Crunchy, spicy fish - Thailand

I've been jet setting about a bit lately and have finally taken the time to go through the huge amount of photos I have on both my camera and iPhone - as I suspected 80% of them are of food!

One of the photos I was excited to find was this fish we ate at a beach front restaurant on Phi Phi Island, Thailand. We loved it so much we went back two days later and had it again.

The fish is what they were locally calling 'seabass'. The delicate white flesh was filleted on one side away from the bone frame, yet still attached, then fried until crunchy on the outside yet translucently perfect in the middle.

The proverbial icing on the cake was the spicy salad on top; prawn pieces, shredded carrot, chinese celery, cashew nuts, green apple (to our surprise!), shallot, coriander and chilli. Dressed in your typical Thai hot, salty, sweet and sour flavours.

This was complimented with what is a more Chinese inspired dish of fresh shiitake mushrooms with choi sum and lots of garlic.

I wish I could eat both these dishes again now. Right now.

Reflecting on these and many other photos, I can't help but notice the beautiful and complimentary plates the dishes were served on. Often, the casual places we ate at the plates would be more perfunctionary bordering on ugly and chipped, this type of thoughtfulness you only usually find at the best of places, not were lunch and drinks for two costs $30 Aussie.

It was evident that there was love in that kitchen and we could taste, and see it.

Perfect beach lunch

We spent the last four days at Railay in coastal Thailand. After 2 days of patchy rain and one hell of a storm (as we should expect, as it is rainy season in the region) the sun came out and I had the opportunity to tan my Melbourne-winter pale legs.

Altering between the beach, our beautiful pool and the bar we managed to find what I thought was the perfect beach goer lunch.


A spicy som tam salad (green papaya bashed with dried prawns, fish sauce, chilli, lime, garlic, peanuts, snake beans and tomato... no doubt more and more as well), served on the same plate with some marinated and fried chicken thigh and some of my favourite sticky rice. Lengths of more snake beans and cucumber where the textural garnish.

Pretty healthy, really speedy and bloody amazing flavours. No doubt I will be recreating this at home in Melbourne come summer.

Roast goose in Hong Kong

A friend is heading off to Hong Kong soon and I was ranting wax-lyrical about of food places that must be visited.

The friend politely retorted but "I didn't read about this on your blog..., or did I miss it?" Well I was put in my place, yes, caught out in my own blog back log.

So in an effort to validate my recommendations - and thinking about this I really should post a list of Paris and Barcelona, so I don't have to keep writing it out - please may I share with you roast goose in Hong Kong.

We made a fleeting visit to Yung Kee in Central just before we jumped a ferry to Macau. It was meant to be a more relaxed affair with the opportunity to savour more of their menu over an extended meal but courtesy of Qantas we drank free champagne instead.

Yung Kee is a bustling multi-level building in the expats section of Hong Kong, lots of very steep hills and roads, but lots of spots to stop in for a drink and snack to refuel.

We were served these century eggs and pickled ginger as a complementary appetiser, a generous offering, that no doubt many tourists would waste.

The yolk was softer and I had seen in century eggs before and had a green tinge to the charcoal grey colour. They may look scary but the firm jelly texture and the thick, rich, creamy yolk are just to die for. The ginger perfectly cuts this richness, if its all a bit too much.

I love the idea of the techniques involved in this... image discovering it for the first time, what a game person it was to try eating it! But I guess there are lot of foods like that, the percebes I ate in Spain a couple of years back were hilarious, especially when you read through the comments of the post... we ate some bits we shouldn't have.

But I am getting off track, we were here for the roast goose and here it is.

Texturally the flesh was quite firm with glossy lacquered skin on top of a little layer of viscous fat. The exciting thing about roast goose in comparison to roast duck, is that you get so much more breast meat on the larger bird, a definite thick fillet of flesh between the skin and rib cage.

I've eaten goose many times before but cooked in a French method, so I was not surprised at the coarseness but increased flavour of the meat, but did think that the skin could have been a little more blistered and crispy.

Next time in Hong Kong, I'd perhaps seek out a less touristy goose destination but was none the less, pleased to be able to squeeze this experience into our trip. I should also note that the staff worked the space like clockwork, friendly and professional and extremely unhindered by our request to mind a mountain of luggage while we ate. Thank you!


Next backdated post is the best cheese of my life, at Atelier Joel Robuchon. Oh, I can just taste it now!
And perhaps even my yum cha round up, three days, three experiences and not even close to my benchmark experience 3 years ago... in Vietnam.

A question I didn't have the balls for...

During my European holiday last year I visited markets all over France, Spain and the UK.

Market images make up a huge component of my holiday flicks (luckily there were a few of PDC and I together - probably at a market...).
Some of these images made it to Eating with Jack, some didn't because they were boring, and some others didn't because I couldn't torture you with them; they were a bit gory on reflection.

But one in particular, I have always wanted to post, as I didn't know what it was and I hoped you may be able to help. The thing is, I now know the answer and it actually quite funny so look away if you need to...

Some time after my holiday, I labeled this image "what is it", the answer I have just discovered is... wait for it... testicles.
The Guardians blog had a funny piece and identifying image of them a couple of days ago.

If only I knew the answer at the time it would have set the pace all day for ball-sy jokes!

Now that I have shared a rather grisly image from my files and I'm sure the vegetarians have already clicked over to Michael and Cindy, here is my favourite holiday market image.

Also fabulously entitled, "toothy smiles".

Poor little buggers I know, but I bet they make great Greek lamb soup or something like that.

The thing about these images, that is not funny, is how removed we are from the raw ingredients in Australia. Rarely would you see such large displays of offal and obvious bits - such as heads - that remind us of the real source of our food. Perhaps if it was more common, we would be more discriminating, respectful and mindful of our decision to eat it.

Don't get me wrong, I couldn't give up meat, but I am becoming more and more aware of the sources of my food and the effects of what I put in my body.
What about the idea that if you were to increase your fruit and vegetable intake by 20% you are likely to lose weight... I can't remember the source, but I know its true for me.
After my holiday this year and a strict diet of 3 meals a day, stuffed to the gills just enough to go and lay back on the beach, I actually lost weight I believe, because of all the vegetables, fruit and seafood. Not breads, meats and dairy, I consumed.
I'm not a nutritionist, but I know that if I am stuffed full of fresh, fantastic veggies and fruit then I don't even think of the other stuff that weights me down and requires more hours at the gym.

It's a good thing that I like my veggies and like the idea of eating more of them, as there are some pretty dramatic lifestyle changes, likely to force themselves upon us with increasing food costs in the future. Some of the ideas are old fashioned yet very embraceable - I planted my little vegetable patch today, rocket again, tomatoes, cavolo nero, and silver beet - others ideas perhaps will take a little getting use to.

Take a moment and read this piece by David Chang (the chef owner, of that impossible to get a reservation at 12 seater in NY, Momofuku Ko) found it incredibly inspiring.

Lazy, beautiful breakfast

I can’t apologise enough to readers at home, keeping warm in what I read has been the coldest winter for some time, but I’d love to share my breakfast experience of the last five days at the Muang Kulay Pan Hotel in Koh Samui.

Lets start with the setting, just beautiful, have a look for yourself… above is the bell that you ring for service, if a smiling face is not to be seen.
Pretty little raised tables and seating. Elegant, yet simple. We were served to start, freshly squeezed orange juice from green skinned, mandarin tasting oranges, individual fruit platters and green tea for me and strong black coffee in a small thermos for PDC.

Breakfast was a choice of ‘American breakfast’ – eggs with sausage, bacon and ham, ‘Continental’ -chocolate croissant, yoghurt and more fruit or rice congee and curry dishes that we did not explore.
Eggs it was, most mornings, as I was a little scared of the croissant and yoghurt option (how good it could possibly be -I usually err on the side of some thing that I know I will enjoy, especially at breakfast), yet I should not have been afraid; the yoghurt was rich and tangy as it should be and the croissant better than some from fancy French bakeries in Melbourne.
Breakfast was also served with some grain toast wrapped in a thick linen napkin with a selection of housemade jams, the caramelised pineapple was a highlight nearly as bright as the banana, lime and palm sugar jam in Laos. PDC was so ravenous from an early run along the beach (I know, sorry!! ) to also order the banana pancakes in addition to all of this. Stretched out on a lounge, being served breakfast from fun, friendly, yet careful staff it makes it hard to leave but that was what we have done today. The staff were sad to hear that it was our last day with them, “have a safe trip and we will see you next year”, a mutal wish, but with our penchant for travel to new places, I’m not sure it will happen, but it is a nice way to bid farewell – see you next time!

Catch up...

Well, my planned postings have not eventuated. But that does not mean I haven't been thinking about it; I have a camera full of images and a mind full of posts, and now its catchup time.

Yum Cha or Dim Sum is a favourite past time at home, so in Hong Kong it was a must. I had loss sleep in the lead up thinking about it; where is the best place? Will it be as I expect? Will it be carts? I'll explain further in my Hong Kong piece, but this was my favourite dumpling of the trip. A vegetarian number with mushroom, bamboo shoots, water chestnut and chives.

A great way to start the day, a Vietnamese coffee with 'milk' - condensed milk and ice. Not quite a caffe latte at The Wall in St Kilda (we miss you!!) but pretty delicious and a definite coffee kick. A snorkeling boat tour lead to an interesting offer, fresh sea urchin that the divers would collect for us. Probably illegal and perhaps a little unethical but a proposition that we could not deny. A plate of raw urchin some onion and a lime and salt pepper mix. Intensely rich and a hedonistic treat.

After holidaying in Vietnam three years ago, I was eager to have one of these creme caramels again. Generally available at carts in the evening the better ones are from the little dessert shops with access to ice. There the caramel was turned out and topped with crushed ice, a coffee syrup and condensed milk straight from the can. I could eat five if it didn't seem greedy.
A very pleasant surprise was the Louisiane Brewhouse on Nha Trang beach. Beers are brewed on site by an Aussie and served in several styles. I enjoyed the ginger beer (alcoholic of course, it is holidays!) flavoured with fresh ginger and a little lemongrass. Great ginger beer in a style that fits with the local food, perfect.

In Dalat, in central Vietnam, we undertook a regional tour that included one of the many coffee plantations in the area. This is ripe bean (yet harvest is not until November), the red outer hides two halves of the green coffee bean. An extended post about all the sights is on the way with highlights as wide ranging as coffee and tea, to some very hungry silk worms, mushroom farms and beautiful flowers.

I promise to work on the Dalat and Hong Kong stories, I'm really looking forward to sharing it with you. Must pop off now for some fiery Thai for dinner and hopefully not too many tears!

Portuguese custard tarts in Macau

Foreign occupations of countries can only be good for one thing, the sharing of food cultures…
Having not been to Portugal these have to be the next best thing to eating them on the home soil, the best in Macau.
Soft custardy centre, delicately crispy pastry shell with a distinctive swirl on the bottom from the hundreds of layers of pastry folded onto itself.

Holiday update

Wow, it has not stopped until today, when I spent the day snoozing on the beach in Nha Trang, Vietnam.

Dining in Hong Kong was remarkable, I have an extended post on the way featuring a breathtaking Hutong (breathless because of beautiful food and intense chilli action!), a high attention to detail L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, and gamey roast goose. Yes I finally got there!



All up in the next day or two, but sorry off now to eat some more lychees from the market, these ones got me started in Hong Kong... and now I can't get enough.

~~Loving the unsecured wifi...

;)

The Amazing Race detours in Ho Chi Minh – Vietnam

In the style of ‘The Amazing Race’ we clamber through the sticky airport; international arrivals then to the domestic terminal and search the tv screen boards for the next flights to Phu Quoc or Nha Trang.
Having just missed the last flight to the island of Phu Quoc the decision is made, Nha Trang here we come… yet we have nearly three hours to kill until the first possible standby seats may be available. So we take, as the say on the Amazing Race ‘A Detour’, otherwise know as a stopover lunch in Ho Chi Mihn city.

Dumping the bags in storage at the terminal, and with a recommendation from an American sounding Vietnamese girl as she coded our bags, we jumped in a cab and head towards the Reunification Palace and what was promised to us as a local lunch spot “Not for tourists”, was the deal, “I eat there many times, it’s great”. Sold.

We are off, on the scooter and car horn filled streets, zig-zagging our way towards lunch, 25 minutes and a few grey hairs later we are standing out the front of an old colonial style house with a bamboo garden around the outside and what later turns out to be the prep kitchens for a large menu of simple Vietnamese dishes. Seated inside at a large thick wooden table I am excited, the food shooting past looks amazing – fresh, vibrant food – and lots of locals tucking in. Luckily the waiters are happy to play along and be patient with our guide book language skills.

Three dishes and a couple of Saigon Specials later we are satisfied, the suggestion has been fantastic. A salad of lotus stems with prawns and pork was garnished with prawn cracker spoons and had a side dish of a caramel, sticky chilli dressing. Delicious.
Next was a DIY number; some spiced prawn mince around sugar cane sticks with a plate of rice paper, some salad and herb leaves and slices of cucumber, star fruit and little squares of soft vermicelli noodles. A little bit of everything, a snug wrap and a dip into the nuoc cham dressing makes a bright fun dish, that PDC and I have instantly added to our barbeque share food repertoire .
The last dish was Banh Xeo; a favourite from the markets in Nha Trang that we experienced 3 years ago. A crispy pancake filled with meat and seafood, bamboo shoots and herbs, served folded with more fresh herbs and salad leaves and another dressing featuring chilli, fish sauce lime and sugar.

Total cost of this leg of the race
Banh Hoi Thit Heo Quay Cuon Banh Trang (DIY Rolls) 48 000 VD
Goi Ngo Sen Tom Thit (lotus stem salad) 42 000 VD
Banh Xeo (pancake) 24 000 VD

For the grand total of $12 Australian, including beers, water and tip.*

Quan an Ngon
138 Nam Khoi Nghia C3

Back out onto the street we hail a cab and head back to the airport. Mission complete, detour successful, tummies in-check and satisfied. Now to that plane to Nha Trang, and dinner to worry about.

*Out of interest, one Aussie Dollar is equal today to 15500 Vietnamese Dong.

Free Billecart Salmon Brut or roast goose in Hong Kong?

I must boast, I flew to Hong Kong yesterday, but my flight was delayed by nearly three hours.
We were given a voucher for food at the airport to tide us over for the wait, but all I could think about was that nothing was going to replace the roast goose I should have been eating on my arrival in Hong Kong… so we had Champagne. It was only just midday on Saturday but hey, we were on holidays!

More news to come from Hong Kong
~Lots of yum cha (dim sum in HK)
~Tomorrow night is L’Atelier Joel Robuchon. Will it be as good as the Paris original that I visited last year?
~Tonight is Hutong. Many food writers that I respect think that this place was overlooked for the Top 50 restaurants of the world list (it would be the highest ranking Chinese if listed) I’m looking forward to the chilli of Hutongs food, to clear out the head cold I developed just before the trip, just typical!

Stay tuned…

Wellington, New Zealand

I've been regularly travelling to New Zealand for ten years, as long as I have known PDC - a kiwi. Over that time I've been excited to see its culinary horizons develop from clumsy paprika dusting to a smart level of refinement, I know this sounds like a generalisation, yet I have been genuinely impressed the last few visits. The weekend before last was Wellington, and it was no different.

So Wellington in a round up:
-LOVED Moore Wilsons food store, they stocked a selection of fresh fruit and vegetables that I have never seen in a Melbourne market, packs of baby leeks and fennel, trimmed punnets of micro herbs, edible flowers to garnish like in Spain or toss in a very pretty salad. How often do you see wild venison and wild goat fillets at your local store? Or what about mountains of tomatillos?

-city destination bistro Pravda was brilliant for a smart light lunch of manuka smoked Akaroa salmon on nicoise salad, a glass of luscious Nevis Bluff pinot gris from Central Otago and the obligatory Antipodes mineral water in its designy, yet medicinal bottle

-Maria Pia's Trattoria, Wellingtons representation in the famous Italian cookbook Silver Spoon. This homely little dining room would fit right in on Melbournes Lygon St, memorabilia lined walls, simple menu and a strange private dining room that reminded me of sitting in a sauna, no, it was not hot and steamy but lined in timber and a little separate building in the the backyard. Our waiter was easily flusted and going through the motions, even some of the classic Italian dishes were off the mark, yet restaurants are not always about the food, service or even ambience, the company was more important this night so hence if you can gather a table like I did that night Marias was remarkable...

-Taste Breakfast, great friendly service and an excellent breakfast dish of a chunky cut ham and tomato panfried sandwich, topped with two soft poached eggs and the most artery clogging cheddar sauce that was to die for- potentially!

-Talking coffee, the coffee culture in NZ in has just become addictive, with fair trade and boutique roasters the norm the 'translation' issues of the past, where latte meant being served in a bowl French style, where strong meant bitter and less than 65C was too cold. The times have changed.

-Cheap boutique beers, you've got to love them, Monteiths and Macs, even fancy apple cider and alcoholic ginger ale. And the government is not making a mint in alcohol tax, like in Australia, so $12 a 6pack is the norm.

-Martin Bosleys. I'm seeing him cook this weekend at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festivals Masterclasses but I couldn't tell you what it tastes like yet as I was not organised enough to make a reservation, cockily thinking I'd be fine, but as I should have expected from the Cuisine Restaurant of the Year - full on Monday lunch.

-So I dined out a few times, but what about in?

Fried whitebait and steamed wild caught salmon one night; the raw salmon smelt like salty butter, and cooked it still looked raw it was so red. I also could not get enough of baby kumaras, roasted one night and simply boiled and served with PDC's garlic ailoi, it was so garlic 'hot' it came with a warning (and a recipe you if ask nicely) but the perfect counterbalance to the sweet starch of the purple kumara.

-New funky wine varietals were abound for the eclectic wine snob in me, chenin blanc, arneis and merlot that I would not be embarrassed to ask for, (think Sideways here!) are all now available from kiwi producers and from what I saw very smartly done as well.

After all that in 4 days I am thankful that Wellington is a VERY hilly city, the next weekend was Sydney and are just as many stories to tell, coming soon!

Jack

Mugaritz, Spain

Mugaritz is refreshingly casual in its refined approach, yet offered a seamless experience that melted away the many hours we spent in the dining room and paved garden... I guess fifteen courses can take some time.
Mugaritz, it is a complete package, coupled with incredibly professional, savvy service and an inspiring wine list, the food at Mugaritz is courageously simple and refined, it features some edgy, and some classic combinations.

In a nut shell, I loved everything about it. From the style of cuisine; refined and exciting, to the gorgeous old building, the friendly sincere staff, and to the just out of town location, it really does feel like an experience to treasure.

This year Restaurant Magazine (UK) ranked Mugaritz as the seventh best restaurant in the world, an accolade that sees the restaurant getting a lot of media attention, yet surprisingly they where far from full for lunch the day we visited. I'm sure this is not always the case but how much more fabulous do you have to be to full all the time, a small constellation for all the restaurateurs out there and perhaps a scary indicator of seasonal out of town dining at its trickiest.

Andoni Luis Aduriz, the chef and owner of Mugaritz, visited Melbourne early this year as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, unfortunately I didn't get to see him but apparently it has been good for business at Mugaritz with the staff telling us about the huge influx of Melbournians visiting. This was supported funny enough, by us sitting next to a chef from a regional Victorian restaurant, it really is a small world.

Truly an international restaurant experience, we were greeted in Spanish and then spoken to in English for the reminder of our experience,including the menu we were presented with. Though I am not positive, I'm sure most languages could have been catered for from the variety of accents filtering through the elegant room.

Especially in Mugaritz’s case, I feel a picture can tell a thousand words, the whole experience as you will see below is about class and multiple personal dedications to the highest possible level of restaurant experience.

An interesting little starter served with aperitifs in the paved courtyard.
"White clay coated potatoes with aïoli"
The main ‘stone’ is a creamy centred perfectly cooked potato, coated in clay, that reminded me of biting into an easter egg. The stones underneath are real river stones that are heated to keep the ‘stone’ hot. I love the beautiful linen used on this dish and the over the top garlic aïoli to dip.

Seated at a double clothed table looking into the courtyard, we selected the extended degustation menu, (why would you come this far and not go the whole hog?) "Naturan" at €118 Euros, about $AUS200 each. The wine list, at this stage occupied PDC for some time until the sommelier offered her assistance. A bottle of white, 2004 Pazo Pineiro Lusco Albarino, a glorious local Spanish style and a bottle of red, 2002 Gloria Reynolds, a light Portuguese table wine made from an indigenous grape variety. The wine service was smart, passionate and precise; just like the rest of the service team.

Then the food began...

"A broth of whitebeans served in the cooking broth, garlic, onion and mastic" (additional to the degustation, not printed on the menu)
Served in a beautiful bowl, it was very delicately flavoured, the mastic waxiness builds on the palate as you sip the broth.

"White asparagus and shaved jamon" (Additional to the degustation, not printed on the menu)The jamon was like jelly, so fine it was translucent, yet rich and coating on the palate. The asparagus was just cooked and slightly wet from its poaching liquid. The petal was the first from this beautiful theme of florally decorated dishes, so much for dodgy curly parsley!

"Vegetables, oven roasted and raw, sprouts and greens, wild and cultivated, seasoned with brown butter and dusted with seeds and petals. Emmental cheese generously seasoned."
A striking dish, that is served to the table without the broth of which is poured gently in front of you. The emmental broth is perfectly creamy milk in colour but it "blushed" with the movement of the baby beetroot underneath as I began to eat. Fresh, clean and the kind of perfect kitchen garden food that any restaurant would vie for the opportunity to serve.

"Chilled vegetable soup, shrimp, herbs and fern shoots"
By this stage, I think they had worked out we were in the industry, so to speak, and we were given a supplemented version of this dish, with the addition of shaved summer truffle. The broth was pungently aromatic yet refreshing and light.

"Confit loin of blue mackerel, coated with an infusion of crushed sesame seeds and milk skin"
One of the more unusual dishes of the experience, the 'milk skin' breaks up on the tongue.

"Carrots cooked in clay, ash and perfumed grains. A concentrated broth of sauteed squid and Arbequina olive"
From the most amazing bowl, the most perfectly cooked baby carrots, each slightly different in size, yet all firm yet cooked. The squid also was firm yet perfectly cooked.

"Representing mini mozzarelas(sic). Butterfly Idiazabal cheese gnocci(sic) in salted Iberian pork bouillon, contrasting vegetables"
The tiny gnocchi were as light as air yet offered surprising palate texture.

"Jellied vegetable stock on a sticky paste of rice and baby squid"
A strange course with a set 'custard' (perhaps ground rice?) under the broth and pretty purple garlic shoots. The squid was balls of black squid ink though the 'custard'.

"Hake fillet with baby garlic, hazelnut praline, soured cream and purslane"
The hazelnut praline sauce was very intense and the fat of the nut heightened the tang of the garlic and the soured cream. The purslane was not present to my eye.

"A piece of beef, roasted and perfumed with vine cutting embers, fragments of thyme and natural anthocyans. Cinders, salts and crisp radishes"
A striking dish, that the photo doesn't represent as well as it looked, the meat was pitch black with the charcoal dust. The meat inside had a rich intensity to it that reminded me of eating well marbled wagyu beef. The green herb on the plate was trimmed leaves of very spicy Vietnamese mint, a contrast to the palate weight of the beef.

"Tradition, ocean and land: braised Iberian pork tails and pan fried languostines(sic). Reduced braising juices infused with iberican jamon"
Easily the ugliest of the dishes, yet also as easily my favourite. The stickiest deboned pig tails hiding langoustine meat and napped in jamon braising dishes. Rich, rich, rich, and absolutely remarkable. The richness of this dish pushed us into the full category, yet the show must go on, so we accepted an additional course to the degustation, some cheese to share... crazy I know!

The additional cheese course that we shared; local cheeses with individual accompaniments. Not in the image was a tall shot glass of chilled apple juice that was served as well. I can't recall the names of any of the cheeses, which were all interesting, if not as truely inspiring as the French cheeses we were eating the week before.
The accompaniments were matched running from bottom right to the top, then bottom left to the top, in order of the cheeses from the bottom up on the plate. The last cheese, the blue was served with a reduced Pedro Ximenez paste and dust which was a remarkably spot-on combination. Another accompaniment of interest was the confit grated carrot with a matured cows milk cheese. I loved how the cheeses were presented with the rind cut off, if appropriate.

"Seeking a contrast of temperatures, textures and cultures. Violet Ice cream, hot almond marzipan, shavings of spiced bread and green tea"
A very pretty dessert, with intense aromatic flavours that awoken our fading palates. The chocolate in the middle was dusted with crumbs of savoury green tea crumbs and the spice bread to the right crumbled as we put the fork through it.

"Ripe figs grilled over vine twigs, dipped in a cold punch of fruits, grains and zests"
The quenelle shape on the plate, tasted of ice cream made of pure cream, I could only manage a small taste of this with the poached fig.

"Interpretation of vanity: moist chocolate cake, cold almond cream, bubbles, smoke and cocoa"
The show stopper... apart from not being able to stop talking about the name of this dish (I personally am heralding the return of 'named dishes', Caesar Salad, Beef Wellington, Tournedos Rossini...) it was a clever grande finale to the meal. The bubbles didn't last long, but neither did the soft mousse like chocolate log with the caramel centre. A smear of gold paste to the far side of the plate.

We finished our experience as it began, in the courtyard of the dining room. With the best coffee I drank in Spain (that would not have been hard though!) and some small chocolates in a gift box to take with us.

Perhaps from reading this piece you can have an empathy for the sheer delight I portray in my Mugaritz experience. From the exquisitely planned and executed food, the timely and friendly service and the overall passion and excitement that oozes from the restaurant. I can't help but give it the highest of my personal dining accolades.
Jack

Some beautiful food photos from France and Spain

Hope you enjoy some of these beautiful food related photos from my recent trip.

Striped heirloom tomatoes from a Paris market.

I've titled this 'blushing salad', one of the 15 courses I ate at Mugaritz a few weeks ago. It was a pretty little herb and blossom salad on top of a emmentel cheese broth. As I gently moved the leaves to begin eating, the baby vegetables hiding underneath, namely the beetroot moved and tinted the broth this pretty colour. (All the Mugaritz experience to come)

These picture perfect ceps were just sitting on the bar in San Sebastian, Spain.

Fruit jellies in Lyon, France.

This one is for PDC, I think we took more photos of this hill than at the Louvre.

Some jamon with prices in Euros at the La Boqueria market, Barcelona.

Pimms in London...

Wild Strawberries at Cal Pep, Barcelona, just before they were put in the bottom of one of the 'foams'.

Perhaps not a beautiful photo, but a beautiful dish at Gandarias, San Sebastian, Spain. The leg of a suckling pig that was roasted until the skin was crispy and the flesh soft and falling from the bone. Simple delicious food.

Hope you enjoyed them.

Jack