pim

merci, Ludja, tu es gentil. I must admit I look forward to eating food without first grabbing the camera! But it indeed had been fun. Now I must go to bed, preparing to go back to real life. Ugh, real life is seriously overrated IMHO.

My eating life today has been quite a roller-coaster. The day started out in Heidelberg with the usual breakfast of bread, butter, and honey, and a great big mug of coffee. Adding to the usual breakfast diet were some saucisson sec and Vacherin Mont d’Or cheese, leftovers from last night’s simple dinner. The Vacherin and the saucisson both were fantastic. If you’ve never had Vacherin, I suggest you try it whenever you’ve got a chance. It’s stinky, earthy, creamy, runny, and absolutely delicious. For lunch, German Boy and I continued our search for Scarywurst, aka Currywurst, a relic from his childhood that he insisted I try. When German boy emailed me a photo he found on the internet to show me, it was so spectacularly frightening that I started calling it Scarywurst rather than Currywurst! Look at this picture and see for yourself! We found it at a tiny stall at the outskirt of Heidelberg. So we had Scarywurst for lunch. It was actually not anywhere near as disgusting as it looked. The wurst was freshly grilled, sliced into small pieces, then smothered with ketchup and curry powder, then served on a paper plate with french fries. Plus, it was kind of a fun way to prepare ourselves for the dinner at the three-starred Le Buerehiesel. Near dinnertime, we hopped into the spunky Audi and raced down the fabled German Autobahn to Strasbourg, about 150 km away. Barely an hour and a half later we arrived with over an hour to spare, so we decided to take a walk around the Petit France area again. This area was where I bought all those fantastic cheeses the other day. I wanted to buy another Vacherin for my lunch on the plane tomorrow, so we went back to La Fromagerie des Tonneliers again. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on our side when it came to photographing this place. When we were there the other day, the battery on my camera was dead. Today, we left the camera in the car. Sorry. Anyway, we bought a petit Vacherin, a small chevre called Briquette de Langoumois, and another local Alsace cheese called Berville. The shop also sells some other food items, so I grabbed a jar of mi-cuit foie gras, a jar of creamy miel de fleurs de Provence, and a jar of confiture de prunes Reine-Claude, which is a type of prune local to the Alsace region. On the walk back to the car to go to the restaurant, we stumbled upon another nice looking shop selling confitures, so in we went and out we walked with five more jars, one of confiture aux clementines et Campari, two jars of confiture de quetches, and a large jar of miel d’acacia). By then German Boy’s eyes were filled with panic, or perhaps it was marvel, at my ability to acquire ridiculous amount of things to eat in an improbably short time period. (Right, I forgot to mention another tiny stop at a patisserie to buy a croissant and two éclairs for tomorrow.) Anyway, I decided to give it a rest and went on our way in search of dinner. Le Buerehiesel is located in a beautiful old building in the Orangerie park just across the street from the European Parliament building. I’m sure business from all the Euro-politicians is almost enough to keep a three-star place in the Black. Before we arrived, I decided that I would bring my camera, but if it looked as though I would disturb other patrons, I wouldn’t use it. Luckily, we were seated at a nice window table, far from other people, so you’ve got the pictures to see after all. We decided to order le menu truffe. For Aperitif, I had a Muscat d’Alsace and German Boy had a champagne. I forgot to ask for the names of these, sorry. With dinner we shared a bottle of Kientzler, an Alsace Grand Cru from 1999. It was very dry and fragrant, and was perfect with the food. The first to come was some amuse. These items were not listed on the menu so I couldn’t give you the name in French, but they were poached quail egg in vinaigrette with dandelion greens (This is the second day in a row that I saw dandelion greens on a French menu, perhaps they are in season already?), a fried little pocket of duck and vegetable, a slice of Boudin Noir, topped with a sliced of cooked apple, on a tarte fine, and a small glass of gelee of lobster and creamy chestnut sauce. My favorite was the gelee in chestnut cream, which was a fantastic mix of flavors and texture. The second favorite was the boudin noir. The other two amuse were just good, not great. Next was a Terrine de Poireaux et Coquilles St.Jacques aux Truffes. This was fantastic. The fantastically fresh scallops were ever so slightly poached before being added in the terrine with leeks. The dish was subtle yet fully flavoured, a difficult balance to attain IMHO. Grenouilles poelees aux truffes, Lasagnes truffees et jus mousseux. The chef here is rightfully famous with his frog legs. This dish of frog legs in truffle sauce served with a ‘lasagne’ of truffles and caramelised onions. The lasagne was a bit more like a ravioli than a lasagne in my opinion. Well, whatever it was, it was simply fantastic. I nearly cried at first bite!! Poitrine de Pintade aux truffes, petite tourte au foie de canard, marrons et pommes de terre. Guinea fowl’s breast, roasted with truffles underneath the skin, in truffles and jus sauce. The small tart was of duck foie gras, chestnuts, and potatoes, encrusted in thin slices of crisp potatoes. Fromage. Cheese! Oh, what can I say about those cheeses, except that they were all to die for? The pre-pre-dessert were two small plates of thin cinnamon wafers, petit financier with cherries, grapefruit pate de fruit, and caramelised sesame cookies. Then the pre-dessert arrived, two small glasses of fruit compote, mainly orange, with a few other things thrown in for good measure, a tiny breme brulee of macademia nuts, and the creamiest egg custard ever topped with meringue. Oeuf de Poule glace a la truffe fraiche. The most amazing icecream I’d ever had. The glace was light and fantastically creamy, with small bits of truffles throughout. This is the first dessert made of or garnished with truffles that I’ve ever liked. The truffles felt like they belonged perfectly in the glace, instead on being a gimmick added on for more value. Pine apple tast with Sizhuan peppercorns, vanilla, and lime, served with a pineapple sorbet. I wasnät too wild about this one. The tart was sweet and tated of canned pineapples. Yuck! The last course was coffee, served with chocolate truffles, candied grapfruit peels, caramels, and assorted sugar. They were all great. I’m off now to bed, to catch a few hours before my flight back to California.

Thanks! I'm running back to Strasbourg tonight for dinner at Le Buerehiesel. It's a Michelin *** restaurant specializing in the food of the Alsace region. Then tomorrow I'm going back to California But my blog duty ended Sunday, no? I think Marlena Speiler is next.

Sunday Feb.15 Breakfast today was much like the last two days, so I didn't take a picture. I was invited to lunch today with a friend's family. They live in a town in Germany, only about two kilometers from the French border. The area has changed hands so many times between France and Germany, the last change was not too many decades ago, that the food, the language, and the people are pretty much bi-cultural. The scene at the house was slightly surreal, I must admit. A Thai girl visiting a German family, but we were all speaking French because that was the language that everyone, including the 70 yr.old grand-mère, spoke. In fact, the grand-mère could speak so many languages, French, German, Italian, Spanish, even a bit of English, and she kept using whichever language that came first to her mind. At one point she said, "I enseigne con flauta", one sentence, four words, in four languages. How fantastic was that? We had lunch at a local restaurant named Canapé. Just like everything else in that area, the restaurant was a mix of French and German food, even with a bit of Italian pasta thrown in for good measure. We started with a salad of frisee, lettuce, dandelion, and a healthy heap of lardon, in a creamy herb dressing. It was very good. The next course was a sorbet of lemon, in champagne. How indulgent! Absolutely delicious. Next was grilled mullet in langoustine sauce, served with fettucini. Someone translated the name of the fish from German for me as river bass, so I ordered it. When it arrived, I was surprised to see mullet, or rouget in French. If I had known that it was mullet, I probably wouldn't have ordered it, as I found mullet this far from the sea slightly dubious. Luckily the fish turned out quite fresh, and the sauce delicious. I also stole a few bites of this rack of lamb in rosemary sauce. The dessert was house-made vanilla icecream and strawberries. Yes, I know what you're thinking, strawberries in February! (roll eyes) The icecream was good though. And of course, a proper espresso to end the meal. We drank a bottle of local Reisling, whose name I forgot to take down. For dinner, we drove around Heidelberg looking for scarywurst (I'll tell you all about it later), but couldn't find it so we ended up at a Thai semi-take out place. German Boy showed it to me for fun, as it was considered the best and most authentic Thai place in all of Heidelberg. It looked pretty good, in fact, so, on a dare, I decided to eat dinner there. We split two dishes, Gai Pad Kra-pow (chicken an holy basil) and Gang Pa Talay (Jungle curry with seafood). They weren't too bad, really, but the Pad Kra-pow had to much dark chinese soy sauce in it, so it tasted a little muddy. Both the dishes were spicy as hell, even for me.

hmm...I wanted to go back to edit the post from the 14th, but apparently I couldn't, so here it is again, pictures and all, with longer notes this time. --------------------------------- Yesterday was in Strasbourg. You'll just have to make do with pictures for now. I've got no time to do much online as we are running today to another small town in Germany. (more texts added Feb.16) Breakfast before driving to France: German Boy and I had a rendez-vous today with two friends from Zurich. Our meeting place was Strasbourg, where we were to lunch at Julien, a Michelin * restaurant in town. After picking up Swiss Guy and French Girl from the train station, and stopping once or twice along the way to join the huge manifestation and yell in support of better treatment for Ochalan, the Kurdish freedom fighter/terrorist (depending, of course, on your point of view), we trekked across town on foot to lunch. On the way we stumbled upon this market. We had no time to properly survey the market, but I managed to snap a few photos anyway. When we arrived at Julien, our nice table by the window with the view of the cathedral was waiting for us. Lunch at Julien, menu Coup de Coeur. The amuse consisted of a few cold mussels marinated in shallots and parsley vinaigrette, and a dumpling of mince fish(?) in a slightly sweet and sour sauce. The mussels were quite fresh and perfectly seasoned in the marinade, but I was less happy with the other thing. I wasn’t even sure it was fish! It just tasted vaguely of some type of seafood, and I wasn’t wild about the sauce either. Marinated wild salmon, served with Quinoa taboule and sprouts salad. The saumon was almost in the style of lox, but without the smokiness. It was great and almost melted in the mouth. I didn’t quite get the sprout salad though. Sprouts in general have this slightly woody taste that I dislike. Scallops with a salad of jerusalem artichoke and black truffles from Richerenches, and risotto. This was the star of the meal. The scallops were fresh and sweet, the jerusalem artichoke salad was lovely, though the truffes de Richerenches were largely missing in action. The meat course was a Supreme of pheasant stuffed with foie gras, accompanied by mango and dried fruit compote and a reduction sauce with port. I wasn’t too happy with this, and left almost half untouched. The pheasant wasn’t at all gamey, in fact, it was so benign it could have very well been turkey. The foie gras was somewhat tasteless, which was strange as it is the specialty of the region. Too bad. The pre-dessert was a swan with cream and coulis. It was just ok, fancy but somewhat pointless presentation, really. The dessert course consisted of a “molten” bitter chocolate cake, white mousse and orange sorbet, in spiced wine coulis. I wasn’t too happy with this either. The supposedly bitter “molten” chocolate cake was neither bitter nor molten. The sorbet was also far too cloyingly sweet. The mousse was ok, but nothing spectacular. The tuille cookie was not crispy. We had a bottle of Riesling that was chosen for us by the sommelier. It was quite good, though they failed to list the name on the bill so I couldn’t tell you what we had. After we saw Swiss Guy and French Girl back to the train, German Boy and I went in search of a good cheese shop. We found one, La Fromagerie de Tonnelier, which is owned by the same people who owns the famous cheese restaurant La Cloche de Fromage. The fromagerie carries all sort of raw milk cheese from all over France. When we found the place, there was a big sign in front exclaiming “Le Vacherin Mont-d'Or est arrive”. So of course, naturally, we bought one. I also insisted on a slice of Bleu d’Auvergne, even though it’s not from this region. I’ve just been craving it so long. I also got a Valencay, a goat milk cheese formed into a pyramid shape. And to also get something local, we got a big slice of local Munster cheese. After the big lunch, dinner was a simple meal of cheese, bread, and saucisson sec (also bought from the cheese shop). To drink were a glass of bordeaux and a bottle of Karlsberg.

Yesterday was in Strasbourg. You'll just have to make do with pictures for now. I've got no time to do much online as I am running today to another small town in Germany. Breakfast before driving to France: Stumbled upon this market on our way to lunch. Lunch at Julien, menu Coup de Coeur. Stay tuned for more annotation.

I was here for dinner Friday night. A small home style cafe in Heidelberg. It was a nice little place that had the look of old fashioned Germany. Well, what do I know about old time Germany, but that's what German Boy said. I really liked it though, the room was very cozy, with old wooden tables and mismatched chairs. The place was utterly devoid of tourists, but was populated with locals and people who looked like old professors and (somewhat) mad scientists from the university. Schmalzbrot, rye bread served with lard and dried onion. I wasn't a big fan of this one, actually. I was intrigued, but found the lard tasted too much of, well, lard. Kartoffel-Kohl-Auflauf, a casserole of potatos and cabbage with bechamel sauce topped with cheese. It was decidedly stinky, and looked sort of ugly, but was absolutely delicious!

Thanks Ludja. Yes, the bread's name is translated to pumpkin seed bread. It is a type of dense but soft German rye bread. It also contains, as the name suggested, lots of pumpkin seeds scattered throughout and on the crust. I love it. The taste is like a very good and strong whole wheat bread, without such a strong scent of the rye. It stays soft for a few days, making it a very practical breakfast bread to have around. Yum!

This has been quite a long day. It began this morning with a mad rush to the airport. I was famished, so I stoped at Ebisu at SFO International Terminal and had a Tonkatsu Bento box. It was surprisingly inoffensive, and definitely much better than the other Japanese place (whose name I forgot) by Gate 94. Then it was on to security check, where I had to take off my most impractical tall pointy-toed black leather boots. Oh well, at least I looked tres chic. I had a couple hours to wait at the United Lounge, with some light refreshments. A piece of cookie from the boulangerie on Pine st., a cup of Castleton Darjeeling, OJ, and tasty dried persimmons. On the flight, I was lucky I scored an upgrade this time, apparently thanks to a cello! Some guy came on with a cello and needed a seat at bulk head to put it. United people scanned the list of passengers on that row, and found one Premier Executive, which was me, so they used my seat and put me on business class. Unfortunately the food they served, though better presented, tasted pretty much as bad as what they serve in economy. The appetizer, a salad, some parma ham and smoked salmon was somewhat edible, but the entree of bacon wrapped shrimps, rice pilaf and tomato sauce was really bad. I left it prety much untouced. Luckily, I brought along some Montgomery Cheddar and Pleasant Ridge Reserve I bought from Cowgirl Creamery the other day. Now THESE are real food. Those cheeses sent me happily slumbering pretty much until the plane arrived in Frankfurt. Right before we landed, while other passengers made do with icky breakfast (with particularly oily and yucky looking croissants), I was merrily munching on the rest of my cheese, and finished everything but the rind just in time for the landing. Just a bit over and hour later, I was safely installed at a beautiful flat overlooking the river and the castle in Heidelberg. The fridge was filled to the brim with fantastic food, thanks to a certain German boy. Though I was quite full from the cheese breakfast on the plane, I just had to have another breakfast. The bread is called Kürbiskernbrot, a lovely dense German bread. I had two slices with butter and an amazingly fragrant raw forest honey. It was fantastic. There were also some nice Prosciutto and Leberwurst (Liverwurst), so I had to have some of those too. Also, if you looked closely in the photo, you'd see a crumbled plastic wrapping, which was what remained of the Luc Perac Perail cheese after I had my way with it. And too keep me awake and half functioning through the day was a great mug of strong European coffee. And, as if I hadn't had enough to eat already in the last 24 hour period, I'm off now to find some nice German food for dinner.

Squeat, That's tomorrow, flying into Frankfurt and driving to Heidelberg. I can't wait. cheers, Pim--off now to pack

I was so busy today as it was my last day at work this week, I hardly had anytime to get food. So, lunch was bought from the normally-not-to-be-found-dead-in cafeteria. The food lived up to my expectation. The salad I got today, southern fried chicken and organic greens with candied walnuts, was utterly vile. It looked inoffensive enough, but trust me, it tasted like the cook dipped each and everyone of those greens in syrup before tossing them in the dressing. Adding insult to injury, the rice crispy treats were tainted the most repugnant shade of pink, in honor of Valentine's day, apparently. I don't know how anyone could mess up rice crispy treats, I mean, which part of "melt some marshmallows and add some Rice Crispies" did they not understand. Needless to say, it tasted even worse than it looked. I just made it home after a very long day at the office. No time to make dinner, so I went to grab some quick things at Whole Foods. Well, those bits and pieces were inoffensive enough. Here's what they looked like. Oh well, I guess even a food snob can have a low day, huh?

thanks.

cannelés are little custardy cake from, you guess it, Bordeaux. The good ones have thick dark brown crust that are crispy the outside, with creamy and custardy inside. It's really hard to explain what it is like unless you've had one. Look for them in your local patisseries, they are quite popular these days. A few months ago I carried almost 2 dozens of those little copper cannelé molds back with me from France. One of these days I will be at home long enough to try them. I believe our Ms.Wolfert has a very detailed recipe in her book. I've also got Pierre Hermé's recipe if anyone is interested.

thanks. I must admit though that you were right about the flash. The better ones were taken with the flash. That'll teach me not to listen to that Melkor again.

Dinner last night was Omakase at the tiny Kiss, in the company of the incomparable Malik and our dear old man Melkor. The reservation was at 7.30. The only person that got there on time, Malik, was the one who’d never been there at all. Our Melkor, who, without the company of the directionally gifted Ms. Melkor, was woefully lost in the jungle that was SOMA. My lateness, how unlike me I might add, was rightfully blamed on Melkor, for derailing me by calling for directional guidance. In any case, by the time we got there we were all famished, as evident by the look of our Amuse which looked like this …after merely two seconds of landing in front of us hungry ghosts. Well, perhaps I should also show you what it looked like when it first arrived, yes? It was fantastic, the chunks of octopus tentacles were slightly caramelized on the outside, but ever so tender, with a salty and every so slightly sweet shoyu sauce and a few pieces of scallions. There was a slight misunderstanding with Melkor’s dietary restriction of “no shellfish”. Naga-san didn’t think that squids belong in the Shellfish category. I almost agree with him. I mean, where’s the shell? Really? Anyhow, the mistake was corrected and Melkor received an Amuse of seaweed and marinated tofu instead. Our actual first course was a cold dish of spinach in slightly sweet tofu sauce with crispy tiny shrimps. Melkor got one without the tasty little crustaceans. The next course was Hakusai, a layered terrine of cabbage and minced fish, in white soy bean sauce, topped with chives and a leaf of pickled ginger flower. The minced fish was quite tasty, and the sauce, again, exemplified the perfect interplay of sweet and salty in Japanese cuisine. Next came the sashimi. Maguro (tuna), Marugai (clam), Hirame (halibut), Halibut fins, Aji (spanish mackerel) and Suzuki. My favorite tonight is the Suzuki, but everything was great as well. Then the Chawanmushi, a silky smooth egg custard, with a piece of white fish, some crab meat, and garnished with snow peas, carrots, ginko nuts and lily bulbs. The next course is sushi. One piece each of Toro, Suzuki, Salmon, and Hirame. Sushi here is always fantastic. The rice is impeccably cooked and seasoned, and the fish pristine and tasty. I ordered some uni, since it was not included in the Omakase. Naga-san broke out a new box for us, and they were supremely delicious. The last savory course is Akadashi, a miso-based soup with mushrooms. The perfect and soothing ending to a fantastically restorative meal. For a simple dessert, we had a perfect slice of melon. Simple, yet delicious, a fitting end to this meal. Melkor brought a bottle of Riesling, since he’s not a fan of Sake. I will let the boys talk to you about the wine. Malik and I also shared three types of sake, Senshin, Tokugetsu, and Hekiiju. The subtle and dry Hekiiju is what I usually drink here, but my favorite last night was the Senshin Naga-san poured for us, off the menu. It was complex and floral, with a sweet finish. The Tokugetsu is a bit too strong for my taste, but Malik loved it. How much I liked the sakes was quite evident in the declining quality of my photographs as the meal progressed.

Dinner tonight was an Omakase at Kiss, with Melkor and Malik. It was fantastic, despite the company. I managed to take a picture of everything, with the bemused Naga-san looking on. Unfortunately I left the connector cable for my digital camera at work, so I'll have to wait till I get to work tomorrow before I can post about them. You'll just have to wait.

Lunch was picked up on the run at the local boulangerie on Pine St. A baguette sandwich of portabello mushroom, chèvre, roasted bellpeppers, and lettuce, and a tiny cannelé de bordeaux for a sweet finish. I had to eat this on the run, in my car, racing from one meeting to the next. The sandwich still tasted pretty good, though.

A few people asked me about the two ceramic bowls I used at yesterday's and today's breakfast. They are the work of my ceramicist friend Lin Myerson. I think her work is fabulous, obviously.

Hmm...despite the name, chili paste, or roasted chili paste, there's no fresh hot peppers in it. I use chili powder. And Soba, this thing is far too finicky for a recipe. I've tried, actually. David Thompson has one in his book, I've never used it, but perhaps it might work. Mine has pretty much has the same ingredients, except I don't use galangal. I only use garlic, shallots, tamarind, shrimp paste, dried shrimps, fish sauce and chilies.

You should see my kitchen. It is the size of a postage stamp, and my kitchen aid lives in the closet as well. Yet there is room in my kitchen for the X5!

A simple one. A bowl of yogurt with a big spoonful of jam, and a cafe au lait. The jam today is perhaps not a jam at all, but candied seville peels in rose geranium syrup by our very own Grand Lady of Preserves, June Taylor. Her candied peels are one of my favorite things in this world. I must say I am compelled to use her product today, being a fellow Bay Area dweller and all, since I used Mdme.Ferber's yesterday. The yogurt is, but of course, Strauss. The cafe au lait (aka latte) is today in a glass instead of my usual bowl. And for those of you who are wondering, yes, I did it just to show off the foam. tee hee.

Hi Soba, Nice to see you too. It's going to be United, by the way. Pim

Dinner tonight. Stir-fried shrimps and instant noodles with basil and chili paste. Bah-mi Goong Pad Prik-pao. The ingredients were shown in the picture, some shrimps, 1 packet of instant noodle (pre-cooked to al dente), about 2 cloves of garlic, a bit of julienned bell peppers and onions, a handful of basil, and, of course, Nam-prik Pao (Chili Paste). I make my own Nam-prik Pao, but when I am desperate I buy the Pantainorasingh Brand. To make this dish, begin with a hot pan, add to it some oil, then the onions. Sweat them a little, then in goes the garlic (chopped), the shrimps, the bell peppers, a few splash of fish sauce then stir everything around well. Add a table spoon or two of the Nam-prik Pao, depending on taste. Next goes the cooked noodle, stir everything around again, taste it to check the seasonings. Throw in one or two smashed bird-eye chilies if you want more heat. The basil leaves go in last, turn off the heat. You’re done.

That's precisely why I have never been able to install a camera on my computer at home. Darn difficult, the install.... The orange juice is store bought, Odwalla from Whole Foods. --Pim, off now to cook dinner

reesek, I love it. I must admit, though, that I am not really a coffee person. I am more of a tea snob. The reason I got this one was because I was so sick of over-roasted and burnt lattes I get from local cafes. When I saw Illy advertised the Illy a Casa deal, I snapped it up. I was convinced on the pods after reading Jeffrey Steingarten's review of it a while back. So I ordered the pods, and have been quite happy with them. I make pretty good espresso shots every time, definitely beat anything I get at cafes around here, and there is absolutely no mess. I am proudly a Pod girl. The machine is pretty good too. I've never had a problem with it, really. cheers, Pim P.S. If Illy still had this deal, you might want to consider it. I think it's great.