas @ Wagamama, Amsterdam]

I am so hopeless. It’s been a month and I have been making mental notes to myself about adding something new to my blog. The thing is there has been so much to do, so many friends visiting, so many new friends to meet, et cetera, et cetera…

Speaking of playing host, Ivan and Nico were in from Barcelona over the weekend. Wasn’t the best time to be though considering the crappy weather there is right now. It’s been raining and raining and the temperature dipped down to a whopping 15 degrees Celsius yesterday. No kidding, everyone on the street and in the metro was decked out in outfits made for autumn – boots and coats and all.

Nico has been raving about Amsterdam being great for its ethnic food offerings. Well, guess where we brought them? Yeah, ethnic, but not quite… Wagamama! Yup, there’s one in Amsterdam, and I can attest to the fact that it’s truly Asian, sans all those kitsch pseudo-antique paintings depicting dragon-chasing children doning tiny ponytails that defy gravity.

The duck gyozas and the coconut-milk-based sobas were the best of what was ordered that day. I had the ebi spicy men, noodles with shrimp in a spicy sauce that I didn’t think much of, primarily due to the way the carrots were cut and cooked. They’ve got excellent raw juices and the sparkling water comes in these cool glass bottles. If you need to have a quick bite in a spick and span space with a touch of class, this can be your dig.

In the Know:
Wagamama
Max Euweplein 10,
1017 MB, Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0) 20 528 7778
http://www.wagamama.nl/

New home for the season

2007-05-22T01:02:00.000+08:00

[City of canals and bicycles]

Work and love is bringing me back to the Old Continent for the next five months. It's convincingly probable that I will be wielding my new camera in this quaint little city of canals and bicycles. On top of that, I've got to let you know how excited I am about my new apartment and the equipped kitchen that comes with it. All I'd have to do is get flour and butter cos it is already filled to the brim with all kinds of appliances, dishes, and even spices! My workload (and funload for that matter) will pretty much determine how often I get to update you with my new life here. I will try!

Photo credit: "Amsterdam" by Fotourbana

Rustic Yakitori

2007-05-12T02:21:00.000+08:00

[Traditional Japanese Barbecue]

I've mentioned these magnanimous hosts of mine, the Watanuki family, who so graciously took upon the honor of showing me what Japanese life is all about outside glitzy Tokyo in a previous post.

One of the places we stopped to have lunch on the way to historic Uchiko outside Mastuyama was a very original outpost for yakitori (literally: grilled bird). This place is like no other. Housed in a traditional japanese house, the restaurant exudes an atmosphere, as if you've stepped into another era of bygone days. Traditional wooden floors, wooden pits with charcoals, cast irons rods dangling down from the ceilings, and the smokey essence of food cooked on grill.

[Fukase yakitori in Ehime Perfecture, Shikoku, Japan]

The menu is pretty basic, given the highlight being the bird itself. You grill the meat right in front of you, and they come marinated, and accompanied with these fragrant bunches of a type of vegetable that I can't put a name on it. (They could probably be coined as japanese cilantro.) Here's how you savor the perfectly and freshly grilled morsels: dip them into a sauce, pair them with a chopstick-pinch of rice, and add a tiny slice of pickled radish if you fancy.

There are yet so many places to show and pictures to post from my Japan trip, I'll try to buck up here and serve up my offerings for you!

Fishy business

2007-04-28T20:37:00.000+08:00

[ Tsukiji Wholesale Fish Market, Tokyo ]

I haven't been very disciplined at blogging since I got back from my 10-day trip in Japan. Considering there is so much going on right now in this post-quarterlife of mine, especially in this in-between-jobs-cities-timezones transition period, I think you should be able to bear with me as I try to squeeze in one post before the April becomes May.

One of the "must-sees" on my list when I was in Tokyo was the Tsukiji Fish Market. I almost didn't make it since there was already so much to see in the city and the thought of climbing out of bed at 5 a.m. really deterred me. But then I thought it would be a real sin for a food blogger not to come back with some shots of this foodie shrine.

As you can judge from my photo stream, this waking up at 5 a.m. business has turned out to be quite worthwhile. It was a photographer's paradise having so much to take in and so many photo ops popping up everywhere. The most magnificent sight for me was this one passionate fishmonger strategizing the best way to cut up this entire whole tuna.

The closest I could get to for a fishy breakfast after all the oogling and clicking was ikura-don and green tea. (Sashimi at 7 in the morning? no way.) This bowl of rice bedded with translucent grains of glistening salmon roe the size of pearls was just heavenly. Man, I was a happy girl that day. Masa-san you can attest to that!

IN THE KNOW:
Official Site of Tsukiji Wholesale Fish Market.

To-die-for sushi in Tokyo

2007-04-07T04:50:00.001+08:00

[Amazing sushi in Shibuya, Tokyo]

[Check out how they style and present the sashimi]

[The sushi you order gets placed on the leaf in front of you as soon as it's being crafted]

[It's a pity I couldn't capture how boisterous the place was with the chefs and servers exclaiming welcomes and goodbyes at the top of their lungs]

IN THE KNOW:Must try if you are in Shibuya. Right at the Shibuya crossing on the second level of Mark City. Very easy to locate. This place's called Midori. There's always a line, so be prepared to wait for 15-30 minutes before getting seated. Price is about 5500 yen for two with sake.

Midori-zushi
梅丘寿司の美登利

5458-0002

Shibuya / Sushi Dogenzaka 1-12-3, Mark City East 4F.
Open 11am-10pm daily.

**More pictures of my trip on my Flickr photostream.

Here I come, land of the rising sun

2007-03-30T21:27:00.000+08:00

[Kasai Rinkai Park, Tokyo]

You have no idea how surreal it felt standing here among all these people. I just felt like I was in a movie or something. This is a tween dream come true. I guess fulfilling this dream 17 years later is timely since I know several people who live here now and my pocket digs in a little bit further for some retail therapy.

Touched down Thursday p.m. in Tokyo and now spending the long weekend in Matsuyama 松山, the main city in Shikoku island. This is a small city backed by mountains and lined by the Setonai sea, so it's very beautiful. It reminded me of a smaller version of San Francisco. Open freeways, lotsa space, lotsa green, the mountains and the water. A very kawai girl I knew from my college days in Michigan, Reiko Watanuki, offered to take me to her hometown. We boarded the plane from Haneda-Tokyo airport this p.m.

The Japanese are very hospitable people. Extremely polite and considerate (no blabbing obnoxiously on cellphones in the metro). I was treated by the Watanukis to a feast fit for a king -- 8 exquisite courses and cold sake to smooth them down. Tomorrow Reiko's dad is gonna be our designated driver and tour guide. Despite the language barrier we had a good time. We were all laughing all the time. Otosan and okasan were able to communicate with me with the survival japanese I taught myself as a tween. It all worked out with the few phrases of english, french and spanish Mr Watanuki learned from pop songs from the 70s!!

More stories and pictures to follow but meanwhile, check out my friend Alan's photostream on flickr. You'll see he really has an eye for things. Well, considering him being stage manager for Cirque and having a gorgeous star artiste as a girlfriend ;)

Photo credit: ampontour

Marmalada de piña casera

2007-03-20T17:45:00.000+08:00

[Homemade pineapple marmalade]

What do you do with fresh pineapples if you've some time to kill, some patience to spare, some really fresh fruit at hand, and some craving for good homemade marmalade that's not overly sweetened?

Well, one fine afternoon I had all elements of this combination and set off to work. It required cutting up the flesh of the fruit, and lotsa simmering and stirring on the stove. I don't remember how long it took but it was in the ballpark of an hour and a half to two hours, until the fruit mash is nice and soft and the juice is all reduced.

The fun part is adding just that tiny bit of sugar to taste and some lemon juice. I think I added that two tablespoon left of store-bought pineapple jam that I had, to add that little bit of gelatine consistancy. Don't know if it made any difference... but I added anyways. The end result of all that hard work was so worth it. Pure fruit that goes great on toast and Wasa crisps. If you get creative, it could garnish your dishes too, like a chutney of sorts.

One last note, I certainly had fun taking those shots. Experimental for me working with a manual SLR camera.

Cancion de la piña

2007-03-09T16:45:00.000+08:00

I'm in-right

out-right

up-right

down-right

~ happy in my heart ~

A Sweet Beginning

2007-02-24T06:15:00.000+08:00

[Antique ceramic candy dish]

I had the good fortune of taking an insider tour of the historic area of Malacca this Chinese New Year. My dear friend Joanne came visiting from Hong Kong and we decided to make a day-trip to this ancient city.

We didn't know it. But we were led to a long lost friend from college days who lives with his three-generation family in an 200-year-old brick townhouse. Situated on a raod parrallel to Jonker Street, the house has a middle courtyard with ample natural day light and a depth four times of a normal house. His 88-year-old grandmother amazed us with her perfect english, and entertaining us with facts like the colorful ceramic candy dish that was given to her by her mother as part of her dowry in 1920. (Women from that generation normally were not entitled to education, let alone instruction of the foreigner's tongue.)

Deprived of the Chinese New Year festivities for the last nine years, I likened the experience to a child losing Christmas. Receiving good luck money in auspicious red envelopes somehow lost its charm, and savoring all the festive goodies somehow lost its enchantment. It was just an altogether different experience celebrating the holiday from the perspective of a child as compared to that of an adult.

But thanks to Joanne and her wonderful husband who drove us for 2.5 hours on bumpy country roads, we both got our kick of the season. Wandering through the streets, bargaining on trinkets, and peering into restored boutique hotels and chic cafes, we both agreed it was the most magical of all our previous itinerant visits to Malacca.

IN THE KNOW:
» Pictures of my daytrip in Malacca
» Contents of the candy dish -- (clockwise from bottom-right) pickled chinese olives, cashew nuts, raisins, miniature Cadbury milk chocolates, golden raisins (center) coconut candy.
» Sweets are served in abundance during Chinese New Year to signify a sweet beginning and all things sweet for the year.

Hot Artichoke Dip

2007-02-13T06:55:00.000+08:00

[Farm-fresh artichokes - market in South of France]

Here I am on a tropical island deprived of hearty baked foods of the cold season, and dreaming of warm pitta bread dipped in oven-baked artichoke dip. If it makes you salivate, try out this simple recipe passed on to me a handful of years ago. You should have everything at hand to surprise your beloved this Valentine's Day.

(Rita, this entry is dedicated to you. Lotsa love from me to you in Baltimore.)

Hot Artichoke Dip
Recipe by Annie Stoyanoff, CBS, Portage, Michigan.

What you need:
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 cups mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)
2 cups freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 10 oz. chopped spinach, drained
Garlic to taste
Paprika to garnish

How you do it:
Mix all ingredients, place in shallow dish, and sprinkle with Paprika.
Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes until bubbly and brown.
Serve with chips, pita bread wedges or Wasa rye crisp.

July became November

2006-11-13T04:35:00.000+08:00

[L'Oursin Corse - Corsican Sea Urchin]

Four months and not missing anymore. I'm back guys. I did fell off the face of the earth, went around the globe and landed on a not-your-so-typical-tropical-island. You see, I was dealing with all the relocating and couldn't have my iMac hooked up until now. Not kidding. I don't know how I survived without the comfort of connecting to the internet via my own gear but it was a good four months of internet fasting. Boy that was tough.

Well, thanks to friends and readers like you who have faithfully nudged me to resume my food-blogging. I have to tell you, it is indeed timely to write about food at this moment as it's the first week you can see smoke coming out of my chimney. I was finally able to have all my kitchen essentials "unearthed", which included my table cloths, my colorful round serving tray from Zara Home, my faithful skillet lid with vents, and my silicon potholders. Yeah!

Being able to whip up some food means that this blog will have some original content. You know how it goes... my writing is inspired by my cooking, and the food styling + food photography that comes subsequently. For those of you not in the know, I'm not going to reveal where on earth I am at as yet. Meanwhile, I'll continue to blog as promised, my adventures in Corsica and many more yummy and pretty pictures to serve up.

Welcome to the Land of Fine Cheese and Wine

2006-06-10T05:20:00.000+08:00

[Slightly-Aged Camembert - Au Lait Cru]

Yippee, I'm officially done with my Graduate program! Time to celebrate.
So off I go to a 20-day vacation in London, Paris, and Corsica, departing mañana.
Ten days urban, and 10 days country. How perfect can it be? I can't wait to get my hands on some aged Beaufort and a glass of good French wine, and not to mention, practice my conversational French. By the way, I graduated from French Level 2 of 5 at the Escuela Oficial de Idioma in Barcelona. Done with studies and my lifestyle sabbatical at the moment. You say, à la tienne, cheers! But it means back to corporate life again soon. Well, for now, art and history in London/Paris; sun and beach + excellent food in Corsica. The food part is cos we're going with Le Cordon Bleu to his family's village on the island. Back with photo stories in early July.

Tortilla de Patatas

2006-06-04T00:44:00.000+08:00

[Spanish Omelette or Tortilla Española]

You can't have a Spain-based blog and not have an entry on Tortilla de Patatas. So here's my ode to this versatile dish that could be a spanish mid-day pick-me-up (el almuerzo), or made into a lunchtime bocadillo (submarine sandwich made with crusty bread), or served cut into tiny diagonal squares as a pica-pica (appetizer) at a casual cocktail party. In fact, la Tortilla de Patatas (also known as Tortilla Española) is the classic party dish here in Barcelona. You'll sometimes get two people bringing a plate of tortilla at a potluck. Nevertheless, it is never a problem because a tortilla is never the same--a good chef always adds his or her own touch.

I'm one of those blessed ones that got one-on-one instruction from my Catalan friend's mum, Flavi. Actually, this was one of the first Spanish dish I learned to make. (The other one was gaspacho, which I shall make a nice shot the next time I make it.) After the cooking demonstration, Flavi even painstakingly wrote down the recipe for me, while recalling every single detail. If you're a budding cook, you should know that most creations you have are in your head, never jotted down anywhere, because you honed the dish through trial and error and by years of making it.

This dish is essentially uncomplicated. It's one of those things you can make anytime as it only uses pantry staples. The secret ingredient though is extra virgin olive oil. It makes all the difference. One thing to note is that there are many ways to make tortilla de patatas. This way is not the quickest, but it produces great results. The potatoes slowly simmered in the virgin olive oil gives lots of flavor and a satisfying bite.

Lucky you, here you have the recipe Flavi jotted down for me in Spanish all already translated (and enhanced) in English. I had to consult the dictionary at that time because my Spanish was still elementary a few years back.

Tortilla de Patatas
~ para 4 personas

1 sartén anti-adherente de 25 cm de diameter
4 patatas medianas
1/4 cebolla mediana
un poco de sal
4 + 1 huevos (número de personas + 1 huevo)

Pon bastante aceite en la sarten. Dejar calentar un poco el aceite.
Dorar las 4 patatas peladas y cortadas finitas más la cebolla también cortada finita.
Añadir un poco sal.
Dejar a fuego bojo y tapado durant más o menos 20 minutos hasta que esten blandas.
Batir los 5 huevos con un poco más de sal y tirar en estos huevos batidos las patatas escurridas (o sea, sin aceite).
Quitar el aceite de la sartén y dejar solo un poquito (1 cucharita).
Tirar los huevos y las patatas y dejar cocer a fuego muy lento más o menos 25 minutos.
Darle la vuelta y cocer a fuego lento 4 minutos más.

Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish Tortilla)
~ serving for four

1 non-stick pan (25 cm in diameter)
extra virgin olive oil
4 medium potatos (quartered length-wise and then finely sliced cross-wise)
quarter of a medium onion (finely sliced)
some salt
4 + 1 eggs (1 egg for each person + 1 egg)

Place enough oil in the pan. Let it heat up a little.
Leave the sliced potatos and onions to cook in the oil, adding some salt and stirring occasionally.
After 1 minute of stirring, cover the pan with a lid and leave it at very low fire for about 18-20 mintues. The potatoes should be soft but not crispy or burnt at the end of 20 minutes.
Beat five eggs in a big bowl with a bit of salt and set aside.
Drain the potatoes from oil and place them in the egg mixture.
Retain a little bit of oil from the potatos and leave it in the pan
Pour the entire potato and egg mixture into the pan.
Cover the pan with lid and leave it to cook at very low fire for about 20-25 minutes. Make sure the fire is the lowest.
Flip the tortilla using an omelette-flipper or a pan lid and let cook the other side. Four more minutes and it's done!

La Cuajada de Oveja

2006-05-24T05:03:00.000+08:00

[Specialité au lait de Brebis Caillé]

What's this? Looks like a sort of yoghurt in a pretty pot, but it's not. It's la cuajada, a traditional milk-based dessert. The real ones are those made from ewe's milk and left to curdle with rennet from the ewe itself. I have come across it in the dessert section of traditional spanish restaurants' menu. Most popular in the North-eastern region of Spain where it originated, like Navarre and País Basco (Basque Country), cuajada is sometimes served with honey and fruit for breakfast, in place of yoghurt.

The creamy but light milk curd is sold commercially today with cow's milk. What a shame! The ones that come in packages, which you can make at home has starch and plant-extracted rennet instead. Hmmm....

Thankfully I found this pretty original version in an earthen pot in a typical small carniceria that also sells some cheese and other traditional food products. Also spotted this particular brand on the shelves of a fromagerie at Rue Mouffetard too. It seems like the food marketing strategy of this spanish product is pretty successful across the border. Oh, by the way, "Cuajada" means "curdled" in Spanish. Original huh?

Fine Teas Finds

2006-05-12T06:49:00.000+08:00

[Sans y Sans Fine Tea]

If you stroll down Carrer de L’Argenteria towards the Cathedral de Santa Maria del Mar, look out for a classy little tea shop on the left side just across from the popular tapas bar Sagradi. Once you step in, your senses will be captivated by the fragrances coming from the varieties of teas, tucked in giant-sized tins on the floor-to-ceiling dark wood shelves. Let the simplicity and stylish displays draw you in as you flick down the pages of their tea catalogue to find a tea that suits your mood.

My first encounter with this Catalan fine tea outpost -- Sans & Sans Fine Tea Merchants, was a bag of rooibos and black tea blend called Samurai given to Lionel by one of his friends on his birthday last year. The red rooibos was infused with a certain fragrant and a type of blue flowers. Unfortunately I found out that they do not stock this particular flavor anymore.

The closest I got to was Flor Del Desierto, a rooibos with bits of dried papaya, traces of chocolate and orange, and real rose petals (pictured above). Yumm! Best of all, it's caffeine-free so it makes an ideal tisane (herbal tea) before calling it a night. Right now this "tea" is my favorite. The taste of the infusion is as sweet as the tea itself. It smells so good that I've been toying with the idea of doubling it as a drawer freshener by filling it up in a handmade sachet.

[Earl Grey Green Tea infused with Bergamot]
The other tea that I discovered is called Luxus. It's a green tea infused with Bergamot oil. So many teas to fit each one's taste... what could be done is making a sampler of your own since you can get everything in 100gm bags. Or if you fancy to enhance your tea caddy collection, they've got really cute tea tins in gorgeous colors for between 4-10€.

IN THE KNOW
Sans & Sans Fine Tea Merchants
C/Argenteria 59
Metro: « Jaume I »
Tel:93 319 6081
www.sansisans-finetea.com

More antioxidant-rich greens my way

2006-05-08T03:09:00.000+08:00

[Easy Brocolli Salad]

Can't get enough of life-enhancing and age-rejuvenating greens? No problem. There's an easy way to make sure your fridge is stocked with a delicious tiny meal or snack packed with vitamins and antioxidants.

This brocolli-themed salad has all the health benefits associated to this produce. Traditionally used in Chinese medicine to treat eye diseases, western medicine have also proven that frequently adding this green into your diet will help fight against anemia and cancer. If you're like me, just barely grazing meat, than this important iron-source of the vege world needs to be a regular on the dining table.

[A good dose of beta-carotene and potassium]

A recipe given to me by an ex-colleague in the States. She told me that this was the only way she was successful in getting her kids chow down a bowlful of brocolli without them wincing the whole time. I love the fact that it could be a healthy snack alternative because of the raisins and sunflower seeds added.

Having brocolli raw in this salad also means that the vitamin-content is in its fullest. But don't worry, it's really pleasing to the palate because the apple cider works its wonder to soften the vegetables just to the right texture overnight. And here you go, the really easy recipe, in a low-fat version...

Easy Brocolli Salad
1/2 cup mayo (Original recipe calls for 1 cup, but I think that's too much!)
1 tablespoon mustard
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoon sugar
2 heads of brocolli, cut into tiny flowerets and pieces.
a handful of sunflower seeds (I used black sesame seeds instead in the pic above)
1/2 onion finely diced
a handful of raisins
salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything up and keep covered in the refrigerator overnight. Serve cold.

*If you are not at all anxious about training for a beach-ready body, you can add the original 6 bacon strips that the recipe calls for. Just pan-fry them till crispy and cut them into tiny pieces and add them in with the rest of the ingredients.

(A Weekend Herb Blogging post hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen.)

Tarte Grand Mère

2006-05-03T23:34:00.000+08:00

[Granny's apple tart from France]

Doesn't this look abosolutely irresistible? This is a dessert that we got in a patisserie in Paris before boarding the TGV train to Valence during the Easter/Semana Santa holidays. I can't remember the name of the place but it was at the corner of Boulevard St Germain and Rue de Bièvre near Maubert Mutualité.

What a treat! I have no idea how they were able to make such a thin and tasty pastry crust. Love the layout of the quartered apples. i found a recipe online, and it's in French. I did not decipher it but if you're interested, I'm sure you can find an excuse to use your French dictionary :) The recipe looks easy enough but I doubt I can recreate such a delightful dessert tart. To be honest, I have yet to hone my pâte à tarte skills. Knowing that a good pastry is the deal-maker, I've been somewhat fearful of this Baking 101 basic. Any brave foodies out there daring to take up the challenge?

[ Tarte Grand Mère ]
Pâte à tarte
Cassonade claire
Apples
Composition pour tartes au sucre
Crème pâtissière

-Faire une pâte à tartes, peser 180 gr.
-Abaisser, mettre en platine, remonter les bords.
-Piquer le fond, étendre une fine couche de crème pâtissière.
-Mettre une couche de cassonade.
-Déposer des rondelles de pommes épluchées et évidées.
-Verser de la composition à tartes au sucre, cuisson.

La Bascula

2006-04-26T19:23:00.000+08:00

[A shabby-chic vegetarian-friendly co-op restaurant]

At any given time, La Bascula seems like the place I'd go for a meal or a tea. Even though I order almost the same thing everytime, I don't get sick of it. From the outside, it didn't even resemble a restaurant, but a cool anti-establishment art exhibition space. It bears huge bar tables recycled from doors. This is the waiting area-cum-bar for those crowded weekend nights. You can watch the co-op members labor over their organic food creations through the big kitchen while waiting with a beer and salivating at the empanadas displayed at the counter. Behind the counter, another huge and colorful dining area awaits you. The bohemian-feel decor brings out the cozyness and goodness of homemade fusion food using natural ingredients.

Even Lionel keeps nodding in agreement how everytime the meal never fail to satisfy us to the brim. Well, it is his favorite restaurant, and I can see why that is so. This gem of Barcelona eateries is the fruition of a group of cooking friends who drafted up the concept of a co-operative kitchen. I don't know exactly how their model is based on, but I know it involves everyone taking a part in either the kitchen or the dining area.

Their recipes are inspired by their Latin American roots (Argentinian to be exact, but not forgetting the heavy Italian influence there). The vegetarian-friendly menu (90 percent vegetarian) consists of manually elaborated Italian filled pasta, French savory crepes, Chiliean vegetable soups, Argentinian empanadas, and even the Columbian arepas. The empanadas and filled pasta are their specialty and they always come in an assortment of flavors. Sometimes I hop in for tea or merienda. It's a great location to catch up with a friend over a cup of their special teas or mate, with a slice of their confections. There's a glass display at the entrance to the dining area filled with the cakes and tartes of the day.

The portions are a true value-for-dough. Even if you order a slice of savoury tarte, it comes in a generous portion, with a beautifully assembled salad. Last night, i had a tortellini de canela, rellenos de calabaza, pistachio, y queso fresco con salsa de pesto (homemade tortellini with cinnamon, filled with pumpkin, pistachio, and a fresh curd-like spanish cheese, dressed with a generous ladle of pesto sauce.) Lionel had a gnolotti de curcuma, rellenos de ciruela, espinacas, y queso de cabra con salsa de nuez (filled pasta made of turmeric powder, stuffed with a mixture of prunes, spinach, and goat cheese, and dressed with a walnut sauce.) You can have white wine by the glass, and a flan de dulce de leche for dessert, and the bill for two should come under 30 euro.

A far cry from those over-priced fancy restaurants that come out from a guidebook or tourist-geared booklet printed in ENGLISH, La Bascula is where you can mingle and blend in with the average Spanish crowd over a wholesome meal shared with friends. For dinner, it's a deal, but make sure you go right before nine to beat the crowd. (Remember 21h or 9 p.m. is the normal dinner time for Spaniards.) If you can't wait, you can have a small tapas or a cheese sampling elsewhere in the Barrio Gotico at five!

IN THE KNOW:
La Bascula
C/ Flassaders 30 | Tel. 93 319 9866 | Open Mon-Sat 1-11.30pm
Metro « Jaume I »
(Restaurant is located one parallel street away from where the Picasso Musuem is situated)
Prices: Empanadas 2 euros. Most dishes ~6-7 euros. Desserts ~3 euros.

Le Sarrasin

2006-04-21T21:17:00.000+08:00

[Buckwheat Grains]

North Americans use buckwheat to make pancakes, the Bretons use it to make les crêpes, the Italians pasta, and the Japanese soba noodles. Even Russians and Poles, who are known to consume the grain the most, employ the healthful grains in their porridges.

Contrary to the what most people think, le sarrasin is not a cereal. These seeds are really the fruit of a plant from the Polygonaceae family that also include the rhubarb. Perhaps because of its abundant nutritious qualities, it has been grouped with other cereals, though its nutty taste makes it distinct from them all at the same time.

With its Central Asian origins, buckwheat has sipped into Europe during the Middle Ages. Removed from the husk, the triangular-shaped seeds are then used to make the flour, like le blé de sarassin, used in France to make «galettes de sarrasin» (also known as «galettes de blé noir», due to the darker hue of the flour.) Other use of buckwheat flour includes a type of small russian crêpes accompanied with caviar, known as blinis.

I've listed a few reasons why you should raid the shelves of your favorite health-foodstore for these grains the next time you go grocery shopping.

Tiny grain with a boatful of benefits:
- Rich in lysine, an essential amino acid that plays a key role in the makeup of body proteins.
- Great source of Vitamin E and some vitamin B1 and B2.
- Charged with minerals like magnésium, potassium, zinc, and phosphore.
- ease in digestion and used in treatments for hemorrage and frostbite.

(A Weekend Herb Blogging post hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen.)

A virtual gastronomic tour of the Rue Mouffetard

2006-04-18T05:48:00.000+08:00

[To-die-for French Cheeses]

If you're a gastronomy junky, than a trip to Paris can't be complete without trotting down the "food market" on Rue Mouffetard. Well, it's really a street with many food stores and restaurants. And in the mornings and on weekends, makeshift stalls selling fresh vegetables and flowers are also set up on the sides and corners of the road. Here are a few foodie highlights I've come across, which you could look out for if you pay a visit yourself.

La Galette
This buckwheat crepe comes from the Brittany region (Bretagne). The rough difference between a galette and a crepe is that galette is savory and crepe sweet. Most often served at home simply with a fried egg and ham, it is kind of a cross between comfort food and instant cooking.

Les Tartes
Lots of them. Just use your creativity if you're making them. I've tasted a friend's version of salmon with zucchini and another version with pumpkin and squash with bits of ham. Here in the window of a tarte cafe, you have savoyarde, vegetarian, and grilled aubergine.

La Fromagerie
Hmmm, French cheese… For me, it's to die for. The past trip I've tasted some really good Comte. Also I got acquainted with a creamy Saint-Marcellin that is made with both goat's and cow's milk. If you wanna learn more, here's a great online resource with info on cheese pairing and cheese history.

My favorite kind is an aged Beaufort, made from raw cow's milk from the Savoie region in the Alps. Belonging to the family of French Gruyères (not Swiss), the 19th century French gastronome and writer Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin named Beaufort the "Prince of the Gruyeres".
(Beaufort photo and info courtesy of Frenchcheese.co.uk.)

Les Fruits de Mer
Stores dedicated to only seafood are easily spotted in Paris. Featured in this picture are Coquilles St. Jacques or what we call scallops en Anglais. Sea urchins, crabs, prawns, squids, and octupus... all the sea creatures you can name.

Du vin
The Mouffetard has two specialty wine shops that I know of. If you could converse in a little French, you can ask the shopkeeper to recommend you one according to the region you fancy and the budget you have. They're usually helpful with that. This recent trip, I tasted a red from Vallée du Rhône, an excellent Cassis white from the coastal town in Provence, and a Chardonnay.

La Sidra de Asturias

2006-04-07T01:05:00.000+08:00

[A bubbling alternative at parties]

How could sparkling cider replace sparkling wine in ushering the new year? Well, that was precisely what happened in Madrid on 31 December 2004. In an act of defiance due to certain political matters, the Madrileños refuse to pay the cavamakers in Catalonia for their sparkling white wines that are traditionally served during such festivities in Spain. Thus the sparkling cider from Austurias graced all the tables in Madrid at that time. I happened to be in the capital city and at the end of my stay my immune system caved in. Little did I realize how much cider I gushed down as my friends kept pouring for one another at meal and snack times. The mere 4.5 percentage of alchohol in those green bottles certainly adds up.

Asturia is the region in the northwest of Spain that is known for its cider. Together with Galicia, and Bretagne in France, celtic/gaelic tradition have trickled into Asturia through the early settlers. You could see in this particular brand of sidra, which spots a bagpiper. (Bagpiper selling cider? Beats me.) It is a traditional drink and traces of it could be found in regional cooking as well.

Another northern region of Spain known for its cider is the Pais Vasco, or Basque Country. The taste of a Basque cider is slightly harder than its Asturian cousin. To learn more about spanish cider, check out La Sidra Asturiana's DO (designation of origin) website. It has a ton of information including types of apples and the history of cider.

=============================================

Note to readers:
I'm off to France for 10 days. Upon my return, you shall feast on what I come across in Paris, Valence and Marseille. Hasta muy pronto. À bientôt!!

Talia's Chewy Chocolatey Brownies

2006-04-01T04:17:00.000+08:00

[ Dark Chocolate Chips ]

In my last post about the foodie care package Talia in Amsterdam sent me, I failed to emphasize how delectable her chocolate brownie tasted. It had a lingering scent from the almond essence infused that gives the brownie an added notch of oomph. The generous amount of walnuts used highly enhanced both the texture and nutritional value of this treat. I brought some to French class and shared with some of my classmates and all were awed by how tasteful Talia's version of this American confection could be. Truth be told, I tend to shun them at office potlucks or baby showers when I was living in the states because they're usually too sweet. With the hint of almond fragrance, and the controlled volume of sugar, this brownie promises a crowd-pleasing effect.

Talia's Chewy Chocolatey Brownies

Preheat oven to 165 degrees C or 325 degrees F

Combine items in a heatproof bowl:
140g butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups + 2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place bowl over simmering water in a bain-marie and stir mixture occassionally until completely melted and hot (but never boiling!) Remove from heat and stir in:
2 teaspoons of almond or vanilla extract

Add, mixing well between addtions:
2 cold eggs
1/2 cup flour

Once all is well-combined, beat vigorously for 40 stokes with a wooden spoon.
Stir in 2/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted to center emerges slightly moist.

Slice them up and share them with family/friends or slobber it up guilt-free all by yourself!

Homemade Brownies Rushed To My Doorstep

2006-03-30T06:52:00.000+08:00

[American Chewy Chocolatey Brownies]

I couldn't believe my sensory systems when I opened my package from a secret pal from the foodblogoshpere. There it was, an entire panful of homemade Chewy Chocolatey Brownies carefully placed in a box filled with other goodies, express-courriered from the Low Lands.

Thanks to the lastest EBBP event hosted by Andrew, which translates into Euro Blogging By Post or Edible Blog By Post, anyone living in Europe who writes and publishes a food blog could participate in this virtual and real event. Virtual because you have to blog about it after receiving your food parcel from a secret sender who owns another food blog, and real because you get to taste the goodies (not just drool in front of the monitor.)

Talia at Pampoosh who blogs from Amsterdam sent me a parcel filled with edible goodies and kitchen gadgets. She explained in a handwritten note that she chose the traditional brownie as it represents her homeland the USA. She even took the time to create a recipe card for me so I can recreate the dessert myself. Encasing the chocolate brownie was a ultramarine-colored square silicon cakepan, that I have been vying for. My first exposure to silicon heat-resistant kitchenware was when I received a KitchenAid grabber for Christmas 2005. Adding to my silicon collection are a pair of baby blue magic gloves that Talia chose to complement my new cakepan. Boy was it useful when I tried out the pan last night, filling it with sheets of fresh pasta sheets, ricotta cheese, and a tomato beef sauce. Since the silicon material makes the entire panful of lagsagna wobbly, the magic gloves came in to rescue and assisted me to steadily retrieve the pan out of the oven.

Along in the food parcel came some Jong Belegen Kaas (means semi-matured cheese) from Holland's premiere cheese producer, Bastiaansen. The cheese is mild in taste but rich in flavor. It went perfectly well on small toasted slices of country bread. Somehow the flavorful bits reminded me of the kind of Kraft cheddar cheese that my mum used to feed me as afternoon snacks when I was younger.

The last item was a jar of jam from a fruit I would venture to say exotic, simply because I am not familiar with it. The marmalade was made out of organically grown berries known as argousier (french), duindoorn (dutch). and buckthorn berries in English (not a clue.) I guess it is pretty common in Europe because Lionel recognized it right away. He knew what it was. Anyways, we tried it out on toast this morning for breakfast and it tasted great! I thought it tasted like cherry tomatoes but that could be due to my being influenced by the picture that bore resemblance to tiny sweet berries/vege displayed on the jar.

By now you must be green with envy with all the goodies I've gotten :) Take heart, you might be able to recreate this little activity with a friend who lives in a foreign country. Wouldn't that be a neat idea? To send a surprise food package to each other? Here are some ideas from other food bloggers who participated in the event, to give you a start!

Note: Muchisimas gracias a Talia!!
Read about the goodie pack Anne in Stockholm received from yours truly in Barcelona.

Savoring Calçots at a Calçoltada

2006-03-20T09:18:00.001+08:00

[Calçots Grilled On An Open-Flamed Hearth]

Twas a lot of fun partaking of this Catalan ritual of downing calçots (pronunced cahl-SOATS) dipped in romesco sauce and thin streams of cava from a porrón out in the open on a Sunday afternoon. Calçots are the homegrown sweet green onions that are cultivated in the northeastern part of Spain--the land of Catalunya, whose capital city is Barcelona. The seasonal vegetable has been described as a cross between a leek and a spring onion, and is esteemed an exquisite dainty. The fiesta when family and friends gather outdoors (or in the restaurant) with calçots as the central theme is called La Calçoltada.

I was invited by a friend to join her classmates at one of these calçots festivals in the outskirts of Barcelona. The place is within the compounds of a cava-maker 40 min train-ride away from Barcelona. Space is offered without cost but cavas by the dozen are obligedly purchased to consume. When we arrived at noon, many catalan families and groups have already been grilling their calçots and butifara (catalan sausages) away on the open grills fueled by wood (not coals, which would make the morsels taste even better.) Accompanied with cava (the catalan sparkling wine), or red wine, it was a big outdoor affair, reminiscent of the Memorial Day picnics we used to have when we celebrated the end of long winters in South Haven, Michigan. The weather that day was especially sunny. And as we gathered at the picnic table, warming sunrays kissed our faces and gave us an early hint of the verdure of springtime.

The region of Tarragona south of Barcelona usually sees the harvest of the first calçots in February. Then the peak season will last only for about three weeks. Grocers sell them in bunches of 50s. These sweet vegetables are grilled on an open-fire heath until the outermost layer is charred and a white smoke rises and then transferred to sheets of newspaper to preserve the heat. To devour them the traditional way, you have to peel off the blackened jackets to reveal the flavorful white bulbs, dip it in romesco sauce (made of ñora pepper, almonds, and hazelnuts), tilt your head back, and aim the leek-like onions at your wide-opened mouth. Most people down a dozen calçots in one sitting but it could easily be more. A note of caution: forget about being dainty at a calçoltada because it's a messy affair involving sooty fingers and if you’re not careful, a blackened nosetip.

[Tasting Cava the Catalan Way]

Resources: More on Catalan Cuisine http://www.fell-walker.co.uk/catalan.htm

Recipe: [ Salsa Romesco ]

6 ripened tomatoes (tops sliced off)
1 entire head of garlic
12 raw almonds
12 hazelnuts
1 tiny slice of baguette or pan tostado
1 ñora pepper
balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil

Place tomatoes, the head of garlic (as it is), the slice of toast in the oven, and roast for about 20 minutes until the tomatoes and garlic are soft and the bread hardened. Remove from oven and let cool.

Meanwhile, process or pound nuts until they are completed grounded. Add a dash of balsamic vinegar to the slice of toast and add it to the nuts. Keep pounding or run the machine. Then, add the dried pepper, and the peeled cloves of garlic, and lastly the peeled tomatoes. During the process, add olive oil until you get a smooth paste. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Note: the sauce is great for anything off the grill, in my opinion. It makes a great vege dip too.

Maki Sushi for Beginners

2006-03-05T19:45:00.000+08:00

[Maiden attempt at Maki Sushi]

Inspired by a simple sushi rice recipe from Mumu's food blog, I ventured into reproducing the always tummy-satisfying and taste-buds-relishing maki sushi. Like my friend amP, whom I was playing hostess to the past few days, I can eat sushi all day long and I won't get sick of it.

amP has a super interesting job. He is the stage manager for a touring Cirque Du Soleil show, which means he gets to call the shots for all the hundreds of shows they put up in each major city around the world. The only downside in my opinion is living out of four suitcases in hotel rooms and not having homecooked food. Nevertheless, I can attest to the culinary offerings of the in-tent dining services provided on-site all day long. It's no Michelin-starred, but certainly a far cry from mediocre cafeteria food.

Since he has some buffer time on his hands as Cirque changes city, amP came to Barcelona so he could do some shopping and gobble up some decent international food -- read: sushi. It looks like he really does have a perpetual craving for sushi since he didn't mind having his second sushi round for the day.

I knew I was going to have company and to make things merrier, I invited a few friends to join in the fooding fun. I decided to make the theme Asian, since it almost never fail to delight my friends here when I make food out of the ordinary i.e. nothing west of the Occident. I also recently learnt how to make Satay, the Malaysian national dish, so that was my segundo plato.

For the maki sushi, which worked really well as a primero plato, I rolled it up with strips of omelette, cucumber, avocado, and crabsticks, which despite its name, is made of fish. If you've patience to assemble everything together, these tiny morsels of vinegared compressed rice can be served up in a flash. Except that I panicked a little, when instructions calling for a wet knife to cut up the maki rolls defaulted on me. I had a pretty sharp chef knife but it didn't do the trick. I sufficed with a serated loaf knife, and at the very least could serve up my little makis. With no wasabe on hand, I improvised by using Coleman's English Mustard. The result is amazingly similar as it gives that same pungent punch that promises to clear out any nasal congestion.

For dessert, we savored to the last bit, a scrumptious Spanish dessert that my friend Emilie brought. The dessert is made out of milk simmered in real vanilla beans and then made into a sort of flan, with a tiramisu-typed sponge cake base. It was sublimal. It reminded amP of rice pudding, which I beg to differ because I didn't think much about rice pudding. Then again, to each his own *à chacun son goût*. Emilie promises to share the secret recipe she inherited from her almost-sister-in-law from Valencia, which I'll be delighted to share with you right here on this blog.

Akined to Pumpkin

2006-02-25T22:46:00.001+08:00

[Spicy Thai Pumpkin Soup]

If you've read my previous post about the wonders of pumpkin's orangy flesh, you know I'm completely infatuated with this big fat squash that conjures up tales of a certain golden pumpkin coach. I normally buy my pumpkins, freshly and generously sliced on the spot, from my favorite green-grocer in Barcelona, Bubub.

Entering the tiny store takes you into a rustic setting with big straw baskets on the floors filled to the brim with farm-fresh vegetables, and wooden shelves on the walls displaying organically grown greens from its own nearby farm outside Barcelona. It's a wonder that smack right in the middle of the most culturally colorful neighborhood and just one tiny block away from the sanitizedly white walls of the Museum of Modern Art (MACBA), you can find such a quaint little vegetable store. The two ladies that shared the two shifts are extremely friendly and helpful too. Once one of them patiently pointed out to me the difference between chiviria (parsnip) and nabo (turnip).

The other day I came across a curious receipe of a Thai pumpkin soup infused with southeast asian spices and ingredients like dried shrimp, lemongrass and coconut milk. I wondered what it would taste like, so I ran a search on google and observed the array of recipes. The end result came out rightfully Thai in taste, and deservingly worth a little mention on this food blog. If you can find a handful of dried shrimp from your local asian grocery store, you should be able to recreate the exotic taste of this spicy Thai dish (it is not too exotic for me though, in fact I find it homey.)

P.S. Bubub-Verdures i Hortalisses is situated at C/Joaquim Costa 29 in the Raval. Nearest metro is Universitat and Sant Antoni on L2.

Spicy Thai Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
4 shallots, finely chopped (can be substituted with one small onion)
4 cups fresh pumpkin, peeled and scliced into 1/4-inch thick squares.
1/4 cup dried shrimps -- soaked for 5 minutes in warm water, drained and finely chopped.
1 small fresh red chili pepper, seeded and thinly sliced.
1 stalk of lemon grass (optional) use only the bulb or the white part, finely sliced.
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk (canned or powdered)
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup water (add less or more according to your preferred consistency.)
salt and pepper to taste

Elaboration:
Heat a nonstick saucepan over medium-high fire. When it is hot, add oil and butter and heat up for half a minute. Feel your hands above saucepan. When you feel heat arises from the oils, throw in shallots (or onions) and stir-fry until golden brown. Then add garlic, dried shrimps, lemongrass and chili pepper and stir-fry til its aromas are released (I add each item in this order one at a time at an interval of 30 seconds and stir-fry all for about 1 minute). Work delftly with a wooden spatula and be careful not to burn garlic.

Now add sliced pumpkin and stir-fry on medium-high fire for about 2 minutes until significantly softened. When you can break a piece of pumpkin easily with the spatula, stir in vege stock, coconut milk and water gradually and bring contents to a boil. Cover saucepan and turn fire down to the weakest possible simmer for 10 minutes.

Now if you have an immerge-style or hand-held blender, plunge the apparatus into the saucepan and blend the soup till you get a smooth or slightly chunky consistency, according to your likes. If not, pour contents into your counter-stand blender in batches and work the machine. Salt and pepper soup till you get the right taste.

To serve, ladle into bowls and squeeze in some lemon juice. If you've cilantro, basil leaves, or even fresh mint, you can do some pretty garnishing. I simply did mine with a dash of freshly ground black pepper and some chilli powder.

This is an entry for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging.

Corazon de Chocolate

2006-02-18T01:53:00.000+08:00

[Deliriously Ganached Chocolate Cake]

This week went by eventFULLy. My valentine got lucky by being presented (in his words) his first ever heart-shaped cake; and I got unlucky, a few hours later, with a violent bout of viral gastroenteritis, which ended with me pxxxing my guts out, and fainting, and a doc called-in. Gosh, what a nightmare. That explains why I did not post this in a more timely manner (was bed-ridden for the last 48 hours before this morning).

Anyways, with respect to the objective of this food blog, let's go back to the subject... ah, food!! (Oh, in case you wanna know, i was fed on glucose and rice porridge when my very own's food-processing system was down.) Oh, ok, back on cake, yes, cake.

I did a basic chocolate cake and enrobbed it with chocolate ganache. Hmm, that's the fun part. Here's my recipe for the ganache i.e. a deliriously delightful concoction of chocolate, cream, and butter.

Dark Chocolate Ganache
1 part cream (liquid or creme fraiche)
1 part baking dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)
half part butter

For one normal-sized cake, I would use 100g cream, 100g chocolate, and 50g butter. Now, heat the cream on slow fire and when it it just about to start boiling, get it off the stove. Add in chocolate (broken into smaller pieces) and butter, and watch them melt nicely. Keep stirring until you get to the consistency of a nice and smooth ganache.

If you like, you can also learn how to enrobe a cake like a pro on Food Network's special feature. I only read about it after my first novice attempt. Bummer.

After you've enrobe the cake successfully, leave it to cool for 15 minutes before chilling your almost-completed ganached cake in the fridge.

You can sprinkle icing sugar or dark cocoa powder on the surface before serving, and decorate it with chocolate shavings. Have fun ganaching!

P.S. Oh, in case you're wondering. I baked my Corazon de Chocolate in this wonderfully space-saving and non cake-clinching silicone heart-shaped baking pan like this one from Crate and Barrel.

P.P.S. In hindsight (after making cake), I thought about the idea of expressing our affections. We do not need to bake heart-shaped cakes only on a Hallmark holiday. Every day is a V's Day when we tell someone we care. And yes, there are all kind of excuses to use our bright crimson and heart-shaped kitchen gear!

Seoul Food

2006-02-14T05:36:00.000+08:00

[Korean Barbecue Chicken]

Tiene buena pinta, no? No puedo afirmar que es una creacion mia pero sino, es una de las delicias coreanas de los dueños del Restaurante Coreano Seoul, ubicado a menos de una manzana de la puerta principal del Hospital de Sant Pau en Avenida Gaudi. Una vez fui con un grupo de amigas y hemos comido muy muy bien, y ademas sobraba la comida.

La mejor opcion en funcion de valor-precio es el Menu Gaudi que vale 18.50 euro. Te daran un primero plato de raviolis asiaticos o una tortilla de gambas a la coreana. Luego, tendras que saborear los platos tipicos de gastronomia coreana: Bi Bim Bap, un plato de arroz con ternera, verduras, y un huevo crudo que viene en una cazuela de hierro que sigue cociendo los ricos contenidos sobre la mesa. Los platos siguientes son el pollo a la parilla en la foto y un plato de mariscos. Tambien tienes una gran seleccion de postres para acabar tu comida. Te recomiendo lo de platanos fritos. No olivides que cualquier comida en el restaurante viene con los platitos de tapas coreanas que te sierven al principio con las sonrisas de la Señora dueña y el camarero William que es ultra amable.

Seoul Restaurante Corea
Av. Gaudi 70, 08025 Barcelona
Metro: Hospital Sant Pau (L5)
Tel: 934502617

Queso Tetilla

2006-02-13T06:19:00.000+08:00

[Tetilla Cheese from Galicia]

I spent the last few days in La Coruña, Galicia, in the northwestern part of Spain. Off the Atlantic Ocean, the climate is pretty much like Seattle's -- it rains a lot. At the conference, we were given umbrellas as a giveaways. Since it was more of a work trip, I didn't really have personal time to savor the rich foods from the land. But I did manage to pop into a bar to fix myself up some Pulpo Gallego --octopus with olive oil and spanish red pepper-- the national dish of this seafaring province with Celtic roots.

The other famous gastranomic treasure from Galicia is queso tetilla. The semi-soft cheese is named after how it is formed. Tetilla simply means "nipple" and the cheese is shaped like a woman's bosom. It has a thin yellow rind and has no mold. The soft and creamy texture of Queso Tetilla with a slightly acidic taste and a hint of salt is perfect with any meal of the day. I love serving it in thick slices on real traditional gallego (Galician) bread.

The flavor of this cheese is reminiscent of the cows, meadows, and how the milk is produced in the region which boasts the largest milk producer in Spain. With a fat content of 25 percent, the cheese made in the Galician countryside is smooth on the palate and moderate on the waistline.

It is so popular that la tetilla is widely available all over Spain. The American mum of my Columbian friend here often demands that her son to bring her back this traditional spanish cheese when he visits home. If you'd like to serve it with wine, the best pairing would be a dry sherry -- Manzanilla or Jerez. It also work well with young whites with a touch of oak, such as Albariño or Ribeiro from Galicia.

Fresh Endives with Homemade Hummus

2006-02-08T01:27:00.002+08:00

[Endives with Chickpea Dip]

A few nights ago, I was wondering what I would do with some fresh endives on hand. I decided to make a hummus dip to go with as an appetizer. The result is wonderful. Not too heavy without the usual pita bread, the chickpea paste pairs beautifully in the mouth with the light and crunchy texture of the raw endive leaves and neutralizes the raw vegetable's slightly bitter taste. I added some curry powder and cumin seeds which added a nice punch.

This dish is also completely healthy -- low-carb, low-cholesterol, fiber-rich and high in vitamins B6, A and C. What's more, it will wow your guests as it makes a really nice presentation for the dining table. Here's sharing with you the improvised recipe if you're up for it.

Note on endives: It is known as chivory greens in the States, which I had no idea before researching for this entry. (I don't remember coming across this vege in the States.) This is an important salad green in western Europe. They are everywhere in the green grocers here in Barcelona. You won't miss it.

Homemade Hummus
1 jar of cooked chickpeas a.k.a. garbanzo beans
1/4 cup of tahini (sesame paste)
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 cloves garlic
juice of one lemon
some water
salt and pepper

Garnish:
some cumin seeds
a dash of curry powder
a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Drain chickpeas and place in blender. Add all ingredients and blend until you get a nice consistency. Add more water as you go and according to your preference of how thick you like the paste to be. Garnish with cumin seeds, curry powder and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil before serving.

Serve it cold with endives and carrot sticks if you like, or wedges of pita bread. Store the rest in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 3 days.

May Your Rice Bowl Overflow

2006-02-02T18:59:00.000+08:00

[Chinese-style Glutinous Rice]

It's the fifth day of the Lunar Calendar and most East Asian countries including Vietnam, Korea, China, Malaysia, and Singapore have been celebrating the Lunar New Year in one form or another e.g. Spring Festival. I thought it'll be most appropriate to share with you a Chinese recipe I've improvised: chinese-style glutinous rice with chicken and shitake mushrooms.

Also known as sticky rice or sweet rice, the difference between glutinous rice and normal rice lies in its consistency. When cooked, it is very sticky and therefore perfect for making dumplings, rice balls or rice cakes. Despite its name, it is not sweet, nor does it contain dietary gluten. And like most dried beans, glutinous rice usually requires hours of soaking before it is being cooked.

I love the chewy and clingy texture the rice gives. When done right, it is a pure delight, bringing out its own characteristics and the flavors and ingredients that are added. (At least to my own culinary experiences, the rice is never served or cooked plain.) Various asian cultures employ the flour made out of glutinous rice as a base for their sweet cakes and pastries. For Chinese New Year, round cakes that are sweet and sticky called Nian Gao are found in every Chinese home, first as decoration and later to be devoured. They are ubiquitious for the holiday because Nian is a homonym in Chinese meaning both year and sticky, thus implying the ushering-in of a new year that brings you close to your love ones.

In traditional Chinese cuisine, the rice is often made into parcels (Lo Mai Gai) or pyramid-shaped rice dumplings (Zong Zi) -- both my all-time favorites. They are wrapped with dried lotus leaves or bamboo leaves that gives the dish its form, and at the same time imparting its fragrance.

The following recipe is a variation of Lo Mai Gai that is often found in Dim Sum menus, minus the lotus leaves. (Lo Mai Gai means glutinous rice with chicken in cantonese.) When you can't get the real thing and you crave for it, improvise and make it in your own kitchen. After all, that's really how I got into creative home cooking.

Chinese-style Glutinous Rice
Ingredients: (Recipe for 4)
1 1/2 cup glutinous rice (rinsed and soaked overnight)
10 chinese (shitake) mushrooms (soaked till softened and thinly sliced, minus the hard tips on stems)
2 shallots (or red onions) finely chopped
1 chicken breast (or dark meat if you prefer) thinly sliced into strips
1/4 cup of dried shrimps (soaked in 1 cup water for 10 min and drained. Reserve water)
5 cloves of garlic (minced or finely chopped)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Seasonings:
1 tablespoon Chinese or Japanese sesame oil
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
3 tablespoon light soy sauce
A generous dash of salt and white pepper.

Garnish:
1 stalk of scallion or spring onion thinly sliced (white and green ends)

Steps to recreate the picture above:
Marinate chicken with 1 tablespoon soy sauce and a few drops of sesame oil and let sit.

Place skillet over high fire. Let it heat up for about 2 minutes. Add oil and wait till it heats up a little. Add garlic and shallots and stir-fry 30 seconds till its wonderful aroma is imparted. Next, the dried shrimps go in for a 30-second stir-fry. Then add chicken and stir-fry for 2 minutes, then mushrooms for another 1 minute.

Now comes the drained rice. Stir-fry it good and deftly stir in all the seasonings listed above, one by one. Keep on stir-frying for about 2 minutes and add reserved shrimpy water. At this point, bring it down to a simmer and cover with a lid. Wait for 3 minutes or until water has reduced before transfering rice to a ceramic bowl.

Meanwhile, prepare another wok or a large pot and fill with half inch of water. If you do not have a metal stand for steaming, place two chopsticks slightly longer than the base of the pot in an "x" to form a support that stands right above the water. (If chopsticks don't work, try using other utensils. I once used two forks in a pinch.) Bring water to boil and place rice in bowl above the improvised rack. Cover the pot and reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes or until rice is just right i.e. not too soft and not too hard. Garnish with scallions before serving.

(Note: During the steaming process, check water level to ensure it is not dried out. In the latter case, add more water.)

This is an entry for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging.

El Pan de Olivas

2006-01-27T22:29:00.000+08:00

[Olive bread]

The beauty of living in Europe is the exposure to authentic breads made according to ancient recipes. Slowly but surely, throughout the years of my "exile" (read voluntary absence) from Asia, bread is slipping into my diet at the dinning table, replacing my natural urges for fragrant jasmine rice.

One of my preferred bakery in Barcelona is La Boulangerie (aptly named in French, meaning THE bakery) and they happens to carry one of my preferred breads too -- el pan de olivas -- a crusty bread made of succulent pitted black olives. To my knowledge there are three branches, two of which are right at Avenida Gaudi, the diagonal road that cuts through a few massive blocks linking the massive Sagrada Familia and the modernistic Hospital San Pau. The third one is near Passeig San Joan in the L´eixample Derecha.

If you happen to live in Barcelona, or vacationing for that matter, the one right outside the entrance of the Hospital San Pau on C/Santa Maria de Claret has a great breakfast or merienda deal. For 2.20 euro or so, you get a nice hot cup of cafe con leche with a homemade or in this case storebaked tart or cake. Mind you, we´re talking about real confections to the tune of wholegrain apple pie and apricot spanish-style cheesecake, which would cost at least 2.50 euro a slice if it´s to go. And of course after your little snack or breakfast, you can pick up your daily loave of bread. I suggest molde de nueces, a wholegrain molded bread with walnuts, or the one featured in the picture above.

La comida y yo: 10 cositas

2006-01-26T22:15:00.000+08:00

[Jif peanut butter on whole rye swedish crispbread]

No, I'm not dying to let the entire world know who the hell this kel gal is, but I was "kindly invited" by a certain hungry rose to join a meme named "Ten Things You Never Knew About Me". Well, since this is a FOOD BLOG, here's the spill of ten food-related things you didn't know before about yours truly.

1. The one precious food commodity that I prize the most from the United States of America is--drumrolling--: JIF creamy peanut butter. My very precious pal Eve was so sweet that she agreeded to smuggle two jars to me when we had our rendez-vous in Paris.

2. The foods I crave at this moment from the place I grew up in i.e. the southern tip of peninsula Malaysia are otak-otak, lontong, and laksa.

3. I cannot live without my set of silver measuring spoons and my old fashioned set of plastic cup measures from the USA. (Yes, I'm all for recipes with American cup measurements. They make life so much easier!)

4. There's a german-designed teapot with warmer set I really want to have from Crate & Barrel.

5. Once in a while (every now and then) I need to have my fix of Thai jasmine fragrant rice.

6. My diet is mostly 80 percent vegetarian.

7. I get traumatised everytime I buy a whole chicken in Barcelona. I keep forgetting that they have their heads attached here.

8. I try to drink 8 glasses of water every day. (Yes, I'm a health nut and I gullibly follow the advice in women's health magazines)

9. The first thing chinese-malaysian I learned to make was my mum´s Mee Siam. It´s a spicy rice vermicelli dish.

10. My dear friends Becky and Pete up in Michigan turned me into a born-again meat eater. They brought new meaning to steaks and roasts with their incredible outdoor-cooking and indoor-roasting skills.

And now the meme goes to Sweetnicks, Lisa at In a Nutshell, Sao Mai at Cocinalia.

French Stories 3: Chez Zol, Le Cordon Bleu

2006-01-21T21:03:00.000+08:00

[Sautéed Tuna Steaks with Daikon Salad]

The neat thing about Spain, even to the envy of its French neighbors, is that Christmas holidays span an entire three-week. At the end of the first week of January, I was still savoring the last bit of my get-away in Provence. The first host that I’ll dedicate this post to is Zol, a guy known for both his musical and culinary talents.

For lunch that day, in his apartment in a town right outside of Marseille, Zol, Le Cordon Bleu, whipped up a simple lunch with incredibly healthful proportions and surprisingly matches the four criteria I look up to in a good meal: taste, texture, nutrition and presentation. The entrée was sautéed tuna matched with a light and tasty daikon salad. Next up, the plat principal was seared scallops served with a pasta made with spinach.

I love how he served the tuna by dividing the steak into four elongated pieces elegantly presented in a rectangular Japanese-inspired plate. It went really well with the Daikon salad that was simply grated and seasoned with a dash of Chinese dark vinegar (made from fermented glutinous rice) and some light soy sauce. Zol added that this Chinese dark vinegar has a very similar taste to balsamic vinegar, which lends a zesty touch that plays well with the lightly sweetened flavor of the grated daikon.

We finished the meal with a plateau de fromage and dessert. A neighbor upstairs had presented him with a decorated cellophane bag filled with home-baked goodies. HE made them all from scratch! We happily walloped them down as we chatted over a cup of green tea.

Here are the imagined and improvised recipes of the dishes described above:

Sautéed Tuna Steaks with Daikon Salad
2 tuna steaks
1 teaspoon grated ginger, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
a dash of white or black pepper
1 small daikon radish, peeled and grated
Chinese dark vinegar

Combine ginger, pepper, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Marinate fish with mixture for 5 minutes.

In a heavy-bottomed nonstick skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the fish and cook for 1.5 minutes on each side. Fish should not be completely opaque.

Serve with a Daikon Salad. Simply grate Daikon radish and place in individual mounds. Season each mound with a dash of Chinese dark vinegar (or balsamic vinegar) and some light soy sauce.

Seared Scallops with Pasta

Recipe for 2:
12 scallops
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon curry powder
Juice of half a lemon
1 tablepoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
Italian Pasta (Spaghetti or Penne Rigate)

Bring a pot of water to boil. Meanwhile, season scallops with soy sauce, curry powder and 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and a dash of salt and pepper. Set aside.

When water is boiling, add a pinch of salt. Once water gets to boiling point again, add pasta. Follow instructions on the package. Real Italian semolina pasta usually takes about 12 minutes to cook.

Heat pan over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add a little olive oil and wait till it heats up a little. Gently place scallops on pan and space them out a little. Do not move them as it might ruin the searing process. Cook each side for 2 to 3 minutes, until scallops are browned. Turn them over, and repeat the process.

When scallops are cooked and opaque, deglaze the pan by adding the rest of the lemon juice over the scallops. Toss scallops and accumulated pan juices with freshly cooked pasta. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

French Stories 2: Les treize desserts provençale

2006-01-17T07:31:00.000+08:00

[Nuts in Shells]

Backtracking to my Christmas in Provence, one entire week of homecooked food made me felt completely pampered. (Merçi mille fois, Jacqueline!) A traditional Christmas meal in Provence is a whole different type of fanfare especially with its 13 desserts to sweeten your palatte after dinner. Before the festivities begin, the morning markets in Southern France are flooded with people loading up their baskets with fresh and dried produce alike, as well as fresh-cut flowers. I tagged along with my hostess Jacqueline to the market to catch in all the sights and at times inquired politely to the stall-owners if I could take a picture or two. (An attempt to practice my French too!)

Les treize desserts consist of a list of complementing pastry and fruits that are native to the region. The number 13 symbolizes Yeshua and his 12 disciples.

First up, there are the dried fruits called les quatre mendiants (the four beggars) referring to the four catholic orders:
- Les raisins secs or raisins (Dominicans)
- Les figues sèches or dried figs (Franciscans)
- Les noisettes or hazelnuts (Augustines)
- Les amandes or almonds (Carmelites).

Then there's la pompe à huile, a pastry made with olive oil,
which according to tradition has to be broken by hand like Yeshua did when he broke the bread at the last supper. No knife is used to cut the pastry to ensure a good year ahead.

Next up is my favorite of the 13 desserts: la nougat. There are two versions, blanc et noir. The light or white nougat is made with hazelnuts, pinenuts or pistachios, while the dark one is made of melted honey and almonds. I tasted la nougat noir this time. It is sticky and sweet confection and the almonds are really fresh and tasty. I imagine the white ones are similar to its spanish cousin, el turron.

The final step to complete the dessert platter are fresh and dried fruits according to each family or community's preference. I think tangerines and grapes are tops as they are local and in season and I find loads of them in the market. In France and Spain, tangerines are known as clementines or mandarines. They are a symbol for prosperity too, apparently, in this part of the world. (It always reminds me of Chinese New Year.) Dates are very common too, as well as those that comes stuffed in a pastel-colored sweet almond paste. Other sweets added include winter melon confits and prunes.

Even though I was ready to tuck into bed after a five-course dinner that started with champagne and ended with les treize desserts provencale, I held to my own suggestion to attend midnight mass. The best part was the christmas caroles we sang (yes, in french) in the church. That led us to sing all the way in the car ride home (I sang in English and Jacqueline in French concurrently) and right up to the building's entrance, at which a neighbor did a sign with his fist making a motion as if he's turning a knob right in front of his nose. I recognized it as the french sign meaning drunk. He was attributing our carole-singing to too much a glass to drink. Guess how Jacqueline responded? A most appropriate prayer-hands sign (hey it's international) alluding to the christmas mass that kept our spirits high!

Le Pissenlit

2006-01-15T23:30:00.001+08:00

[Dandelion Greens]

During the Christmas season, I spent an entire week in Southern France, the land known for its rich local produce. One of the things I tasted was a simple salad made with Pissenlit. This leafy vegetable literally means "piss in bed" in French, aluding to the duretic effects of this herb.

Known as dandelion greens in the States, the young tender shoots are cultivated in winter to make simple salads. While later in early spring, the mature leaves are cooked. Dandelion derives from another name of the plant in Old French which means lion's tooth: Dent-de-lion. In France it is common for people who live in the country to gather them in the wild.

Pissenlit has long been prized for its medicinal benefits that includes eliminating excess body fluids, reducing blood pressure, and dissolving gall stones. Due to its many wondrous benefits, people have used the herb in wine-making and beer-brewing. I was told while plunging into a bedful of the slightly bitter herbs tossed with a mustard dressing that the leaves are high in vitamin A, vitamin C and a good doseful of iron, more than found in spinach. If you come across these leafy goodness in your local markets, eat them up to your health!

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Easy Mustard Dressing
2 parts extra virgin olive oil
1 part (whole grain) Dijon mustard
1 part balsamic vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

This is my first participation in Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen.

French Stories 1: La Raclette de Savoie

2006-01-09T05:48:00.000+08:00

It was my second New Year's Eve in Europe but I wasn't partaking 12 grapes at each chime towards midnight on new year's day in good old spanish fashion like I did the year before in Barcelona. As I was in Paris this year, the new year's eve feast was celebrated with good company and a traditional French festive meal, La Raclette de Savoie.

Our magnanimous hosts Marie and Siva (and baby Shanti) woke up early in the morning on new year's eve to go marketing for authentic Savoie cheeses from the Alps region. The Raclette de Savoie cheese, with a seductive yellow color and a pale rind, is made with raw cow's milk (au lait cru) in the French Alpine mountains.

As you can see from the picture, you place the sliced cheeses onto the tiny pans that comes with the special heating apparartus i.e. the raclette grill. Once melted, it becomes a creamy bubbly delight that you carefully pour (and scrape) onto small roasted potatoes and jambon (ham). For this special dinner, Marie and Siva served it with an assortment of different jambons, and a simple leafy salad with a dressing made with mustard. The raclette cheeses we had also come in different varieties e.g. peppered, herbed, or smoked.

If you are in France between the months of November and January, try this dish, as it is the best time to taste La Raclette de Savoie, after an aging process of between four to five months. The meal is traditionally accompanied by a Savoie wine like Riesling or Pinot Gris.

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My 2.5-week trip to France has been immensely fruitful in the sense that I've accumulated a good amount of food photography and writing ideas for Green Olive Tree. Meanwhile, please be patient with me while I juggle my french and international studies classes with writing reader-worthy entries for this blog. Muak!

Bonne Année from Paris

2006-01-01T21:50:00.000+08:00

[Les Amoureux de la Bastille, 1957, Willy Ronis]

Darn, I left my faithful card-reader at home so there's no way to share the pictures I've taken here in Paris. But here's sharing with you a very special photograph taken by Willy Ronis, a celebrated Parisien photographer. Wishing you a stupendous 2006 and when I get back to Barcelona on the 8th, there'll be something nice here awaiting you.

Backgrounder

2005-12-27T08:07:00.001+08:00

[Camper Hotel, Barcelona]

What's this all about?
Musings of a permanent tourist on food and life. Green Olive Tree is a food and travel blog featuring eating finds, recipes, and world flavors adorned with original photography.

Who has all this time to write about all these stuff?
*kel; cultural tutti-frutti; senior corporate communications specialist; born in Malaysia and educated in the United States; been living and working abroad since 1998; quite crazy about the Spanish and French languages; bonkers about Mediterranean food cultures.

Blogging from Shanghai: present
Blogging from Amsterdam: 2007
Blogging from Barcelona: 2005-2006

Why only food?
Faced with the scarcity of decent wholesome food that every college student dealt with for a couple of years during dorm life, *kel’s serious venture into cooking surfaced out of survival mode. She somehow also cultivated the breakfast habit since college. In fact the first thing she thinks about waking up in the morning is, “I need food!” Since then, food shopping, cooking and baking has evolved into a form of therapy. She could spend many hours in the kitchen, at the green-grocer, and anywhere that spells f-o-o-d.

Creative and healthy, her cooking style is improvisional. Forget about asking her what's for dinner. She doesn't even know until she starts taking out the ingredients from the fridge! Unless it's one of those Saturday mornings when she wakes up feeling like cooking up a storm and marches right into the kitchen to tackle a fabulous recipe clipping.

How it all began?
Not long before she started this blog, friends have remarked on the frequency of macro food shots within her travel snapshots. Thereafter, she has been spotted with a camera snapping away on food-related items and getting inspired with writing ideas for this blog.

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Pistachio Lemon Bread

2005-12-24T22:33:00.000+08:00

My favorite thing to bake is the Pistachio Lemon Cake. It's actually a cross between a cake and a bread, due to its texture and the absence of too much sugar. From Michigan to Barcelona, it's also been an all-time snatcher at parties. The recipe is actually very simple and it calls for most staples you have in the kitchen. It is also good to the waisteline considering the quarter cup of cooking oil needed.

I used to buy a big bag of shelled pistachios by Planters´ at Sam´s Club for about $7 in the States. Here in Barcelona, they are a little tad expensive. 4€ gets you only a handful. Once while strolling in the African quartier of Marseille, I got some Iranian ones for 15€ per kilo.

Yesterday I made a loaf to bring with me this morning on the roadtrip to Provençe. It's completely scrump! I hope you can have a slice of this lemony pistachio wholesome goodness so here's my Christmas gift to you: a recipe that you can try out on your own. Happy baking and Joyeux Noel!

Pistachio Lemon Bread
1 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped pistachio nuts
1 tablespoon sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease bottom and sides of cake or loaf pan and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and set aside.
3. In another medium mixing bowl, combine milk, egg, cooking oil, lemon peel, and the 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Add egg mixture all at once ot the dry mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy.) Fold in pistachios.
4. Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
5. Meanwhile, stir together the 2 tablespoon lemon juice and the 1 tablespoon sugar. While bread is still in pan, bursh lemon-sugar mixture over loaf. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
6. Remove loaf from pan; cool on wire rack.

Wrap and store overnight before serving. This nut bread taste better when "aged". Store in foil for up to 1 week in the fridge.

(Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, Nov 1999)

Kitchen Gear for a Truly Merry Christmas

2005-12-24T06:01:00.000+08:00

Look what I've gotten in the mail? Kitchen gadgets flown in from across the Atlantic Ocean for Christmas! Thank you Becky and Pete for these amazing gifts. How appropriate considering the fact that I've recently started this food blog. I've always wanted a really sharp and "professional" and here I got one. The coolest thing is this KitchenAid Silicone Grabber that has a heat resistant up to 500°F. It makes removing pots and pans a breeze. I also love these white silicone pot holders; they're so stylish! Merci beaucoup!!

Menu for Hope

2005-12-22T08:40:00.000+08:00

The food blogging community, headed by Pim, is putting up a fundraiser for Kasmir's recent earthquake victims through UNICEF. You have till Friday to enter the raffle. Each $5 entitles you to a chance to win any of the amazingly cool and generous gifts donated by food bloggers from around the world. To participate, here's a recipe:
1. Find the gift you would like on the menu.
2. Go to Menu for Hope II donation page and donate $5 or whatever sum you could spare.
3. Indicate in the comment section your preferred gift(s). It's that easy! Give now.
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I'm off to France till Jan 7th for the Christmas holidays. I'll try to post something when I can. Will be caputuring all things nice with my camera so stay tuned. Meanwhile have a Blessed Christmas...Joyeux Noel...Feliz Navidad!

Best Crema Catalana in Barcelona, I reckon.

2005-12-19T22:25:00.000+08:00

Viola, here's presenting one of the most mouth-watering desserts in Barcelona, Spain. Many places make it here in the city since it's named after the Catalonian region (Catalunya), but none will beat the one pictured here served at Granja M. Viader. To enjoy your treat, you first have to stare gratefully at it for a few moments. While doing that, appreciate the texture of the crispy caramel coating. Next, gently tap your teaspoon on the caramalized surface. Pick up a spoonful gently from the edges and let it slide gently onto your tongue. Now feel the creamy goodness of the custard tinted with hints of the burnt sugar. Well, if you live in Barcelona, you don't have to drool. Just go get yourself a treat!

Note: Some say this is the catalan version of the french "crème brûlée" and the english "burnt cream". I say let the Catalans claim what they want!

Here's an easy recipe. Try it and let me know how it turns out.
Crema Catalana
Ingredients:
6 egg yolks
200g or 3/4 cup sugar
3/4 litre milk or 2 cups milk
1 cinnamon stick
2 long strips of lemon peel removed with a vegetable peeler
3 tablespoon corn flour or all-purpose flour

1. Beat yolks until light then whisk in 150g or 1/2 cup of sugar
2. Bring to boil milk in a saucepan together with cinnamon and lemon peel and then remove from heat and strain.
3. Whisk milk with egg mixture
4. Dissolve cornflour or flour with a little milk and whisk into the mixture
5. Place the mixture over low heat and cook, stirring constantly until it begins to boil
6. Spoon custard into a pudding bowl or among 6 individual gratin dishes or ramekins and allow to cool before placing in the fridge.
7. Before serving sprinkle 2 teaspoons of remaining sugar on top and caramelize by placing under a hot grill briefly until the sugar melts and turns brown

Singapore Chilli Crab

2005-12-15T17:13:00.000+08:00

A friend of mine Josephine was leaving Barcelona for good and gave me a few items from her pantry that she thought I could use. One of them was a boxed-kit to make the scrumptious Singapore Chilli Crab. I kept it in my pantry for close to a year because for one, none of my friends here would appreciate such a spicy treat, and second, I keep adjourdning the day I would go crab-shopping. One fine day I fished out the box and found that the expiry date is round the corner and right after class I walked up to the Boqueria market got myself some crabs for 7 euro worth of crab... about half a kilogram. The result is this front-page worthy dish, whipped up in 3 quarters of an hour. The folks over at Prima Deli did us southeast-asian transplants a good deed indeed. With the spices pre-packaged, all you need really are guts to handle the live crabs, patience to hover over the stove, and a raw egg to finish the spicy yummy sauce. I got to know this company because they make my favourite Singapore (or Johor) Laksa in ready-to-cooked form. (This is my top most favorite dish from home, speil later.) They´ve a new website, and I´ve been toying with the idea of getting some stuff shipped to me when my supplies run out.

*I garnished it with some fresh organic basil leaves. Doesn't it look good? And yes, I chowed it down all by myself ;)

German Pumpkin Soup

2005-12-13T18:18:00.000+08:00

While visiting my friend Melanie in Bern, Switzerland two years ago, she whipped up some amazing pumpkin soup worthy of a mention. We're almost towards the end of pumpkin season, but in Barcelona, one can still find it abundant in the green-grocers. This bright orange flesh of the fruit has a generous dose of beta-carotene, that may reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer and heart diseases, as well as certain aspects of aging. A 90 percent water content also means that pumpkin is low in calories. This is a very simple recipe that I've improvized from the one she gave me. Try it and let me know if you like it.

German Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients:
Fresh pumpkin cut into small and thin slices. (2 cups)
1 medium potato quarted and sliced
Quarter of a big onion sliced thinly
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon tarragon
3/4 cup milk
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon butter
Sunflower seed oil (optional, not to be confused with sunflower oil for cooking.)
Pepper and salt to taste
Lemon juice

1. Saute onions in butter and half tsp sunflower seed oil till the color turns darker.
2. Add pumpkin and potatoes and continue the saute process.
3. Add spices mid-way and some water if it gets too dry. Simmer with lid closed for a few minutes till the veggies are soft and tender.
4. Add milk and vegetable stock and puree till it gets to the consistency you want. Add more water if needed.
5. Add more nutmeg, tarragon, salt, and pepper to taste.
6. Lastly, simmer for 10 min.

Serve pipping hot with a few drops of lemon juice.

La Chocolatière du Panier

2005-12-11T00:45:00.000+08:00

I have to share these with you guys... it's an amazing chocolate that I got in Marseille last week. This little chocolatier is hidden in the crooked roads of Le Panier, a neighborhood of Marseille's centreville. For 45 euro/kg there are a zillion varieties of homemade chocolate made in big discs (think pizza) and cut into wedges for sale. The one I got was made with 70 percent dark chocolate with candied oranges. A tiny bite will give you an indelible mouthful of smooth bitter cocoa with a hint of sweetness from the bits of candied fruit. There are some made with caramalized ginger, figs, pistachio, and other interesting combinations. The lady who owns the place (thus, la chocolatiere)will be happy to let you do a few tastings. It's up the road from the Centre de la Vieille Charité (cultural center), a baroque chapel that was once used as a monastery as well. (More about this place later.)

La Chocolatière du Panier
Location: 4 Place des 13 Cantons, 13002 Marseille, France

I feel it in my fingers...

2005-12-08T02:20:00.000+08:00

Christmas is here! I can finally feel it since putting up my little 5-foot-tall christmas tree today...by the radiator (sorry, no fireplace here). Thanks to a really sweet friend in Marseille who gave me some "Original Swedish Gingerbread Holiday Hearts", I finally had the oomph to put up my tree. These delicious-looking ornaments made a huge difference. (Merci, Tiphane!) I just find them so warm and sweet on my tree. Supposedly in Germany, it's a tradition to hang cookies on the "tannenbaum". With "The Christmas Song" spinning on the CD player, I thought about each of my very dear friends as I carefully hang the ornaments one by one onto the tree. I thought of Becky and Sharon and the others who might be doing the same thing this time of the year. Well, I've thought about making a batch of cookies but I don't know if I'll follow it through. Thoughts speak louder than actions, you know. I don't have those chocolate advent calendars to countdown to Noel, but I know it's less than 20 days away. Gosh, I better be mindful about how I spend the next two weeks. I better start thinking happy thoughts, write in my journal, and be thankful about all the good things that God has given me this year.

Gone are sandals days

2005-11-24T14:58:00.000+08:00

It's turning chilly here. For those of you who have visited me here, you know that most of Barcelona's buildings are not equipped with centralized heating. Apparently the homebuilders of the L'Eixample times had a more moderate climate back at the turn of the 1900s, when major urban-planning was done in the central part of the city. It's a shame because the temperature never dip too low. But as a result of the lack of heating, you feel even colder than you are in Michigan. (Becky, Pete, and Eric ;D, you can attest to that!) It's only 11ºC or 40sºF but I'm going "brr" indoors!

Saturday morning at Granja M. Viader

2005-11-16T22:27:00.000+08:00

Lately I´ve been in the bouts of trying out different eateries. I guess the thought of leaving Barcelona in maybe as early as eight months has something to do with it. I´ve been catching myself chasing after the many things I´ve wanted to do here but have not gotten the time to do. Over the weekend, I had an amazing mid-morning breakfast bonanza at Granja Viader on C/Xuclá 4, situated on a tiny lane just a stonethrow´s from Le Meridian on La Rambla and Pintor Fortuny. A visit to this traditional dairy bar (granja) is like a trip down memory lane with the marble tables and memorablia displayed on the wall. The place has been there forever, and it still looks the same, I believe, since the 40s. I called for the Chocalate Suiza, a hot chocolate made to the pefect consistancy (not too thick, like the typical ones they serve in Spain) topped with an enormously generous scoop of homemade cream or nata. The cream is amazing. Just a tint sweet, completely casera, a far cry from the squeeze-out commercial versions. The best thing to go with the chocolate are little sweet cake fingers called melindres shown here in the picture. My companion Lionel and I also ordered a Flan de Mato which we shared happily. The mato cheese is a specialty of Barcelona, resembling ricotta in taste and texture. Apparently this is the only place in Barcelona that makes it and is certified by the Catalan government. This is also supposed to be the oldest granja in the city. Before you leave, you could even take back some specialty cheeses with you as they have a wide variety plus other desserts displayed near the entrance for sale. Apart from that, you can also bring back the mato, fresh nata, and honey if you fancy to make your own traditional Catalan desserts at home.

In the Know:
Granja M. Viader
C/Xuclá 4 Metro: Catalunya (Líneas 1 y 3)
Opening Hours: Mon-Thrs 9 to 13.45 and 17 a 20.45. Fri and Sat 9 to 14 and 17 to 20.45 (Closed on Monday mornings, Sundays, and Festivos)

Chocolate and Zucchini Cake

2005-11-09T00:06:00.000+08:00

Inspired by a few food blogs I've been perusing, I had the impulse last night to bake a cake with very interesting ingredients (at least to me) since I have all the recipe called for at home. As I ended up droopy-eyed after reading Tintin, I adjourned the grand occasion to the next morning. So before going to French class this morning, I mixed together the ingredients for a Chocolate and Zucchini Cake with Walnuts, and half hour later I got a little fluffy and moist treat, fresh off the oven, for my teacher and the others in class.

Before I spill the recipe, here's a little on the origins of the cake, based on some online research. According to one of the theories, the cake could well be the inventive or rather desperate ideas of Midwesterners where the squash is abundant pretty much year round (near the Great Lakes). There were stories where children grew up leaving bags of zucchinis at neighbors´doorsteps because there were just too much of the vegetable around. There was even something about cars that are normally left unlocked in the Midwest (I can attest to that, having lived in Michigan for eight years, it was really that safe) would be locked during zucchini season lest someone leave a basket of zucchinis in their backseats.

The vegetable is extremely popular in Spain, where I live now. I always have a few in my fridge. Zucchini is known as courgette in the U.K. and France, the diminuitive term for " squash". In Malaysia, where my mum lives, every now and then she could spot some in the market, but it's a variation known as "japanese cucumber" in chinese. My Reader´s Digest Book of Healthy Foods claimed that 100g of zucchini (equivalent to one small zucchini), when gently cooked, provides half the recommended daily dose of vitamin C required for an adult. And voilà, the wholesome goodness of the cake of the day:

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chopped Walnuts

1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa or 4 pieces of dark chocolate grated
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp orange peel
1 cup grated zucchini
1/4 cup milk
1/2 chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F
1. In a big bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and set aside.
2. Beat together butter and sugar with a mixer till smoothly blended. Add egg to mixture and beat well. With a spstir sitr in orange peel and zucchini. Lastly, stir in milk till the mixture is well combined.
3. Make a well in the bowl with the dry ingredients and fold in the wet mixture in the center.
4. Pour the batter into a greased and flour-dusted cake pan. Sprinkle walnuts evenly on top of batter.
5. Bake in oven for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick (or uncooked spaghetti) inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring the cake onto a wire rack to cool thoroughly.

To store in refrigerator, wrap in plastic or foil for up to 3 days.

Rabbit + Pork = Chinese Dumplings

2005-11-03T03:04:00.000+08:00

My quest for southeast-asian flavors resulted in a little surprise today at a local asian store here in Barcelona. Foraging down an aisle with rows of curious-looking jars, something vietnamese with a label featuring a scrumptious-looking bowl of noodle-soup caught my eye.

Pho -- the ubiquitous vietnamese beef-flavoured broth found in most Chinatowns in the states. Happily I went home with a bunch of extremely fragrant cilantro, and a pack of wonton skins. Just a few minutes ago I marinated the quater-pound ground rabbit and pork I have in the fridge. Don't ask me why I have such an interesting choice of meat, it was the only type of meat, besides red meat, left at the store. To make it even more interesting, they were sold as hamburger patties. Apparently all the Spaniards had already stocked up their fridges for the Día de Todos Los Santos (All Saints Day). So my dinner´s gonna be rabbit and pork dumplings with pho.

Here's the improvised recipe, or rather recipe-to-be, since I'll be finishing the rest of the cooking in an hour's time.

Vietnamese Beef-Flavored Broth with Leeks and Carrots
- one carrot sliced
- one leek slicked thinly
- 1 tbs of pho soup paste
- 3 cups of water

When the water is boiling, add veges and soup paste. Boil for 2 minutes covered and simmer for half-hour on very low fire.

Rabbit and Pork Chinese Dumplings
- a pack of fresh or frozen wonton skins/wrappers
- quarter pound of ground meat (chicken, pork, rabbit or turkey)
- 1.5 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- a dash of white pepper and salt
- four chinese or shitake mushrooms (optional)
- 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro (other substitutes: chinese chives, spring onions)

Soak dried shitake mushrooms till soft. Diced them into tiny bits. Marinate ground meat with sesame oil, dark and light/normal soy sauce and blend in cilantro and mushrooms. Put aside for half hour before wrapping them up in the wonton wrappers. Place them in boiling water. They're done when they float...about 2 or 3 minutes. Drain and transfer them into the pho before serving. Add fresh cilantro for garnishing. I love to add some nice long julienned raw zucchini for added vege-goodness. And if you're craving for carbs, add some chinese vermicelli (thin rice noodles). Ok, here I go to check how my pho's doing. Have fun cooking!

P.S. You can freeze the extra dumplings in a container for later use in other noodle soups when you're in a pinch!

Tarte Bourdalou from Provence, France

2005-10-25T07:55:00.000+08:00

I decided it's been too long since I last posted anything. So while waiting for my next inkling, here's a picture of a dessert presented to me as a surprise in July when I was in Marseille. This wonderful cream-mousse tart is completely heavenly. The outer layer has a nice elasticity with a caramel and almond flavor. And when you bite into the center, it's a fluffy and light texture with a contrast to the bottom crust. A specialty from the Provence region in southern France.

Tea, glorious tea

2005-10-07T22:14:00.000+08:00

My recent fascination with tea brought me a few discoveries in Hong Kong. In search for the perfect tea, I went from tea shops to tea shops, trying to find a few favorites that I could bring back to Barcelona. A few sessions of tea sampling and having the courteous assistants explaining each tea type and its health benefits, I narrowed down to the two that I really like: -- Pi Lo Chun and Dragon Phoenix Pearl tea.

Pi Lo Chun (or biluochun) translates as "green snail spring" in reference to this tea's distinctive spiral-shaped leaves. This green tea hails from the Fujian province of China and is produced in the short span of time between the Spring Equinox (end of March) and Clear Brightness (early April).

Dragon Phoenix Pearl are jasmine-infused "pearls" that are intricately made up of two delicate leaves and an unopened bud. This Oolong tea is also from the Fujian province (my maternal grandparents' homeland). Infused with the night-blooming jasmine flowers, these pearls majestically unfurl when hot water is added, slowly releasing their delicate scent and flavor. They're really pretty to look at too!

Chinese teas are best taken after lunch as it has digestive and grease-busting effects. Check out these teas if you're a tea lover or just for curiosity's sake. These are a little pricey but for the quality and taste, it's well worth the while.

*Information on tea adapted from Adagio Tea.

Homemade Gazpacho Andaluz

2005-10-05T07:58:00.000+08:00

[Healthy Liquid Salad of Southern Spain]

I just translated this recipe for my mum and here´s sharing with you. This was the first thing that Flavia, my friend Elsa's mum, taught me in her tiny kitchen of her ubran apartment right in the heart of Barcelona the first time I visited the city. It's the first spanish thing I learned to whip up. A great way to add up your veggie portions of the day and it's really easy to make.

Gazpacho Andaluz

5 medium cucumbers. Peel skin and remove seeds
8 red tomatoes medium. Do not remove skin.
0.5 red pepper (capcicum) skin removed.
1 clove of garlic. center core removed.
0.5 medium onion
0.5 tiny slice of bread to thicken soup
a little less than 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 o 2 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup of water
salt to taste

Blend everything and chill well before serving. Stays good for 2 or 3 days in the fridge.

To serve: garnish with tiny bits of cucumber, tomatoes, onions, red pepper and cuotons if you like. You can present them on a plate. it looks pretty with all the different colors and texture and let your guests do the garnishing themselves.

Lost in Hong Kong

2005-10-01T15:23:00.000+08:00

Here's an email I sent to my friends in Barcelona while vacationing in Hong Kong this July:

Hola a todas!! Ahorita estoy en un horno grande aqui en el centro de Hong Kong. La temperatura ha sido 34c, con humididad super alta. Todo el mundo le encanta estar en los edificios con aire condiciona. Menos mal vivo en un piso con aire condiciona 24h, si no sera insorpotable. Aqui es "shop, shop, shop till you drop." Realmente hay un monton de tiendas de moda. De hecho milliones y no sera posible acabarlas. Aunque los precios no son tan bajos que imaginaba, la variedad que ofrece es increible. (Think Japanese and Korean fashion...colorful, wild, and everything...not the typical zara mango stuff). A partir de la temperatura, tampoco puedo soporta la existencia de tanta gente aqui en la ciudad. It's jam packed. SERIOUSLY. A big sea of people. it's PEOPLE EVERYWHERE and i feel super SUFFOCATED.

No he hecho realmente actividades turistas pero cuando llegue mi hermano phil proximo miercoles, podremos hacerlas juntos. Tengo 2 amigas cercas de aqui que las conoci en la universidad. Hemos tenido "tiempo de calidad" conjuntos(quality time?). Fuimos a cenar, salir de noche, terapia de masaje, etc. Con mi "childhood friend" Darren que ha traslado a HK de Singapur para su trabajo, tuvemos "fiesta de pijama".... hablamos hasta la madrugada recordamos de las cosas de nuestra tierra y ninez. It was so funny and fun!

Manana (jueves) me voy a Seoul, Korea del Sur para la boda de mi amigo Justin. Volvere domingo por la tarde y pienso que mis pilas habran cargado para mas "caza de gangas" (bargain-hunting??). Hasta pronto

Recipe Index

2005-05-01T05:07:00.000+08:00

Soups
Gazpacho Andaluz
German Pumpkin Soup
Vietnamese Beef-Flavored Broth with Leeks and Carrots (Pho)
Spicy Thai Pumpkin Soup

Salads, Sauces, and Dips
Easy Mustard Dressing
Daikon Salad
Salsa Romesco
Homemade Hummus (Chickpea Dip)

Plat Principal
Sautéed Tuna Steaks with Daikon Salad
Seared Scallops with Pasta

Asian
Rabbit & Pork Chinese Dumplings
Chinese Glutinous Rice with Chicken and Shitake Mushrooms

Desserts
Crema Catalana
Dark Chocolate Ganache

From the oven
Chocolate & Zucchini Cake
Lemon Pistachio Bread
Talia's Chewy Chocolatey Brownies

Barcelona Blues Biopsy

2005-05-01T01:11:00.000+08:00

As a recent transplant to Barcelona from suburban America I penned down my observations (or frustrations should I say) to the readers of Catalonia Today, a bourgeoning English weekly. Here was the letter to the editor published September 9, 2004.

It was really hard for me to adjust from the warm greetings and friendly smiles in Michigan, to the cold stares on the streets of Barcelona. I have resorted to pretending that there is no one around me in the Metro. At times when I am “greeted”, it is what I coined as machismo-related verbal harassment: “Ay, guapa, ay, chinita…” You don’t see me going around yelling “ay, guapo, ay, latino” to the next guy I see. Perhaps the “Ajuntament” ought to start designing one of those snazzy communiqué entitled “Unlocking the codes of stereotypes: Education on diversity.” It’s time to realize that not all Asian-looking girls are “cerrada”, demure, or owns a Euro-shop. But before that happens, I will continue going around town breaking the ice with my “Bon dias” to the next “señora” or “señor” I see. Mind you, it’s been an effective one. At least half of the time I get a smile laced with a hint of surprise, and a slurred “Bon dia” in reply.

Well you see, it’s been seven months since that little piece was written, and guess what, my perspective has changed! But change an immense one it became. So the new me go into the metro nonchalantly every morning with a carefree stride, books held on my side and armed with the ubiquitous urbanite accessory – the ipod shuffle. So gone were the “gosh where should I look stance”. I guess I just got used to the fact that Barcelona, like all metropolises, is endowed with the big-city syndrome i.e. mind your own business. No, I’m not going to coin it as a little cold or unfriendly, this simply is a different way of life. It’s not fair to compare an apple with an orange.

And the change of attitude has given me little surprises. I’ve noticed lately that more people smile if I try to be nice. But of course be prepared with nasty looks especially if you look super-duper foreign, like me (I’m of Chinese-Malaysian descent). To fend that, almost like self-defense, I have been experimenting with something like smiling at someone and looking away immediately to avoid disappointments. This strategy does me a lot of wonder because I got tired of doing as the Romans do -- sulking and displaying a face the Spanish call “de mala leche”, which means sour milk.

Alright, and now with the verbal comments thrown at the female species, what Spaniards call “piropo”, which my Merriam-Webster’s dictionary translates loosely as a flirtatious compliment. Believe it all not I got used to it. If I get a piropo, I’ll say ‘hola’, smile, or sometimes ‘gracias’. Taking it as a compliment actually makes you feel good. Forget about them verbally harassing you. I think this non-conventional reaction actually takes them aback. Maybe it’ll make them stop giving “piropos”.

So with the sun kissing my face while I observe life going on at the Plaza Vicenç Matorell in the Raval, I realize that life is truly like poetry. The prose could be written one way, but it´s up to the reader to decipher its meaning. Likewise, a cultural transition might give you a certain reaction but it depends on how you want to diffuse that experience.

The above article was published on April 27, 2005 on Just Landed, an online expat journal.

Bits and pieces

2005-04-27T05:43:00.000+08:00

It´s terrible, now if I speak english, spanish expressions would wanna fly out of my mouth. Guess it´s pretty normal for language-learners. I also just noticed that I was speaking Spanish to Lola, Ivan´s cat. Scary.

Speaking of the cat, it tried to apply some self-defense on me. That was pretty scary, I´d freaked out if I was attacked by a cat. I think I accidently stepped on her tail and she turned around and showed me her "crouching tiger" move with the expression and all. That was really scary. I found myself trying to speak really gently to her, "Lola...Lola..." trying to coax her down and hoping that she understands that I´m her friend, not an enemy. After about five minutes she was brushing herself against me as she swayed past. Uff (spanish, for ´gosh´) that was close. I wouldn´t wanna be like Melena, the cleaning lady, who´s scarred by Lola for life now. Word has it that she had a similar encounter and was actually attacked by her. Melena is completely petrified by Lola. We´ve to send Lola out to the balcony every Friday morning. If we forget, Lola would be locked in my room and my room would be left uncleaned. Humpfff...

More of You and less of me

2005-04-13T14:51:00.000+08:00

i'm holding fast to You Lord, i won't let go!
i'm laying down my rights so You can take control
i'm holding fast to your ways and not my own
i pray Your kingdom come, my kingdom go.

i'm letting go of me, Lord, to find Your heart
i'm trading all of who i am for who You are
i'm letting go of my ways and breaking free
i'm crying out for more of You and less of me

and i will give you my passion
i will give you all my faithfulness!
won't You pour out Your spirit
won't You fill me with your holiness!

fill me Father, fill me Jesus (fill me Spirit)
with your precious living water

Jeff Deyo- Fill Me

What a refreshing revelation... more of Him and less of me. This is my desire.
In the midst of our busyness and daily goingabouts we forget that we can tap the goodness and greatness of our Heavenly Father. We forget that God can help us even in the most trivial and/or mundane things e.g. selling my car. We forget that He desires a continuous conversation with us.. a truly intimate relationship when we are constantly in communication with Him -- a prayerful heart, a heart of worship.

Through my all my experiences, I realized that I cannot let Him go. Sin Dios yo soy nada. Without God I'm nothing. I am watered down to nothing when His prescence in my life equals nil. I feel very much like David -- again and again he messed up, but again and again God forgives him, and again and again He seeks after God's own heart. From trial and error, he realized that obedience is key.

Everything in this world will fade away one day. Where do you place your hope? What drives you in your life? What do you live for each day? I'm so glad I have Jesus in my life. Because of his act on the cross, he died and rose again, my old self can die and I can be reborn. Now my life is full of hope, full of purpose, and I live each day having the security of God's love, and I know if anything happens to me, I have God whom I can rely on. Nothing can deter me, nothing can crush me, nothing can do me harm. Even if bad things happen to me, I know and I know that I can rely on God's strength. I know He's there for me 24/7. I have a new life that is truly abundant now because I live in God and God lives in me. He lives in my heart. The eternal relationship starts here on earth.