As you prepare to pack your bags for your next holiday, hopefully in the coming days or weeks, take some time to research places to eat in the destination you are visiting. For as long as I can remember, I have planned holidays not only on the basis of the places I wanted to visit but also on the places that I wanted to eat, food markets I wanted to visit and food speciality shops that were a must visit. In some cases, I might not recall the name of the restaurant but if the dish was memorable, I may have tried to recreate it at home and can remember not only what I have eaten but also what others at table had eaten. Given we are approaching the peak of the holiday season, here are some tips of what to look out for and what to avoid when you are on holiday. It is not a fool-proof method but you can rest assured that you will have some memorable meals. And after all, holidays are all about memories and what better than to have excellent memories related to food. Here are our … [Read more...]
Archives for July 2015
Gelinaz! shuffle still a secret few hours before culinary event of the year
It may well be the most ambitious culinary event that has ever taken place. 37 chefs, most of them world class have taken the bold step to travel the world and replace one of their colleagues for an evening at the restaurant. The chefs taking part in the Gelinaz! Shuffle have arrived over the past two days to their destination after their names were drawn in a ballot. We know for sure that one of them has missed a flight and another, travelling to Faviken, a restaurant in the middle of nowhere in Sweden, had problems with his car engine on the way to the restaurant. But the identity of the chefs remains a mystery. Gelinaz! is a collective of international chefs. It is a group that was created by Andrea Petrini and one of Italy's best chefs Fulvio Pierangelini. (You can read about his story here). Pierangelini is an exceptional chef who did not necessarily like the way the culinary world was heading toward in the early 2000s. In an interview with Agrodolce.it, Petrini said that … [Read more...]
Second Flemish Food Bash is a huge success
The Flemish Food Bash turned out to be a huge celebration of gastronomy and fun. Despite a stormy start and heavy rain, the day came to a lovely end as chefs, pastry-chefs, butchers, cocktail masters, bakers and cheese masters among others brought a smile to the thousands who turned up at Oostduinkerke, Koksijde on the Belgian coast. Driving from Brussels on Sunday morning was easy which is not always the case on the weekend in the direction of the North Sea. The weather forecast looked threatening but then again it had been the same for the past few days with no signs of any storm after the unusual hot spell. It started to drizzle as I arrived but it did not look threatening in the beginning. But by 1pm, it was pouring and the two large tents which were aimed to house the chefs ended up being not only a shelter from the rain but also a stand-up restaurant for the people present. I was near Heinz Beck (above), three Michelin star chef of La Pergola in Rome when we heard the … [Read more...]
Weekly round-up of great reads on food and wine #40
Here is the weekly roundup, earlier than usual, as we head to the Belgian coast for the Flemish Food Bash which promises to be a great event bringing 40 chefs together. We will bring you more information about the event in the coming days so please come back. Grant Achatz, chef of Alinea, the famous Chicago restaurant, was recently in Europe as a judge for the San Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year. He will soon be opening a pop-up restaurant in Madrid. Here he is interviewed by Gabriele Zanatta of Identita Golose. It is always a pity to spill wine, especially great wine, but sometimes it does happen and can be frustrating. Conrad, from the Wine Wankers, a hugely successful Australian site, has written about the subject and sampled a red wine stain remover called Chateau Spill. What difference is there to using white wine to remove the stains? You can see the difference in results here. There are always mixed feelings about the sublime pleasure of great food and wine pairing. Here is … [Read more...]
A selection of books on wine to read this summer
As summer approaches, I normally start to make a list of books I want to read or else re-read. I am constantly on the lookout for new books to read. While reading about food and wine is pleasant throughout the seasons, I love to delve into wine books during the summer season. I'm still trying to decide which wine books to read this summer but here is a list of books on wine which I highly recommend and which I have read over the past few years. 1. Huge Johnson: A Life Uncorked: I never get tired of reading this book. It is a great read from a great knowledgeable author. If you want to learn about different wines and wine regions, this is an excellent place to start. He gives you the inside tips on each of the main wine regions, lists and talks about some of the best winemakers in the world and gives you a written tour of these regions. If there is one book you should read, I recommend this. 2. Palmento: A Sicilian Wine Odyssey (At Table) is a great book on Sicilian wine. If … [Read more...]
The story of Stella Artois
When you drive into Leuven, your senses are immediately heightened. One of the things you see is the Stella Artois brewery (which also makes Jupiler and Leffe). But what hits you most is the amazing aroma of the beer being brewed. It's a smell of yeast which reminds me of my childhood back in Malta. Living only a few kilometres away from one of the only breweries in Malta, we would get a whiff of the beer being brewed everytime the wind blew in our direction. The history of Stella Artois dates back to 1366. It was in this year that the original Den Hoorn brewery was founded. This brewery laid the foundation for the taste and standard of this Belgian beer and the symbol of the Den Hoorn Brewery is still displayed on the beer's label. At a visit to the Stella Artois brewery recently we not only got a glimpse of the factory but also a look at its history. When the University of Leuven was founded in 1425 it not only brought knowledge to the city but it added to the know how of … [Read more...]
Book Review: Cyprus A culinary journey
There is probably no better day to write this article on a book I really enjoyed reading. As I sit in the terrace in Brussels at 10.20pm in the evening, the temperature it is still light, the temperature is 29⁰C and humid. The only missing thing is a sea-breeze and the sound of the sea hitting the rocks which epitomises a hot Mediterranean summer. I have to admit that I still have to visit Cyprus though after reading Cyprus a Culinary Journey, I feel I know this Mediterranean island considerably better than I did before I started this 'culinary journey'. Our Cypriot friends and avid readers of this site gave me this book a few months ago and I have been wanting to write about it for quite some time. The book is edited by Marianne Salentin-Trager but it is the work of eight foodies from Germany who were in love with the island and who realised that there was no German cookbook on Cypriot cuisine. We went through the English version of the book though it is also published in … [Read more...]