Tag Archives: wine

Finnish fish tajine (part 1)

When the sun shines in Finland, one has to enjoy it. So, when I spend time at the summer house by the lake, I try to do as much as I can outside. Even my cooking preparations!

My parents have burbot (made in Finnish) in the freezer (it is a winter fish), so today I decided to make a fish and vegetable stew. I invented a recipe as I was advancing. I started peeling and cutting potatoes, carrots, eggplants and onions. I placed them in a large bowl and added garlic, green olives, couscous spices, harissa, slices of lemon and olive oil, and left the dish to marinate in the fridge for several hours. It is in the oven now and will be eaten after the sauna. I wonder if it will taste anything like a Tunisian fish tajine? Probably not, but I am sure it will be tasty on its own curious way… As my husband brought with him some rosé wine from the South of France (AOC Côtes du Luberon), and I think it our dinner will be just fine!

PS Burbot is an excellent fish, but unfortunately many people are afraid to buy it because of its weird looks. Some people consider it difficult to prepare, too (getting rid of the skin etc.). This is a pity, because the texture of the fish is wonderful for preparation of many types of dishes. If you have your special burbot dish, I would love to hear about it!

Grilled vendace: a typical Finnish meal after sauna

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The question I hear all the time abroad is “do you eat salmon every day in Finland?”. In fact, the best salmon available at supermarkets in Finland is imported from Norway (Finland does not have access to the Arctic Sea like Norway and Russia). There are some excellent wild salmon that live in rivers of the Finnish Lapland, but you can almost never buy them in the Southern part of Finland. In addition, there are salmon in the Baltic Sea, but because of high levels of toxins in the sea (hence the fish, too), it is not recommended to eat it often.

So, to be brutally honest, Finland has limited salmon supply. However, on the other hand, I always tell people that Finland has an excellent variety of freshwater fish. Vendace (“muikku“) is one type of a lake fish (the one in the photo). It is usually available in autumn around November and easily caught by nets. Yesterday we managed to acquire some vendaces from a local fisherman near our summer house who has special equipment for catching this “lake sardine” in summer, too.

Perfect after-sauna meal: grilled vendace with green salad and rosé wine!

Nothing beats a good sauna, few swims in the lake, fried or grilled vendaces, green salad and a glass of French rosé from the Languedoc-Roussillon region!

PS 3kg of vendace cost us 5 Euros! Eating local products makes a lot of sense!

L’Homme Bleu: Berber hospitality in the center of Paris

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Note added in July 2014: I returned to L’Homme Bleu many times but stopped doing so in summer 2013. Why? I was served a glass of champagne that either wasn’t real champagne or was long ago expired (I returned the glass and we were not billed for it). Unfortunately this was not all. The dishes were not as good as they used to be, and my favorite lamb tajine was simply too sweet. The tastes were not balanced. We very very disappointed and wondered was it the “August effect” (many people take holidays and maybe the restaurant was run by nonprofessionals at the time of our visit?). We never learner what it was, but we haven’t been back since summer 2013. There are so many North African restaurants in Paris to visit!! See my list of other restaurants in the end of this post.

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Paris is an excellent place to discover North African food and one can easily find an Algerian or a Moroccan restaurant in every area, arrondissement, of the city. We must have tried over 20 of these restaurants, but are always ready to try new ones.

Like l’Atlantide (Algerian restaurant l’Atlantide in Paris), l’Homme Bleu is also on Le Figaro‘s Best Couscous of 2010 list. I love tajines with lamb, fruits and nuts, and my husband loves couscous with a mixed meat plate, so going through the menu never takes too long for us. We chose a Seksu Homme Bleu Couscous (kebab, merguez sausage, lamb, chop, meatball) and based on our waiter’s suggestion, I ordered Tajine s’laxrif (sweet and sour lamb with dates, figs, raisins, almonds, orange blossom, cinnamon). We also ordered red wine, Coteaux de Tlemcen, from the western part of Algeria. While waiting for our dishes to arrive, we looked around. There was a group of very fashionable Japanese tourists. Next to them, there was a group of local men discussing Zidane and drinking mint tea. I noticed that decoration is a little bit similar to L’Atlantide: rugs, warm orange-yellow colors, images of Sahara and Tuaregs on the wall. We had a chat with our waiter who confirmed that the restaurant owner is originally from Tizi Ouzou, which is a town in Kabylie in Algeria (like the owners of l’Atlantide).My tajine was delicious and very copious. The main difference to other lamb tajines that I have had was that the lamb was already cut into pieces. Why not! The dish was full of fruits and almonds, and apart from the fact I could have maybe asked for some more chick peas, everything was perfect.

My husband’s couscous came with a huge portion of vegetable stew (the way he likes) and a variety of grilled meat. His comments were “copious, tasty, enough stew, good-quality meat”, although he added that the merguez sausage was the least interesting meat on the plate.We were particularly impressed by the friendly service. “Berber hospitality”, we said to ourselves. We also noticed that the Algerian wine had a very special (positive) effect on us: we could have fallen asleep in less than a second. The waiter joked with us and suggested we sleep on the pillows of the dining room downstairs. Apparently a coffee-croissant breakfast would be served to us in the morning at no extra cost…

In my opinion, l’Homme Bleu and l’Atlantide have a lot in common: an excellent price/quality relationship, high-quality ingredients, the way of cooking, the variety of dishes, decoration, etc. A dinner of two people with a bottle of wine hardly costs more than 60€. However, since l’Homme Bleu is closer to us (and since they were so nice), we will probably return here the next time we feel like stepping into the intriguing North African world.

L’Homme Bleu: 55bis Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011 Paris. Tel. 01-48070563. Metro: Parmentier. http://www.restaurant-lhommebleu.fr/

Le Figaro list: http://www.lefigaro.fr/sortir-paris/2010/11/22/03013-20101122ARTFIG00674-le-test-des-meilleurs-couscous.php?cmtpage=0

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Previous posts about eating North African food in Paris are:

L’Alcôve: finest meat of Paris (also serves couscous and tajine, but house specialty is grilled meat)
Algerian restaurant l’Atlantide in Paris (excellent couscous and tajine)
Le Tipaza: refined Moroccan food (a good address near the Eiffel Tower)

15 minutes before the guests arrive!

Au Pied de Cheval, Cancale

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Au Pied de Cheval is usually our first stop upon arrival in Cancale. This was the case last Thursday, too. Instead of dropping our bags at the hotel, we parked the car in front of this charming “oyster house”. During the entire journey from Paris we had been dreaming and talking about les bulots (whelks) and les huîtres (oysters) so we knew what we wanted to order. You don’t need to follow our habits –by all means go and explore all types of seafood (the menu is in English!)– but this is what we ordered last Thursday (and what we usually order):

Starter: we begun with a whelk and pink prawn plate to share (10€). The plate comes with a bowl of mayonnaise.

We also ordered a bottle of Muscadet Sur Lie for 18€. This dry white wine comes from the western side of the Loire Valley and is usually served with oysters (and seafood in general). Main course: we ordered two portions of une douzaine (a dozen) of huîtres creuses. At Au Pied de Cheval, the oysters are sold by la douzaine, and there are two types of oysters: huîtres creuses that are bowl shaped and huîtres plates that are flat. We prefer the bowl-shaped ones, but again, it is up to your taste!

After choosing the type, we needed to choose the size. Number 5 is the smallest oyster and number 00 the largest. We ordered a dozen of number 0 and a dozen of number 1. Again, up to your taste! To put things in perspective, the common size sold at any “standard” restaurant is usually number 2… Our oysters were really big, and yet I usually like the number 0 and 1, I now think we should have maybe chosen something smaller. I explained in Eating oysters in months without “r” that this time of the year (the summer) makes oysters milky and soft in France, and I believe that smaller oysters would have better hidden these aspects that do affect oysters’ taste and texture. If you are unsure which number to choose, ask for advice! Tip: Oysters in Bretagne are often eaten with either lemon or red wine vinegar with shallot. If the oysters are at the table, bread is served, but there is no red vinegar, ask for vinaigre aux échalotes. Of course you can eat oyster without anything, but for example I like mixing: one oyster with nothing, the next one with vinegar…

Our meal was more than sufficient, and tasty. Au Pied de Cheval has been consistently good over the years and that is why we keep returning there. Another tip to share is that if you fancy a more restaurant-like setting, ask for a table upstairs. Downstairs is more like an oyster bar and since the door is open almost all the time, it can get chilly and you should dress warmly. In general do not wait for an overly enthusiastic welcome or amazing service –just focus on eating your delicious oysters and you will be happy!

Restaurant Au Pied de Cheval: 10, quai Gambetta, Cancale. Tel: +33-(0)2-99 89 76 95.

PS There is one in Saint-Malo, too. tel: -33-(0)2-99 40 98 18.

Mandarin Oriental: when customer service goes that extra mile

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Walking into 251 rue Saint-Honoré is stepping into the world of true, ultimate luxury. This is the address where Mandarin Oriental started creating a small piece of paradise nearly two years.

It was my husband’s birthday yesterday and even if I am absolutely overwhelmed with work at the moment, I could not leave him without a surprise. So, I invited him for an apéritif at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. A fairly new 5-star hotel in the center of Paris, impeccable service, a great choice of drinks, original decoration and a lush terrace. A perfect setting for people watching, too. What else could one ask for?

We ordered a glass of rosé wine called AOC Côtes de provence Alycastre «Domaine la Courtade» 2011 and a glass of champagne, Ruinart Blanc de Blancs. We were immediately offered a lovely, truffle-flavored nut mix with giant black olives. When the drinks arrived, we noticed that the quantity was bigger than usually (prices were 10€ for wine and 29€ for champagne).

Our waiter Christian noticed that I was taking photos and offered to take one of us together. I jokingly responded that we actually live in Paris and do not need touristy photos, but it would indeed be nice to have a photo of us because it is my husband’s birthday. Christian acted like a professional photographer but after a photo shoot he made a smooth transition to the waiter’s role and brought us more olives (this time green).

After about five minutes Christian was back with a small cake (un cannelé) that had a candle on it! He congratulated my husband and asked if there is anything else he can do for us. As we were heading to a restaurant afterwards, and because French people usually don’t eat sweet food before a dinner, we asked if he could kindly wrap it up to us. “Pas de problème” was the answer, and a few minutes later the cake came back in a small box. We paid the bill, put a five-euro tip on a table, and left with a smile. If this is not an example of excellent customary service, then what is…. I don’t remember ever being inside a Mandarin Oriental hotel, but I will pay extra attention to it every time I see one during my future travels.

PS We continued to a restaurant called La Régalade Conservatoire, but a review will have to wait a little bit… All I can say now is that the food was excellent, but the service did not match the Mandarin Oriental level.

Mandarin Oriental Paris: http://www.mandarinoriental.com/paris/

La Régalade Conservatoire: http://www.hoteldenell.com/index.php?cat=14&ID=14&nom=La%20R%C3%A9galade%20Conservatoire

Amici Miei: pizza with attitude

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A lot has been said about Parisian attitude and yet I think the service has been getting better over the recent years, there are still occasional reminders of this well-known reputation. Last Friday we witnessed it again.

Amici Miei is one of the best Italian restaurants serving pizza in Paris. Le Figaro ranks Amici Miei among the seventeen best pizzerias in Paris in its November 2011 review and Le Fooding confirms it.

While I was waiting for my husband to park the car I noticed that no one was really paying any attention to my arrival. There was a football match which seemed more important than the customers (however, when someone they knew walked in, this person got a VIP service…). On the positive side, there were many customers waiting to get a table, but we got ours the moment my husband walked in.

We ordered two verdura pizzas and they arrived crispy, thin and nearly burnt –the way I like my pizza. Vegetables were delicious, mozzarella was particularly tasty and tomato sauce seemed to have something extra that made it better than elsewhere.

A bottle of red, Cantina Di Santadi Grotta Rossa DOC 2011, was recommended by our waiter (18€). The wine is made exclusively from carignano grapes that give this Sardinian red wine a liquorice aroma –a very good choice!In the end my husband ordered a grappa. We waited, and waited. The restaurant was still full and the waiters were running around and talking to each other in Italian. This obviously happens a lot in Italian restaurants, but there was something more authentic that gave us a real feeling of being in Italy. After about twenty minutes we gave up and ordered the bill. The waiter came, asked if the grappa had been served, and we said no (thinking he will bring it with the bill). Few minutes later the bill came but no grappa. Ok, no big deal, and it was more amusing than rude.

We paid and left, puzzled what had been going on in the waiter’s mind. This small incident, combined with that cold welcoming at the arrival initiated a conversation between us about this particular arrogant attitude. After all, even if Amici Miei is highly ranked, it is only a pizzeria, not a Michelin-star restaurant. I sometimes feel that restaurant owners assume that in order to gain respect in Paris they have to be rude. I so do not agree. I simply think it is a pity to go to a restaurant that lacks basics of customer service.

All this said, we will return because the pizzas were very, very good. Regarding the service, we will be prepared and expect nothing, so it will be just fine.

Amici Miei (http://www.amicimieiparis.com): 44 rue Saint Sabin, 75011 Paris. Metro Chemin Vert and Bréguet-Sabin. Telephone 01-42718262
Le Figaro review: http://scope.lefigaro.fr/liste/les-meilleures-pizzas-de-paris-24821785/
Le Fooding review: http://www.lefooding.com/restaurant/restaurant-amici-miei-paris.html
Link to the wine: http://www.vinexus.de/Cantina-Di-Santadi-Grotta-Rossa-DOC-2011-English.html

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Other pizza reviews by Pearlspotting: Da Vito: Cool and Affordable Pizzeria and La Briciola: pizza of “something missing”

Where to eat in Chania? Tamam!

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I am a very curious person, but I also know that when I find something “perfect”, it is wise to stick to it. So, after my first meal at Tamam, I understood there was no other place to eat at in Chania, Crete.

Tamam restaurant is located behind Lucia Hotel (the blue building by the Venetian harbour).

Tamam is located one street up from the Venetian Harbour. I am posting a photo to make it easier for you to find Tamam. When facing Hotel Lucia (the blue building), take the street on your right. Walk fifteen meters and you can already see Tamam tables outside on the street on your left hand side. Should you like to eat inside (Tamam is located at a beautiful, old Turkish public bath, “hammam”), take the first street on the left, and wait for a waiter. Very easy!

Tamam has a lovely terrace. If you choose the table in the far end, you can have sea view!

Now, you have your table and you are reading the menu, which is quite long. You may recognize some dishes but you are also wondering which dishes are more Turkish influenced and which ones are typically Cretan… You look at what your neighbor is eating and you suddenly want to taste everything. No problem!

We like sampling many different things and ordering four or five mezzes worked well for us (portions are big). There are also daily dishes but they don’t seem to change every day.

The best way to sample the menu is to order different mezzes. We loved rosemary mountain snails, aubergine croquettes, fried peppers with yogurt-garlic sauce and Cretan pies with local white cheese.

Snails have special health benefit so our first lunch consisted of rosemary snails, aubergine croquettes, fried peppers with yogurt-garlic sauce and Cretan pies with local white cheese.

The same day, in the evening, we returned for dinner. My husband had a daily fish with vegetables and I had Turkish-influenced Hunkiar Begiendi Lamb (lamb in tomato and aubergine puree) which must be about the best dish ever cooked in this world!! No exaggeration here. An absolute must-taste dish!!

Hunkiar Begiendi Lamb, lamb in tomato and aubergine puree. One my favorite dishes in the world!

The next evening we hesitated and asked ourselves “can we really go back again, what will they think of us?” but objections remained silent. So, a new mezze tour!

Staka (warm creamy fondue-like local cheese), more snails (remember the health benefits?), Plevrotous mushrooms on the grill, baked giant beans, zucchini croquettes and Cretan pies with spinach and cheese. Ok, in case you are wondering, I have to specify that we had not eaten during the day and we were very hungry. And yes, we finished everything…

Some more amazing mezzes! I am particularly fond of Staka, melted cheese, snails and grilled mushrooms.

I tasted Nostos Pink rose wine sold by a glass and it was excellent.

During our other visits we ordered house wine (sold in carafes), both red and white, and really appreciated the fruity but natural and light taste. I noticed that often Cretan house wines were not very strong and it was pleasant to drink something that did not make your head turn after the first or the second glass (I think the wine has become too strong, often above 14%, and it did not use to be like this!). Bottles were a lot more expensive, about the same price than in Parisian bistros.

Our lunch and dinner bills varied from 30€ to 50€, wine included. Each time we were offered a free dessert and a small carafe of local raki. The service was friendly and attentive.

What an extraordinary restaurant, what happy memories! My mouth is watering as I am writing! Make Tamam your place to eat when in Chania.

TAMAM: Zambeliou 49, Chania.

Wine (Nostos Pink): http://www.winesofcrete.gr/cretewines/en/Wines/TheWines/CretanWines/NOSTOSPINK_965.html