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| Tuesday, January 15, 2008 Roman holiday  The Pantheon, as shot by the little chica It's been a while since my previous post, but hopefully some travel pics will make up for it. During the holidays, my mom and niece came to visit, and as a treat, we went to Rome for a few days. We'll definitely have to make a return trip because three of the five days were spent tending to a sick baby with an awful stomach virus, poor thing. Thankfully, we were staying in an apartment in Prati, where there was no shortage of good takeout pizza. I had come to Rome with a list of recommendations from various articles and blogs. But after Day 1, I came away a bit disappointed and discovered that coming with a list is totally unnecessary in Rome; I didn't need to seek out the absolute best coffee, or ice cream or pizza because if you stay in a regular, not-too-touristic neighborhood, the great stuff will just be at the place closest to your neighborhood. Within a few blocks of where we stayed, we stumbled on a really good bakery, a restaurant that was happy to do takeout pizza for us and a shop dedicated to fresh pasta of every sort (which we unfortunately did not have time to try.) The standard of things like coffee and ice cream is high everywhere, so, like Paris, it's not necessary to go across town for the one that the Times or the foodies on eGullet claim is the absolute best. Ultimately, maybe my palate isn't so refined, but who cares? We still had some great eats! I discovered that I found central Rome to be incredibly touristic (not a surprise, but still a surprise, like the crowds at the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain, yikes!), and I also discovered that when given her own camera, my 10-year-old little chica takes some really nice pictures. In fact, while I was getting deja vu while snapping pictures of Piazza Navona and the like (you know how you feel like you've seen something 100 times before, but not in person?), she somehow captured some interesting shots of the photographed-for-the-millionth time Pantheon and Coliseum. There's something to be said for seeing something for the first time ever!  Here's Dolce Maniera, the bakery where we picked up fruit tarts and croissants. Kyle and I stopped in here because we saw a group of old ladies standing outside with bags, so we walked down this stairs to this bakery which seemed to always be this crowded. The cornetti were really nice: sweet but not too sweet, and they had an orange taste to it. We devoured a bag of them on the plane ride back to Holland. Oh and can I talk about queuing in Rome? I got the impression that there is none. You push your way to the front, that's the queue. What was funny is that on this night, there was a group of Filipinas there (no queuing over there either, believe me), so the crowd was twice as pushy. Go to a popular Filipino seafood market sometime and you'll know what I'm talking about!  Chestnut vendor in the Campo de' Fiori. We all loved the roasted chestnuts in the street. The smell alone was worth the trip. All the vendors used these drum grills and the same yellow paper cones.   Another treat in the Campo de' Fiori. Pizza from the Forno Campo de' Fiori. Not quite street food like panzerotti, but still awesome. The little guy likes.  Hot chocolate at Tazzo d'Oro, near the Pantheon. Hey, the coffee here wasn't too shabby either.  Sundried tomatoes at the market.  And of course, ice cream. Who cares that it's winter? I didn't have anything quite like Grom, but I didn't have anything bad either.  Little chica's shot of the Coliseum. Labels: the chocolatey, the savory and salty, the sweet, travel posted by sheryl | 10:55 AM | comments (3)
Madeleines, or if you prefer, teacakes  Several weeks ago, we took a short trip to Lorraine, France to check out some World War II historical sites, as well as to eat some quiche lorraine at the source. One thing I hadn't realized is that in the province of Lorraine is the town of Commercy, famous for madeleines. Madeleines are, of course, the famous little cakes that triggered the memories that triggered Proust's novel A la recherche de temps perdu, (Rememberance of Things Past). (And no, I'm not the preeminent Proust scholar in the country.) I mentioned that we were going to the region where madeleines were invented to the 10-year-old. I told her they were the cute little shell-shaped cakes. She immediately recounted her Remembrance of Madeleines Past. "Oh yeah, madeleines. I remember we were in Starbucks once and you wouldn't buy one for me." Doh! So I let her know that, "Yeah, but now you get to have madeleines that are actually good." Although we didn't get to Commercy, she was able to have one for dessert in the town of Verdun. While we were there, I went into a hardware store to buy a couple of madeleine tins. The ones that are tinned metal rather than non-stick are actually kind of hard to find here in Holland. Some of these local little hardware stores are really weird in rural France. Right next to vacuum cleaner bags, you might find a full array of Le Creuset cookware in all colors. Anyway, I found the tins (6 euros each!) and tried to find the checkout counter. First of all, let me say that this store clearly hadn't changed since 1964. And neither had its clientele. I was the only one there under the age of, oh, 60 or so. And did I mention the lighting was like it was a garage? And there was no heat on so the proprietors were wearing their winter coats? So after waiting in line for what seemed like forever, I had to ditch the pans and leave because 1) there didn't appear to be a cash register anywhere in site, and 2) Kyle was waiting outside for me with a screaming baby. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find those same pans here-- only non-stick and silicone. So in the meantime, tiny tin brioche pans have had to do. So maybe these technically aren't madeleines then, but teacakes. They are a bit on the dense and slightly dry side (as true madeleines are), but I've given them a bit of an orange flavor, and they are really nice for dunking in coffee or tea, if you want to go all Proust on it. These are really easy to make -- it is basically a standard genoise batter spooned into smaller molds. Have all ingredients at room temperature, particularly the eggs, as this is an important factor. As there is no leavener, make sure to beat the eggs until they've tripled in volume. They will give the cakes their lift. As a result, it's important to use the batter right away. Teacakes not Madeleines Makes 24 teacakes Ingredients 4 large eggs, room temperature 1/2 cup sugar zest from one orange pinch salt 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons butter, melted then cooled to room temperature
Labels: recipes, the sweet, travel posted by sheryl | 3:26 PM | comments (1)
Comfort and katsu  The other day I was filling in some profile information on Chowhound, such as location, website, blah blah blah, but because it's a foodie message board, it had some interesting ones like "The best meal you ever had." I had to think for a second on the one labeled, "Favorite comfort food." What is my favorite comfort food? I guess for me, what it ultimately means is not just what gives me comfort to eat, but what dish am I happy to cook, and what does my family like to eat over and over again. My friends Melinda and Mark just moved to Hawaii recently. After the envy subsided, I started--of course--thinking about lunch. Hawaiian plate lunch, specifically. Oh, you don't know what plate lunch is? Let me tell you-- it is basically the ultimate comfort food for an Asian. It's typically some sort of meat (you choose) served with heaps of rice and a huge scoop of mac salad. Double starching it-- oh yeah! (I love the double starch. At home whenever I make mashed potatoes, we end up eating it with rice.) The Filipino version of the ABC motto should be "Always Be Carb-loading". I realized then that actually my favorite home-cooked comfort food is something that definitely falls into plate lunch world: Katsu chicken. This is totally my kids' favorite dish and about the easiest thing in the world to make. Basically it's chicken cutlet, but with panko breadcrumbs and served with rice and tonkatsu sauce. It's like, Asian chicken fingers or something. And it is delish. We eat so much katsu at home that when we moved to Holland, I was really worried about something that seems relatively minor to most anyone else: Where would I get tonkatsu sauce? My four-year-old basically needs to drown his rice in the sauce when we eat katsu, so you can't underestimate the importance of the sauce. (Otherwise, it's just fried chicken and rice, right?) I had an elaborate plan of asking all visitors from the States to bring us a bottle each time they visited, and then we would build up a stockpile. But no need, in the end I randomly found the famous Bulldog label glowering at me from the shelf at a Chinese grocery in the Hague. Yes, it was like 5 euros for a small bottle. But who cares at that point? So pour on the Bulldog, and maybe even make some macaroni salad. Put on some Iz and at least you can pretend you're in the islands. And Mark and Melinda: eat some malasadas for me-- those donuts beat Crispy Creme any day! Katsu Chicken serves 4 Don't bother if you don't have panko breadcrumbs; it absolutely will not be the same. If you can, try honey panko. It has a very subtle sweetness to it (and smells lovely when you pour it into the bowl.) Ingredients 1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 large eggs 1 cup Japanese panko breadcrumbs 2 cups canola oil (or any other light-colored oil, such as sunflower oil, which is what I prefer)
 Don't forget the Bulldog! Labels: recipes, the savory and salty, travel posted by sheryl | 7:44 PM | comments (10)
R to the izzo  Dried porcini mushrooms While in Bergamo, Italy, I bought some local dried porcini mushrooms as recommended by our friend Donatella. (An aside: let me tell you-- it is soooo nice travelling with someone local to ask all the questions and tell you where to go! And she knows her food, so that's an added bonus.) I brought them home and what's the natural thing to do with them? Make risotto, of course. Some notes: Risotto is usually stirred constantly while cooking. I've found that this doesn't necessarily have to be the case (although maybe some like the arm workout.) I add the first couple cups of stock straightaway, cover, and let it simmer away for eight minutes or so, until the stock is mostly absorbed. This way, it's off to a rockin start, and you just have to do the stir-and-add-stock for the last ten minutes of cooking or so. Plus, you can make a salad and slice up some bread in the meantime. If you have a risotto method that you already like-- go for it. Just because I'm lazy doesn't mean you have to follow me! Risotto with dried porcini mushrooms 4-5 servings Ingredients 30 grams dried porcini mushrooms 5 cups chicken stock 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 shallots, minced 1/2 cup red wine 2 teaspoons sea salt 1-3/4 cups arborio rice A small handful of fresh sage leaves, minced Grana Padano, for grating
Labels: recipes, the savory and salty, travel posted by sheryl | 8:35 AM | comments (0)
Milan and Bergamo, Italy  Doorknocker in Cittá Alta, Bergamo We spent the other week in Bergamo, Italy, which is 45 kilometers outside of Milan. It was excellent to visit our friends Donatella and John and their daughter (who is good friends with my daughter), catch up, sightsee, and of course, eat.  This is what I'm still dreaming about. When we were in Milan, Donatella took us to an unassuming little bakery called Luini where they have a classic version of Italian street food: panzerotti. It is basically a yeast-risen dough, filled with mozzerella and tomato, then fried til crispy. It is so simple and unassuming. And yet, I am totally obsessed with it.  And, as you can see by this line, I'm not the only one obsessed with it.  We spent most of our time in Bergamo, where one famed local dish is casoncelli alla bergamasca. It is a pasta stuffed with meat, folded into half moons, then served in a butter, bacon and sage sauce. Oh, and then topped with Parmesan cheese. Okay, how can you go wrong: pasta? butter? bacon? For the love of Mario Batali, this was so delish, we had it at least three times.  The town is also famous for the confection called polenta e osei, a spongecake typically filled with apricot jam, rolled in sugar, and topped with a tiny chocolate bird. This is meant to resemble polenta, which is an essential Lombardian staple dish. Donatella is a wonderful cook, so she made us risotto alla milanese, so simple and delish, and then an excellent shrimp dish with saffron. We ate way too much pizza. Yes, it is not overrated: pizza in Italy is way, way better than pizza anywhere else. It was like, every time I had pizza it was better than any pizza I've ever eaten. That's saying something! Oh yeah, and ice cream: We naturally had ice cream every day, but the two best gelaterie that we went to were Grom in Milan and Verderosa in Bergamo. Both use organic ingredients and are artigianale, which means all-natural ingredients and made on site. I was too distracted by the lines and the deliciousness of the gelato at Verderosa to snap any pictures, otherwise I would have tried to participate in Ms Adventures in Italy's Tour del Gelato.  The baby snacking on what's left of a cone outside of Gelateria Verderosa in Bergamo  The kids at the Piazza Santa Ana (with the little guy rocking-- what's that?-- a Crispy Waffle shirt!)  Lions at the fountain, Piazza Vecchia, Bergamo I came back armed with dried porcini mushrooms, so next post: mushroom risotto! Links Gelateria Grom Ms Adventures in Italy: Tour del Gelato Labels: travel posted by sheryl | 8:43 PM | comments (5)
Gelateria Grom
The NY Times had an interesting article on Grom, a northern Italy-based gelato company that will be opening its first shop in NYC. Interesting to me, that is, probably because we were just in Milan this past week and happened to eat ice cream at Grom (which was delicious of course). I noticed that Grom had a 'Slow Food' stamp of approval on their door, and I'd probably describe the gelato as super-tasty-delish.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007 The little guy chows down on gelato in Milan. (His favorite flavor? Fiordilatte.) I guess in NYC a medium cone will cost $5.75(!) according to the article. At least we were in Italy, where the real deal costs far less (and there's good ice cream on practically every corner. Speaking of ice cream, I think I'm going to invest in a proper ice cream maker. I've used a typical freezer-bowl Krups model for years (and gallons of ice cream). It's served me well, but by cramming it into my Euro freezer drawers, I've messed up the freezer bowl and the top doesn't snap on anymore. So it's time to get a serious compressor-style maker (i.e. one that has its own freezer so I don't have to freeze the bowl overnight anymore). I'll update once I have one and make a batch of my fave vanilla. Oh, and of course I will post more on Lombardy, Italy, where my daughter was visiting her good friend who just moved there from Seattle. Donatella and John (her parents) were fantastic hosts and we got to try some delish regional specialties. More soon! Links NY Times: 2 Turin Gelato Men, Hoping New York Will Melt Crispy Waffle: Vanilla Vanilla Ice Cream Grom website Labels: travel posted by sheryl | 7:38 PM | comments (0)
Canary Islands mojo  Arid hills on Fuerteventura, Canary Islands. Many of the hills like this had goats grazing on them. We just got back from Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. It was really nice for a short sun and sand holiday, and better yet, we discovered a couple of local treats that we didn't previously know about. But first, here are some facts about the islands:
So even if my facts are iffy, no matter-- there's your primer! Anyway, back to the treats. Although the food encountered is mostly mainland Spanish (jamón serrano, tapas, bocadillos), we did find a few things unique to the Canaries. The main indigenous Canarian food staple is gofio, a toasted grain flour that is used to make porridge and desserts. You could maybe call it the poi of the Canaries. I had never seen gofio on mainland Spain, and so I bought a bag of it at the grocery, where there was an entire section of the various types of gofio. (Some consist of corn, barley, wheat, or a mixture of the different grains.) I'm going to try to reproduce the one gofio item that I ate that was delish: a dessert called mus de gofio, or gofio mousse. All the recipes I've seen so far differ immensely (some call for egg yolks, like a traditional mousse, and others call for condensed milk as a sweetener, with no egg). Hopefully I'll figure it out and post it, without wasting the whole kilo of gofio in the process! Other Canarian specialties are queso majorero (Canarian goat cheese), and anything involving goat meat, such as roasted cabrito (roasted kid goat). (Fuerteventura has a lot of goats because of the non-vegetation-friendly climate there-- there are barely any trees on the island!) The food preparation that most captured our attention was mojo. Not mojo like Austin Powers, but mojo-- pronounced 'mo-ho'-- as in a sauce. It is basically the Romesco sauce of the Canaries, and comes in different incarnations: red mojo (the most common), green mojo, goat cheese mojo, etc. It is apparently used on nearly everything, but most commonly found on papas arrugadas, or 'wrinkled potatoes'. These are small potatoes boiled in their skins in sea water then cooked dry until they gain a wrinkly appearance. Mojo is then poured on top and it is served as the most common tapa in the Canaries. I bought a bottle of the mojo picon, the red pepper mojo, but decided to just try to make my own at home. After going through various recipes (in Spanish and English!) here's what I came up with. It is actually really similar to Romesco-- many recipes even call for almonds-- but all seemed to have the North African touch of cumin, which gives it a bit of a different flavor. Many recipes seem to call for the spicy dried red pepper found in the Canaries, but as that isn't very common, I used a typical dried red pepper, like the type found in Asian grocery stores, and used a bell pepper to give it fresh flavor, color and also to control the spiciness. (There was no point in using several dried peppers-- all you would taste is spicy and nothing else.) I came pretty close to the mojos that I had while there, and you can further adjust it to taste by using more or less vinegar as well.
Canarian Mojo Picón Ingredients:
The sauce is traditionally served with papas arrugadas. You can substitute steamed or boiled new potatoes. I had larger potatoes on hand last night, so I roasted them instead, with olive oil and salt, and they tasted crazy good with the mojo.  Labels: recipes, the savory and salty, travel posted by sheryl | 9:25 AM | comments (0)
Eat this exhibit
The other week, the fam and I hit up an exhibit at the Volkenkunde Museum (the National Museum of Ethnology) in Leiden, called Food: Traditions, Taboos and Delicacies. I don't think it's something I would have paid to attend, but with the free entry (with the best deal in the Netherlands, the 25 euro Museumkaart) it was worth a go.
Friday, January 19, 2007 The kids really dug this area (entitled 'Strange Fruit')-- even with the giant photo of red cabbage. (This, however, was balanced with a giant picture of a pomegranate, so hey!)  Here are the kiddos in another area about etiquette.  My favorite area was a display of different utensils from all over. Although I love my KitchenAid, my Global santuko knife and my granite mortar and pestle, I'm all about finding out about other gear (ask Kyle about our crammed kitchen). This is a picture of one of my faves at the exhibit: a Mexican tin can barbecue. I am all over that. Hand me a Fanta can.  I couldn't resist a giant photo of, yes, my favorite trashtastic Asian condiment-- three letters: MSG. I am a definite "Chinese restaurant syndrome" denier. If MSG makes you loco, then (as Jeffrey Steingarten asked) why doesn't everyone in China have a headache? That reminds me-- I gotta go against the grain and post some recipes with MSG. Go authentic! But by far the best discovery at the exhibit was an area dedicated to a book called Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. The premise of the book is a comparison of what 30 families in different countries eat in one week-- and what they spend for their food during that week. The family is then photographed, together, with that one week's worth of food. It is utterly fascinating. The differences are astonishing: one family in Australia spends the equivalent of U.S. $376 for food, while a family in Bhutan spends just over $5. At the same time, it's a great equalizer (the French family gives in to fast food and shop at a big box grocery rather than the neighborhood boulangerie, the Okinawan family had Spam in their grocery list). There are also loads of country statistics. It's the sort of information overload that I enjoy, and the photos are beautiful and illuminating (this book is a great example of how a picture is worth a thousand word), so I went right out and bought the book.  Links: Volkenkunde Museum: Eten Amazon.com: Hungry Planet Labels: travel posted by sheryl | 3:06 PM | comments (2)
Maramondo becomes UglyRipe
So last summer I took a picture of these weird tomatoes at a market in Paris. I meant to find out what they were, but never bothered. Now the NY Times has told me: they are a French heirloom variety called Maramondo. A Florida variety (that was cross-bred using the Maramondo) called UglyRipe will now be marketed in the U.S., so watch for some ugly (but apparently delicious) tomatoes to hit the shelves at places like Whole Foods.
Monday, August 07, 2006 The June tomatoes that I photographed at the market in Paris Links NY Times: Even for a Tomato, Looks Aren't Everything Wikipedia: UglyRipe Labels: travel posted by sheryl | 8:19 PM | comments (2)
Travel: Portugal and Spain  It's been so hectic I haven't been able to post! Anyway, here are (finally) some pics from our epic journey through Portugal and finishing in Madrid, Spain, where, many moons ago I had spent time as an exchange student (and the city is still the same, and at the same time, different, of course.) This time I traveled with my sister, her daughter, and my two kids. (Kyle missed out because he was busy working. Boo hoo!) We started in Batalha, Portugal, which is close to Fatima, where we were doing our Catholic pilgrimage. Batalha is a charming town in itself, with a huge Gothic sanctuary that is a UNESCO heritage site. Fatima was great, and while we were in the area, we did our Pork pilgrimage as well: to Mealhada, a town in central Portugal that is famous for its roast suckling pig called leitão. For me, this was worth the hour drive north of Batalha, although my sis, who currently lives in Seattle, was not that impressed with the long drive to get lechon which you can get in Chinatown, Seattle! But, hey, I can't get lechon in the vicinity of Den Haag (that I know of), so I was pretty happy with the Pig.  Our giant plate of leitão at Pedro dos Leitões  The little guy was a big fan. And they served it with homemade potato chips which he also enjoyed, of course.  Next we traveled to the Algarve, which is the southern coast of Portugal. They have spectacular beaches, and of course seafood. Above is feijoada from the Algarve, which is a delicious stew of white beans and every kind of seafood you can imagine.  They take their seafood seriously in the Algarve... this restaurant is called Catedral do Marisco (Seafood Cathedral). After our Portuguese beach holiday, we headed via bus, then train, to Madrid where we had some specific foods in mind...  The chocolate and churros at Chocolatería San Gines were excellent. I sometimes think that Spanish hot chocolate is too sweet and too thick because of all the cornstarch (I prefer the French hot chocolate at places like Laduree in Paris), but at this chocolatería the hot chocolate was delish.  We went to La Barraca near Gran Vía for, of course, paella. It's an old-schooly dining room where basically paella is the only thing they serve... and it did not disappoint. (Sorry for the dark pic-- I was distracted by the food so I didn't get a good picture of it when it was still in the platter!)  To say it was hot in Madrid mid-July is an understatement. Here, the little guy enjoys his new favorite ice cream flavor, natas at a delicious ice cream stand on Calle Cadiz. Natas is basically like the sweet cream ice cream flavor in the States, but less sweet. The boy looooved it.  With all the outdoor eating, tapas were definitely in sight for us. Here's a tapas joint, also on Calle Cadiz. The array that my daughter is excited about included morcilla, a blood sausage, as well as the típico jamón serrano, and sardines and red peppers.  All of our favorite combo: the unusual combination of Camembert with blueberry preserves. Until exactly that moment in time, I had hated Camembert. Now I know it has a place in this world.  Before leaving, I tried to go to the deli to get some jamón Ibérico for Kyle. But there was a señora in front of me who, I swear to you, had the dude slice off every type of ham leg you see hanging there, then was like "Hmmmm, I'll also get some longaniza..." By that time we had 10 minutes to get back to the hotel, so no jamón for Kyle, unfortunately. Labels: travel posted by sheryl | 2:14 PM | comments (1)
Travel: Tunisia  We just returned from a week-long holiday in Tunisia, so of course I have to report on the food! Tunisia, located in North Africa between Algeria and Libya, has an unusual culture stemming from its indigenous Berber roots, Arabic legacy and French colonialism (which ended in 1956). The food, as a result, is an interesting mix of all of these cultures: couscous and harissa, fantastic Turkish-style desserts and mint tea, and good French pastries. The national dish is couscous. One of my first observations is that Tunisia doesn't have a well-established 'dining out' culture; it is known among Tunisians that the best food is had in a Tunisian home. Thankfully, we had the excellent good fortune of being in Tunisia at the same time as my friend Naima, who lives in Seattle. She and her husband are Tunisian, and she was rounding out a three-week trip to visit her family when we were able to see her during our stay in Tunis, the capital of the country, and the city in which her family lives. So in addition to getting to go sightseeing with her and her kids (who had a great time with my kids), we also got to have a home-cooked meal prepared by her sister Bahia, who is an excellent cook. Our lunch at their family house was the best food we had during our trip. Bravo Bahia!  Bahia's excellent couscous with chicken and fava beans This was the best couscous I've had. Naima explained that in Tunisia the main base flavor for couscous is tomato paste, so you always end up with a reddish couscous (unlike in Morocco, where other spices are often applied). This gives it a sweet flavor, and of course, heat can be added as well with the use of chiles. The couscous was so good that I ended up buying a couscoussier--a Tunisian couscous steamer for properly preparing it. (American recipes often call for couscous to simply be boiled in broth, but to obtain the lightest, melt-in-your-mouth texture, the couscous in places like Tunisia is always steamed--and sometimes even steamed twice.) Hopefully, because we have a huge Moroccan market here in Den Haag, I can also try to find the extremely fine-grained couscous that is used in Tunisia. According to Naima, many Tunisian cooks even make their own couscous, rolling the semolina with their hands. I'm hoping I don't have to resort to that! The other Tunisian specialty, which was my absolute favorite is brik l'oeuf. I love anything with an egg in it (me being Asian and all), but this recipe takes the cake for fans of yolky, runny eggs. It is basically a fried pastry shell stuffed with tuna or seafood, herbs and vegetables, then an egg is broken into the mixture, the packet is quickly sealed and deep-fried. It takes lots of practice to keep the package sealed without it breaking open in the pan, and it takes quite a bit of skill to eat it--otherwise you end up with egg all over either your face or your clothes.  Brik l'oeuf: squeeze a bit of lemon, then pick it up and eat it, tilting it so you don't get egg yolk on your clothes Naima also made a delicious Lebanese salad with herbs, that hopefully I can get her to post on Crispy Waffle. :)  Naima's salad with herbs Here are some other pictures of the various things that we ate and saw in the markets. Hopefully some recipes are forthcoming, once I work them out, especially for the mint tea and for couscous.  Sandwich thon Street food in Tunisia involves a lot of sandwiches in either flatbread, pita or even baguettes. There are even savory fillings for fried doughnuts (which I ended up not trying--I was too full after eating a huge sweet doughnut and I just couldn't do it). My favorite was the typical tuna sandwich in griddled pita. Tunisians take the use of tuna to a new level (and it also helps that their canned variety of tuna is quite different and very tasty--very much like quality Italian canned tuna varieties.) In sandwich form, the pita is filled with tuna, harissa, olives, cucumbers and onions. This I will definitely recreate. The best of these sandwiches was at Carthage. We were walking around and Naima's 2-year-old son befriended an elderly man and his friend who were having their lunch on a bench. He ran ahead of us and in a moment, the little guy was chewing something, so Naima went to investigate. (That the man was giving the little guy a snack is nothing surprising. Tunisians are unbelievably friendly with small children; my son was often picked up and hugged by strangers-- a bit alarming at first, but we got used to it pretty quickly.) Before you knew it, the man had given us half his sandwich to try. Naima said, "But this is your lunch!" and he simply said, "I'm sharing it because it's all from God anyway." The tuna sandwich he was eating had the most delicious olives and pickled cucumbers in it.  Tunisian doughnuts The doughnuts at the street stands were also quite good. The best way to describe them is as a giant beignets covered in a sticky honey syrup. Delish. I don't know what they're called, so I did a lot of pointing and eating (as I usually do with street food!)  The little guy chowing down on a giant doughnut  Tunisian sweets. My son had to be dragged away from this stand kicking and screaming. They gave him so many samples that he thought it was all free!  Giant blocks of nougat at a sweets stand  A cow head advertising freshness at a Sousse butcher shop Labels: travel posted by sheryl | 8:45 AM | comments (15)
Travel: Brussels
After a month(!) of not posting, I was looking on my hard drive and realized I had never posted any Brussels reporting. This being a site named after waffles and all, I figured I should do that.
Friday, January 20, 2006 In the Grand Place, above this doorway is apparently St. Honore, the patron saint of cooks and bakers. I suppose he is who you pray to when you want your souffle to rise perfectly.  A luikse wafel, or liege gaufre from Belgaufre, the most prominent chain of street waffle vendors. This waffle actually changed my mind about liege waffles-- I had previously disliked them, but I guess I had never had a good one!  Le Pain Quotidien (which, in the U.S., has cafes in L.A. and New York) started in Brussels. I like their formula: a huge country-style communal table, serving simple soups and sandwiches with delicious bread and pastries. The funny thing is that I made a mistake reading the menu (hey, my Dutch is questionable and I don't know French except for ordering hot chocolate), so we ended up with beef carpaccio tartines (read: beef tartar on country bread with Parmigiano, pesto and olive oil). Listen, it did not say "carpaccio" or "tartar" or even "filet americain" anywhere. Anyway, it took us a minute to figure it out, but it was delicious anyway.  Pierre Marcolini near the Grand Sablon is considered to be one of Brussels best (if not the best) chocolatiers. I didn't purchase any bonbons this time around, but I really liked their "pure source" chocolate bars, especially the one made from Ecuadorian chocolate.  Tempting pastries at Pierre Marcolini  Various molds at the Grand Sablon antiques market  We went to Dandoy, which is apparently the holy grail of cookies for Belgians. They specialize in speculoos, the lowlands ginger cookies that is known as speculaas in the Netherlands. I hate to say it, but I was disappointed. I actually came away from the shop's overpriced cookies preferring Dutch grocery-store speculaas! The perlas au chocolat (above) were the only cookies from Dandoy that I found delicious. Links Le Pain Quotidien Pierre Marcolini Biscuiterie Dandoy Chocolate and Zucchini: The Biggest Speculoos in the World Labels: travel posted by sheryl | 9:00 AM | comments (1)
Curry and fried Mars bars
We just got back from a windy, rainy few days in Edinburgh. We enjoyed it anyway. Why? Not just because Edinburgh castle is dreamy, and Greyfriar's Bobby is cute, but because the little guy loved Scottish treats, of course.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005 Giant Scottish breakfast-- haggis in the forefront. The little guy actually really liked haggis which has a taste kind of like really good corned beef hash, or something.  Holland is really hurting in the Indian food department, so we took the opportunity to get down and dirty at the curry joint, something the little guy couldn't resist.  And of course, we had to have the no-longer-mythical infamous fried Mars bar, bought at a greasy chips shop. Labels: travel posted by sheryl | 8:55 PM | comments (0)
NYC Trip Report
Yes it has been too long! I have been too busy doing stuff like, oh, I don't know, working, to post my trip reports! So finally here it is-- and worth it, since I totally ate my way through NYC!
Vegas snacks
My obsessions at the time were sandwiches and cupcakes, and what better place to go than New York? SANDWICHES 'ino: Yes, the sandwiches at 'ino are worth it. It is this tiny little place in the West Village where you practically sit on your neighbor's lap (that is how close the tables are, and yes, they have to move them in order for you to slide out). We had a white bean and egg bruschetta that tasted as good as it looked, and I had a sweet/salty/spicey probably the best panino I've ever had: prosciutto cotto, grana and spicy relish.  Bruschetta with white bean and egg and basil  Kyle's classic sandwich at 'ino Bar Jamon: While we were waiting by Casa Mono for our friends Adam and Jessee, I decided to have a pre-lunch sandwich because frankly, I am not going to pass up a sandwich at a place called Bar Jamon. I had a standard sandwich with Serrano ham and because of the extra step of toasting the bread and rubbing it with garlic and tomato, it took the Spanish ham sandwich to the next level. By the way, the service was terrible in this little space the size of a broom closet (not to mention the staff on hand seemed to be catering to a table of what seemed like a shady bunch of junior wiseguys), so it made the sandwich a post-lunch snack. CUPCAKES With the NYC Cupcake Wars ensuing, I looked for cupcakes wherever they were to be had. The two places I ended up going were not surprisingly, Magnolia babies (i.e. owned by former owners/workers of the O.G. of cupcake shops, Magnolia Bakery) Buttercup Bakeshop: This bakery is in midtown, I think on 2nd Ave. I had a Lady Baltimore cupcake that was eh. But what was most memorable is that there was a GIANT FRUITFLY in one of the cupcake cases. I pointed it out to them and they took out the tray of cupcakes where said fruitfly had been, uh, snacking. They were like, "We'll get rid of this whole tray", but I picked out a cupcake from a different refrigerator case anyway. Then, when we were walking out the door, Kyle saw them put back the tray of cupcakes anyway! YUCK. Let's hear it for hygiene. Oh, the cupcake wasn't sweet, which is good, but it was way too dry, and the frosting was nothing to do cartwheels over. Magnolia: From everything I'd heard about it being overrated, and from the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd we saw in there when we walked past, I decided to skip the O.G. of all cupcake shops! Sugar Sweet Sunshine: This was the bakery recommended by Adam and Jessee, and it was totally worth a visit, even though we ended up going all the way to the Lower East Side (having been nowhere in the neighborhood at the time. But hey, this is a quest.) The only specialty cupcakes I've had to that point were too sweet (gross, gross Cupcake Royale in Seattle! I actually have gotten sick from the amount of sugar in their cupcakes!) or dry (most cupcakes, including Buttercup Bakeshop). Sugar Sweet Sunshine, on the other hand, had the perfect cupcake. I ate a pistachio one, which actually tasted like pistachios, and the buttercream frosting was the best I've ever had. I am all about modifying my buttercream recipe in a quest to get it to taste like that. It was that good. Oh, and the people who worked there were unbelievably nice too. Good cupcakes just make people happy, y'all!  The delicious pistachio cupcake at Sugar Sweet Sunshine (eaten about 3 seconds after this photo was taken) OTHER FOODS City Bakery: Ever since buying Maury Rubin's Book of Tarts, (now out of print) I've been a fan of City Bakery-- and I had never even been there! The tarts there are even better than the recipes; I had a passionfruit tart with a cold hot chocolate. Okay, I'm super picky about my hot chocolate so at first I was disappointed (some say the hot chocolate at City Bakery is the best in NYC.... well). It's not the best, but as I drank it, I actually liked it more and more because it is not sweet at all, and it's rich but not too rich-- it tastes like it's made with good cocoa rather than tons of melted chocolate. The tart was a little too... tart (heh), but good anyway.  Iced hot chocolate and passionfruit tart at City Bakery Chocolate Bar: More hot chocolate! My obsession with hot chocolate continued with the spicy hot chocolate at Chocolate Bar. It was a hot day but this was. Off. The hook! Just spicy enough to give a kick, not sweet and crazy chocolatey. Highly recommended. I also bought some bonbons and chocolate bars for my sister, and a t-shirt that said "chocolate baby" for Dari. How true that is. Pomme Frites: Disappointing. This little storefront on 2nd and 8th is supposedly the best frites in NYC. Maybe I romanticize those Dutch frites that I love, but once again I was disappointed with the frites in the States. But... they are the best frites I've had on this side of the pond, and the mayonnaise they used hit the spot. Maybe the potatoes are wrong?  Digging in anyway at Pomme Frites Shake Shack: Rickshaw Dumpling Bar: I actually liked Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, Anita Lo's 'fast-food' venture. (Anita Lo who beat Mario Batali on Iron Chef? Yeah, girlfriend!) Anyway, I didn't try the gimmicky Thai dumpling whatevers, but I had the duck dumplings and also the classic pork with scallions and it was excellent, simply because the soft texture kept the meat from sliding out of the dumpling shell. I mean, come on, if you're going to have a place called "dumpling bar", you'd better have some damn good dumplings! Oh, and it was perfectly fried. Good and cheap.  Bowl with duck dumplings at Rickshaw RESTAURANTS: Peking Duck House (courtesy of Jen and Darren's wedding rehearsal) Casa Mono: The 'Monkey House' is where it's at! We met Jessee and Adam at Mario Batali's tapas place, Casa Mono (right next to Bar Jamon, where I got my sandwich, also from Batali, who seems to be the Celebrity Chef Restaurant King of New York). Mostly untraditional tapas, but really really good. So good, that even though I had my camera, when the food came I forgot to take pictures of it. The best were the grilled scallions, the langostines, and the mushrooms. The dessert was crazy good too, and the coffee was really good. (I was soooo disappointed in the coffee at 'ino, that I was that much more excited to get great coffee at Casa Mono). It was an awesome place to eat all afternoon (and both Adam and Jessee and Kyle and I had different dinner reservations within two hours, but oh well!)  The teeny kitchen at Casa Mono Biltmore Room: Okay I don't go to chi-chi restaurants that often (too expensive yo!) but I'm going to say that Biltmore Room is one of the best places I've ever eaten. Oh, and it didn't hurt that my friend Maila, who used to be a restaurant publicist, happened to know the chef, Gary Robins. She went to the kitchen to say hello to him, and before we knew it, the free courses were flowing. There was a 3-course prix fixe, but we had an additional four courses, courtesy of the chef. Everything was sooo good: Leek flan, then white asparagus with crayfish and morels (which were fried and tasted really meaty), then a foie gras with brioche and apricot chutney. The dishes that took the cake though were the prawns in sarong, which was an appetizer and the softshell crab with soba noodles. The prawns in sarong were prawns wrapped in noodles and then deep-fried-- an excellent idea that I am too lazy to try! Kyle had a bluefin tuna with ginger sorbet that he said was the best fish dish he's ever eaten. And he is still talking about it. The drinks at Biltmore Room were also unbelievable, and the martinis that we ordered had actual calamansi in it-- an ingredient I have not seen outside of the Philippines. And, courtesy of the lovely chef, we got a second round of drinks on the house. I heart Gary Robins! One of the saddest things is that I did not have my Hello Kitty camera to capture the eating festivities. Waaah! One of famed NY Times restaurant critic William Grimes' last reviews was of the Biltmore Room. He gave it three stars, and it deserves it! OTHER STOPS:  The dream-come-true pig counter at Murray's Cheese Shop  A dulce de leche cone from Cones. Off. The. HOOK!  Portabello burger and fries from Shake Shack in Madison Square Park Labels: travel posted by sheryl | 4:55 PM | comments (1)
I didn't do a ton of out-of-the-way eats in Vegas last month, but there were some good things we came across:
Wednesday, February 02, 2005Paris breakfast buffet: Yeah, the buffets in Vegas get a bad rap, but we hit the breakfast buffet at Paris Las Vegas anyway. It was surprisingly good! It is hard to find a good croissant in this country, but there they were, at the Paris buffet, almost as good as the ones Eric Kayser makes in Paris (which I think are the best croissants EVER). I almost put some of the buffet croissants in my purse for later, but I had to stop myself. The waffles were not bad (and you know how picky I am about waffles!) and there was a really nice selection of different kinds of sausages. Trish said the lunch/dinner buffet wasn't nearly as good as the breakfast buffet, so if you gamble all your money away at Paris Las Vegas and Bally's, wake up early and use your comps for breakfast! El Pollo Loco: Who knew fast food chicken could be so good? With all my time spent in SoCal, I can't believe I never had the crazy chicken, even though Brad Pitt did a stint at one time in a chicken costume. It is not a good landmark to watch for in Vegas because there are so many of them (just like in LA). It's the best thing to bring home, fry some tortillas and shred the crazy chicken with sour cream and guac. Fiesta Filipina: There are a surprising number of Filipino restaurants in Vegas (part of the reason my parents wanted to have a house there, of course). When in Vegas, head off the Strip into suburbia and check them out! Fiesta Filipina had awesome pork bbq skewers (something I am particular about), not so great palabok (also picky about-- go to Barrio Fiesta in LA if you want good palabok), and pretty good turon. I didn't get a chance to go to Nanay Gloria's, but Trish said it was even better than Fiesta. Fiesta Filipina: 3310 S Jones Blvd Las Vegas, NV 89146 Nanay Gloria's: 5980 Spring Mountain Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89146 El Pollo Loco: Every-damn-where Filipino Food Glossary: definitions of Filipino foods Labels: travel posted by sheryl | 4:19 PM | comments (0)
Chocolatey Goodness: an ode to Puccini
Slate has ratings of the "tastiest" chocolates (quotations are mine) you can get by mail. Don't listen to any of it. Since the Holland stint, I have become the biggest chocolate snob in America. (Yes it's true, even more of a chocolate snob than either a waffle or french-fries snob. The french fry snobbery I will get to in another post). I usually really like Slate's Shopping column, with the exceptions, of course, being their coffee-maker article and their vacuum-cleaner article. (Many know about my obsessions with my Francis X5, (which I've nicknamed "Francis"-- what else?) even though I've gotten lazy and use a regular ol' Krups nowadays, and my newer obsession with our Miele vacuum cleaner, which cost more than anybody should ever spend on a vacuum-cleaner, ugh. But I love it! And I'm getting away from the subject here.)
Anyway, I think Puccini Bomboni in Amsterdam ruined me, ruined me! for regular chocolates. It's the combination of super, super dark (i.e. at least 70% cacao content) chocolate and super-strong, unusual flavors, the best of which are fig-marzipan, tea, lemongrass, tamarind, and last but not least, pepper. We also had a Den Haag based chocolatier called Westerbroek, which had the best damn hazelnut chocolate anywhere. Unfortunately, Puccini does not mail-order, so Kyle, Tricia and I are incredibly depressed whenever we imagine pepper chocolate and fig-marzipan bonbons. How sad! As far as the Slate article goes, avoid pretty much everything on the list, with the exception of La Maison du Chocolat, the French company. They actually have stores in NYC, and are highly regarded. Some chocolate-crazies that I know prefer Maison's best of all, so even though I didn't get to try them while in Paris (even more expensive than Puccini, so I couldn't do it!) I trust that they truly are some of the best out there. Avoid Leonidas, the Belgian company on Slate's list: totally mediocre. A Belgian company I really like just for regular chocolate bars is Galler. They also have bonbons with flavors like curry, but I did not get to try them. Actually, now that I think of it, for regular chocolate bars and for baking, one of my favorites happens to be Scharffen-Berger, which is an American company! So that gives me hope: maybe I will come upon the ultimate American bonbon one of these days. Speaking of bonbons in America, when we got back to Seattle last year, one of the first things I did was check out Fran's. It is sometimes regarded as the best chocolate in America. I'm gonna go old school here-- Don't believe the hype! It was totally overpriced, and to me, tasted like the commonest Belgian chocolate this side of Bruges. Not only that, it was too sweet-- one of the typical crimes of American chocolate. It is $45 per pound! Compare that to Puccini's 40 euros per kilo, and you'll understand why I think Fran's is overpriced. The only worthwhile bonbon was the salt caramel, but it's still not worth the cost. Anyway, I can't write about this anymore, it's too depressing! Soon I will have to have a Holland-based friend send us some chocolates when this withdrawal becomes too unbearable. It'll be totally worth the shipping cost! Better yet, anyone going to Amsterdam soon?? :)  Puccini's Staalstraat location. Staalstraat is one of the cutest little streets in Amsterdam, and this shop has a tasty sandwich shop next door (also named Puccini). (sigh... I can see the tamarind flavor right there in the forefront...) Labels: travel posted by sheryl | 9:33 PM | comments (8)
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Welcome to Sheryl's site dedicated to the humble waffle, among other sweet, savory and delicious things. I'm based in The Hague, Netherlands, and post recipes and travel (food, of course) photos, so enjoy and smakelijk eten! Top Posts Categories Recent
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