The cicadas are screaming like there is no tomorrow, it is impossible to walk in the sun as the temperature soars above 30C. To joke, some people bluff that if it gets any hotter, they might fry an egg on their car bonnet. This is life in the Mediterranean on a hot summer's day. To refresh oneself in these conditions, water is essential, either to drink and rehydrate or else to jump into and cool down. Then comes the evening and the cicadas make way to long lazy evenings, preferably outdoors. There is a smell of burning charcoal wherever you walk. People are outdoors because the houses inside still retain the heat that has accumulated during the day. As the sun starts to set, a nice breeze suddenly arrives. This is the time to enjoy the fruits of ones work. In this case, the recipe below is the essence of simplicity. What you need is a good relationship with your fishmonger. Tell him or her what you have in mind, make sure what you are buying is extremely fresh and then let … [Read more...]
What I enjoyed reading this week (6)
Here is a list of interesting articles I have come across this week. Enjoy your Sunday with these nice reads. You will find a great article about wine fraud and counterfeiting from wine searcher here which is food for thought especially for the risk it involves of buying expensive wines. For those in the know, drinking wines from Fleurie or Morgon may no longer be considered as inferior pleasures. Have you ever wondered in awe about wine sommeliers and their incredible depth of knowledge about wines. Here you will find what it takes to become a master sommelier. Chablis is a fantastic wine region and wine that is excellent with seafood. Here you will find a great lesson about Chablis. Fast food has a very bad reputation for health. However, eating in restaurants might not be any better according to a study. If you are heading to Amsterdam any time soon here is a list of 10 pop-up restaurants or food hotspots you can find in this Dutch city. … [Read more...]
Recipe 4: Pasta with fresh tuna and slivered almonds
The good fresh fish shops in Mediterranean countries are a joy to visit. When you have a kitchen available, all you need is to just follow your instinct and choose what is fresh and appealing. A visit to my favourite fish shop in Malta led me to fresh tuna, which at the moment is available in abundance and incredibly cheap. What I miss most about the Mediterranean is sea urchins or what we call in Maltese rizzi and in Italian ricci. I have been dreaming of a Spaghetti ai Ricci for a rather long time now. It is the thing I probably miss most from my home country But alas it was not available at my fish shop and it seems unlikely to be available anytime soon (probably the restaurants at this time of year buy whatever they can find given it is peak tourist season). There was an incredible choice but given the fact that the fresh tuna looking incredibly good, I opted for penne with tuna. The following is the recipe. Ingredients (Serves 4) 500 grammes fresh tuna … [Read more...]
Famous Brussels butcher is opening chophouse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsHZkFw_-8A I like to go the extra mile to buy good ingredients but given it is August, I need to be sure that shops I buy from are open. Most local shops in Brussels are closed for holidays given they are family run. So I got really excited yesterday when i entered the website of Jack O'Shea yesterday to discover that he would be opening a chophouse in central Brussels in September. Now, Brussels has its fair share of culinary destinations, but I have no doubt that this is going to be an additional 'must visit'. There is no question about the quality of the meat at Jack O'Shea. The meat which you get from this butcher whether it is a Wagyu beef t-bone steak, an Angus beef ribeye, an aged t-bone steak or just sausages from his large range (which includes mustard and spinach, Italian, beef and guiness, chorizo), are all exceptional. With such quality of ingredients and a hot grill, all you need is to make sure you do not overcook the … [Read more...]
What I enjoyed reading this week (5)
It has been a depressing week in the news. The above photo which was shared by Gambero Rosso on their Facebook thread while being humorous pretty much sums up my feelings for the week. Wherever you look in the media, whether it is the news on television, newspapers or even social media sites, you see photos of destruction. And you ask yourself why? Why is this happening? Why is there so much hatred? Please stop to think about what is happening and what we could do to try and make a difference. In any case, these are a few links to articles/video I enjoyed this week. My readers by now know that I have a fascination with Massimo Bottura, who is considered as Italy's most creative chef. Here you will find a fantastic interview about the creative process and evolution in his cooking. If you need some creative inspiration I recommend you watch it. This is a beautiful piece of writing in its own way. In this article, Eric Asimov, one of my favourite wine writes looks at the … [Read more...]
The Cinque Terre in Liguria
Many people rave about the Cinque Terre that you may wonder whether you might end up being disappointed when you visit. Sometimes places just do not live up to their hype. This is not the case with the five villages which make up the Cinque Terre. As the sun glistens on the sea, the waves break on the bow of the small ferry taking you from Monterosso al Mare to one of the other villages, you cannot help but stand in awe at the natural beauty of this place. The sea is a beautiful dark blue, the cliffs are dark grey making them all the more dramatic and in the background you see beautiful greenery and vineyards and you wonder how this all came about. It is difficult, if not outright impossible to list what the must see destinations are in Italy. If you do not live there, the only way to go about it is to return time and time again to different parts to savour it all in. Many times, it all depends on what you would like to do and see. Whether its city trips, a mix of city and … [Read more...]
Discovering the beauty of Champagne
The first time we went to the Champagne region in France we had read about a very small producer in the South-East area of champagne in the Aube region known as the Côte des Bar. This is far away from the glitzy Champagne capital of Reims and Epernay. The Aube region produces a quarter of France's champagne, and much of what the small producers make is sold on to the big houses that line the Avenue de Champagne in Epernay. We were relatively new to visits to wineries in France and given that this was just before the summer period, we assumed that going to wineries for tastings would be pretty easy. Finding the winery in Ville sur Arce did not prove a problem but given we arrived at lunch time there was a problem. The village just had a few houses and since it was lunch time we were by now pretty hungry. We headed to the winery to see whether we could get the tasting over and buy a few cases of champagne but found a note saying that the winemaker would only be back in … [Read more...]
Recipe 3: Guinea Fowl with chickpeas and olives
Cooking is a passion but on a daily basis it can sometimes become difficult especially when you try to juggle with 100 things. Quick midweek recipes, or those which you can prepare quickly while retaining the wow factor are therefore always winners. This recipe is great because it can easily be prepared in less than 30 minutes. With its bold flavours it is both good as a quick midweek supper and also fit to be served if you are hosting. Guinea fowl is one of my new favourites given I can find it pretty easily at my local butcher. I hope you try this recipe because it is really easy to make and also delicious. Guinea Fowl with chickpeas and olives (Serves 4) Ingredients Four guinea fowl breasts 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Butter One can of the best quality chickpeas you can find 24 olives 4 Anchovies 3 cloves of garlic 50ml of Madeira (you can also use Marsala) Fresh basil Salt and pepper to taste Rosemary Method 1. Season the guinea … [Read more...]
Brussels: O Liban – a great Lebanese restaurant in Bascule
There was a sense of disappointment in our family when Giovanni on Chaussee de Vleurgat closed a few years ago. When we arrived in Brussels nearly nine years ago, it was not only close to home but it also served one of the best Italian espressos or cappuccinos you could find in Brussels. Moreover, the cannoli (which we are so accustomed too in Malta) were to die for. Now either my palate has become accustomed to 'worse' coffee or else the Belgian coffee scene has clearly made remarkable improvements. I tend to believe that it is more the latter than the former. Italian food is clearly comfort food but Lebanese food can be exceptional particularly when using fresh ingredients. I can today say that his replacement has proved himself on many occasions over the past years. O Liban is a great place to stop for a quick lunch or dinner. It is also perfect to grab a take-away or to try one of their delicious typical Lebanese 'sandwiches' or pittas. They are all excellent using fresh … [Read more...]
There is no such thing as a free lunch
If you only have 15 minutes to spare this weekend, you must watch the video reportage from The Guardian on poultry factories. Under the heading Revealed: the dirty secret of the UK's poultry industry, it shows disgusting scenes from chicken factories and suggests that two thirds of chickens sold in the UK are contaminated with campylobacter. The report suggests that although the bug is killed by thorough cooking, around 280,000 people in the UK are currently made ill each year by it and 100 people die. It suggests that the contamination rates are known to have increased in the past decade. My perspective of food changed completely after I read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. It is since that summer of 2001 that I have never set foot again in a fast food chain. That book had a deep impact on how I viewed food. This new reportage in the Guardian just goes to prove that many years down the line, nothing has improved There are a few lessons to learn from this reportage. 1. … [Read more...]