S'more

Give me three words: marshmallow, chocolate and buiscuits.

There you go, with the help of a bonfire while camping or thanks to a modern microwave oven, you obtain a delicacy called s'more. Its name reminds one's chewing while saying the way too long sentence "(I would like to have) some more".
It is really popular during summertime, I personally had my first s'more on 4th of July with some American students durign my exchange studies in Germany, strange to say.What I like most about smore is not its taste rather the way to prepare it together with friends, be patient and careful while warming the marshmellows and ready to take it away from the fire before burning it, then squeezing it layiring it as in a sandwich made by Honey Graham's crackers' very similar to our Digestive buiscuits and "glue" it to a thick chocolate bar to be melted by the hot temperature. Wonderful.

That is why I wouldn't like to buy the Hershey's smore, it would all lead to a regular junkie food in a plastic bag.

Look at this nice math formula:

Kartoffelpuffer

What could Kartoffelpuffer sound like? Absolutely German!
Although Poland and Czech Republic have their own ways to serve the potato pancakes, these are have their reason to be in Germany eaten espacially outside the Christmas markets.

I had mine in Bremen, then I tasted them once again here, in Turin at La Deutsche Vita.

People like it as a salty dish, I personally love it as they should be eaten so along with apple mousse to give an extraordinary combination of flavours.

Kartoffelpuffer can also be tasted with garlic or mashroom sauce, with sour cream as topping and so on. They're a pillar in the Jewish cuisine where they're know with the name latkes.

Visit this link to watch a video showing how to prepare Kartoffelpuffer, in German of course.

Macarons

Eating a macaron is like walking on a cloud, immediately sets you in a good mood with the prettiest pastel colors and an intense flavor.
It’s also a matter of harmony: while picking the fave taste one’s already thinking about how they will look in the box, matching the perfect colors as in a painter’s palette.
This example of cute pastry has its origin in Comery, a city in France.
As time passed we got used to La Durée brand, Pierre Hermé, Pascal Caffet and so on.
I personally prefer La Durée and I got admit I adore the boxes that like a coffret, hide these mysterious beauties.
Once in a while I select the redfruits, even if I tend to pick the extra chocolate, caramel, almond or pistachio ones.
They were beloved by important ladies in the world history such as Caterina de Medici and Marie Antoinette.
You can even watch the latter eating macarons in Sophia Coppola’s alike named movie, interpreted by a marvelous Kirsten Duns!
The bravest may try the flower ones, instead of fruits.
You will be enchanted by Pierre Herme’s rose taste.
A supporter of PH macarons? For sure miss Blair Waldorf in the TV series “Gossip Girl”.
When Meester’s character is upset about the disappeared Chuck Bass (performed by Ed Westwick) on the last episode of season two, he gives her a reason to have been spotted in Paris: just to buy her the macarons she loves the way he loves her back.

Romantic kiss.
Curtains down.

The end

Tuna auction in Tōkyō

築地市場（つきじしじょう、つきじいちば）とは、東京都中央区築地にある公設の卸売市場。東京都内に11か所ある東京都中央卸売市場のひとつだが、その規模は日本はおろか世界最大（広さでは大田市場のほうが広いが、取引金額は大田市場より大きい）であり、代表的な卸売市場である。この項では外郭に存在する築地場外市場商店街（通称：場外、場外市場、築地場外、築地場外市場）についても記述する。なお、ニュース番組等で、しばしば築地市場の場所を指して「つきじしじょう」と呼ぶことがあるが、場所を指す場合は「しじょう」ではなく「いちば」である。


Ok. I am just kidding, let's go back to English and let's forget about Wikipedia already.
Once upon a time, or actually every day since the Edo period before the dawn, Tōkyō captures the attention of the tourists for its famous Tsukjii fish market ( 東京都中央卸売市場) .
I dare to write about it even if I've never been there since a new aquaintance from work, told me about this wonderful experience.
It's something that once in my life I would like to try.
Beyond the smell of fish and the wake up alarm set at a very annoying time, I can only think about the bright side of it and I can even predict how sweet and mouth watering would be a sushi or sashimi eaten there, freshly fished and .. in the morning, for breakfast.

Sellers display what they fished starting from 4 a.m. while shops clos around 11 a.m.
My colleague tells me that he had sushi on a counter in a place "something called DA"
I admit I only had several Japanese language lessons at evening school, but I bet there are many "da-thing".
Rogerio, that's the name of my new colleague, kindly provided me with some of the pictures he took on the spot that I would like to share with you.

How to get there

From Tokyo Station
Take the Marunouchi Subway Line from Tokyo to Ginza (3 minutes) and transfer to the Hibiya Subway Line to get to Tsukiji Station (3 minutes). The fare is 160 yen.
From Shinjuku Station
Take the Oedo Subway Line directly from Shinjuku Station to Tsukiji Shijo Station. The one way trip takes 20 minutes and costs 260 yen.

Son altesse, le Croque Monsieur

I miss baking or grilling with the oven as my cosy flat in Turin (tiny and untidy bohemian style) doesn’t have one.
Apart from skewers of meat or a descent fish, I would like to cook in it the perfect croque monsieur.
If you call it toast, I can easily get offended. This little crusty crunchy cheesy thing is one of the few things I like from France. Let’s put it this way: Paris is beautiful, French language is so chic, but French people aren’t that nice towards us Italians (my French friends of course are ok and bounding as friends kills all prejudices and shortsightness)
In 2009 while at the movies, I was with Carina watching "It's complicated" starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin. The film is hilarious and spontaneous.
Streep's character served Steve's one a croque monsieur. I never heard about it previously and I immidiately asked myself "What's that thing?".
The following year, while visiting Magali in Limeil-Brevannes, in Paris' suburbia, I had the chance to try a croque monsieur in Paris city.

Emmenthal or Gruyère cheese melted on a thick slice of bread, with beachamel spread on it and ham layered on. Here you have, His Highness, Croque Monsieur.
Of course you can have it on the grill or make it in the pan though to do it in the oven, I think is the best option.
Depending on further ingredients added, the croque monsier becomes a croque madame if with egg on top, croque provençal if with tomato, croque tartiflette if contains potatoes and Reblechon chees and so on.
Nowadays it becomes also Croque McDo, at the fast food chain McDonald's though, it's a simple toast with one extra slice of ham and guys, I do not see anything gratin in there!
First try it in France, maybe in a typical parisien bistrot. Then try this at home.

Cremino Fiat

No, work still hasn’t driven me that crazy to confuse my blog all around food with automotive.
This picture portrays what was the Tipo 4, launched in 1911.
The same year, its manufacturer Fiat based in Turin and still important nowadays outside the Italian borders thanks to its merge with Chrylser LLC decided to start a challenge among chocolate producers to create what would have been the new Cremino Fiat.
Previously, the cremino was three-layers chocolate but the company Majani from the city of Bologna, invented a 4th layer.
The taste is unchanged and still remains unique. Its dark layer is Gianduja, a sweet chocolate containing hazelnut paste common in Piedmont, while the white layer is from almond paste.
Next trip to Italy, or to Turin precisely, do not miss to have a bit of Cremino Fiat.

Preview #1

Restaurang Movitz

While wondering about Stockholm, I feel like recommending a spot right in the old city center where you can find affordable and tasty food in a romantic atmosphere.
My friends and me ordered a three-course-menu for 199 Swedish Crowns (at that time almost 19 €).
We chosed the fish proposals, as we wanted to try the Salmon as we were in Scandinavia –what a cliché!
Our expectations were fulfilled.
To tell the truth, I now see that the prices have risen: I think this is due to our European crisis or the normal growth of prices from time to time: I’ve been there in 2007.
To eat or drink cheaper, impossible not to mention that Movitz has a separate area dedicated to its pub.





KÄLLAREN MOVITZ

Tyska Brinken 34
111 35 STOCKHOLM (Gamla Stan)
Tel: 08 - 20 99 79
Fax: 08 - 10 08 96
Epost: hovmastaren@movitz.com

Semla

February has come and this time of the year reminds me of the first (and unfortunatelly only one) time that I visited Stockholm.

Back in 2007, Laura, Gaspare and me traveled together from Lubeck to Skavsta airport. The vision of the frosty city and the thousands of islands in the lake was marvellous.
Too bad for us, we only spent the time there from a friday night and departured on Sunday to fly back to Bremen, Germany, the city of our Erasmus student exchange program.
Beyond Gamla Stan, the historical center too much crowded in Italian population for my taste and the regret not to have seen the reindeers in Djurgården, a very common Seven Eleven store offered me a great memory of course related to food.

I am refering to semla or its plural semlor a sweet bun cut into two halves made by cardamom wheat with milk, almonds and whipped cream. On top everything is even sweeter

thanks to powdered sugar. I always thought its flavour was given by poppy seeds but I was mistaken!

The tradition finds its reason to eat these sweets on Mardi Gras and the autenthic receipe is a field of battle to make win every year during Carnival one bakery against another to reach the perfect semla. Even a Semla academy is born.

Here below a short clip from a Swedish tv commercial: poor guys these semlor testers' huh?

Pastificio De Filippis

With this post I would like to start a good habit to suggest you places worthy to visit under a culinary stand point.
A good foodie needs to know where to go, anywhere.
My anywhere is unfortunately limited to Europe, at least so far. It wouldn’t be honest to recommend places friends suggested me while I have not tried on my skin.
I’ve been in Tunisia once so extra European borders, though the resort I visited was in the middle of nowhere and I couldn’ t visit too much.

Today’s location is PASTIFICIO DE FILIPPIS. In a central pedestrian area in Turin, this shop for homemade pasta is now flourished into a cosy place to eat.
The menu is changing every now and then. They serve plin (small tortellini tipical from Piedmont)with melted butter and cheese, risotto c’est a dire rice with fresh artichokes and lil squids both priced 12 € each, flan with bagna cauda and anchovis, tagliatelle with sausage from Bra, selection of cheeses and so on.
Of course their specialty- as the name suggests- it’s the handmade pasta.
Here some pictures of yesterday’s dinner with my best friend Carina. Plin (on the left) and the above mentioned risotto (on the right)




Pastificio De Filippis

Via Giuseppe Luigi Lagrange, 39 10123 Torino
Turin - ITALY
011 542137