A delicious weekend with Johanna

A view from the Edinburgh Castle, September 2006

One of the unexpected, joyful and most rewarding 'side-effects' of foodblogging is the number of new friends I've made, not talking about widening my culinary horizons, knowledge about food and recipe repertoire. Johanna of The Passionate Cook is one of these friends. I first met Johanna, who is originally from Austria, at the 'tiny' gathering of foodbloggers in London in March, kindly organised by Andrew. This was followed by Johanna's and Jeanne's blog birthday party in June, where, after a great evening, I was also treated to a fantastic brunch on the patio the following morning. It was then that Johanna told me she had never been to Edinburgh. As I'm soon leaving Scotland, she thought it would be a good idea to pop up before I go.

And so it happened that Johanna was in Edinburgh just over a week ago, and we spent a wonderful food-packed weekend together. In less that 48 hours we managed to have a cuppa at The Elephant House (supposedly the place where J K Rowling wrote the first of her Harry Potter books), drooled over the amazingly decorated chocolates at Plaisir du Chocolat, stopped for another coffee and lemonade at VinCaffè, and had an enjoyable dinner with Melissa at (the fair-trade/free range/organic/local sourcing restaurant) Urban Angel, followed by a visit to the quirky whisky haven, The Canny Man's, in Morningside. On Sunday, we had a brunch at Centotre (their Cenerentola, a fresh fruit drink made with freshly squeezed orange juice, passion fruit & pineapple is my huge favourite), marvelled at the bounty available and had another cup of coffee at the oldest Italian deli (established in 1934) Valvona & Crolla, stocked up on Scottish cheese at Ian Mellis Cheesemonger and checked out the Mexican delights at Lupe Pintos deli. And finally, after having covered many kilometres by foot walking around Edinburgh, we had a most delicious and luxurious meal (and a great value one at that, £12.95 for the 2-course pre-theatre menu) at The Witchery, the restaurant underneath acclaimedly one of the most romantic and decadent hotels out there.

I didn't take any pictures - Johanna had a great camera with a fancy objective, so I kept my wee baby-cam firmly inside my handbag. But do check out the the pictures and read Johanna's post about The Witchery instead. There is, indeed, so much more to Edinburgh & Scotland than deep-fried Mars bars and haggis, neeps and tatties.

Five Things to Eat Before You Die

Melissa of the wonderful The Traveler's Lunchbox recently called all foodbloggers to share their five things to eat before you die. I was tagged first by Jeanne of the Cook Sister and then by Johanna of The Passionate Chef (thank you, both), but as I was busy travelling to Belgium and Estonia in August and early September, I didn't get around to it until now. Apologies for the delay.

There are many food-related things I'd like to tick off before I die, many of them listed in Melissa's ever-increasing list (1400 responses so far!). I do expect to have a loooooooong time to do that. Meanwhile, I'll stick to what I know. Here's my list of suggestions:

Go and pick wild berries - either cloudberries (left), cranberries, wild blueberries, lingonberries, wild strawberries or anything you wouldn't easily find in your local supermarket or grocery store and grow in your area. There is something extremely liberating and exciting about picking tasty and luscious berries out in the wild and popping them into your mouth. Believe me, a cultivated blueberry is an immensely poor representative of the real thing.

The same goes for wild mushrooms. Go and forage your own, and enjoy the huge variety of flavours, textures, and looks. Although the 'exotic' enoki, shiitake and shimeji mushrooms available in upmarket grocery stores are more flavoursome and interesting than your average cultivated white or chestnut mushroom, there are still so many mushrooms worth discovering. Have you ever tried milkcaps, various ceps, grogers, puffballs, russulas? Yellow chantarelles? Black trumpet chantarelles? Cutely-named blueish pied bleu mushrooms? They're all worthy of your attention, believe me. Just make sure you handle them appropriately.

Greece - and its people - have been good to me, so I cannot not recommend a bowl of thick and creamy Greek yoghurt with fresh fruit and honey, and a cup of strong frappe. Preferably with a view of the Aegean sea.

Having lived in Scotland for the last seven years, I must promote their infamous national dish of haggis, neeps & tatties. If you use good-quality haggis (I'm partial to MacSween of Edinburgh), you're guaranteed to like it. If you're a bit squeemish, then at least give their vegetarian version a go. Oh, and obviously follow that with a wee dram of whisky.

And last, but not least, you must promise me that you try some delicious Estonian sourdough rye bread one day. It's the best rye bread out there. Take my word for it.

An Anglo-Irish wedding dinner in Brussels

Here is the third installment of my 2006 wedding reports. Earlier this summer, I went to a wedding in Greece and then in Sweden. Just under a month ago, my English friend Helen and her Irish fiance David, whom I met during my first year in Edinburgh (i.e. in 1998-1999), finally took the step into marital bliss after almost 10 years together. Or, as the Best Man said at the wedding, David finally made an honest woman out of Helen:) They have been living and working in Brussels, Belgium, since completing their postgraduate degrees in Edinburgh, and therefore decided to get married in Brussels, too.

I've mentioned Helen on my blog before. She was the first person to tell me about celiac disease. I had never heard of gluten intolerance before, and Helen gave me a crash course in what she can eat and what she cannot. In late 1990s, I was still more of a baker than a cook, and realising I cannot bake my favourite cakes for my new friend (yes, that included my Canadian apple cake) was frustrating. I had to think of flourless cakes to bake, but that's how a rather nice and rich whisky & chocolate roly-poly found a way to my kitchen, so I'm not complaining. I also had to learn how to look for traces of gluten in the unlikeliest places - most soy sauces, for example, are out of the question. I remember being surprised that Helen had to go to pharmacy to pick up her special gluten-free pasta, and she had to consult a little book to see which potato crisps were acceptable and which not.



Anyway, back to the wedding. Helen and David had a civil ceremony, which took place at their local commune, Maison Communale de Saint Gilles. This was followed by dinner & dancing at L'Abbaye de Nizelles (above), a lovely mansion a short drive from Brussels. And the food was delicious. Here's what we had:

We started with Ballotin de sole et homard à la nage - a lovely sole and lobster dish:



This was followed by Magret de canard au miel d'acacia, sauce vinaigre de framboises:



Finally, we had a pudding suitable for a gluten-free diet, Vacherin glacé, fruits frais et coulis de fruits de l’été:



And later on, after some coffees, more drinks, and lots of dancing, we were served a festive cheese course (photo above).

Definitely a night to remember. Thank you, Helen and David, for inviting me, and Rob and Mig for hosting me!