Stomachs on legs are proud to present

Pictured: a sign in the bathroom at Barcelona's Boqueria market.

I've seen some fuzzy fruit in my time, but this is ridiculous.



This chickpea hodgepodge was at Bar Central in the market. While the grilled veg were sprinkled liberally with nice flaky salt, the chickpea/spinach/broth was almost under-seasoned - but in a good way. Eggs find their way into all sorts of dishes there, and I enjoyed the just-firm broth-soaked scraps in this bowlful. They contributed another toothy texture to the chunky, wholesome goodness.
Just a little reminder of how classy cheap proteins like beans 'n' eggs can be, in the right hands.

...naked egg slice rolls get hip. Kind of attractive but unappealing I'm afraid. Below is possibly the scariest looking marzipan bunny I've ever seen. (All items pictured @ Rewe supermarkt, Brüsselerstrasse, Cologne)

Pictured: egg carpaccio with shrimps and pine nuts from Bar Mut in Barcelona

I'm sure my fellow Gut Feelings bloggers will agree, 2008 was a year of remarkable eggs.

Some of us had the chance to enjoy barely-congealed 'onsen tamago' on top of various dishes in Japan, when not inventing new egg presentations or trying out recipes for Iranian saffron omelettes, khai paloo and finger-licking real caesar salad in Bangkok.

Others among us made Mark Bittman's recipe (or should that be Haiku) for two 6-minute floppy eggs on grated carrot with lemon juice/olive oil dressing and seasoning many times in 08, especially when dining solo. It's a simply elegant, super-quick, cheap AND delicious dish.

When well-seasoned, hot liquid egg yolks add a luxurious slickness to a dish, and in the above recipe, make a surprisingly apt combo with the tart lemon juice dressing and crisp carrots. Eggs give great bang for their buck.

Over in Barcelona, I had probably my most memorable egg: the salt-cod tortilla at Carles Abellan's Tapaç 24. In fact, Barcelona seems to be something of an egg mecca. From lightly scrambled duck eggs on top of french fries, to Galician hen egg with foie, there are many chefs utilising the rich and simple flavour of sloppy eggs.

Barcelona: big up yo eggs.

The photos on this post are from two places there that I didn't get around to blogging about earlier: the creole-vietnamese-catalan fusion spot Me,
and the bistro/tapas restaurant Bar Mut.

It might look gimicky, but the photo above doesn't do Bar Mut's egg carpaccio justice. It is very hot and liquid in places, and is best eaten quickly upon serving.

Below is Bar Mut's egg alla romana: an interesting juxtaposition of the egg (which had that dense, chewy texture that you get from baking eggs: am not sure if it was pre-baked but it was definitely briefly fried after being coated in a dusting of flour) and the slightly bitter squid ink-infused tomato-lentil mush.



The pretty egg below is for dipping earthy mushrooms into, at Me in Barcelona.





My favourite egg joke:

Why do the French eat only one egg for breakfast?
Because one egg is unurff (enough/un oeuf).

After you've lived in Northern Europe for a while, finding good coffee is like hitting the jackpot. And Munich is a veritable gold-mine.

Yesterday morning I was introduced to a new-ish spot, Café Loretta, which is just around the corner from Aroma. They use Danesi beans and offer the soy milk option... which is only civilised in my opinion.

I asked my boss Many and his friends why Muncheners are so well caffeinatedly catered for, and they explained that with all the Italian immigrants, Munich is "the northern-most Italian city"
....but I've heard this claim about Cologne before too. Supposedly something to do with the Roman paving stones and the fact that people like to hang out drinking on the street: 'Sweet doing nothing' ('dolce farra nulla').



Continuing on the egg-theme begun in the post below, another stand out feature of Loretta is the breakfast option of 'Ei-im-Glass' (Egg in glass). You get two hot soft-boiled, peeled eggs in a glass with a sprig of basil. The idea is to mash them up with your fork and eat away. Many tells me it is very good with white truffle or 'schnittlauch' (chopped chives).



Other menu options include a range of toasted sandwiches, cake and paninis, and all the usual German café breakfast treats like home made quark with herbs and bread, sliced cured meats, cheeses, or yoghurt with walnuts and honey.

A Munich journalist and editor, having a pain-au-chocolat:



Some Bavarian dude:



Café Loretta

Müllerstr. 50
80469
München

Öffnungszeiten

Mo-Fr 7-22h, Sa-So 10-22h
Tel.: 089/23077370

So what exactly would an unconventional ostrich egg look like?

Ostrich Eggs spotted at Wholefoods Union Square New York.......

I like the idea of eating out breakfast.

From a nice crispy croissant and espresso at a European café to a traditional rice and miso soup fare at a Japanese hot spring ryokan, it sounds decadent, lazy and special, as opposed to hastily swallowed breakfast cereals coming out of box.

I like soothing jook (rice congee) breakfast in Thailand, too, but greasy American breakfast occupies a special place in my palate.

While in grad school in North America, one of the easy and affordable half-day weekend escapes was at a breakfast diner, where they serve very heart-unfriendly yet very hearty and yummy waffles with cream chantilly, eggs Benedict, crispy bacons, eggs Florentine, home fries, blueberry pancakes and French toast covered with maple syrup. Aaaaahhh. Comfort food.

My American friend who worked in rural Vietnam for a few years told me that such diner-style breakfast was what she missed most.

Luckily, in Thailand, you can find greasy American style breakfast even outside the capital city of Bangkok. Bake & Bite in Chiang Mai serves yummy breakfast a la white people like it fashion, and is one of the places I like to go after spending a chunk of time in the real rural hood.


Cereal pancake and boiled eggs. I like it how special boiled eggs look when they are served on egg stands.



Whole wheat pancake with bacon bits inside, with side order of cooked spinach and tomatoes.



Cheesy potatoes with bacon, scrambled egg and extra avocado. Usually served on English muffin but they were out of it, so it's on seven-grain toast instead.



Bake & Bite, Chiang Mai
Chang Klan Road: 053 820761
Nimanhamin Soi 6: 053 400577

OK, everybody, breathe out. I finally found the perfect tortilla.

It's from Tapaç 24, a restaurant run by Carles Abellan (an El Bulli protegée). The menu has a selection of traditional Catalan tapas, which is mostly pretty straight up, with a few diva twists. Like the fois gras burger, which is a small patty of beef and fois gras fused between 2 thin buns on a hot plate and presented in waxed paper like a real take out burger.

This is yummy (and the baby squid 'a la plancha', grilled, are dope too) but the best thing I had from there was the bacalao tortilla above, on my first (solo) visit. This is the kind of dish that changes the way you see the world.

First of all it has the soaked salt-preserved cod called bacalao, and white beans and a bit of spinach in it, which gets it off to a roaring start. But unlike every other Spanish tortilla, it is not a wedge of oversized, overcooked 'yakitamago' glue. The egg is a very loose binding and is still runny in places. The chunks of bacalao are meaty morsels in the gloop. This tortilla is not currently on the menu - I read about it on some website so ordered it for breakfast, and the waiter went and checked with the kitchen if they'd make it (which luckily they did). It's smaller than my hand span but a perfect light breakfast and it cost 8 euros including my 'cortado': the delicious Spanish version of a short espresso with milk.

I've been back there a few times since then since it has the double virtues of being close to where we are staying (just a couple of blocks up the ritzy Passeig de Gracia boulevard from the touristy Universidad- Placa Catalunya triangle, so totally spitting distance) - and it's open until midnight, unlike a lot of good spots which close at 10 or 11pm.

It's not the kind of spot that makes a big deal about vegetables, so get ready for a protein-carb pig out. Most of the dishes are very simple so don't expect any El Bulli style smoke and mirrors. The stews in black iron pans are very good, like the oxtail with white beans, the arroz Negro con sepia (tasty gluggy black rice with squid ink and a pinch of calamari shreds on top), and the deeply flavoured brown lentils with chorizo (below). The squid ink one was my fave.

The dishes I personally wouldn't bother with unless you're drunk are the diva dishes (which also happen to be the most junk-foody): like their spin on patatas bravas (french fries with a fresh tomato salsa and mayo), the 'bikini' toasted sandwich with mozzarella and Iberico ham, and the chocolate mousse/sorbet with olive oil and salt, which wasn't much of an event for me although Erik loved it.

Oh on the junk food tip... I guess I would still like to try their dish of french fries topped with loosely scrambled eggs and a bit of chorizo, which I saw served to a pair of Australians sitting next to us at the counter. I like a nice sloppy egg.



Tapaç 24
Diputació 269
Barcelona
011-34-93-488-0977

Well now that the Olympics are over people will no doubt be talking about the London ones in four years time. It seems a long way off and a bit premature to be pondering upon, but it seems the London Olympics is already causing the destruction and disruption of local ways of life and cooking in ye olde London town.

This recipe is from a book about the food from inner city allotment gardens which were cultivated by many different ethnic groups but have now been bulldozed to make way for Olympic infrastructure, Moro East. It was a birthday present I received this year and I have been trying a number of the recipes. But I liked this one in particular. It is rich and buttery but not overly so, combining eggs, eggplant, spinach with the earthy musky flavour of saffron and spiked with currents and fresh herbs and nuts. I served it with a pearl barley tabouleh. I felt exotic.




Recipe Kuku Iranian Saffron Omelette
Feeling: Exotic
Taste: Buttery/ Nutty

Whole large eggplant diced (lightly salted for 15 mins then rinsed)
Large bunch of spinach, fresh or frozen (they say fresh)
6 - 8 beaten eggs
Mint - bunch chopped
Dill - bunch chopped
Current or dried fruit (I used craisins) - 2 big handful
Pine nuts - big handful
spring onion bunch
big pinch saffron
Butter - knob
Olive Oil - gulp

Heat large skillet basted with olive oil with deep sides in the oven. Dice eggplant and sprinkle with salt and leave for a while to remove bitterness and then rinse and sautee in butter with spring onions and then add spinach until it has wilted. Mix with herbs with one handful of currents, pinenuts and the rest of the ingredients. Salt and Pepper. Place saffron in small amount of warm water to release colour and add. When your ready to make the omelette, stir in the egg and then pour the whole mixture into the heated skillet. Cook for around 20 mins or until firmish...it's nice if it's not too firm. Sprinkle with more currents and dill and serve.

I like every other English speaking media aware person on the planet am currently obsessed with Mad Men. Yes the story line is good, intriguing, but Hock and I are more obsessed with the props, the wardrobes and the food, and gasp, the glassware.

Mid-century furniture has been hip for sometime now, with eames chairs and the like fetching in the thousands, yet to make a serious come back is 1950s food.

But I'm doing my bit.

I made for the first time in my life today, a proper caesar salad. I ate today for the first time in my life a proper caesar salad and I'm glad to report it was delightful, moorish and easy. In fact it's so satisfyingly simple it's hard to imagine that this was the greatest salad of its time, but like most things its simplicity is key to its greatness.

I found the recipe here at a site simply called "No anchovies in caesar", a single web page with an excerpt and recipe from Julia Child's Kitchen book, which explains why the kerfuffle.

One of my early remembrances of restaurant life was going to Tijuana in 1925 or 1926 with my parents, who were wildly excited that they should finally lunch at Caesar's restaurant. Tijuana, just south of the Mexican border from San Diego, was flourishing then, in the prohibition era. People came down from the Los Angeles area in droves to eat in the restaurants; they drank forbidden beer and cocktails as they toured the bars of the town; they strolled in the flowered patio of Agua Caliente listening to the marimba band, and they gambled wickedly at the casino. Word spread about Tijuana and the good life, and about Caesar Cardini's restaurant, and about Caesar's salad.

My parents, of course, ordered the salad. Caesar himself rolled the big cart up to the table, tossed the romaine in a great wooden bowl, and I wish I could say I remember his every move, but I don't. The only thing I see again clearly is the eggs. I can see him break 2 eggs over that romaine and roll them in, the greens going all creamy as the eggs flowed over them. Two eggs in a salad? Two one-minute coddled eggs? And garlic-flavored croutons, and grated Parmesan cheese? It was a sensation from coast to coast, and there were even rumblings of its success in Europe.

How could a mere salad cause such emotion? But, one remembers, that was way back in 1924, when Caesar Cardini invented it, and it was only in the early twenties that refrigerated transcontinental transportation came into being. Before then, when produce was out of season in the rest of the country, there was no greenery to be had. Before then, too, salads were considered rather exotic, definitely foreign, probably Bolshevist, and, anyway, food only for sissies.

I transported all the ingredients to the table and made it a la Julia's instructions. Hock reprimanded my poor salad tossing technique. I nearly forgot to take a photo. We nearly licked our plates clean.

I have been wanting to go to a phat thai place in Bangkok, which my Thai friend told me about some long time ago,,, where they put big shrimps and wrap the noodle in a thin omelette.

I forgot which friend told me and didn't remember the name or location.

With my blurry memory, I googled around and decided it was probably Thipsamai.

I wrote it down before I was headed to Bangkok to see off my Thai friend who was departing to Germany to study.

After seeing my friend off at Svannaphumi airport with a bunch of her relatives, I took a ride with her cousin and her husband.

Although it was getting late, they offered to drive around a bit to show me the Royal Palace lit up at night,,, which we couldn't get near because the roads were blocked because of people protesting against Thaksin.

Then, the wife said she was hungry and suggested we'd stop for a bite.

They parked the car right in front of the very Thipsamai!

I didn't ask them to take me there, what a sweet coincidence.

We had their "superb" phat thai, their signature dish that is cooked with shrimp and shrimp roe and comes wrapped in a thin omelette.

Honestly, I wanted to like it, but I don't do great with shrimp roe.

I still ate it and I can imagine that people are hooked with this signature dish. It was a lot sweeter than phat thai I had elsewhere. You can also table-cook it as you please with all the regular garnish of lime juice, chili powder, crashed peanuts, sugar and so forth.

Maybe I will give it a second try to their "regular" phat thai with no shrimp roe on my next occasion.

The husband had a courtesy to tell me AFTER we finished the meal the story of what people call "pratuu pii", a door of ghost, around the corner from Thipsamai.

According to him, there used to be a prison, and death sentences (then done by shooting, now done by lethal injection) were made, throwing the expired convicts out of the door.

I also found another version of the story, though, that when many people died of cholera, dead bodies were piled up in the nearby temple Wat Siisaket, and the door to bring in the bodies was called pratuu pii.

Anyone knows which story is correct?

Thipsamai
5.30 p.m. - 1.30 a.m.
313 Mahachai Rd. Samranrat, Pranakorn, Bangkok 10200
02-221-6280

One thing I never got round to eating in Japan was 'dry curry'. I've been wanting to try this particular recipe for a while, partly because the topping of a melting hot-water soaked 'onsen' (hotspring) egg looked so appealing in the book. We didn't really nail the egg - the white should be just barely congealed. Here are some interesting tips on cooking onsen tamago. I guess if you lay the room-temperature egg in just-boiled still water just as your rice starts cooking in a different pot, you might time it perfectly. Another error I would address regarding the photo above, is the rice. I think it looks nicer if you spread the rice a bit wider so you can see it in a ring of white around the outside. And the parsley should be chopped more über-finely too.

Mince on rice, what could be wrong with that mate. My father used to specialise in spag-bol when I was a kid, and I'm just coming back round to the comfort-power of mince.

Wafuu (japanese style) Dry Curry from '15-min Easy Delicious Okazu'.
(Serves 2)

Enough warm white short grain rice to satisfy.
150 g mince (I used a pork-beef mix)
An onion and a small carrot diced finely.
A capsicum (red or green pepper) peeled roughly and diced finely.
2 tsp hot curry powder
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp soy
1 tbsp sake
1 tbsp butter
2 very soft 'onsen' eggs
Finely chopped parsley

Cook the chopped onion in the butter gently until softened. Add the other veges and when these too are softened, turn the heat up and add the mince. When the mince has started to get clumpy, add the curry powder, sugar, soy and sake and stir fry until most of the liquid has evaporated. Check the seasonings - you might want to add a touch more curry powder. Top your warm rice with the curry-mince, sprinkle with chopped parsley and then scoop those eggs in a puddle on top.

Introducing Metzgerei Schmitz, once a butcher belonging (presumably) to a gentleman named Schmitz, it's now an organic cafe and the best place to spy hipsters, quiche and steak-frites in Cologne.

In summer its prime west-facing position means its kerb-side tables are at a premium all afternoon.

I was never a huge fan of quiche, but I must say the quiche offerings of Metzgerei Schmitz have come to occupy a special place in my heart, because they are hardly eggy at all, and the buttery crusts are packed with big colourful chunks of veges and things. I especially love the one with beetroot topped with a few thin strips of roasted camembert and sprigs of freshly snipped thyme - and the one pictured below, which has gorgonzola, leeks and small round grapes. Yummy.



It's asparagus time once again, and the best I've had so far this season was for breakfast at Schmitz: a delightful omelette, asparagus 'gratineed' with a sprinkling of parmesan, and crostini piled with balsamicky tomato and basil.



Generally I hold cake & hipsters in the same regard (can be pretty to look at, but have to be in the mood for them). The cakes at Schmitz are a little on the sweet side for me but they are very beguiling to look at. The one below has a nutty crust and the berries are johannisbeeren, which are tart jewel-like red currants.



Their Italian sandwiches are also quite decent too, I like the softness of the argentinian roast beef focaccia, and you can get them with Merguez sausage, or goats cheese and honey.



Metzgerei Schmitz is at 28 Aachenerstrasse, it has a bigger brother next door called Salon Schmitz but the bigger spot lacks the 'gemütlichkeit' of the original.

Thai/ Chinese porky stew goodness with star anise, cinnamon and whole boiled eggs...what's not to like?

1 tablespoon oil
4 garlic cloves (kratiem), minced
1 lb (500 g) side pork/pork flap, cut in 1-in (2.5-cm) cubes ( used short ribs because its all I could find in the dumb stores of Canberra, you can use trotters)
8 oz (250 g) fried tofu
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1 stick of cinnamon
2 star anise
2 -3 cloves
1/4 cup coriander root (raak pak chee), minced
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) sweet soy sauce (I forgot to buy and just used normal soy with extra sugar)
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) fish sauce (nam pla)
3 tablespoons sugar or brown sugar (palm sugar is probably more ideal)
2 cups (16 fl oz/500 ml) water
6 hard-boiled eggs

fry pork and then garlic and then add all ingredients and bring to the boil. Rapidly simmer for as long as possible to bring out all the juicy flavours, or until the pork is cooked if you are a greedy guts and just can't wait



Serve with white rice (or brown if you're a freak) and steamed gai lan or other green asian vege (not bok choy unless you want to anger the gods or if you're white) and pickled mustard greens if you're all about "authenticity"

Sprinkle with coriander leaves if you want to make it less beige

You can also put little sliced chilis in fish sauce and serve this on the side for extra salty spice

For Hock's Mum's birthday we bought her some wine glasses, a razor zester and 400 gms or $50 NZD worth of South Island whitebait....she was thrilled....Hock made the traditional NZ speciality for her...white bait fritters and the embryonic fishes were drowned in an egg and flour batter and lightly fried and served with lemon.

I relinquished my fritter to my mother in law, knowing what a treat it was for her...personally I've never really understood the NZ fascination with whitebait fritters....to me it just tastes like fish and egg

After my Egg Man post, I decided to surf the tide of shit, and youtube search for egg related videos

And my gosh, what an enormous tide. Among my favs I found the ever loveable swedish chef from the muppets, eggs singing about loneliness, gordon ramsey videos, green eggs and ham nostalgia and this clip...sesame street's "eggs this is your life"



I know it's a lame and sentimental (and not evenly remotely close to the truth of egg production) but surfing youtube is the only thing that's stopping me from wanting to pour coffee all over my computer right now.

If you've had a similar day, join me in the tide of shit.

I'm all excited about my newly invented egg dish; my new take on eggs florentine without the fatty guilt.



Take one slice of bread and toast (I like rye)
butter
smear with vegemite
add pile of blanched spinach
top with a poached egg
and drizzle over Japanese sesame salad dressing

voila

Although it pales in comparison to Hock's recent egg creation below



I still reckon it's pretty good if you like vegemite that is, you could of course always skip the vegemite, but trust me it goes well with eggs

anyway this is for Hock - the egg man



stay tuned for my student flat adventures with a can of baked beans, pesto and alfalfa sprouts

After being inspired by Kinakojams post on the yet to be tasted but much drooled over Pastel de Belém, I decided to negotiate Bangkok's traffic to pick up an egg tart for myself. Usually obtaining a tart requires eating your way through a medicinal Sunday morning yum cha session, where the hopes of multiple dim sum might cure that hangover. None of that is required here, the most difficult task was to find a park for my scooter. That accomplished I headed upstairs to the Saladaeng BTS station where The Ceylon is located and made my purchase of their fantastic works of art which have the added bonus of being kept dangerously warm for your eating pleasure.

What I like most about these tarts is that the curd is scorched much like a Pastel de Belém, instead of the often pale egg tarts that you usually find elsewhere.

Yummy! Worth the 30 baht and near death experience.