BonVivant

to put it bluntly: 'sheer defence'. years ago when i first came to Small Town, NL., i was confronted with the sad fact that the food was inedible. for someone who had just left YVR [Vancouver] for Europe for the very first time in their early 20's having never been in the kitchen [ok i did take home-ec a couple of years in middle school but that was it and cooked nothing since!]. and so i decided to learn from scratch. then i started remembering the food i used to eat as a child and tried to make them from memory. [no success] btw, grew up on good food at home but never thought i'd wanted to learn. now i wish i could do everything all over again, differently.

Tongorad, is it this Helles? the liquid prosciuyto is very nice indeed. i'm mad about beers from Bamberg the ur bock costs me 4.6 euro each but i can't let it slip through my fingers every time i'm in Amsterdam, which is every fortnight for "pub therapy".

not a fan of Chinese food but am looking forward to checking out Ms. Dunlop's new book releasing next month. i literally [read 'engrossed in'] wolfed down her Sichuan book just days before going to Chengdu to eat. i'm sure there are plenty of drool stains on some pages! ----------- [first 10kg box of Sichuan spices and tea leaves has arrived. woohooooo]

ones with stars i've had. must disagree with Hoegaarden however. too many fantastic white beers out there [mostly German] that make Hoegaarden tastes like a teenage girl's drink. even the province next to mine makes good white beers such as Gulpener's Korenwolf and Wieckse Witte. rather Leeuw Valkenburgs Wit than Hoegaarden. go to Bavaria, my friends. Bavaria.

is Nanxiang the one in the area where all the tourists come to see some big temple? and the queues are so long you'd have to wait around 2 hours or so? if it is then i've been there. i was early to beat the queues and i was glad! had the *most* expensive brunch there, ever, in the whole world. the crab roe soup eaten/drunk with a plastic straw was peculiar. i still have the brochure between the pages in my China guide book. beer lovers, such as i, may want to check out Fest Bier micro brewery/pub in the Bund.

with Lindt 99% choco for me. on fiday i had a couple of Weihenstephaner and Chimay tripel on tap at my pub in AMS. but then they have these standard beers there all the time so nothing that special anymore. the barman took the Grimbergen tripel from me at once saying 'i can see you're struggling with it. surprised you even ordred it', after 30mins and i was barely sipping the disgusting thing [well i thought it'd be 'better' on tap, perhaps.]. not fun anymore when your bartenders know what you like or dislike.

even lugged back 4kg of freshly roasted beans from Hanoi

i did have my first duck here in Peking last night at Liqun it is indeed deep in a hutong, many blocks from my hotel in another hutong on the same straight street. at first i didn't think it existed anymore as most of the hutong has been demolished, and is still being destroyed as we speak. it's empty and eerie! first thing you step inside the door there's a wood oven with ducks being roasted. the place is very alive and well to my surprise. i was lucky to beat the friday evening crowd. by the time i left [8pm] the queue was all the way to the door and not many people were leaving! massive cholesterol intake in 2 hours for me. no more eating for another 3 days i wonder what they do to the rest of my duck. i would've liked to finish all the meat in it.

my guide book lists 2 big ones, as already mentioned by some in this thread, 'qianmen quanjude roast duck', and 'quanjude roast duck'. Lichun is located deep in a hutong and harder to find but it costs half the price. this time tomorrow in Peking i'll have my first dinner of duck...woohoo! however i have a feeling i won't be eating it every other day for the next 10 days...the further from Chengdu i go the more i miss Sichuan food.

VN yoghurt is quite nice. people still make it at home like most things. i've had banh mi with a brownish 'sauce' which tastes like gravy -it is meat ball gravy-, but then this sort of banh mi has meat balls. nice! on a normal banh mi the brown thingie is actually VN pate. extremely garlicky and most delicious. stuffed inside a hog's tummy then steamed, contains brains and all sorts of hog parts. on one of my returns to VYR i even brought along a little Coleman cool box to smuggle back to Europe a few blocks of this pate!

in Vietnam they eat/drink this stuff as a snack. i say eat/drink because it has more liquid which has been fermented, and there are always a few balls of the rice in the same bowl. there's also a white version, btw. both tastes more or less the same to me. yes, the alcohol content is nice i forgot what the name of this thing is but i remember it has the word 'wine'. have to check my notes from last year's trip [if i can find them that is].

works every time for me too. succulent! i like my magret de canard with a thick sauce of blackberries and such. and a dollop of creamiest mashed potato [with a hint of garlic] on the side. wash down with either a good pinot noir [my personal choice] or gewurtraminer. i eat this when the dark berries are plentyful. OR even better, sliced and topped a shiitake risotto. a cold sake or two would go down beautifully. sometimes i even use duck breast in a savoury porridge, or with plenty of tangerines.

i travel to eat and drink [never cook while abroad], all i need is a simple but nifty swiss army knife. the 2 things i use the most are cork screw, and knife [for fruits/vegs].

hmmmmmnm....yak mince momo.... just had yak milk cheese and honey momo the other day in Lhasa. the smell of yak cheese is quite offensive to most of us. i eat all them all. never seen beef momo in Tibet. only yak if they have a meat filling. yak and Tibetans can't be separated.

stumpled upon this place in centre of Shanghai yesterday which brews German style beer, both light and dark. price is same as at home no wonder hardly any chinese there [besides i don't think they know what real beers taste like]. after 3 weeks of something that resembles 'beer' i really appreciate the German style brew even if it's nothing like my favourite Bamberger stuff. however, Lhasa beer i had in Tibet wasn't too shabby. cheers from Shanghai

oneday i'll find it.....or find the parts and assemble them, or else it would have to be brought from Czech Rep with a van. if you have been to CR you'll know the table i'm talking about. a classic communal monastery table. long, wide, thick, sturdy, simple and beautiful!

i get the chips from Vleminckx all the time as it's near my pub still on the hunt for big fat chips however. i like the big fat ones. Portugal dreaming

i find petai beans extremely offensive! wish someone had warned me before i made that Malay stir-fry of petai beans and prawns. however i like durian just fine.

have never seen Liqui-Nox here in Netherlands. i've been looking everywhere for odorless dishwashing tablets [actually everything odorless]. my allergies are always getting worse and am actually considering doing the dishes in the sink again....but where to find neutral liquid soap

that's great! finally i can eat my last 99% bar many thanks, Klary!!!!!!! Bijenkorf is on the way to my pub, i go pass it every time i've checked a couple of Jamin shops in my little town down here in the south but they don't stock it. de Bijenkorf is most convinent. going to stock up on the 99% to eat with my 23 bottles of Westvleteren #12. fabulous! groetjesssss

could someone tell me where to find Lindt Excellence chocos? i go to AMS every fortnight and have never seen it some expats at a site i frequent say they've seen it but can't remember where exactly. it's all over the place in neighbouring countries...

there's a recipe in my Portuguese cookery book but i can't get to it at the moment. i remember it does sound easy enough to make from scratch at home. will taste the real thing for myself when i go to Portugal to eat and drink next christmas-new year. i wouldn't be surprised if every housewife or restaurant makes their own version. saudadessssssssss

stroopwafels being made before your eyes at the market anywhere in NL. foie gras from France.

i've only had Young's. lucky you, Stephen! i'm a woman so of course i love choco beers! Barcelona is closer to me so that's a possibility. black forest cake tasting beer...hmm....

would love to try this one. the scallops sound great too. if i ever move back to YVR i think Okanagan would be the place to spend the rest of my days...so i could drink local wines and peach ciders every other day [and the other every other day i'd drink French, Aussie, NZ, Portuguese, SAfrica, Chile and the rest.