Some Odds n' Ends From Amsterdam

Amsterdam in June feels like February in California--COLD. Thus, after an afternoon of meandering throughout town, a tall glass of hot chocolate was in order.


My buddy Sam and poked our heads into the closest cafe to grab a glass of the good stuff and a warm safe-haven from the chilly weather.

Sam modeling with the hot chocolate

Since I was only in Amsterdam for one day, I did not have a chance to taste all of the typical Amsterdam dishes such as: raw herring, Dutch pancakes (similar to a French crepe), poffertjes (much smaller than Dutch pancakes, and they are puffed and served with butter and powdered sugar) and licorice. I did, however, taste stroopwafels. Oh stroopwafels, how I love thee.


Two buttery thin waffle cookies sandwiched together with a layer of thick syrupy honey molasses. Oh man, so freaking yummy. Very dense though, upon eating more than one stroopwafel, you can definitely feel your belly get heavy.

I also went to the Heineken Brewery, where I got at least 3 beers to sample. I participated in a beer tasting where the "expert" taught me a bit about foam and presentation of the beer. Also, I learned that the beer is actually 95% water and the rest is a combination of hops, barely, and yeast. I got to go into a room that simulated the experience of a beer being bottled--the room shook and we got splashed a bit. Silly, kitschy, fun.

Speaking of silly, kitschy, and fun...I went on a "booze cruise" with my traveling group and yes, it is what you think it is. A lovely little cruise along the canals of Amsterdam complete with endless wine and beer. To kick off the cruise, we were given little bottles of Flugel.


According to this website, "Flugel combines vodka with the taste of black currant and the energy boost of guarana, B vitamins, and caffeine. This “healthy” vodka is currently available in The Netherlands, Belgium, and France. It is targeted to youth partygoers. The tiny 20ml bottle is actually the size of your palm, and could be easily concealed inside a pocket. The Flugel contains 10 percent alcohol by volume."

Oh, and we also got to munch on these yummy little pastry snacks while sipping on our wine, beer, and Flugel...

A captured moment: the blonde bombshells with their drinks and pastry snacks

For dinner, we ate at a floating Chinese restaurant, the Sea Palace. Honestly, I was quite disappointed. Ok, the decor was nice but I was not impressed with the food at all. It just did not get me excited and it tasted sub-par. The rice was super buttery, too, which I do not usually expect from a Chinese style rice, even for fried rice. I guess I am just spoiled with good Chinese food back in the U.S.? Oh well, it was an experience nonetheless.

Stepping outside of Amsterdam for a morning, we visited the quaint village of Edam. We visited a cheese and clog shop, two very significant symbols for this town and for the Netherlands in general.

First, this adorable woman gave us an overview of how they make their cheese...(we got to taste like 10 different cheeses, too!).

And boy oh boy did it smell strongly of cheese in there!

Then, this studly man demonstrated the skillful art of clog-making. He makes it look so easy.

Stylish, eh?

There were clogs everywhere used for everything including cigarette ashtrays!

The town of Edam was small but lovely. Cheese n' clogs aside, I had a spectacular day riding "granny bikes" around the village.

The famous town of Pisa

There you have it, folks. The leaning tower of Pisa:


The main drag of the town of Pisa is small and jam-packed with tourists and open shops on the street selling souvenirs and...well, pasta shaped like this:


If you can't see what I am talking about, take a closer look...


Yes Pisa, you are great.

A Quick Glimpse of Roma

Roma. Rome. Italy. I saw pretty much all of the touristy sites of Rome in just about 12 hours. 12 hours of non-stop walking, photo-snapping, historical site-seeing Italian craziness.

Ok so I was in Roma for more than 12 hours. I was there for about a day and a half, which really is not much. The first night I did a quick walking tour where I saw the Spanish steps, the Fontana di Trevi, the Pantheon, and some swanky chic shops amongst other famous Roman hallmarks. Oh yes, and there were people roasting chestnuts on the streets!


The next day began with a tour of the fascinating and huuuugeee Vatican City complete with St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and quite possibly my favorite part...a statue of this lady, a woman of great fertility as symbolized by her many supple breasts:


With a full day still ahead of us, we stopped for a quick bite of lunch before moving on to more sites. A quick bite of cheap, good pizza to-go. I can't even remember the name of the place. You choose your flavor, and you pay by the weight. The Vatican took a lot out of me and I was super hungry so I ate 5 fairly large squares. I was full for hours and hours afterward.

Cheese with Prosciutto and Wilted Greens

Roasted Eggplant with Herbs

After lunch, it was off to the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Catacombs...Then, we browsed around one favorite places: the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, otherwise known as the "wedding cake." I think the reason I like it so much is because it is called the "wedding cake," and fittingly so, it really does look like a cake:


After a full day in the sweltering sun, it suddenly started to pour rain. Luckily my traveling companions and I ducked in to a quaint little restaurant at just the right time. We were seated outside under a covered awning, which was quite nice because we were sitting and we were dry and we could watch the rain trickle down all around us.

Bring on the drinks! Bright red Campari and Italian Prosecco took the edge off our sore bodies and set the mood for a lovely dinner.


I ordered a simple pasta dish--tonarelli shaped pasta with (mostly butter) black pepper and Pecorino Romano cheese.

Yeahhh baby!

One of my dining companions ordered another simple pasta dish...spaghetti pomodoro with fresh basil and a fried noodle on top. In case you haven't got the message yet, simple is the name of the game here.

So there you have it, a quick glimpse of Roma. Ciao tutti!

A Romantic Meal In Venice, Italy

Italy Day 1. After sitting on a bus all day with 50 other young tourists like myself, I was ready to hop off and paint the town of Venice. We only had a few hours to spend in the famously romantic and water-way filled town. Thus, our time spent was jam-packed.

First, a walking tour...Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square), the Campanille, churches, palaces, waterways, old buildings, the Rialto bridge, boats...oh yes, and lots of pigeons, tourists, and HOOOOTTT weather.

I very much enjoyed stumbling upon some vibrant produce stands in Venice...


We also took a little gondola ride complete with bubbling Italian champagne (Prosecco) and peach bellinis! Too bad that our boat guide did not sing for us; actually he did seem to enjoy his job very much at all...so much for romantic, eh? Apparently though, these men are the only men who can paddle and steer with one oar standing up. Neat.


I was feeling much more relaxed after the gondola ride and a few glasses of bubbly. The sun was setting and the air was still and slightly cooler. While the rest of the group when off to an extravagant dinner, I ducked out with these two lovely ladies to have our own quiet meal.


We were hungry! Having not really eaten much all day, I was ready to chow down Italian-style. And yes, our table had red and white checkered table cloths.


The ladies ordered two kinds of pasta: simple spaghetti al pomodoro and a penne al pesto.


I ordered a pizza margherita which is pretty much a cheese pizza with tomato and basil. They were not too generous with the basil, but it was still very good. Simple.


They brought the pizza out as an entire pie, uncut. I had to cut it myself, which was actually quite fun. Except for a few pieces that I made my dining companions taste, I easily finished the whole thing and felt extremely satisfied. And I still had room for tiramisu and a coffee.


What a treat to finish off a meal with a milky frothy espresso. Mmm so decadent and so perfect.


You know that I like what I am eating when I am moaning out loud...and this tiramisu hit the spot. It was not your typical tiramisu made with marscarpone cheese. Instead, it had ice cream between the layers of espresso soaked lady fingers. Nevertheless, this was bellisimo. Grazie!


NOTE: In Italy, one must pay for water and bread when dining out at a restaurant. Also, one must ask for the bill, the waiter will never come back unless you ask. And tipping? One euro is sufficient, apparently it is seen as strange if a larger tip is left.

A Crepe, An Eclair, Ice Cream, and LeChartier: More Food From My Adventures In Paris

Home-cooked meals and macaron tastings aside, I spent most of my days in Paris out and about meandering through the city streets, seeing the sights and eating many a delight! Below are just some of my many memorable food finds...

1. A damn good crepe. Square shaped (actually, it looks very much like a sting ray). Stuffed with champignons (mushrooms), tomatoes, and cheese. The actual crepe dough was bubbling deliciousness, so savory so perfect.


I ate my crepe at a restaurant called "Le Menhir," a little fondu place in Paris's Latin Quarter, a district known as the student area where young people flock to the many bistros, cafes, and funky shops.


2. An eclair. A coffee eclair. An eclair filled with coffee pastry cream and smeared on top with a coffee glaze. Uh, so good. Eclairs can be found at pretty much any patisserie or boulangerie anywhere in France, and let me tell you, I walked into every patisserie and boulangerie that I saw. Chocolate or coffee eclairs are the standard, but vanilla and pistachio can be found in some places as well.


3. Ice cream. Oh, ice cream. Glaces as they say in French. Ok, the best ice cream I have ever tasted, and I have tasted a LOT of ice cream in my life, was from Berthillon, a famous shop in Pont Marie area of Paris. The flavor: Caramel-Buerre-Sale. A tiny scoop on a cone. That was all I needed (and usually I don't say that, I usually want more and more and more until I burst). That one little scoop was pure bliss; I savored every lick. The ice cream really tastes like what it says. Its really is the perfect scoop, even David Lebovitz agrees. Unfortunately I was too busy enjoying my tasty treat to snap a photo. I just could not break away from that wonderful moment.

BUT...I did have more ice cream outside the Luxembourg Gardens. The Luxembourg Gardens are also in the Latin Quarter of Paris and on a nice sunny day, everyone basks in the sunshine with a book or a picnic blanket in these darling gardens.

I absolutely adore this little girl's hat!

This reminded me of San Francisco's Dolores Park on a sunny day!

So back to ice cream. A friend of mine recommended this little stand outside the entrance to the gardens on Rue Saint Michel. She specifically told me to go to the stand with the yellow awning (there are 2 stands right next to each other...competition!). She also told me that I should try the lavender flavor.

Yes, it was purple, well...lavender purple. And yes, it tasted like I was eating a lavender plant. Very good, something different. But man oh man there were so many other flavors to choose from. Oh the choices!

4. LeChartier. A famous restaurant in the Montmarte area that is now a historic monument. Opened in 1896, this place is well known and thus extremely crowded. My friend Margot (she lives in Paris now but is originally from Nancy, France) took me there. It was so crowded, the two of us shared a table with another couple and were squashed and surrounded on all sides by more tables. The food is simple and cheap. The menu follows brasserie-style traditions-- boiled veal's head, tripe, tongue, sweetbreads, lamb's brains, chitterling sausages -- as well as some old-time tempters like boeuf bourguignon (braised beef in red-wine sauce). Let's just say it was definitely an experience to eat at LeChartier.

Bonjour Margot!

This was our dessert from LeChartier. Profiteroles drowning in chocolate sauce. Intense.

And here is just a lovely little painting to send you off...

Le Petit Pâtissier by Chaïm Soutine (from Paris's l'Orangerie museum)

French Macarons: A Tasty Melt-In-Your Mouth Delight...So Who Does it Best?

An ongoing debate exists among the French macaron aficionados: Ladurée or Pierre Hermé? These are both famous shops in Paris that have built quite the reputation for their macarons; people come from all over the world to taste these little treats at these specific shops. So what's all the hype about?

Here are some of my thoughts:

Ladurée

Just from the outside, Ladurée exudes fine detail and femininity. I gawked in the window only to find people sipping tea with a delicate pastry. Classy.


Inside the shop there was a long line of eager eaters to purchase their macarons among other beautifully designed sweet treats at the boutique. I actually enjoyed standing in line because it gave me more time to admire the art of pastry and choose exactly what I wanted to order.



A box of macarons, mini macarons. Assorted flavors. A gift for the wonderful family who I was staying with. Vanilla, pistachio, cassis (black currant), coffee, salted caramel, lemon, dark chocolate.

"je vous dre un petit macaron caramel si vous plez"
*TRANSLATION: I would like a small caramel macaron please.

One bite is all it takes. So rich but so light and airy all at the same time, all in this one bite. Woah, I instantly feel all gooey inside, like I'm all drunk and silly. I could really taste the care that went into making that one petit macaroon. Yes folks, it was that good. Even the box was beautiful:


The palace of Versailles has a Ladurée shop inside, too, because the bakery made the macarons and other confections for Sofia Coppola’s film, Marie Antoinette.


Pierre Hermé

A tiny shop, very chic, very modern.


Funky shop, funky flavors. Strawberry wasabi, vanilla jasmine, olive oil and vanilla, pistachio-griottine (brandied cherry), chocolate- passion fruit, rose, apricot-peach-safron (my favorite one!)...


Tasting the flavors was more of an adventure with Pierre Hermé. We would cut each macaron in half, close our eyes, and really try to taste the flavors. This little booklet on all of the flavors came with the box and we used it as our reference guide for tasting:


So, who does it best, Ladurée or Pierre Hermé? I say, why not have both? Two great bakeries, two totally different experiences that are both worth the ride.

I like how this blogger put it: "I can’t pick a favorite between the two stores because it’s like picking a favorite ice cream flavor. Sometimes you’re in the mood for vanilla, sometimes you’re in the mood for Gold Medal Ribbon. Both stores make their macaroons with the perfect ratio of chewy to soft and crumbly."

Upon googling Ladurée vs. Pierre Hermé, a whole slew of bloggers and articles show up. Here are a few that caught my eye:

Parisian Escapades

Ladurée:

O Chateau

Fans of Pierre Hermé:

My Food Sirens II

Parisien Salon/ HipParis