BonVivant

sometimes i use Bovril to make a little sauce after cooking a steak. also, i like a slice of (old) cheese on my Bovril/Vegemite/Marmite smeared toasted dark bread. do try the Guinness Marmite, too.

yes. Ruegen Fisch Kieler Sprotten La Catena's Patagonian smoked sardines

too many to list. tinned smoked sprats are so good. wherever i go i check out tinned seafood. the selection in Chile is incredible! my latest delicious find is smoked sardines, interestingly it's in Argentina.

large intestine. it was in a breakfast soup i had in cold Songpan county. the smell, omg the smell! apparently my companion didn't detect any 'smell'. i stopped eating at once. another disgusting/funny thing was a sweet snack (in Vietnam). i happened to walk by a vendor with a rig on the pavement, bought a little bowl of this sweet thing by pointing at it. well, i immediately vomited, literally. i was laughing at the same time. it was like snot lol. i was eating snot. luckily the vendor also had other sweet things that were a lot more palatable.

it's very nice in a stir-fry (usually with pork). in a soup, too. eat a little piece before cooking to check if it's too salty, then adjust your seasoning. i find the Thai version a bit sweet, much prefer Chinese.

here's someone's iPad in the in action. clever!

too many to list... the most gorgeous smell has got to be smoked meat. it's rather good know a butcher who's also a regular at one of my regular pubs. i always get his homemade smoked pork knuckles in the cold months. my house smells absolutely fantastic when the smoked knuckle is being made into something. hmm... already longing for autumn.

very easy. most people prefer flying though. takes up to 9 hours by bus, and from what i have read/heard 1/3 of it is wasted at passport control on Chilean side which is a pain. i'm going to do the reverse Mendoza-Santiago via Los Caracoles through the Andes. having survived countless death-trap bus rides in China on 3 trips Los Caracoles looks quite normal, actually. (i did cross into Chile from Argentinian Patagonia.... they don't even look at your face or passport photo to see if it's really you who owns the passport. they are only concerned about this one specific thing.) enjoy your Argentinian wine. that's what i mostly drink ever since i returned from Argentina in mid January. (par excellence!)

adey73: Torrontés. Torrontés. Torrontés. i long for Salta... but that's another trip on its own KL, Tannat never makes it here in food hell i also drink Bonarda (besides Malbec and Pinot). re: the French paradox i think it is pretty much the same case in Arg. speaking of which, does anyone know where i can eat foie gras in BA/Mendoza? ps: some photos of my first week in Arg. just in case anyone interested. buen provecho!

ab.so.lute.ly! so much that i'm returning for another 6 weeks next spring and this time it will mostly be within the border of Mendoza. i drank so much Malbec and Pinot Noir there during my 6 week visit, but next time i am going try more Tannat as well. had it once or twice and i quite liked it. then maybe i'll have to visit Uruquay in the future... [Tannat is Uruguay's national grape]. what a wondrous country that is Argentina!

yesterday in Düsseldorf i had asparagus lunch and delicious Altbier at Schumacher brewery. it's so easy to make me happy: good beer, good sausages, good bread.

some beers i had on draft at the pub (yesterday): Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier: ab.so.lute.ly fantastic. just like liquid bread. having been to Bamberg twice this beer fills my heart with happy memories. commercial description: The Original Schlenkerla Lentbeer is an unfiltered smokebeer, brewed according to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516. Bottom-fermenting yeast gives the reddish brown lentbeer a natural cloudiness. Its smokey aroma is already noticeable in the smell, combined with a fine hoppy note. In the drink the fullbodied, highly drinkable lentbeer shows its strong malty flavour, rounded up with the smokey taste and a light bitterness. Due to the nourishing yeast, the Original Schlenkerla Lentbeer has the "Brotzeit already included" (German word for afternoon snack). Served / Sold: - Only during lent from Ash Wednesday to Easter - Only from the wooden keg at the Schlenkerla Data: Original Gravity: 14.5% Alcohol: 5.5% EBU: 32 Fullers London Porter: not my first time but always nice to drink it whenever it's on tap. would like to try the cask/unpasteurised version someday. commercial description: Fuller’s London Porter captures the flavours of those original brews perfectly, although you won’t find a cloudy pint these days! Rich, dark and complex, at 5.4% ABV the beer has an outstanding depth of flavour. It is brewed from a blend of Brown, Crystal and Chocolate malts for a creamy delivery balanced by traditional Fuggles hops. The range of flavours works well with a wide variety of foods, ranging from rich meat dishes, to oysters, and even chocolate puddings. Texels Skuumkoppe: a pleasant wheat beer (6%) for a pleasantly warm day. De Molen Hamer & Sikkel (Hammer & Sickle): just like chocolate coffee. 5.1%

the folding [in the pics] is rather good. i don't fold mine too neatly. these and these look like they're simply pressed shut. (i boil mine in hotpot)

yesterday on draft in the pub: Jopen Weizen Starkbok 9%, St Feuillien Påskeøl (Easter Beer) 7.5%, St Peters Best Bitter 4.1%, and De Hemel Nieuw Ligt 10%. a visit to my usual bottle shop afterwards: Hanssens Oudbeitje lambik (strawberry lambic), Boon Framboise Mariage Parfait 2004 (raspberry lambic), St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition (lambic-gueuze), and ’t Hofbrouwerijke Hofblues (stout). i should upload beer erotica one of these days...

from my pub crawl today (all from the tap): Amager Burnout 8.1% [very smoky and savoury] Mahrs Bräu Kellerbier Ungespundet Hefetrüb 5% [sweet memory of Franconia] Southern Tier Iniquity 9% Southern Tier 422 Pale Wheat Ale 4.5% Wild Goose Oatmeal Stout 5.9% [almost shoyu...] (plus other standard pils such as Leeuw and Brand) my new American beer record! this is the first time i've ever drunk more than 1 American beer in one day!

i always have a square of 99% Lindt for each espresso but last time i was in Buenos Aires i broke my own rules this one time

i have a very simple and small stash. can't really call it 'cellar' because i drink it all in due time. Samischlaus circa 2003. last 2 #12 bought in 2005. down to my last 2 now though. perfect time to drink it all as it will get less delicious after 8 years. i know some people disagree but i digress. Närke Kaggen! and non kaggen, years 2006, 2007, and 2008. best when reached 5 years. Schlenkerla Urbock. last 3 from this winter. going to drink them all within a couple of weeks though. Liefmanns Goudenband. old batch from before the takeover. 10 Liefmanns Frambozenbier. old batch. 5 Cuvee de Keizer circa 2000. will drink my last bottle as soon as i can get more [1.5hrs on the push bike from my house to Belgian border]. Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek 2005. 3 Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueze 2005. 4 Cantillon Lou Pepe Gueuze 2006. going drink it very soon. Boon Oude Gueuze Mariage Parfait 2005. many. drink a bottle each week because it's delicious, still easy to get, and is relatively affordable.

roasted (fresh) garlic is a must for me. a leafy salad, or sauteed mushrooms are probably my all time favourite. i also like most things mentioned here when in season. sometimes even a fried egg, never any creamy or runny sauces however.

i had the cubes in a small bowl along with hotpot. in Guiyang there were also other bits in the same bowl such as soy beans, sorry forgot what other bits were. and in Jinghong it was just a bowl of the pure unadulterated fermented cubes. not sure how it's supposed to be eaten but i think most likely one just plucks a small bit at a time in between as an enhancer. (a photo i manage to salvage.)

yesterday at one of my regular pubs: St Feuillien Saison (delicious!), De Leckere Organic Pilsner (okay), Flying Dog Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale (any more 'aromatic' then it would be soap. i'm allergic to cascade hops.), and Jopen Gerstebier (a new very nice and refreshing barley beer by Jopen).

i find alligator steaks dry and a bit rubbery maybe i should give it another go. having read this entire thread i realised i've had quite a things mentioned. love alpaca, like yak. and African wild meats such as kudu, spingbok etc etc. looking forward to eating local (exotic) meats along the line of guanaco, rhea, beaver, lamb, and king crab. this december, in Patagonia.

rarely! but that didn't stop me from checking them out. oh yes i drank many a bottle of pseudo 'red wine' crisscrossing southern China 3 times in 3 consecutive years. the booze is even worse, which Chinese men prefer to drink with their meals. i shrieked with delight as i reached Macau. vinhos portugueses every day!

nice one, Peter. my last Fuller's, sometime this summer, was Golden Pride. drinking a hefeweizen as we speak but am dreaming about a nice one i had yesterday... Bière Nouvelle by Brasserie de Saint-Sylvestre. a lovely beer.

som tam is not as good without salted fermented fiddler crabs! miam miam.... everytime i must insist the sellers to add them to my som tom as they always tried to omit this 'crucial' ingredient. make it half green mango and half papaya, and some cherry tomatoes. all the best som tom i had in Thailand were pounded in a log using something that looked like a baseball bat lol.

i like your brief 'report', mine is too long... each trip is 6-7 week long. i too like Kunming very much, in fact the entire Yunnan province. [after Sichuan that is] surprisingly the best chips/fries and savoury flat bread i've ever had were in Tibet, cooked in an old oil drum on a mobile bicycle rig by the roadside. didn't you try Tsampa in Tibet?