That Foreign Taste Back Home: Limoncello

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Something strange has happened, the food tastes different to how it was abroad…the Mojo sauce from Spain doesn’t taste as good without the chef drizzling it over papas arrugada, the sun shining or a large (cheap) red. The mate tea was much more exciting and bitter in Argentina and I’m quiet sure the chocolate from California melted in my mouth.

There have been a variety of foods that I’ve brought home and introduced to my family, all of which have failed epically to excite their pallet. This time I turned to drink, a Brits best friend. On a visit to Switzerland I was introduced to Limon Cello, the only substance I’ve brought home, enjoyed and finished within a week. Although to my surprise this delightful drink is an Italian and comes in two consistencies: thick and creamy or light and clear. Drank in a short tumbler glass over ice before, during or after dinner (usually as an after dinner aperitif) this will give you a sure kick to any evening.

The creamy Limón cello is my more preferred choice; the clearer bottle somehow seems more potent and needs a mixer to calm down the sheer volume of alcohol.  

Thank-you Switzerland for bringing this yummy delicacy to the Talbutt household!

 Grab a bottle when you can guys!

How to Define Britishness? Peanut Butter and Muesli, say the Spaniards.

If you were to define Britishness your first thoughts may well lead to associations of food: fish and chips; roast dinners; Yorkshire puddings; Wensleydale cheese, crackers – all washed down with a good brew. Who could blame you? Food is a great representative of how a country lives: of style (comfort) and of climate (tepid) … but what about the others, what do they think of us Brits?

If I was to move to Spain and desperately needed some British grub I need not look any further than the local supermarket. I walked past the pigs bare thighs, the dishes of paella, the tubs of olives and there, right in the corner, stood a section dedicated to ‘Inglaterra’ and if you had any questions about what the Spanish thought was truly British, here is a snapshot answer that is just brilliant and dare I say spot on:

  

Dig in to South America’s Empanadas

This image from Sazon made me smile so much: Dig in!

 I first tasted this South American delight in Argentina, Salta. The hostel was fairly quiet but they still catered for those lonely travellers who couldn’t be arsed to cook, which introduced a meal of empanadas for a bit of Argentine Peso. While the gentleman cooked dinner we sipped red wine, enjoying the ease of the night, understanding that worlds aren’t so far apart when it comes to wining and dining.

What the British know as a Cornish pasty, South America has their own take on this moon shaped pastry, stuffed with pretty much anything and everything: mince, cheese, vegetables, egg, potatoes, fish, pork… South America creates what we might better associate as the pizza pocket, or calzone, and they are a real treat!

Name it!

You may like to know the name empanada comes from
the verb “empanar” which means “to wrap and coat in bread”
Scrumptious!

Empanadas are a total delight as a mid-day snack or you can bulk these out with salad and deep glass of red for a larger meal starting from 5 Argentine Peso.

Fancy baking your own?

The Hairy Bikers take on Beef Empanadas published by the BBC

Cook with Argentina at Try2Cook with this meaty parcel

 Food Network offer a more peculiar slant, stuffing banana into these empanadas

Also see…

Related articles

• Empanadas (claudiaowen.wordpress.com)
• IL MITO’s Sunday Brunch Empanada (realmilwaukeenow.com)
• Announcing Mama’s Empanadas is Listed on Zagat as One of the Best San Francisco Bay Area Food Truck Restaurants (prweb.com)

New York City: Sometimes it’s a big bite situation

 Sometimes it’s a big bite situation

One of the many taglines from our trip to New York, just before we inhaled our last breath before devouring the American sized version of bagels – please indulge yourself, too.

* Found in every other diner, along every other street in NY City. Spectacular.

Salmon Bagel Heaven

An itinerary for Gran Canaria with wheels

If you find yourself on the island of Gran Canaria and have convinced yourself THAT driving alongside the Spaniards is something you´re prepared to do, then hiring a car for the day can take you much further in no time at all.

Here´s an itinerary for a day out with the car:

Kick off at 9am and drive over to San Mateo enduring the windy roads that take over as you go further into the mainland. San Mateo is a small town that requires a whistle stop-over but saves itself with the infamous market.

Here you can sample local Canarian cheese, fat olives and Tunos India – a messy cactus fruit that apparently tastes very good with orange juice. The fruit has a habit of staining everything it touches a deep red colour, so you’ll be leaving with very red lips.

hiring a car for the day can take you much further in no time at all.

Around 11am have a Spanish Desayuno in the little café next door. This often consists of a light sandwich and coffee; giving you just enough fuel to prep for the next stop.

From here it takes 25 minutes to get to Roque Nublo where you can park up and get ready for a 30 minute hike up to some great mid-day views.

Before lunch take a quick glance at the vista point Pozo de las Nieves. Hopefully you can get there while the clouds have shifted and get a decent picture of the region Tejeda.

You can´t get here by bus, so this is a real treat and very much advised if you hire a car – Barranco de Guayadeque. You will pass through a small village of caves that people still live in and then continue up to a restaurant for lunch that will blow you away and it’s very reasonably priced, too.

Just as you thought the day was over, there’s one more stop to be had. 5 minutes away is the sleepy village Aguimes. Pay a visit here for a short walk and some delicious tea and cake.

 - One of the many odd statues in Aguimes! 

Home and tucked into bed by 9pm! Honestly, you can fit a lot into one day when you have wheels to take you places.

A visit to the Welsh – Cardiff City

It turns out the main thing to do here (as with most cities) is bar hop and consume food; which goes down quiet well in my books. There is, however, plenty to see in this historical city that intertwines the old and new beautifully.

In my dear opinion it’s just another city, but worth a day trip all the same. Here are a few sights to visit if you stumble across the Welsh side and enter the Capital:

Cardiff Castle, £10 entry

Bute Park

National Museum, FREE ENTRY

Enjoy!

Tapas + plonk? Try Oliva Restaurante…

It is of paramount importance that I introduce to this beautiful restaurant along the beach front of Las Palmas, her name is Oliva. It is the first and last place you should find yourself dining in GC and here are a few scrum-didly-dumtious snaps to explain why…

Octopus

Canarian peppers covered in sea salt

Spicy sausage floating in sizzling oil

Little fishies in batter, lemon to drizzle

Accompanied by a healthy bottle of red, salut to the feast you are about to enjoy!

This week we’re talking about… Mojo Sauce!

Austin Powers pronounces mojo sauce as ‘mow-jow’, however the correct Spanish pronunciation is ‘moh-hoh’; and unlike Austin we’re talking about a hot, spicy sauce infamous on this little Canary island.

Mow-how sauce

I came across this delicious sauce at what is now my favourite place to eat out in Las Palmas, the Oliva Restaurant. We ordered papas arrugadas, also a delicacy on the island. They’re wrinkly salty potatoes that have been boiled for hours, finally covered in tangy red sauce and then they sit in-front of you steaming with yummy-ness.

papas-arrugadas

Since tasting mojo it has accompanied many a dish from pasta, pork chops, sandwiches or delicate appetisers – you can dunk this sauce on pretty much anything and it’ll marry up perfectly.

I don’t think you can get this in the UK, so there will be a big effort to pop into Hiperdino the local supermarket, yes that’s actually its name, and make enough room to carry a few jars home.

Barranco de Guayadeque

Barranco de Guayadeque completely blew me away, mostly because I never thought I´d make it there and now I´ve been twice, funny how things turn out.

As with most places in Gran Canaria, the very best places can only be reached by driving. A kind couple from work took me there, after asking constantly how to reach this remote cave dwelling.

The drive takes you through a beautiful and impressive mountainous landscape making you feel rather small in comparison. Half way up you will come across a (sort-of) village on the side of a dusty mountain where people still live in mini-houses and caves.

The gardens are really pretty with burst of colour and cactuses. I wish I ´d had the courage to ask one of the residents if I could look around their casa. Perhaps a bit too touristy though.

We were saying we wouldn’t want to be teenagers living there, its quiet remote and I´m baffled as to how their day-to-day lives run with being so far from anyone or anything except tourists and great big mountains – very much worth seeing.

Once you’ve reached the top you will be greeted by a unique restaurant: Cueva Tagoror.

If you go on a Sunday they cater more for specific Canaria food such as sancocho and papas arrugadas.

Sancocho *Please note image is taken from Google.

The food is very reasonably priced and you´re eating in a cave, an experience made comfortable with modern day lighting and fitted bars. There’s a gift shop and terrace there, too.

Terrace at the Caves

Five Sunsets Around the World

La Serena, Chile: The rooftop balcony was the perfect location to enjoy a bottle of red and watch the sun fall asleep behind the Andes mountains.

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria: Completely unexpected colours in the sky as me and the girls ate paella at La Marina restaurant.

Messanges, South of France: We ran to catch this one, a beach just off our campsite. Me, Dad and my little sister enjoyed this pink sky.

Plymouth, UK: At uni we got quiet a few pretty skies from the rooftop (which was totally authorised to go on) and this was one of them.

Santa Barbara, California: On a boat watching dolphins, although we saw more standing on the beach! The orange sunset in Santa B. made up for it.