Chocdoc Goes to France!

[Kerry Beal]

Glad to hear there is such a thing as a truly 'big' room (our last Paris room was big - in theory).

 

Food looks great - I should have called in sick and come with you.

 

I gave Jess a mission - to see if she could find a recipe for a Portuguese almond tart that I can't even properly describe. I can be cruel!

[Smithy]

I hope Jess comes through with the recipe! It's really nice to see the side trip through Portugal, and to know that this trip isn't over yet. Kerry, thank you for the tour. Jess, please keep it coming...and on the basis of seeing a "2 posts" next to your name, I'll add a "Welcome!" I hope we'll see more of your posts around here.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Anna and Jess,

 

I also was really taken with the mussels photo.

 

We used to be able to get New Zealand greenlips at the chain Romano's Macaroni Grill locally, but sadly no more. I like the more commonly available mussels too, but they are no comparison to greenlips. I found some at our local seafood monger, but they were in the freezer case, so I passed.

 

Thank you, Kerry and Jess, for sharing your European trip with us. I know it took a lot of time, and I hope you know how much we all appreciate that!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Next weekend I have plans to get together with my elder son and family, for, among other things, dinner.  I am holding out my hope for mussels.  From an excellent Greek restaurant.  Not to mention remarkably good octopus.

 

Many thanks for this thread.

[Kerry Beal]

Smithy - Jess says she has a whole lot of food pictures from many trips over the years - we'll have to encourage her to start a thread "Tales from my Travels" when she gets home and start offering them up as time allows. She was recently in Japan.

Oh yeah - and weight does not appear to be different than the last time I checked - I actually feel lighter than when I left and hadn't weighed myself

Edited April 30, 2015 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Kerry Beal]

 

Jess brought me back this lovely Pain d'epice made by an MOF in the Burgundy region where she was visiting with her aunt.  

 

It appears to have survived the assault of  travel rather well.  Shall attack it after dinner tonight.  

[LukyJess]

Today's meals are a lot lighter... I feel like my fitness has greatly increased in terms of walking, but I feel like I have been taking in more calories than burning them.

Breakfast was very similar to that in France, with the exception of the passion fruit juice I drank instead of orange juice: it was very very very sour in taste!

I set off to Belem where I tried the world famous Pasteis de Belem along with traditional Pasteis Bacalhau (cod croquette).

Fondant sculpture.

Beautiful tea urn.

For lack of patience (I didn't want to wait forever in the line up to have coffee at the café, I ended up going to Starbucks (I can't believe I am writing this... I am almost ashamed, but the addiction was greater than my will). I was positively surprised to find their coffee to be very different than that of north America and quite decent actually! It still doesn't beat traditional European coffee.

The other photos I wanted to share were more about the environment:

Kerry - here are escalators that move with the spacing of the stairs, a different take on Paris' uphill escalators...

Lemon trees ripe with fruit. Just like in Barcelona, orange and olive trees everywhere. I also saw a gipsy picking oranges from the trees, so I guess that answers our question about how come the bottom of the trees are fruitless compared to the tops (I also suspect the city cleans up too).

All of Lisbon is hills and a vast majority of the roads and sidewalks are paved in small cobblestones. I can only imagine having to talk through all this in high heels!

[LukyJess]

Kerry - how do you like the pain d'epices? We usually have it in the afternoon with black tea.

Also, could you please describe a little more the pastry for which you would like me to find a recipe?

I think I found what you want... but I am not 100% sure. Is it something like this?

These ones are fancier than most version in regular bakeries but they are essentially an almond cake of some sort baked in the same shape as the custard tarts, without a real defined crust.

I can certainly start a new thread "Tales from my travels"... I hope it will interest you all. I will most likely start it when I get home because internet access is proving a little finicky at this hotel.

[Kerry Beal]

That looks closer than any I've seen!

[Anna N]

Well I didn't get to go to France or Spain or Portugal but look what came home to my house today.

Two bottles of the-impossible-to-get-in-North-America Taffel akvavit, Iberico and Serrano hams and olives.

And an amazing selection of chocolate and confections.

Yes, I do know how lucky I am.

Oh and the portraits. I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.

[andiesenji]

Glad to hear there is such a thing as a truly 'big' room (our last Paris room was big - in theory).

 

Food looks great - I should have called in sick and come with you.

 

I gave Jess a mission - to see if she could find a recipe for a Portuguese almond tart that I can't even properly describe. I can be cruel!

Kerry, I would suggest that you write to David Leite and ask him about the almond tart. He has reams of Portuguese recipes that he has yet to publish. We used to exchange recipes years ago, when I was more active and he was always extremely helpful.

Edited April 30, 2015 by andiesenji (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, I would suggest that you write to David Leite and ask him about the almond tart. He has reams of Portuguese recipes that he has yet to publish. We used to exchange recipes years ago, when I was more active and he was always extremely helpful.

Thanks Andie.

[Kerry Beal]

Pain d'epice a big hit with rug rat and me!

[LukyJess]

Made it back to Paris, my flight was only delayed from the strike, not cancelled thankfully!

So yesterday late afternoon/evening, I went to the Mercado da Ribeira "TimeOut" (http://www.timeout.com/city-guides/time-out-mercado-da-ribeira-lisbon/).

This place is pretty neat, it not only comprises food producers but also "snapshot" restaurants by famous Portuguese chefs.

I had dinner at Alexander Silva's (https://www.zomato.com/grande-lisboa/food-corner-chef-alexandre-silva-cais-do-sodr%C3%A9-lisboa); Risoto com Vieiras, with a glass of Quinta dos Termos Fonte Cal.

For dessert I bought what I thought were chocolates from Santini (http://www.santini.pt/). Turns out these were filled with sorbet!

After dinner I took the Ascensor da Bica to then walk through Bairro Alto and Chiado, back to Baixa.

I went looking for the almond pastries and I think what I posted earlier was not it.

I posted little tartelets called Lamegos - here's another versio by Casa Suica (http://www.casasuica.pt/).

Then I came across the Queijadas da Sintra, which would appear to fit better the crustless description; from Pastelaria Ferrari (https://www.zomato.com/grande-lisboa/pastelaria-ferrari-baixa-lisboa).

After walking around a bit more and purchasing mother's days gift for my mom and mom-in-law, I decided to call it a night.

Since I did not post my breakfast at the hotel, here it is from this morning, including the passion fruit juice.

That is all I have to report for now, as I am back in Paris, preparing to come back home to Canada.

[Anna N]

Thanks so much, Jess and happy skies home to Canada.

[Smithy]

So many new things - what fun exploration! Thank you, Jess, for continuing the saga.

[Kerry Beal]

Glad the strike didn't ground you.