BonVivant

Have been eating mostly chilled food again. Tomato soup. Ground almond added for body. Chilled beetroot soup. That's not butter on my bread, that's triple-cream Brillat-Savarin. Cold quark for the soup. The same cheese Leftover beetroot puree with pasta. Had to make the food earlier so I could chill it. Fresh tomatoes with pasta. Pureed half the tomatoes for sauce. (Photo above was taken somewhere here 5 weeks ago.)

Chilled food. Grated tomatoes, olive oil, minced garlic. A week without herring is quite unthinkable.

Wolfed down the last kilo of asparagus today. Bits on the sides are salmon roe and crab claw meat. Potatoes with quark. Beautiful creature...

Spring was worthless, now hellish temperatures. Beetroots in the style of "beef tartare". Curls are grated salt-cured yolk, on top is confit-style SV yolk. Raw asparagus. Prawn roe on avocado

"In the grip of a heat wave" food. Chilled creamy parsnip soup Smoked herring salad Poached chicken salad

Asparagus from a farm near my house (15mins by bicycle). Season ended yesterday but I got enough for another week (3 kilos). Sourdough, butter and crispy shallots. The rest of the salmon...

Almost Lyon. This is the one I got (Les Halles de Lyon). Chorizo and squid

Wednesday marked the start of "New season herrings". I ate 2 standing next to the market fish stall and took 3 home. Austrian Tyrolean Speck and melon. Home-cured salmon

Thai curries with shellfish. This one has coconut cream for the partner. Squid and cockles. Tempeh shawarma

It's good to come home to the freezer.

Back in food hell now. Last dinners on the island, the same food I often make at home (but without German Mettwurst, which are the.best.). Herring with green beans and Speck. That's literally the name of this meal. Smoked Mettwurst 2 kinds of Mettwurst and Speck. You must come to Germany! Start with Bremm. It will blow your mind. Try a bunch at one tasting place, walk to another and do it all over again. I am particularly fond of Riesling with predominant mineral characteristics, the slate rich soil in this area of the Mosel ("middle Mosel") gives the wine those slatey mineral notes. Brut Riesling (made in the style of Champagne) is hard to find even outside of Riesling producing villages and surrounding areas so forget about finding it elsewhere. This is Bremm, one of the prettiest villages along to Mosel river. It has Europe's steepest vineyards and produces some of the most stunning Riesling. I got a few to take home. (One of far left is actually from Netherlands but bottled in Germany)

Simple lunches. Regional ham and farmer-style brawn. Last half of the exquisite smoked eel. Honey with sea buckthorn. Ham is sea air-dried from an island nearby. Cheese is from south of Germany. Northern cheeses from around here are mostly like the Dutch stuff which I scoff at. "Kutterbrot" is a typical north German light meal. "Kutter" is a type of small fishing boat. Every day after many hours of walking round the island I had some pastry and beer. No "Kaffee und kuchen" for me. They ran out of poppy seed coils/snails so I got "French Kuchen". Cinnamon ruins everything. (Beer is oatmeal stout) If you put poppy seeds in something I dislike, such as cakes and pastry, I'd probably eat it. I had to scrape off the crumbly bits on top. 3 different kinds of poppy seed filled cakes. Beer is imperial tiramisu stout I brought from home.

Dinners on a a traffic-free island in the North Sea. Brought smoked eel and halibut from the town I visited previously. Smoked halibut with potatoes and kale. Actually, the food I've been eating this week is pretty much like what I usually eat at home, which is nice. The sparkling Riesling also came with me from the mainland. The partner scoffs at eels but loves the halibut. This is only half the eel. The locals eat a whole one each, using their hands bringing the eel to their faces. This type of rye bread is traditionally eaten alongside smoked eels. A brewery just across the water on the mainland brews this beer for the island.

It's been so hot I've lost all interest in cooking and eating. I try to do as little (and simple) cooking as possible in my almost worthless "kitchen". Whilst being here I try to use typical local/north German ingredients, even the beers I drink. Last dinner in Bad Zwischenahn: I am now on a small, traffic-free island in the North Sea. Yesterday everything was closed, I brought Mettwurst (this type requires cooking) and bread from the previous town for dinner. The last kilo of asparagus came with me from home. Every time I drink a beer from this brewery I tell myself I'm going there one day. Well, yesterday I worked out how to get there. Not that easy and straightforward but Rügen alone will be worth the trip.

My most recent dinners are not at home even though I actually cooked them. I brought with me a couple of things from home knowing the town would be closed all day. Both the tofu and asparagus were steamed. The red stuff is prawn roe . Local rye bread I even brought a bunch of beer from home. Today: sharp daikon, Duroc pork loin and new potatoes. Rarely eat pork at home unless it's Iberico, Berkshire, or some interesting and higher-welfare breed. This one is Duroc from a farm in north Germany (where I'm on holiday at the moment). Smoked Speck to render the fat for the cooking. Daikon and tops were stir-fried with Speck. Found a drink shop today and picked up a few German craft beers. This one is brewed in a small town 16km from here by 2 hobby brewers. Label is home-printed. I've just read that the whole family helps with bottling, labelling and things like that.

Lunch in north Germany. I mean I'm here in a small rural town in northern Germany at the moment. The town is known for several things: smoked eel (and ham), plant nurseries, and spa. There are many regional Mettwurst in Germany and I like them all. Chewy rye bread. Northern Germany, the Baltic countries and Scandinavia do all things rye so well. Yesterday was Ascension and most of the country was shut down, also in Bad Zwischenahn. The tourist shops were open but only the main tourist drag. The vast majority of tourists in this town are elderly people who come for the spa and the lake. Very few international tourists come here. I had a beer at the town's most famous eel smoker where I also picked up a couple of things for lunch today. It's a restaurant and shop in one selling their own smoked fish. I have never seen so many smoked eels in one place. I bought one of these. The smallest one, about 16 euros. They also sell local Schnapps. Smoked eel and Schnapp go hand in hand here. Drinking rhymes in local dialect printed on the label.

What I've been eating: A small but very thick piece of liver I ask the fishmonger to save all the roe for me (he even charges less than other fishmongers). In Lyon it costs about 30 euros per kilo. Ouch. I pay 1/3. All kinds of roe from flatfish and herring etc. Lightly dredged in flour and fried in duck fat. Seared salmon SV goat's leg.

Smoked fish Cooked in cream is always nice when one does not have bbq weather (and it's almost June!). Rosette de Lyon because I have many hanging in the house. And I made a mess whilst transfering the eggs to the plate. Clumsy perfectionist.

Did you do sake tasting at different breweries? I had a nice time in pretty Takayama. Did you visit the village in Shirarawa-go? Takayama is all about Hida beef and sake. Would go back for both. There are any sake tasting rooms if you want to test your liver's limit. I had barely scratched the surface in 3 days. At one of the most popular beef restaurants in town. There's always a queue there so prepare to wait. Almost 50 euros for the above plate. Rural Japan Buckwheat rows in the foreground. Most people grow fruits, vegs, even rice around their houses. Very typical in rural Japan. Kaiseki meals served at traditional inns are incredible and so beautifully presented. One of the highlights of eating in Japan. Mine came with a menu of courses served in this particular order. The food just kept coming and coming.

A typical light meal (in north of Germany). Oldenburg is Germany's kale capital. I like giant beans.

Poached Islandic cod loin and asparagus broth (from simmering asparagus trimmings). It was dark by the time I was done, hence the grains in the photo. One of the rare occasions which I eat with my hands.

I like salmon and eat it every week. Often cure a piece for weekend lunches. Have made salmon almost every which way, too. But not this... Ate it on train journeys in Japan. Couldn't stop after just 1. Saved 1 last bundle to take home and made it last and last. Hope to visit Hakodate again so I can get more, and ship it home. I also bought many bags of dried squid. It tasted better than Chinese or Taiwanese versions. My jaws hurt so nice for days. I bought the entire display! (Many stalls have free samples, you can always try a small piece before deciding to buy) Besides home-cured salmon I also like it hot smoked (I use an old wok). I cry again I swear again I drink again I smoke again

The country that never ceases to surprise and delight. There's currently no "number 1" on my favourite country list, it starts at number 2. When Japan has a smoking ban it will take that number 1 spot! Place a coin vertically on the tray (in front of you) whilst the train is running and it will remain standing. That's how smooth the ride is. The layout is like the plane, lots of leg room in first class which is good for the partner who is almost 2m tall. The loo on this train is bigger than my bathroom at home. Japan has just unveiled the newest shinkansen, Alfa X, which will be even faster (over 400km/h). Two backpackers in first class shinkansen. You see this all the time, people taking photos of shinkansen or in front of it. Shinkansen is one of the pillars of Japanese technology and they are rightly proud of it. Here you see 3 shinkansen together. The green one is first class Hayabusa from which I had just disembarked. I was enthralled at the sight. Note that many Chinese tourists rent the kimonos and walk around in them to make photos. They don't wear the make-up. I like the deep southern islands so much. You bike around all day and hardly see a face, just empty streets, cows and wild horses. But now there's a new shinkansen maybe it's time I started planning a trip to the mainland again. Hong Kong was a big shock to my introverted system after 2 weeks of peace and quiet in Okinawa. I was still bowing to everyone for weeks after returning from Japan.

Ate half next to the kitchen sink, the other half went into something else. Found 2 little "pearls" in 2 different oysters. Actually, very soft scrambled eggs. I chucked the oysters in as soon as the eggs were done so they were not cooked. @shain next time add a table spoon of potato starch to the dough. It helps hold the shape. With experience you will know if you need to use more or less starch. I think the dough is almost the same as Schufpnudeln (German and Austrian potato dumplings). Schufpnudeln recipes in German often mention potato starch that's how I know. It works. Don't overwork the dough or it'll get sticky. Also, I don't rest the dough but you can try.

I always abstain from meat and alcohol for 2 weeks after a holiday but I never abstain from cheese under any circumstances. Can't face meat yet.