This is the last word on Hong Kong, for 2011. Next year we hope to return.
Century egg pastry in Hong Kong means they put in half an egg, plus a good slodge of pickled ginger pulp.
The child's meal of spaghetti bolognaise. SIA. Really good, I helped her to finish it.
The Chairman Restaurant in Hong Kong. Don't hesitate, just go. You won't regret it.
The food is superb. Appetiser of pickled ginger and century eggs far surpassed that of Yung Kee's, V and I loved the pickled ginger so much I had to lug a jar home- the ginger used were really young specimens, only fingerling sized really, bursting with succulence and fresh ginger notes.
Another humble dish of kai lan with pickled mustard topping was given high marks too, but the star of the meal was undoubtedly their flower crab steamed with huatiao wine and served with flat rice noodles. The crab was sweet and finely fleshed, the broth bathing the slightly chewy slippery noodles in all its winey and crabby goodness. Just the dish to whet our by-now quite jaded palates.
To finish, bowls of excellent home-ground almond tea, drunk from a mug. Time then, to ponder the rest of the menu, so we know what to try the next time we get a chance to eat there again...
The property market is deadly quiet right now, so I will try to finish the Hong Kong postings.
We enjoyed a wonderful meal at Celebrity Cuisine at The Lan Kwai Fong Hotel, but their standout dish was bird's nest in chicken wings.
Ordered by the piece, they didn't look very exciting.
But they are so delicious. Crispy, taut chicken skin wrapped around a whole lot of tender bird nest makes one wonder how we missed eating bird nest in a savoury style all these while. The combination of humble and exotic really works, some bites felt like it was the best ever grilled wing we ever had and some bites we got a good mouthful of very meaty birdnest to revel in. It was unforgettable, truly Die Die Must Try!
Our eating itinerary was pretty much decided by my dear husband. We solicited opinions from food-loving friends in Singapore and Hong Kong, kind friends like Josh and M made reservations and pre-ordered dishes that they felt we should try, and dear husband made an Excel plan of our day-to-day meals. The only condition I insisted on was that we should go eat the Kimberley Pig- as unanimously recommended by the Hong Kong food blogging community.
We made our way to the Kimberley Hotel on Kimberley Road in the early evening. Most of us had already eaten quite a lot throughout the day- lip-smacking cha siew, two big plates of it actually, delicious polo buns with extra butter etc etc, so we were only able to eat some pig and not much else. The pig was ordered on our behalf by Josh and we had made a deposit for it the day before. While waiting, we chewed on some green vegetables and sipped some soup.
Finally, the waiter pushed a trolley with a roasted suckling pig towards our table. A beautiful little piglet, with shiny crackly skin. Other diners turned around to stare and admire. We photographed the pig from many angles. The waiter took out his cleaver and cut the piglet up into generous slices.
What they did was to stuff the inside of the piglet with glutinous rice. The rice, already fragrant with shallots and garlic, readily absorbed any meat juices from the roasting meat. The crackling was just marvelous, crunchy all the way through, very addictive. It is outrageously unhealthy, this basic combination of crunchy savoury(baby) pig skin, pig fats and sweet chewy aromatic rice, but so very delicious. Dashes of sweet bean sauce and English mustard cut through the richness somewhat, and if I wasn't already so full I could have eaten more. The leftovers were still pretty yummy even after a day or two.
Full as we were, we still placed an order for their Ma Lai Kou, because I love this traditional cake. The Kimberley Restaurant does it right- not too dense, not too airy, just the texture I prefer, with just the right sweetness. No leftovers either...
Yung Kee is a Hong Kong institution. Singaporeans eat there enthusiatically and even cart home boxes of their famous roast goose. My first visit was, gosh, nearly 20 years ago. Other than roast goose, I remember a relatively light and clean tasting dish of beef brisket stewed in clear soup that husband ordered once, and which he really enjoyed reminiscing about every time we bring up the topic of Yung Kee.
The reason for our appointment though, was still centred around goose. Virgin goose. Have you heard of such a thing? Me neither, not until a month or so ago, when friends from Hong Kong and France visited Singapore and we were intently discussing our food options. Virgin goose is not usually found in the menu, it has to be ordered in advance. M, was very kind to help us make reservations and ordered some dishes which she thought we would like.
The virgin goose (half-bird) arrived. I wasn't expecting anything really, but was still not prepared for such a wet-looking presentation. The skin was still crispy and the meat a lot more tender than its (more sexually aware?) siblings, making it very easy for the child to eat. What I really enjoyed was the stuffing served alongside, full of braised onions and wood ear mushrooms. If this dish was ordered on its own, it would have more chance to shine. However, attention quickly turned to other items.
Tea leaves-smoked pork looked a bit dry and it was, in the lean meat layers. The skin was beautifully gelatinous and soft without being cloying. A dish to be paired with wines and slowly enjoyed.
The latest food trend seems to be sea cucumber intestine. This is stirfried with salt and pepper, and garnered many novelty points for its curly appearance and bouncy textures.
Crab roe and eggs sounded a bit much on paper but all thoughts of restraint flew out of the windows when we had our first taste. Egg white custard is steamed to quivery done-ness and then layered with a a crab roe sauce packed with the insanely delicious delicacy. We were lucky, this is a seasonal dish; at other times of the year, they substitute the crab roe with a sauce made with dried little shrimps... just on that thought I polished the plate clean. Thank you M!
The second part of our holiday was mostly occupied by eating, and, well, maybe a little bit of shopping. CW and I have done the sights before, this time we just wanted to relax. Andrew, our makanguru friend, and his lovely wife HL, also timed their trip to sync with us and together the five of us enjoyed some truly memorable meals.
We met up for our first meal at the very old-school Spring Deer restaurant on 42, Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. The easiest way of getting there is to take the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui and walk through the interconnected passageway to East Tsim Tsui station exit P3. The restaurant is about 2 minutes walk away, on the second floor above a dingy shop selling tourist tat.
It was not my first visit. An old friend's mother invited me to their Chinese New Year gathering many years before, when I was doing my elective in Hong Kong. I introduced CW to this place when we visited Hong Kong nearly 8 years ago, we ate very well but we were only two people so could not try some of their dishes which came in generous portions. Therefore husband was determined to make good of this opportunity and eat all the good things we saw being served to other diners. Andrew did the ordering. We caught up on our separate adventures.
First course. Kai Pow Chi. A dish I have only heard of through watching old TVB serials. It means chicken wrapped with sharks fin, and comes in a wicked chicken broth. This was a half-chicken portion. It can feed six to seven people easily.
The close up. Proper combs of quality sharks fin. Beautifully cooked so that the fins have absorbed the flavours of the broth, the broth was just as satisfying, you can taste chicken clearly but it also has body and depth from other enriching ingredients, just wonderful. It's a dish I think every foodlover should eat at least once in their life, and then they will begin to understand the Chinese obssession with this controversial ingredient.
Peking duck, served in traditional style, i.e. sliced thickly to include some meat in each slice.
The duck was delicious, it tastes of duck instead of the bland muscle we have been brainwashed into eating nowadays. The pancakes were a bit heavy, and missing that sweet elastic chewiness I enjoyed in a Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing. Andrew joked about eating Donald. Days later, V reminisced about eating Donald in Hong Kong.....she really gets it, I think!
Basically everybody orders more or less the same dishes, their hit parade. Like these sesame bread pockets to stuff with beef jerky. Initially I dismissed them as being too sweet, but they grew upon me; as we chewed, the spices and marinade of the beef released their flavours. The meat remained quite meaty, a very nice change from the usual beef treatment which is to tenderise the hell out of it.
What a mess. A super-duper delicious mess. It is tofu braised in crab roe. A very superior comfort dish, to be spooned over plain steamed rice.This was my favourite dish of the night.
There was another dish we didn't order, it that appeared in every other table - a whole fish served on a hotplate. It looked amazing, we must return to try it.
Dessert of egg-white doughnuts dusted in sugar. It comes in a serving of 10 pieces. Husband and I were lucky to have a neighbouring table share an order with us when we came here last time, this time we had the whole plate to our table. It was magnificient, the inside has fillings of not just red bean paste, but fresh banana.
It was a fantastic meal, we all agreed, as we waddled out into the warm night air of Kowloon. We walked home to our service residence in Yau Ma Tei, motivating the child with the purchase of a pair of shoes along the way, thinking of the meals we have yet to eat...
The child was very excited about our trip to Hong Kong. On a normal morning we usually have a hard time waking her- lots of pushing and protesting, and some days she actually misses the school bus. On this day however, she got up at 5.30 a.m and was the first to finish dressing before us. Here we see her skipping and flying into the plane.
Asian air travel is reliable. We arrived in Hong Kong just before lunchtime, checked into the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, which has a bland cheesy decor that nevertheless thrill young children and impressionable adults, but redeems somewhat with double beds in the rooms, complete with duvets and non-saggy mattresses. Lunch at the hotel Chinese restaurant Crystal Lotus was quite forgettable, it coasts on its menu of kid-friendly dishes i.e. give them Disney character-shaped foods. Most tasted average at best,but V happily ate them up. They simply don't find it morbid to be eating their favourite characters, very bizarre.
Food at Disney universe, whether it was at the hotel or the park, is quite dreadful. However, the hotel breakfast buffet spread is decent enough. The whole point of this breakfast is that Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy will be in character for a solid hour (9-10 a.m.), going from table to table and letting everybody take as many pictures as they like. This can mean a lot of posing and clicking, especially at tables occupied by thirty-something Japanese women in full Disney fan-mode, holding Mickey plushies and squealing too many times 'kawai'.. I reminded myself to chill and asked the waiter for another cup of tea.
We bought a two day pass for Disneyland park. It was a good idea to go first on a Sunday night, the park closes at 11 pm and the crowd was relatively light. The park is not as small as we had presumed, and laid out like the one in Paris so we could zoom in on all of 's favourite rides. Don't forget to top up the experience with a ride on the MTR line to Sunny Bay, the train is Mickey-fitted and the child couldn't be more thrilled.
Next: Our actual holiday begins...
[Warning: Very long read ahead. If suffering from attention-deficit syndrome, just look through the pictures, and go to the bottom of post for the relevant contact information. Yes my dear readers, this is a 'best of' type of post, lots of secrets revealed]
Laduree is many things to many people. During our honeymoon in Paris in 1998, I came across Laduree's magnificient macaron displays in their windows at Madeleine, was totally enchanted and went back twice to sit in the tiny and beautifully dressed upstairs cafe. The macarons were memorable, and amidst the solidly heavy silver teapots and scents of really good perfume, I listened to husband's, sotto voce, blow-by-blow translation of a wealthy older man propositioning a gorgeous younger woman to be his mistress, oolala.
Since then, Pierre Herme has taken and owned the macaron. Yet Laduree was hardly affected, it is still difficult to get reservations and the staff can be unbearably arrogant. Reason is that they still retain the atmosphere, the total experience of being in a beautiful room for a civilised meal with Visa the only plastic allowed. Me, I go back for their brunches because they do a seriously good pain perdu (French toast made with brioche that soaks up unbelievable amount of milky eggy liquid) and decent scrambled eggs, and represent good value compared to what corner cafes charge for sad industrial-standard breakfasts. Laduree's pastries can be hit and miss, but their three types of croissants are not too bad, and I really love their St Honore. It is a towering confection of puff and choux pastry filled with vanilla custard inside and glazed with brittle caramel, rich yet light, full of contrasts in textures and compostion.
They also have raspberry and chocolate versions. The raspberry version was as delicious as it looks (the side got smooshed in the box) and if anything, was actually better than the classic.
Other alternatives to Laduree: Mariage Freres still remains a firm favourite, especially the outlet near Parc Monceau in the 17th. I love just sitting in the quiet space downstairs, surrounded by palm trees and tea samovars while eating scones with their tea gelees accompanied with their always excellent selection of darjeeling teas. Angelina is reliable for molten chocolate and the best Montblanc pastry in town. It is now part of a big restaurant group and is open every day for business. To jump the always snaking queue for a table, make a reservation for lunch, you will be seated straightaway. Share some foie gras salad and a classic ham-cheese omelette, some times I think these are better than the sweet courses. Touristy perhaps, but don't knock it till you have tried it.
From pastries, we move on to oysters. It has become my habit to eat oysters in cold weather and one of the best places to indulge is at L'Huitrier in the 17th arrondissement.
On a recent visit, husband and I shared a platter of shellfish. Belons are flat and minerally, Fines de Claires are plump and creamy, both headily delicious with a glass of well chilled champagne.
This a raw clam. It reminded me of raw chicken and I said so to husband. Even he was disconcerted, he loves clams but had never had them raw, so he made me have first taste. Thankfully it was very good, a little chewy and meaty in texture, but the taste was of sea and umami.
Both of us are suckers for sardines, always tempted to order it if it appears on a menu. Here it was beautifully deepfried, even V was willing to down the heads and tails.
Sole meuniere means to be cooked in the flourmiller's fashion, i.e. dusted in flour and panfried. It is tricky to get right, which is why I almost always order it if is available. This was just nice, not drowning in butter but was crisp enough on the bones that it can be eaten, and not dried on the flesh. Their crepes with orange sauce was decent, but not as extravagant as those in more fancy seafood restaurants with their a la minute flambeing in Grand Marnier and copious amounts of melted butter.
Quickie on classic restaurants: My top 3 are La Biche au Bois for its generous and inexpensive food, Josephine chez Dumonet for the best veal liver and overall enjoyable dining experience (except in high summer when it is sweltering) and Flottes for Flintstone portions of bone marrow before hitting the shops along Faubourg St Honore.
Now we discuss restaurants of the moment. We like Le Chateaubriand a lot, but it may as well be located in the boondocks because it is more than an hour's drive on weeknights. The cooking, by white-hot chef Inaki Aizpitarte, is inventive but accessible, and always interesting. Recommended for adventurous diners, because there is nothing classical served here, excepting some amazing cheese.They are doing so well they will open another restaurant, Le Dauphin, next door.
Guilo Guilo in the Montmarte area is even more of a schlep for us, and out of question for children. Open for weekday dinners only. Diners sit around a counter facing a well-drilled team of young Japanese chefs as they serve a series of Japanese dishes with modern and/or French twists, like hay-smoked tuna, chicken with ox-tongue lapped with raw egg yolk and the best of French and Japanese in their signature foie gras sushi- it costs extra, but is worth it, you will see the chef pan fry and assemble upon order.
Thoumieux gets into this list even though it is a Costes restaurant. One day husband took me to a very pleasant restaurant overlooking Ecole Militaire. It is very spacious, with deep comfortable banquette chairs all round and gorgeous AND efficient waitstaff. Before my first course arrived I told him this was a typical Costes restaurant, and I was right, my salad bowl was perched on a plate embossed with the very name. The food at most Costes restaurant will be afterthought, maybe even after-afterthought in certain outlets like L'Avenue along Avenue Montaigne where it is strictly for watching,and be seen with or as ,fashionable people.
Thoumieux opened in early summer. Located along food-intensive street of rue St Dominique in the 15th arrondissement, it has all the signature Costes attributes plus a really beautiful Art-Deco styled dining room and a menu by star chef Jean-Francois Piege (who is also helming the more upscale and expensive Le Piege on the second floor). That it is open for lunch and dinner every day and situated 20 minutes walk away from our apartment is also another bonus. Their squid a la carbonara substitures frozen squid sliced into 'noodles' and is very good, and very on trend. Most dishes are light on sauces, relying on the beauty of their ingredients. From the dessert menu, I really liked their Churros 'n' Roll, basically freshly fried churros dipped in good chocolate.
So all was well until Le Mini Palais opened. 20 minutes walk away, check. Open every day, check. Unpretentious but eye-pleasing decor due to sky-high ceilings and dramatic window views, check. Very smart service, check. Famous chef (Eric Frechon) to oversee the food, check. Good food based on best of seasonal ingredient, check. Kinder pricing than Thoumieux, check check check!
Le Mini Palais doesn't serve any fireworks, but for uncomplicated good food it does it very well and the crowd knows it. I did not expect to like V's pasta bolognaise but found myself helping her to finish the frenchified version of this italian classic.
This was the dish that made husband vote for Le Mini Palais over Thoumieux. Squid cooked lightly in its own juices and a sprinkling of mild sweet Espelette peppers beat Thoumieux's carbonara version fair and square.
Of course, not everything proceeded smoothly. Iberico pork cheek coated with mild tandoori spices was lovely but accompaniments of shoestring fries were too dry and salty. If they had served it with rice it would have been better. Another dish I liked was cod steamed with ginger, it is exactly like how I would do at home, again, the lack of rice or suitable accompaniment made it a lopsided experience for me.
The French like their desserts like everybody else on the planet, but they are also mindful that it will not be too healthy. The solution? Cafe Gourmand- this is codeword for a cup of coffee and mini-portions of desserts. The apple and raspberry salad was unexpectedly delicious, I will order a full portion next time.
Final section of this post is about Japanese food in Paris. We eat Japanese more often than any other cuisine because it is usually of acceptable standard and is overall a lighter alternative to the local food.
There is a fair number of branches of established Japanese restaurants such as Yen for their home-made soba noodles, Oto-Oto for quite unremarkable food and Nodaiwa for eel dishes.
A fail-safe option would be any restaurant operated by the Isse & cie group. Bizan is their elegant restaurant for sushi and sashimi while the more down-to-earth Momonoki serves tonkatsu and Una Sei has unaju and tempura, all of reasonably high standards. My favourite place though, is at their Workshop Isse which serves a daily (except Sunday) lunch at an amazing 10 euro price- this usually comprises 2 small dishes, 1 main dish with rice or noodles and a soup, all very homemade and healthy, and very filling. They don't take reservations, go early to get a place. The gourmet food selection at Workshop Isse is a wonderful place to pick up really quality artisanal products like soy sauces, sesame oil etc, and even rare stuff like 12 year-old Yamazaki whisky and 70% polished daiginjyo sakes.
For really good fish, we still go to the Comme des Poissons. By day this tiny and basic (no blond wood or contemplative ikebana arrangement, only formica and Ikea stools) sushi counter place is really busy, little wonder as they serve generously portioned sets like a well-stacked chirashi bowl for about 14 euros. Service is shockingly brusque- I have been asked to move places or to hurry up with eating; a friend I brought along could not come to terms with the experience at all, I think she was traumatised, and her experience is not unique judging from many online reviews. However, things are completely different at night. Husband and I have a habit of going for their evening omakase dinners- it is nothing fancy and is a downright bargain at about 75 euros; the chef goes all out to make the best of the daily fish available and everything would be terrific, it is far far better quality than what one gets in so-called best sushi restaurant like Isami, and he will feed you until you wave the white flag. Signature dishes include a wonderfully clear and yet intense fish soup and marinated sardines, always a super treat like a really voluptuous piece of abalone or fat scallop, and finally ending with a slickly glazed unagi sushi. We brought my third sister and her fish-dealer boyfriend for dinner, first apologising for the lack of ambience. He brushed it aside, and declared it the best meal of his trip, even more amazing than Le Chateaubriand!
Still, for hesitant diners, there is an equally worthwhile, though slightly more expensive, omakase experience to be had at refined Juan a few streets away from Comme des Poissons. You have to tell them which menu you want when you reserve, choosing either shabu-shabu or sushi. The chef will greet you when you enter and leave the restaurant. It is calm at night, as they don't serve walk-in customers. Like Comme des Poissons, you won't hear about their omakase meals because it is usually Japanese customers who enjoy it, not the French, so there is little information on the internet. It is obviously not as good as in Japan, but we prefer this kind of experience for dinner than a more demanding (time, attention, money) meal at a starred place anytime. Sit back at the counter, have glass after glass of premium sakes and enjoy what the chef puts out- boiled whelk, impeccable vegetables, mini-chirashi with abalone and shrimp roe, premium sashimi treats, deeply satisfying fish broth and finishing with trio of ice creams and selection of delicate pastries. Everything would be of high quality and cooked by the chef himself, served with quiet pride by a well-coiffed lady dressed in traditional kimono. Go with an open mind, or when you cannot take yet another meal of heavy traditional French cuisine or what could be another pretentious meal at an overhyped trendy restaurant-it will reset your palate and mood.
I don't have much to add about Chinese restaurants. There are still no credible Cantonese places- LiKaFo and Miramar would not even make third-rate in Asia; instead, I usually direct friends to a the always excellent Szechuan place Le Bistro de Pekin. We love the place so much we eat there at least once a week, as I cook less now that we are packing up the kitchen, we have also been getting takeaways from them. For a change though, one could always go to a Hunan restaurant. L'Orient D'or is always packed with local and Chinese customers. The food is good and cheap. Every table orders the cabbage cooked in spicy oil, it will make a convert of even the most die-hard vegetable hater.
The menu is vast, and varied. Scallion green salad is very appetising, and braised tofu with salted egg yolk was quite tasty even though they used surimi instead of crab. What not to order though, is their General Tso chicken- it may be authentic enough and quite spicy for beginners but they are other dishes more worthy of attention in their menu.
This concludes the post and our eating adventures in Paris for the moment. I hope it will be useful for anyone planning a trip here.
L'Huitrier: 16 Rue Saussier-Leroy 75017 Paris T: 01 40 54 83 44
La Biche au Bois: 45 Avenue Ledru-Rollin 75012 Paris T: 01 43 43 34 38
Josephine chez Dumonet: 117 Rue du Cherche-Midi
75006 Paris T: 01 45 48 52 40
Flottes: 2 Rue Cambon 75001 Paris T: 01 42 60 80 89
Le Chateaubriand: 29, avenue Parmentier, 75011 Paris. T:01 43 57 45 95
Guilo Guilo: 8 Rue Garreau 75018 Paris T: 01 42 54 23 92
Thoumieux: 79 Rue Saint-Dominique 75007 Paris T:
01 47 05 49 75
Le Mini Palais: Grand Palais, Avenue Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 75008 Paris T: 01 42 56 42 42
Workshop Isse: 11 Rue Saint-Augustin 75002 PARIS T: 01 42 96 26 74
Comme des Poissons: 24 Rue de la Tour 75016 Paris T: 01 45 20 70 37
Juan: 144 Rue Pompe 75016 Paris T: 01 47 27 43 51
Le Bistro de Pekin: 38 rue de Ponthieu, 75008 Paris
L'Orient D'or: 22 Rue Trévise, 75009 Paris T: 01 48 00 07 11
In the car the other day, V had this conversation with me. Mummy, do you know why I am doing this? "This" being a series of super-dramatic long-drawn out sighs. No dear. Well, it's because we are going away from Paris.
Paris means everything to our little V. She was just 15 months old when we arrived, in the past four years she has grown up in a French manner, enjoying her school-life to the max and imbibing unconsciously all the things the local kids love, such as knights and princesses, Playmobile, grated carrots, Chupa-Chup, cheese, pieces of white chalk, dried-up leaves, Lady GaGa and ca-ca jokes. She wakes up in full excitement in the mornings, because in school she gets to draw, colour and sing all day long. She sings French folk songs in the bathroom at the top of her voice, and occasionally in restaurants too, just managing to get away with it because of her age. She gets spoiled silly by all the staff at the neighbourhood Maison du Chocolat, not the best chocolate shop in town perhaps, but it is smack midway between school and home, so we let her have ice cream there in summer and chocolate treats at other time of the year. She hasn't quite grasped the story of Jesus, but the first morning that she saw the lights decorating the tree outside the Hotel George V, she knew Noel is coming. Not to mention the unquenchable delights of Parc Disneyland and her favourite monument the Eiffel Tower which in her words is "beautiful at night because it is golden and shiny, but very ugly in the daytime."
We try to reassure her that she will come back one day, that she will make new friends in Singapore, but she cannot grasp the reasoning yet. Fortunately her best friend will be leaving Paris too, heading for the Phillipines, so they can both commisserate with each other.
Husband and I are pleased to be going home to Singapore. We will miss some aspects of Paris of course, especially our favourite edibles. Before coming to Paris, my mother warned me that I will get fat from eating all that French cheese. Fortunately I did not eat too much cheese, other than Comte which is a hard cheese and therefore not too bad in terms of fat content. I will definitely miss Comte, whether it is the young fruity summer versions or the more aged versions best enjoyed in long curly shavings over a glass of port. I usually buy my Comte from the cheese lady Bernadette in my local market, she sees me coming and raises her eyebrow and asked the question which she already knows the answer, "comte?" Sometimes I confuse her by buying some of the excellent hand-churned butter she stocks, or the light Japanese-style cheese cakes spiked lightly with orange-flower water.
In the market I will miss my favourite bread stall, as well as Didier the butcher who is nice enough to mince pork or veal for me whilst other butchers will not, also the poultry guys who by now can break down a chicken carcass to suit Asian cooking. I will definitely miss not having regular access to home-made charcuterie, especially a simple joint of bone-in-ham. Iberico ham I will miss too, but not too much at the moment, because we have easy access, but no doubt I will crave the intense experience when we get home. Top of the ready-foods though, would be the tins of salmon roe that has been a mainstay in my fridge. It is not outrageously expensive, and so compactly delicious a little goes a long way. A few spoonfuls of it with a sprinkle of purple shisho leaves on top of hot Japanese rice makes for a delicious lunch, hardly any cooking required.
I am not generally speaking, a sweet-toothed person, but there have been exceptions. While V adores her macarons, it is beautiful cakes which have captivated me. This exquisite cake of raspberry jelly, fresh cream and light sponge from Lenotre is one of our favourites, so much so that husband has made a point of getting it for our birthday celebrations. Another favourite cake is the "Tout Chocolat" from Maison du Chocolat- layers of chocolate sponge and ganache topped with a shiny mirror and a speck of gold leaf, it is wickedly good. Speaking of chocolates, Pierre Hermes' chocolate sable cookies would be death of me, it is outrageously delicious because not only is it intensely chocolatey and perfectly bitter-sweet in its delightful cookie crunchiness, it is also threaded through with sea salt crystals to tease the tastebuds which makes one want for more more more. I guess it also means that Paris has come at least half-way through in making a chocoholic out of me.
I can go on and on, that will be in Part II, promis!
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