La gula del Norte

"Do you want something from Spain?" asked my best friend Carina.
My answer was pretty clear.
Anguriñas:commercially known as "La gula del Norte". A canned good that looks like worms (I know it's not pleasant), whose name in Spanish sounds like little eels but is indeed made by a different mixture of fishes. You could say they're fish pasta, sold natural taste or added in garlic.
Quick to cook when warmed in a pan: a matter of 2-3 minutes time.
I have to admit the dobubtful origin made first me, then my family hesitate a while. It is indeed artificial food, still everyone should try it to see if they agree to say how gula is wonderfully tasty.

FOR EVERY 100 GRAMS:
· Calories: 156,7 Kcal (654,1 KJ)
· Protein: 10,5 g
· Carbohydrates: 7,3 g
· Fat: 9,5 g

We love panelle

If you can tell you're in Montecarlo because you see lots of banks, you can easily say you're in Sicily on the number of ice cream sellers.

Beyond that, you can really be 100% sure you're walking on Sicilian territory if the street food you have in your hands is panelle.
They were a great surprise for me the first time I tried them. They're often in triangle or squared shape, obtained with gram flour, coming from ground chickpeas and at last deep fried.

They're perfect with a dust of pepper and some lemon drops squeezed. I can assure you the flavour is unique!

Ascot loves food

Ascot is the famous british horse racing taking place over 300 years and mostly known for the exagerated, funny, sometimes pieces of sculptures artistic hats on the ladies.
The catwalk of these skinny beautiful preppies this year was, strange to say, all around food.

Caption could be: how to have an icecream and not gaining pounds of your body or how to meet friends with Celebrations' stock on your head!

Madrid profundo!

When I first told Sergio, a colleague of mine, about my culinary experience with zapatilla, the comment was "Madrid profundo!" The fact is that it’s not so common for a turist nevertheless a foreign one, to know this sandwich. Calling it these way reduces the power of the imagination of this tasty and mouth-watering bread, warmed on a grill and filled with a kind of smoky ham called lacon and a type of melting cheese from Galitia named tetilla- as it resembles the breast of a woman. Zapatilla literary means small shoe but I assure you that nothing is small in size nor in flavor. The owner of Bar Melo’s, located in Calle Ave María 44, in the neighbourhoood of Lavapies warns every single customer that you have to be hungry enough to have it and, as a menace, finish it. I remember the time I was there with my boyfriend: we considered a better option to share a half zapatilla. First thing I’ll do next time I visit again Madrid (the last time I could only spend an afternoon after my flight back) we’ll be for sure to eat a zapatilla.

Stroopwafels, my love

I can predict when my boss has travelled to an back from the US with a connection flight to Amsterdam when he brings back the fantastic Gouda’s Stroopwafels.
Gotta admit it’s the only food with cinnamon I can bare.Even if I lived in the Netherlands I never had the chance to try them in bigger version, sold on the streets.I’ve always bought them in a tin either in Hema, Kruidvat or other drugstores. If I should be even more honest, stroopwafels, these wonderful waffles with caramel syrup were my regret behind my back when I left the Country of the clogs, windmills, canals, lot of rainy days and cheeses.
With my surprise, I found a pack of six stroopwafels sold in Tiger, the Danish silly and cute store that recently opened in Milan and Turin.

Airline Food

Ever wondered about high-flying food?

Like the menu suggestion by Emirates (above) or British Airways and Delta?

I discovered this website some years ago and I fancy having a glance at its pages every now and then.

I'm talking about Airline meals.
The section I enjoy most is without any doubt the food the crew or the passengers were having in the 50's and so on.
It is so close to the nowadays reality and at the same time so strange thinking about for some it was and habit to travel on a aircraft.

Letting this surprises apart I recommend you to pay a visit to www.airlinemeals.net

Worthy to see.

Japan airlines in the 70's

Thai Airways International

Condor

A taste of Pixar

Milan is not behind any other European city in terms of shows, attractions, events, exhibitions.

Opened in November and closing on Valentine's Day, PAC the Pavillon for contemporary art is hosting PIXAR- 25 years of animation that I visited this weekend.

Not mentioning the queue was much more formed by adults rather then kids, I felt a young baby again. Pixar leaves your mouth wide open and thrills you while showing the original sketches, storyboars, colorprints and reels.

Nemo, the jumping table lamp where everything started, Elastic girl and of course, Rémy. The inspiring rat that I'm grateful to, from the motion pic "Ratatouille".
If you happen to be in the North of Italy, don't miss the chance: Mike & Sulley from Monsters INC welcome you and are ready to be part of your picture.

PAC - Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea
Via Palestro 14
Milano
www.mostrapixarmilano.it/

What's in your lunch box?

When I was a child, watching the anime Bijoujo Senshi Sailor Moon gave me a taste of what bento was. That squared bo containing lots of tasty and good looking food. I gotta had one!

Bento is a common word to describe how Japanese people use to eat when out of home.

In Italy we have a specific word too that describes the lunch box, a name known mainly in the northern part: schiscetta.

Whatever was previously cooked is put in plastic container.

Belgian or french speaking Countries have la boite à tartine that children start to take with them in kindergarten. Bread with Jam or Nutella on a white soft sandwich bread can be an

example for it.

Bunet

The king of pudding, at least in Italy is the bunet. Not so famous outside its Region, Piedmont, but very popular in the city of Turin. It's a tipycal dessert from the tradition and it's not a regular pudding, there's egg and amaretti in it.
Its consistency and flavour are unique, in fact from the first bite you cannot describe it as a pudding, you definately know it's a bunet.
My suggestion: try a local one and mistrust any industrial imitation.

Los Reyes

Epiphany in Spain means ROSCON DE REYES: a typical cake with a plastic baby Jesus and a bean. Finding the bean may represent the obligation to buy the cake for the next party or in some Countries may mean that the person finding it will soon have a baby. Somewhere this cake dedicated to women is called Queen cake.
Fig fruit, quinces, cherries or dried and candied fruits are used.
Down below, the king cake baked by my friend Carlota. Even living in the Netherlands.

Kürtőskalács

Inhereted by the former Hungarian region of Transylvania, Kürtőskalács is a sweet bread rolled onto a wooden stick and cooked on a charcoal fire or baked in modern ovens.

This delicacy can be found in pastry stores or on the streets. I had mine just outside the Royal Palace in Budapest.

The name refers to the chimney, in fact kürtőskalács is also known as the chimeney cake.

It can be eaten simple as it is with a taste of vanilla or with additional topping such as walnuts, cinnamon, chocolate, almonds. Everything is caramelized in order to chew a crispy crust.

Yummy!

As for me, I had again the chance to try this food in Italy during a fair dedicated to the artcrafts coming from all over the world to Milan.

Happy New Year, Korean style 떡국

While wishing a happy new year to all of us, Il Hee a girl friend of mine from Seoul, told me about the traditional soup that has to be eaten among korean families on the very first day of the new year. It is called 떡국, ddeok guk translated into rice cake soup. The main reason why this dish is so important is that if one's eating that, that person is gaining one more year of life.

I guess it is also due to the fresh ingredients used: rice cakes, oil, garlic, scallions, eggs, seaweed, soy sauce, salt, pepper, sesame oil.

In other words, when comfort food meets health.

A similar dish is present in China and Japan, where the name of the soup is respectively Niángāo and Zōni.