the poison doughnut

Maison Larnicol Chocolaterie, Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:42:00 +0000

Well worth a visit: EVERYTHING is made of chocolate and there are billions of different scoop-your-own tiny chocolates. Chocolate praline-covered mandarin segments... have a look at their website.

Swiss supermarket

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:14:00 +0000

I really love foreign supermarkets. I just want to SEE what is THERE that is NEW and EXCITING.

Whether it's true or not, I feel like you can get a real insight into a culture by trawling a supermarket. These are from the local Zurich supermarket (incidentally, the Swiss have already adopted the online shopping system where pictures of items are displayed on external walls, bus shelters, etc: you scan a picture of the item on your phone and it gets delivered to your home. Can't wait for that to happen here.)

Many many breads

Green "Sweetie" grapefuit

Dairy... huge, as always

Instant puddings and cakes

The chocolate section. NEVER have I seen more chocolate in one aisle... and this wasn't even half of it

Ready-made grill packs: smoked ham, sausages, chicken etc

Dried meat chips made from horse and chicken

Frozen whole sardines and mixed seafood

Ladurée (again)

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

I've blogged about Ladurée before. This visit was JUST AS GOOD.

They make their own champagne: who knew.

I blogged about having a rustic kouign amman in St Malo a few years ago.

My favourite every pastry: the palmier (front left). The thing in the middle is a Paris Brest.

Fromagerie Alleosse

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:31:00 +0000

Alleosse: the best cheesery in Paris.

Hotel de Ville markets, Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:54:00 +0000

These markets are just behind the Hotel de Ville on the north bank of the river. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I could have watched and explored for hours.

Chicken pieces and skewers, seafood and vegetarian paella

Hams and wursts, pizza and savoury pastries

Charcuterie, terrines, brawn, head cheese, rillettes

Mince, rolled roasts, cured ham, bacon, speck

Root vegetables

Beetroot

Lettuce

Goose, guinea-fowl capon (young rooster)

Ready-rolled venison (doe), mushroom sauce, stuffing of mushroom and armagnac

Rabbit galantine

Roast chicken

Whole roast suckling pig, chickens and turkey

Dried fruits, beans and nuts

Stonefruit, lychees, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, blackberries

Flavoured honey

Whelks

Deyrolle, Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:15:00 +0000

This was the best part of my trip. Deyrolle (a "Cabinet of Curiosities") is a company specialising in taxidermy (they also have a fair bit of botanical and entomological stuff, including posters, gardening equipment, mounting supplies, etc.) Their store is on the Rue du Bac on Paris's Left Bank, and has become a beloved local icon, rescued from fire, a tourist favourite and a museum/shop where you can marvel at the expertly preserved creatures... and buy one, if you can smuggle it home through quarantine. Deyrolle sells and exports to buyers all over the world, so if you're looking for a life-size bison, a segmented lobster or a glass-eyed woodland menagerie to grace your coffee table, they can help. I realized that what I really want in my dream home is a boudoir-retreat full of tropical plants and with a stuffed squirrel, forest mouse or a little brown bunny on my dressing table.

A typical French breakfast

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:05:00 +0000

You better be into bread. And black coffee. And also have a sweet tooth. Cos that's basically how it is in France: bread or pastry with jam, honey or chocolate. Luckily it's all pretty delicious. These breakfasts are from Le Luxembourg near the Pantheon on Boulevard St. Michel.

Baguette, butter and jam

Hot mocha coffee with whipped cream

Café allongé (long black)

Le Bistrot du Peintre, Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:17:00 +0000

Le Bistrot du Peintre ("The Painter's Bistro") is in Paris's 11th arrondissement: in a slightly grubby, gritty, non-touristy part of town. The bistro itself is beautiful and full of gorgeous art-deco furnishings and finishes. We had a fantastic lunch here. The menu is full of Paris bistro and brasserie classics, like steak frites, composed salads, lovely cuts of meat and simple desserts.

Chewy sourdough baguette pieces with saucisson sec (dried sausage)

Beef tartare with pommes frites and salad

Crispy canard confit (duck leg) with pommes frites and salad

Creme caramel

Rue Poncelet market, Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:24:00 +0000

Rue Poncelet is in the 17th arrondissement, not far from the Arc de Triomphe / Etoile and the top of the Champs-Elysées. I thought the market was very beautiful.

Clementines are like a half-orange, half-mandarin. I can't get enough of them.

Rolls of filleted fish, shellfish and crabs.

Ready-roasted turkey, beef, veal and lamb.

Girolles are a beautiful autumn-winter forest mushroom.

Paris Christmas florist

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:19:00 +0000

Christmas travels

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 02:21:00 +0000

I'm spending Christmas in Europe, like some sort of peasant orphan globetrotter. Paris, Zurich and Vienna, with a forecast of a cold snap all through December and temperatures well below zero at times. Hot chocolate in a left-bank Art Deco cafe? Yes. All-day shoe and brooch hunts through the Marais? Yes. Gluhwein and carols in St Stephen's Square? Lying in the bath with champagne while snow falls outside the window? Also yes.

Platform obsession

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 02:01:00 +0000

I'm currently going through a shoe phase. Gazing at shoes online is my new therapy and mode of relaxation. Want all!

Kugelhopf

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:43:00 +0000

This is Dorie Greenspan's recipe for kugelhopf: I made the recipe as written here.

It's technically a kugelhopf made in the wrong pan. This is a rose-shaped bundt pan. A kugelhopf is traditionally supposed to be in a tall swirly turban-like shaped pan.

I found out a few things while planning this cake:

1. A bundt cake in modern parlance is an American term for anything baked in a bundt tin of whatever shape, typically some sort of pound cake or heavy cake in any flavour. You can get bizarro bastardised versions in sour cream and carrot, black forest, pecan caramel, etc.

2. A bundt cake in the traditional sense is a German chocolate-laden thing, still in the fancy shape but with cinnamon-coffee-mocha-type flavouring.

3. A kugelhopf is not a bundt cake. It is like a brioche, but not. It has raisins in it and runs on yeast, not self-raising flour. So it is like a half-bread, half-cake bakery mutant.

I also learned that flour can Do Things I Did Not Know It Could Do. When the dough was first mixed, it was super-sloppy, almost like pancake batter. I was all like "whatever, it's screwed, I put too much milk in it". Then Dorie was all like "beat it in the mixer until the end of time." I was like "whatever Dorie, that's never going to become a cake, or even remotely dough-like. Good luck, lady." But anyway, I did the eternal mixing, and slowly it came together and all the gluten strands stretched and stretched and eventually it was like smooth stretchy chewing gum. No joke. I was amazed. Then it had to rise and be knocked back about six times, then sit overnight, then rise again for hours. By the end of all that I was like "THIS BETTER BE WORTH IT". Anyway, it totally was.

This thing came out of the oven and it was light, richly flavoured (no doubt from maturing and rising and yeasting for so long) and the raisins were soft and juicy, and it was awesome. I also dusted it with cinnamon along with the sugar. It was delicious with coffee. Perfect for afternoon tea. Or breakfast. Or dessert. Incredible.

My tip: if you use a bundt pan or a rose pan or anything with tons of ridges or moulded detail, butter it real good, butter it again and then lightly flour the tin as well. I hate it when things stick to pans.

Wagaya

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 05:31:00 +0000

Sake Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 03:11:00 +0000

Level 1/45 Eagle Street Pier.

Beef teriyaki on sauteed shiitake and buckwheat with yakiniku sauce

Seaweed salad with bonito-infused vinaigrette

Tuna tataki salad (sesame-soy dressing, horseradish, with daikon-wrapped salad rolls)

Chicken karaage

Assorted tempura (prawns, carrot, avocado, eggplant, fish)

Slow-roasted tomato salad with pickled cucmber, silken tofu and soy dressing

Chicken teriyaki on bok choy with spring onions

French Festival 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 02:51:00 +0000

Really, we only went for the macarons. These ones were from the Belle Epoque stall (made by their patisserie at the Emporium). The salted caramel was by far, and really by far, the absolute best. The others were also excellent but just too sweet for me. Apart from that the festival was well-attended, despite there being not as many "fun" stalls as I remember from last year (jewellery, clothes, homewares etc) and just lots of corporate and travel-agent stalls. Meh. Stage performers tried hard, but the crowd wasn't in the mood to be interactive (note to festival organisers: Francophiles and language people generally don't enjoy calling out lame responses and yelling out how they're feeling. It's not Homebake. Or a Wiggles concert). The coffee was OK, considering. Some good efforts from food stalls: merguez, rillettes, quality fromages, crepes and the like. Too many middle-aged women in berets and swishy coats for my liking: they looked like they were off to a fancy-dress French Stereotypes cocktail evening. Leave the flag-themed outfits and pompom hats to the little girls- there were MANY and they were all ADORABLE. Likewise for the schnauzer in a sweet little red harness, nomming away on a bread stick. I WANT ONE.

Eurovida's Bastille Day dinner

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 02:32:00 +0000

Amuse-bouche of salmon in pastry cups

French onion soup with cheese toast

Scallops with a green pea puree

Grilled fish with a buttery almond sauce and green beans

Cassoulet

Creme brulee

As a group, we agreed that the scallops were the best. The cassoulet was a bit too strongly spiced for us, and a few of us found it hard to digest. Soup good, fish good, creme brulee too firm and cold, but with a good crunchy top. Service good. We had a nice table, but when staff kept going in and out of the back door and letting in huge gusts of icy air, that was not nice. Ditto when they brought in the industrial mop bucket and cleaning gear while we were still having dessert.

Taco night

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 07:37:00 +0000

Crunchy taco shells

Soft tortillas

Mexican spiced rice

Fresh tomato and coriander salsa

Refried beans with cumin and roasted capsicum

Lettuce

Buttered corn cobs

Avocado, jalapenos and lime

Tabasco

Strawberries, raspberries, apple, grapes and white cherries

Cheeses (baked ricotta, blue-vein, semi-hard goat's cheese, vintage tasty)

Lindt chocolates

Liqueur shiraz

Afternoon tea

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 07:34:00 +0000

Egg Bistro

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 02:23:00 +0000

At Stanley St, Woolloongabba.

Verdict: very good. Nice Euro-esque interior decor, the dark wood, the bentwood chairs. The tall tables and stools along the walls are a nice touch but not always easy for shortarses like me to climb up on. Strong and hot leaf tea, not teabag (tick), fresh muffin-like creatures on the countertop (tick), hash brown made from actual real potato that grew in the ground, grated, seasoned and freshly fried (double tick). Tables not always wide enough to fully open newspaper and not knock over coffee, though.
We ate scrambled eggs with bacon on sourdough with a hash brown, plus the special: veal and pork meatloaf with a poached egg, tomato relish and sourdough toast. The meatloaf was too much like meatloaf for my liking: however for a meatloaf it was very good and not too strongly seasoned (tick). Poached egg EXCELLENT. Toast legitimate. All things very delicious. Service prompt and calm. Plus the waiter was super cute (insert inappropriate meatloaf joke). Most other patrons were sophisticated and genteel. Concerns: noisy chidren, business-shirt bogans, yapping women. Also how they don't take bookings for less than four people, despite the weekend breakfasts creating queues round the block. Location: I guess they can't help being next to a servo. Parking is OK on the side streets. Lucky the old antiques building is so lovely. YES TO EGG.

Tokyo Milk

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 09:47:00 +0000

Tokyo Milk: my latest obsession. Magnolia at New Farm has a couple of the hand creams, but for the rest of the range I need to go online and order from the US. Such deep, dark temptation...

Cup Specialty Coffee

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 09:33:00 +0000

Cup Coffee, Russell St at West End: I will gladly marry every single one of your baristas and have all their babies, if you promise never to close down and never to change. No altering with the years, no upgrades, no tweaking. Just stay frozen in time, just as you are, right now, today.

Today you made me a long black. It changed my life.

This coffee you made me contained not a single tiny trace of bitterness or acidity. I didn't know that was even possible, especially with black coffee. The flavour was not just full: it was rich. It was nuanced. It was full of earth and wind and terroir. It was juicy. It was fat and rippling with life.

I would gladly choose your coffee as my last meal. This is the best coffee in the universe. 10 out of 10.

Plus there is a funky robot on the wall and he is also on the cup itself. That increases the awesomeness to 11.

Pho at Trang's

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 09:22:00 +0000

Trang's Vietnamese Restaurant, Hardgrave Rd, West End. This is the rare beef pho, with lemon, bean sprouts and mint. Perhaps this is my favourite pho in town.

Mushroom pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 05:45:00 +0000

The recipe for the pizza and dough is here. Yeastalicious.

Max Brenner + River Cafe

noreply@blogger.com (Pinky) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 14:18:00 +0000

Seems like every time I pass the Max Brenner store at Southbank, there is a queue out the door. I have had intentions of trying it out in the past, but the everlasting lines of fussing women, tourists and clumps of teenage girls all vying to buy a coffee or dessert and sit in a noisy choco-den really put me off. Plus, people said that the produce was comparable to others (eg: get a good coffee at Chocolate Soldier instead and avoid the crowds.)

Anyway, I was enjoying a Lovely Outing with a friend, and after we had lunch at Piaf, we wandered over to check out ye olde Max Brenner. Bypassed the ubiquitous queue and went straight over to the retail counter where you buy gifts and prepackaged chocolate. Picked up a few little things as presents for various people. Expensive. Packaging a bit over the top. No need for everything to be quite so branded: the packets and tins were like a steer's arse with the MB logo seared onto every surface.

Continued on down to the River Cafe at GOMA (such a beautiful location but WHY ARE THE BAIN-MARIES FULL OF ROCKS?) for a coffee, which, thoughtfully, we were allowed to sprinkle with mini-marshmallows ourselves. Quite good, for you know, a standard coffee served in a takeaway cardboard cup. This is also where we opened the Max Brenner showbags and had a taste. My verdict: MB chocolate is smooth and good, but too sweet for me and probably overpriced. The caramelised pecans with praline and cocoa powder were lovely. Unfortunately I also enjoy chocolate that costs less than $15 for 80 grams, so not sure if I'll be bothering with Max again. Thanks for trying though Max, and it's nice to see businesses like this appearing in our fair city to begin with.