A foodie in Japan... a photographic view of a week in the orient...

I just spent a  really delightful week in Japan, my first trip there ever.

The food was occasionally confronting, oddly named, but pretty much both cheap and delicious.  I am not going to give you restaurant reviews, but just a bit of a visual tour of what you might find in Japan...

 My first lunch.. gorgeous tempura

 and such a pretty soup - the autumn leaf is made of layers of beancurd skin apparently

Matcha and a sweet at the golden temple

 A home cooked meal - okonomiyaki (a sort of Japanese pancake with cabbage in it and topped with salted pork)

Japan's equivalent of lutfisk or balut - something that most other countries occupants find completely inedible.  Fermented soy beans, they smell outrageous and taste, sort of like vegemite gone off.. I was grateful for my hayfever blocked nose when I tried it!

 A sort of corn fritter on a stick... yummmmm

 cheap and cheerful bento box, still beautifully presented

 the "autumn feast" in a rather fancy restaurant... so much food!

Plastic food for sale in the plastic food shop!

 More plastic food

 Looks remarkably real some of it

 Some rather less so

and some uncannily real looking

Real food, a nice simple dinner

A speciality of Sendai - beef tongue. 

and at the coast, how can you go past fish and chips?  Well... .tempura fish and vegetables anyway. 

Perfect Christmas turkey?

This year I was cooking a small Christmas dinner, just for 7. 

Last year, I did duck breasts with a port and fig glaze, which was glorious, but this year, I wanted to remind myself of home a bit, so decided to do a turkey. 

I had planned to do my prosciutto and leek stuffing, but when I heard that one of the guests doesn't eat pork, did a bit of a rearrangement. So it was roast turkey with a leek and chestnut stuffing instead. I also decided to try brining for the first time. 

I used a modified Nigella recipe for the brine: 

1 turkey (3 kilos) 

1 cup sea salt 

1 cup brown sugar 

1/2 cup honey 

1/2 cup vinegar 

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 

1 tablespoon allspice berries 

2 tablespoons black peppercorns 

2 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smashed 

I mixed the brining ingredients, and, putting the turkey into a plastic food bag, poured the brine over it and sealed it. I kept the turkey in the fridge overnight. 

The stuffing was pretty straight forward. 

4 small cleaned leaks, sliced and then sweated in butter until soft 

1 loaf of white bread, a little stale, torn up into small pieces 

sage 

oregano 

500g cooked chestnuts 

3 eggs 

Mix the ingredients together and stuff into the bird. Easy eh? 

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Put a piece of baking paper on top of the bird in a deep oven tray, then cover the whole thing with foil and seal in. Bake for 30 minutes at the higher temperature then drop the temperature down to 180 degrees. Total roasting time is an hour per kilo. 

I took off the paper and foil about 45 minutes before the time was up to allow the skin to brown. Rest a little before carving. I was a bit cynical about whether brining really would make a difference, but some research came up with some scientific reasoning, and now having done it, I can confirm that it really does make for a moist and tender bird. 

The only negative is that I thought that the meat did end up a little salty and I can imagine my parents chucking a fit about the evils of salting food. (They keep no salt in the house at all... I can live with that but for two things: boiled eggs and gravy) None of the dinner guests found the bird salty I should add!

Photo courtesy of Ed

Aranyszarvas - a restaurant review

So, dear reader, you think that just because I am off on holidays in Hungary, that I am simply relaxing in hot spas and shopping, forgetting you completely? Never, I say, never!! As always I am willing to sacrifice my time and money and waistline, to bring you advice on where to eat wherever in the world I/you go.

Today my visit was to a Budapest restaurant by the name of ˝Aranysyarvas˝ (ask me not how you pronounce this!).

This restaurant has been around for quite a while in various forms and once was one of the hangouts for the artists of Budapest. Nowadays it's decor is more dignified than bohemian, as is it's game-oriented menu.

I started my meal with an entree of stuffed pheasant soup. This consommé had carrots, pheasant, a slice of what I assume was stuffing, and what appeared to be a few slices of black truffle. Sadly the truffle did not really make any impact on the soup, which was on the whole uninspired. The carrots were overcooked and the broth was pleasant but ordinary enough that I didn't bother to finish it once the solid bits were gone. The best part was definitely the stuffing, which was really delicious, with what was just a hint of something exotic... maybe anise, which I enjoyed very much.

Before moving on to the main course, the bread is worth a mention. The bread was good, but more interestingly, was served with a small pot of hommous. This is a charming idea and makes a nice change from butter. The hommous had none of the errors that can be made with this dish - commonly it can be either dry and grainy, conversely oily or dominated by garlic or tahini. Instead this was simple, moist and tasty.

The main course for me continued the game theme: deer with game sauce and noodles. I was a bit surprised by the dish that was set before me (when I get home I will upload the photos) as the ˝noodles˝ were in fact two large dumplings. They didn't look too promising to be truthful, but in fact were incredibly light, fluffy and delicious.

To pontificate a little, let me say that there are really two ways to deal with game meats such as venison. Cook it fast and rare, or long, slow and well done. The 1st is great but you have to be dealing with clients with an educated enough palate to cope with being served meat that still has a little blood in it. The 2nd is more dangerous a route as you risk the meat drying out and toughening. The restaurant chose the latter route and mostly carried it off. The meat was very very well done and I suspect if there hadn't had been sauce would have bee incredibly dry, but in fact it was not tough.

The sauce however was a bit of a shocker. At the risk of being uncharitable I would say the sauce was simply made of American sweet mustard! It overwhelmed everything else. The dumplings, with their delicate oregano flavour were definitely best kept at a distance from the sauce, and the meat, unless scraped clear of it, could have been any random red meat at all - no way to tell what! Once freed from the mustard (so to speak) it did have its own flavour which was worth discovering. I usually really love the sweet and game combination, but sadly this one just did not really work for me and I just could not get that hotdog mustard idea out of my brain.

Conclusion: Now, while the above review does sound somewhat condemning, I would have to say that if I lived in Budapest I would definitely give this restaurant another shot and in fact would say that my experience was, on the whole, positive. There is an interesting sort of hungarian mezze option which I would have liked to try, and if I had been there with a partner would definitely have made a push for.

The restaurant also deserves a big thumbs up for being one of the few non-smoking restaurants in Budapest, a definite plus in my books! The waiting staff were attentive and helpful, the black, cream and old gold decor is elegant without being intimidating. The background music was fascinating (hearing a soft jazz version of YMCA was slightly bizarre but surprisingly pleasant) and the price is reasonable. My meal of (the most expensive) entree, main and a soft drink (including a built in 10percent service charge) came out at about 4000 forint. (about 20US, 30AUD, 22 CHF, 15 EURO).

Where to find Aranyszarvas? It is in Buda district I, Szarvas Ter 1. (the number 5 bus coming from the Pest direction goes right to the doorstep). Open midday to 11pm every day. Ph: +36 (1) 375 6471. http://www.aranyszarvas.hu

First experimentation with the new pasta machine - Foie Gras Ravioli with Pumpkin Veloute

Foie gras is a very traditional thing to eat at Christmas time in France and (at least southern) Switzerland. 

Last year I made tiny little foie gras and red onion tartlets (which I completely failed to photograph, how bad am I?) and this year I thought I would put my new pasta making machine to work and make foie gras ravioli. 

I started with a basic egg pasta dough: 

300g fine white flour 

3 eggs 

Place the flour in a heap on the work bench, and make a well in the centre. Break the eggs into the centre and then using your fingertips work the flour into the eggs. This is the really fun messy bit. Once incorporated, knead the dough, if necessary adding just a drop of water or two to get a good workable consistency. How long to knead? Till the dough stops feeling sort of grainy and starts feeling smooth.

Wrap up in plastic wrap and let sit for at least half an hour. Break the dough into two pieces (leaving one wrapped up) and set your pasta machine to the widest aperture. flatten the ball of dough out a bit so it can fit through and feed it through by cranking the handle on the machine. Once fed through, fold it in half and feed it through again. If the dough kind of catches on the rollers and has a rough knobbly surface, smooth just a little flour on to the dough before folding and feed through again. Do this 6 or 7 times... I promise you will know when it is done as your pasta dough will be smooth and silky. 

Then take the machine in a step and feed the pasta through again. In another notch and feed again... You might find you now have an unmanageably large length of dough; if so, cut it in half and put one half under a damp clean dishcloth while you deal with the other half. Keep taking the machine in a notch and feeding the pasta through until you have the finest sheet you can get. Don't worry if the edges are not perfect! 

Stage 2: the Ravioli 

1 bloc du foie gras (about 200g) 

1 batch egg pasta dough 

If you are making square or triangular ravioli you can simply place the sheet on the bench, brush it with water, put your ingredients on top, lay another sheet on top of that, and then press together and cut out the ravioli. In my case I wanted to make something a little more festive, so I cut out heart shapes. Then I (and my handsome assistant) brushed the edges of one heart with water and then placed pieces of bloc du foie gras on the pastry, leaving a good edge of pastry. We then placed another heart of pasta on top and pinched around the edges firmly. Sprinkle the hearts with flour to stop them sticking together then spread out on a tray and pop them in the freezer. Once frozen you can put them into a ziplock bag and keep them that way until ready to use. 

Stage 3: Pumpkin Veloute 

1 medium onion, finely diced 

1 butternut pumpkin (aka squash) 

1 tsp caster sugar drizzle of olive oil 

1 litre of chicken stock. 

In a large pan, soften the onion in the oil until translucent. Add the cubed pumpkin and sprinkle with the caster sugar. Stir the cubed pumpkin over medium heat until the pumpkin is browned and the sugar has caramelised. Pour over the chicken stock and raise the heat to bring to the boil. Simmer until the pumpkin has cooked completely then put through a ricer, after which you can use a stick blender to blend to a velvety smooth veloute. 

To complete the dish: Heat the veloute until warmed. 

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Once it has reached boiling point, add the ravioli (still frozen). 

Cook for just a few minutes till al dente. Put out serving plates, add some of the veloute and then lay the ravioli on top in a decorative fashion. 

Grate a little nutmeg on top.

Photo courtesy of Ed.

Have you missed me?

Sorry, I have been away in Florence and Lisbon... But I promise I ate and drank and thought of you!
No recipes to share today, but two photographs from Cafe Florian, which makes fantastically thick, rich hot chocolates.

When the chemistry is right

A trip to Barcelona for three days to visit a friend who was down, became a bit of a gastronomic adventure. Tamara and I met through a mutual interest in illuminated manuscripts, but it was a love of cooking that really drew us together and made us fast friends.

When I found out she was feeling a bit down, I decided that it was my solemn duty to get my butt over to Barcelona to see her. And if, during the weekend, I managed to get a bit of shopping done, and maybe even eat some good food...

Maybe? HA! I arrived at 7.50pm on Friday night and by the time I wound my way through the public transport system to meet up with Tamara it was 9pm. But the Spanish are late night people so the late hour was no reason not to eat, and Tamara had made a booking at a restaurant called "Les 11 Virtuits" for 10pm with two of her girlfriends. We took the degustation menu (with a bit of fiddling because of my sensitivities to shellfish and Tamara's dislike of chicken), and settled ourselves down for some eating. I won't share with you the full menu just yet, as the photos are in Tamara's camera (I will do something a bit more comprehensive once she emails them to me), but it wasn't bad at all, and the company was, of course, superb. Tamara's friends were kind enough to try to speak mostly in English because I have absolutely no Spanish, and we had a few good giggles together.

Saturday started with brunch of lovely fresh bread, spanish ham, fresh cheese and matured cheeses. My kinda start to the day!

After returning from the hunt (shopping bag in hand) we decided to have a quick tapas to give us the energy to survive until dinner. Tamara produced some anchovies from the depths of the fridge and brought out the toaster.

I had brought for her a little gift from Geneva, some of my dried strawberries, and in a moment of brilliance (I admit inspired by something I had seen on the net but I hasten to add not the same thing), suggested that we combine the two. Now I can just tell that some of you, dear readers, will be reeling in horror at the concept of this combination, but have faith... they were great! The sweetness of the strawberries was a great foil to the citric saltiness of the anchovies and together they were sublime.

That evening, we met with another girlfriend of Tamara (all her friends seem to be ridiculously intelligent, charming and nice) at a spot called Inopia for a bite to eat. Sadly since we were all dressed up to go out dancing, I didn't have a camera with me, but you will just have to take it on faith that the crunchy lemon battered anchovies were divine, the mixed olives were a gastronomic adventure and the patatas bravas were so good we just had to have seconds. The fact that the waiter was more than a little decorative didn't do any harm to the atmosphere of the evening too. ;-)

The next night Tamara cooked up a lovely vegetable risotto, and while she bemoaned the fact that the transport strike meant that there was no fresh asparagus to be had anywhere in Barcelona, it was still very tasty.

We followed that up with fish cooked on top of potatoes and garlic, and topped with ever so sweet tomatoes.

I can't tell you how we managed to fit in after that (she cooked a WHOLE fish each!) a local speciality of sweet cheese flan, but you know, I felt that it would be rude of me to refuse.

Monday, my last day in Barcelona got off to a late start. Well actually every day did, because I slept in. Late nights, big comfy bed, very dark room and earplugs will do that for a girl. But the quick snack we grabbed at a tapas bar was only a brief breakfast to keep us going until we got to the main event... Alkimi.

One of the many Michelin starred restaurants in Barcelona, Alkimia is actually very reasonably priced. The amuse bouche+three course+dessert menu is only 32 euro, making it about the price of an average restaurant in Geneva.

and believe me, there is nothing average about Alkimia.

To be continued....

Been off adventuring!

I know its been a while since I last posted... I do have an excuse or two!

I have been off travelling... this time to Prague in the Czech republic.

There will be lots of lovely food photos to follow, once I write up the reviews of the two most interesting restaurants I visited while there. The first was "La Degustation" and the second the only Michelin starred restaurant in Prague, "Allegro".

I did enjoy more simple meals while in Prague though, from simple chicken and dark bread, to goulash and dumplings.

I also fell in love with Czech wafers, specifically cinnamon wafers, and if anyone can tell me where I can find them in Switzerland I would be forever grateful!

Christmas Pudding Truffles

It seems a bit late to post up this recipe now, maybe too late for the post-christmas left-overs frenzy. however, Christmas cake and christmas pudding sometimes (however delicious it may have been) hangs around for weeks, and you can be totally stumped as to what to do with it. In fact, as it keeps so well, there is a chance you will have a whole cake from the year before!

Well here is my suggestion as to what to do with it. These truffles are rich and wicked and look ever so pretty. Now the recipe is kinda loose, because I can't predict how much chrissy pud you will have left over, so just have a play and see!

Christmas pudding truffles (original recipe by Kiriel)

Left over Christmas pudding
Grand Marnier (a couple of tablespoons will usually do)
Cocoa powder
Icing sugar

To cover:
Dark chocolate
Green & red royal icing

Method:
Note: If you are using christmas pudding which has not yet been steamed, you should steam or microwave it to soften up the dried fruits before making this.

Place the cake/pudding and liqeuer in a mixer. Mix briefly - just enough to get the liquid and solid to combine. Sprinkle over 2 parts cocoa to 1 part icing sugar (try 2 spoons of cocoa & 1 part icing sugar to start) and mix until blended - its fine to keep the texture of the fruit, but the mix does need to be at the point of sticking together.

Now comes the messy part! Roll tablespoons of this mixture into small balls - dusting your hands with icing sugar may help to keep it from sticking to them, and place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Cool to firm up.

Melt the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Using a fork, dip the truffles in melted chocolate - you will figure out the best method for you, but I found that the stickiness of the truffles meant that it was somewhat easier to bring the truffle to the bowl of melted chocolate on a fork, and then use a spoon to pour an initial coat of chocolate on top.

Let the excess drip off then place them on your lined baking tray. Cool in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to set.

To decorate, pipe green royal icing holly leaves on to a sheet of baking paper and allow to set overnight (I advise doing heaps of them, as you will discard some as rejects and accidently break some - the more you do, the better they get too!). The next day, take a tiny batch of royal icing in dark red and use it to glue the holly leaves on to the truffles.

Don't they look darling?

Valencia - the eating continues

Wandering along the streets near the hotel we were staying in, we searched for eating options. We came across the "Taberna Hol". For the unbelievable price of 17 euro, they offered a 12 dish meal, including drinks. (a fact we didn't realise until the end when the bill came). Unbelievable.

Ok, so I guess you couldn't call it haut cuisine, but here is what we got for our 17 euros (thats 25 USD, or 28 AUD)

Salad:	Bread, sprinkled with paprika:	Exquisitely sticky chicken wings
Fluffy potato & ham croquettes:	A sort of ham bake:	Crepes filled with gambas & mushrooms
Different sliced sausages & cheese	Rolled pork drizzled with lemon juice & olive oil:	Smooth pate with crisp toasts
Spinach stuffed ham:	A country style terrine:	Two desserts: a sponge cake soaked in sugar syrup, and a rich chocolate cake:

In fact there was also potatoes bravas, but I didn't get a snap shot of it.

So if you are ever in Valencia, look out for "Hol Taberna", avenida Aragon 14-18. I must warn you, there wasn't a choice - you just got what you got, and you had better like ham!

In a pigs ear...

(or what I ate for dinner tonight)

I am in Valencia, enjoying an all-too-brief holiday in the warmth of the Spanish sun. It isn't exactly steaming hot but 15 degrees (that's umm... about 60 degrees F) is a definite improvement on Geneva's -2! Valencia is truly beautiful with ancient buildings and long green parks. Having been to Madrid and Barcelona, I think Valencia beats them both hands down.

One of the many joys of being here is the food. Visiting the markets today was wonderful. It is a feast for all the senses: the scent of fresh fruit, vegies and fish in the air, the sounds of the bargaining the feel of a smooth skinned capsicum and the rough texture of a cabbage followed by the tastes of a breakfast of fresh pastry and a thick luscious hot chocolate... what a sublime experience! The market in Valencia is one of the largest covered markets in Europe, with 959 stalls below its vaulted stained-glass-edged ceiling. As you can see, it is a very pretty building:

Lunch was a veritable market feast of manchego cheese, paper thin serrano ham and tasty bites of cheese-stuffed fruits and vegetables... pimento, apricot, fig, plum as well as some teeny fresh cheeses. I forgot to take a pic till we were half way through, so I can only share a view of some of the meal:

In the afternoon I wandered around the fine arts museum while my friend (who is suffering from a strep throat) slept. When I got back to the hotel, we went for a wander to find ourselves dinner, and ended up in a local bar/restaurant. There we indulged in a large jug of sangria and tapas (as ya do):

• Patatas Bravas - oh so fluffy on the inside, these potato wedges are generously sprinkled with cayenne pepper and served with a big dollop of garlicky aoli. Last time I ate them they actually had a pepper sauce, but these were equally good, in a different way.
  
• Calamares a la Romana - fantastically tender in a thin crunchy shell of batter.
• Verduras Rehogadas - we had no idea what this dish was when we ordered it, but guessed by the "Verduras" bit that there might be something green. It turned out to be a tasty mixture of broad beans, asparagus, mushrooms and artichokes.
  
• Oreja de Cerdo. Again we ordered having no idea whatsoever we were going to get. Once it arrived we identified that it was pork. The texture was confusing... a crispy edge, a layer of wickedly melt-in-the-mouth fat and a hard cartilegenous middle. We debated about what bit of pork it was... artery perhaps? It couldn't be... Then it struck me. Pigs ears! Once back at the hotel a spanish translation program confirmed it. Folks, I can tell you that if you are in Valencia, be brave and try Oreja de Cerdo - it's divine. There is no way a photo can do justice to this dish.
  

Tomorrow we MUST eat Paella.

Christmas gifts for friends and family

One of the goodie bags ready to be tied up. So what is inside?

• Honey biscuits (the little trees, and the christmas decorations)
• wattleseed macaroons (crafted by my friend Drakey)
• Baileys Irish Cream chocolate crackles
• Honey Snaps
• Finnish Spice Biscuits
• Shortbread
  

As you can see I still have some recipes to share with you....

The gastronomic joys of the Christmas markets

Yesterday I met with some friends and we caught the train up to Montreux to check out the christmas markets. We had a wonderful time of it, despite the weather which was distinctly inclement.

We didn't end up spending much money on baubles and gifts. However, we DID spend money on food...

Gigantic pans of choucroute and other delicious dishes

Chestnuts being baked in clay pots by the edge of the lake

Salmon sides cooking over a slow fire, Finnish style

Huge pots of soup

Pretty food.

These beautiful marzipan fruits were on sale in the markets in Nice. Pretty and tempting aren't they?