| Friday, November 30, 2007 |
| Strawberry Fare |
Strawberry Fare is a creation after my own heart, or more correctly, after my stomach. The menu is a sumptuous ode to dessert with more choice than the rest of the menu combined. That is the way a menu should be in my ideal world! The only problem with it is you are very much spoiled for choice and indecision will wrack you for more than a mere moment. You'll scan and ponder, weigh up which one sets your heart a flutter more, than pick one which only just wins over your heart's ultimate desire. Given more time and an extra few stomachs, I would happily devour all of them. Even now my heart still cries out for Strawberry Fare and if I am ever in Wellington again, my eager stomach will surely direct my feet back there. No wonder it is fast becoming a Wellington institution. Every one of my friends that has been there raves about it and believe me unless you have a complete aversion to dessert, you will not be disappointed.
Accompanied by Linda, my PIE (Partner in Eating), I pushed open the doors to SF, hungrily anticipating the sweet feast of a lifetime. We were greeted by our waiter and invited to sit by the windows. Looking around the restaurant, I was surprised to see it mostly empty. Where were all the dessert-savvy denizens of Wellington? It was after 11? My sweet tooth would wake me up well before then. I was perplexed but thought "Oh well, all the more attention for me." Linda and I were both content to stick with water to drink, knowing we would need something plain to cleanse our palates and take the edge off our dessert. Cautious about launching a full on sugar attack to our stomachs, we thought it best to line it with some savory carbohydrate and placed an order for garlic bread.
We shared our appetizer - four slices of crisp bread smeared with garlic butter. Not the best garlic bread in the world. I prefer mine less crunchy and with a more pronounced garlic flavour (I love me some garlic!), but it was just what we needed to prepare ourselves for the next step in our dining evolution. Bring on the dessert!
Linda chose the Strawberries and Cream, an awe-inspiring tower of cream and strawberries on top of a meringue base.
 The view you'd get of the Strawberries and Cream if you were hovering above it.
 One of the finest towers you will ever have the pleasure to set eyes on.
I picked the Devil's Dream Cake - soft mousse-like layers of white and dark chocolate laced with raspberries which is apparently "really wicked and scores 10 on the richness scale". I also discover that it also comes with fresh pear and strawberries, a crispy biscuit, biscotti, hokey pokey and passionfruit & raspberry sauce, but I added a scoop of coffee and cream ice cream and laughed off the 10/10 richness. When it comes to handling decadence, I am a veteran. Oh, but this dessert nearly got the better of me. Half way through and I was almost slouched over the table saying "No more, no more", but the fighter in me took a breather and valiantly continued on. I succeeded, but definitely hit what I call the Dessert Paradox - where it is so sickeningly sweet that it is both delicious and disgusting at the same time. By the end of it, I had a love-hate affair with what I had just eaten and thus knew it was awesome. I left so over-satiated that I felt like I never wanted to eat anything sweet again. I couldn't even look at food after that and if you know me that is no easy feat to achieve. The only thing I ate for the rest of the day was a mini turkey sub from Subway to soak up some of the sugar and dairy. But honestly, nothing can weaken the power of the Devil's Dream Cake. It stands worthy of its 10 on the richness scale and gets my seal of approval. While it is not the best cake in the world, the entire dessert in total, of which there were many components is divine, as well as devilish (you definitely feel as though you've committed the sins of lust and gluttony!). The name stands true.
 Devil's Dream Cake in all its glory
When I return and I very much want to say when, not if, I shall try something different however. The banoffi pie (a honey biscuit base filled with caramel and topped with freshly cut bananas, chocolate sauce and whipped cream) was extremely tempting, as was the tiramisu, the caramel and hazelnut torte, the creme brulee, the baked passionfruit cheesecake, the warm chocolate and English toffee pudding and the triple chocolate brownie. You see what I mean about being spoiled for choice! I cannot imagine how many trips to SF it would take to sample everything on the dessert menu. So to all you people that live in Wellington, I am envious. Strawberry Fare should sit right up there with the Beehive on the list of attractions.
Strawberry Fare
25 Kent Terrace
Wellington |
posted by Lauren @ 12:30 PM  |
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| Wednesday, November 28, 2007 |
| My Love Affair With Scones |
I love scones, all scones, from the humble plain tea scones to the more decadent, sweet scones. Rarely does a week go by that I do not indulge in a fresh delicious scone with a cup of hot coffee.
I think everyone has an array of 'comfort foods', those treats that are familiar and never disappoint. Scones are one of mine. Whether of the more simple variety, eaten plain or with jam (and cream) or the more luscious, sugary scones, I can always convince myself that I am savoring a somewhat healthy treat, for a scone could hardly be worse than a slab of chocolate cake. Surely those dates must count towards my 5+ and aren't those walnuts a good fat? Whatever. They taste good.
Scones are a traditional British snack, but have since become popular the world over especially in the US where they are larger, sweeter and often cut into diamonds (what I call the Starbucks-style). They fall under the category of quickbread, being made with wheat, barley or oatmeal. The name is derived from the Dutch word schoonbrood, meaning fine white bread (schoon = pure, clean and brood = bread).
One of my favourite past-times as you all know is disappearing down to Starbucks and sinking into my favourite chair with a book, while sipping on a cup of Joe and a warm (microwave heated) scone. My two favourites are the maple walnut and the orange white chocolate scone. The first is a just sweet enough scone with a subtle maple flavour and a sprinke of walnuts, topped with a thin layer of maple icing. The second is a slightly sweeter, paler scone with hints of white chocolate and orange, drizzled with a squiggle of citrusy chocolate icing.
 Maple walnut scone and orange white chocolate scone
Another of my fave scones is the chocolate mud scone from Bakers Delight. They've changed slightly since their conception. Originally they were rather large and could happily constitute a meal but have since shrunk to a rather disappointing but still satisfying snack size. In my opinion they are best served warm and smothered with Nutella or peanut butter.
The date scone from Bakers Delight is another favourite. It triumphs over many other date scones I have tried at cafes which I tend to find to crumbly and dry. BD's scone is denser and more doughier, just the way I like it. I'll either munch it straight from the bag in transit to somewhere or I'll split it and munch it down with jam.
Then there is my new favourite scone, which I baked with my own masterful hands, the pumpkin pecan white chocolate scone. So eager was I to wolf this down on several occasions, I never bothered to get a good photo of it but I can tell you that it was delish. You'd be jealous. I'll never cook with pumpkin puree again though, unless I can find it in a can. Spending over a half hour pushing mashed pumpkin through a sieve just to get a half a cup of puree just doesn't seem worth the elbow grease for a scone that only had a hint of a taste of pumpkin. Hopefully it is possible to replicate without the pumpkin. What really makes this scone fantastic is possibly its blatant disregard for health, as it is loaded with butter and brown sugar. Taking a deep whiff of them as they baked, I couldn't wait to bite into it and as soon as they had cooled I quickly plated one for the official first taste. Soft, doughy and dulcet, but not sickeningly sweet, so as to still fall under the scone, not cake category - they were perfect. Biting into a chunk of melted white chocolate was divine and the flavours mixed well with the pecan, one of my favourite nuts. My recipe only made 6 large scones, but it was totally worth the effort. They did not last long, especially as my Dad sneaked back in the middle of the night to grab a second scone while everyone was heading to bed.
 My scone babies cooling down
 A slightly blurry innards shot
While in England I was lucky enough to a cream tea. While it is most often associated with Devonshire, I ate mine at Tintagel in Cornwall, so technically it was a Cornish cream tea. Scones are served with clotted cream and jam and a pot of freshly brewed tea which you can drink until your bladder bursts. It made for a really yummy lunch and gave me plenty of energy to run around Tintagel Castle, but unfortunately my memory of it is tarnished as I came down with a stomach bug that night and can't look at clotted cream the same way again, even though it is mostly unrelated. Hopefully someday I will return to Cornwall again and reacquaint myself with the art of the cream tea before taking a more leisurely stroll along the ruins on the cliffside.
 Cornish cream tea. At the back is the clotted cream which I really should have opened, but was obviously too entranced by my meal to think of.
Closely related to the scone is the American biscuit, which I really enjoyed and tended to find were slightly crispier on the outside than a scone. Sweet scones still rule the more savory type, however much Crystal may claim the brilliance of her beloved cheese scones.
 The sexy Crystal poses with a cheese scone at Fidel's on Cuba St, Wellington |
| posted by Lauren @ 2:44 PM |
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| Friday, November 16, 2007 |
| The Battle of the Bulge |
I don't cook or bake much. This is not because I don't want to or because I can't find the time. It's more of a defensive manoeuvre to protect my waistline, to prevent my hips from burgeoning over the edge of my skinny leg hipster jeans in what has been dubbed the "love handles", to stop my buttocks from becoming tripping over the fine line from J-Lo resemblance to Roseanne resemblance. My lack of cooking is all part of my own personal battle of of the bulge. And I'm sure many of you woman out there can sympathize. None of us eat what we would like to or as much as we would like to. There is this obstinate thing called fear (of fat and heart malfunction and all the other big bad medical diagnoses out there) which is channeled into this other thing called discipline or self-control.
If we all lived in a magical world called The Land of Eat As You Please, I have to admit, I would probably never stop eating. I'd be insatiable. In fact, it's probably a good thing because I would never get anything done. Of course, I'd be one hell of a great food writer because I really would be The Girl Who Ate Everything. But alack, I must content myself most of the time with my recommended caloric intake... and sometimes less so. I don't have a balanced diet. I favour deliciousness over nutritiousness, though every so often I do have a craving for green things that grow in the garden - not snails, not grass - oh hell, there are probably plenty of green things growing in the garden - a person standing out there might have green boogers growing in his nose - I should be more specific - I mean broccoli, but often spinach, carrots, cauliflower and mushrooms (I love mushrooms)... actually a bunch of vegetables that are not green (I love kumara and pumpkin too!). This still doesn't excuse all the sugar and carbs I consume.... but what was my point?
Oh yes, alas, most of the time I must content myself with living vicariously, by fantasizing. How do I do this? Well in case you didn't know. I am addicted to food blogs. My day begins by hitting up Bloglines and checking out the deliciousness that has been whipped up in others' kitchens and gone into others' mouths. It really is a beautiful way to start your day and is calorie free! Yes, I also love a gorgeous photograph of a sunset or a beautiful building or a dew-dropped lily but food photography (or food porn as it is endearingly called) is my favourite. It is the main reason why I want a Canon EOS 400D. The XTi Rebel they call it. I call it "my baby". This might seem obsessive, but it is a good thing. It suggests ownership, it suggests that I have already gained possession of it, that it is mine. This is the kind of behaviour that books and films like The Secret recommend and it does work. I formed an attachment to this laptop before I got it, giving it the names Fawkes and it showed up, a day late mind you, but very close to schedule. Now in case you've still missed my point because I have definitely buried it within a jungle of rambling (yes it is possible to build a tangent on a tangent), I love food blogs and I suggest you take up my hobby. I like to spread the joy. It is much more enjoyable than seeing the latest fashion catastrophe of Britney Spears or seeing yet another A-List celeb emerging from Mr Chow yet again. It's food. It is something we can all enjoy. In fact, eating next to sex is probably the most shared worldwide hobby. We all do it, we all love it and I think if we all enjoyed doing it together more, the world would be a better place.
So because I have yet to put together a new food post, here are my top 5 favourite food blogs:
1/Tastespotting - The No.1 portal to deliciousness. It is a constantly updated What's Hot of food porn with pictures and links. I drool over it daily. My day is not complete until I have checked out Tastespotting 2 or 10 times (btw, 10 times is what happens when you sit on the internet all day with a tab open with Bloglines running)
2/The Girl Who Ate Everything - Robyn is my fave food blogger. Not your typical food writer, but all the better for it. None of the snobby pretension, just a down-to-earth, sometimes self-deprecating girl who loves to eat, take pictures and describe what she eats in hilarious detail. No one describes food like Robyn or shows such intense enthusiasm for gelato or macarons. She is the reason I got into food blogging in the first place and she doesn't even know it. Now she makes a living for it because she works for Serious Eats.
3/Dessert Comes First - Run by a lovely woman in Manila, this was also one of the first food blogs I fell in love with. Lori appreciates dessert just as much as I do though she does post on a bunch of other things too. She takes fantastic pictures and writes wonderful descriptions in the way that an accomplished and published food writer does.
4/The Wandering Eater - Tina lives in NYC and is also one of my daily blog reads though she doesn't update as much being a busy girl. But I'm so envious of the sophisticated New York restaurants she visits. I'm so jealous of anyone who lives in NYC.
5/A Passion For Food - Kathy writes of her almost daily eats, also in Manhattan where she moved from Hawaii. She seems to have a penchant for good bakeries.
That's your intro to the world of food blogs, or rather my world of food blogs. I search through many more but these are my daily digests. |
| posted by Lauren @ 10:37 AM |
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| Sunday, November 11, 2007 |
| Who Ate All The Pie? |
"It's alive! It's alive!" Is what you might cry if you were a) a maniac who has watched one too many Frankenstein movies or b) just way too dramatic in expressing your surprise at a new post after such a long hiatus. What happened? I'm not sure. I think I just got lazy and abandoned it for my personal "anything" blog. But no more. Yet again I shall share with you the contents of my stomach. Before they reach my stomach. How considerate of me. Some of you, if I know you know me personally might be so lucky as to consume such gastronomical delights with me and for that you should feel oh so privileged. I don't just eat with random strangers you know. I carefully select my partners-in-feast. There is a rigorous selection process. In fact, you may have been subjected to an audition and not even know it. However, there are some partners-in-feast that are more skilled than others, and for this they have attained a certain level of excellence, a veritable prowess in the art of eating. There are very few requirements for this other than a) you can eat as much as me, therefore alleviating the feeling of being a "big pig" and b) you show an incredible amount of enthusiasm for the contents selected for consumption. Are you up to the challenge? Will you become the Number One Partner-In-Feast? Will you come up with a better name than Partner-In-Feast or PIF?
Alright, moving on. We'll start with my most recent feastage. This morning. For the last two weeks in a row I have had the pleasure of eating banoffee pie. This week was to be no different, for all week Derryn and I have been planning and very much looking forward to in a somewhat obsessive way, to our Banoffee Pie Eating Expedition or BPEE if you really like to make acronyms. The day of our BPEE finally arrived and we met up at The Coffee Club in Botany Town Centre at 11am. We arrived just in the knick of time. Our plans for banoffee pie eating were almost foiled by other greedy souls. There were only 3 slices left! And I find that I must correct myself for we were actually going to eat banoffee tart. As to what the difference between a pie and a tart is, I don't know.* I'm not an expert. Yet anyway. I wonder just how many pies and tarts you have to eat before becoming an "expert". I wonder if you can tell an expert in the a similar manner to how you can tell the age on a tree, but instead of rings in the trunk, you get number of extra inches in girth. Excessive pie eating is not conducive to skinniness.
Being in full glutton mode (which arguably is my default setting but can be controlled through much will power) I ordered not only the banoffee pie, but also pancakes and a long espresso. Derryn just went with the banoffee pie which she claims really made her full. Weakling. lol. Kidding. I love Derryn, my fellow banoffee tart/pie enthusiast.
We took a seat and waited for our orders. The tart and coffee came pretty quickly. Derryn politely waited awhile before digging in, but she did start before my pancakes arrived because they took an eternity as far as my desire is concerned. I left the tart for the "dessert" portion of my meal and patiently sipped on my blessed black elixir of life (neither scientifically proven nor a culturally revered belief, but asserted by coffee aficionado, *cough* addicts everywhere).
Due my current run in with the cold virus, my taste buds were a little muted.
 Bow to the tart!
This tart is divine. Dulcet creamy banana-caramel with a nearly custard-like consistency inside a sweet, buttery pastry crust and topped with caramel, a lone pecan and a single crispy, baked banana slice. Served with a dollop of cream, which it doesn't really need because this tart needs nothing added to it. It can stand alone. I have indulged in it three times in three weeks. I may not be an expert on tarts, but I'm an expert on this particular tart. Derryn very much agreed with my affirmation of deliciousness. She still raves about the banoffee pie from Lone Star Cafe, which I have yet to meet and eat.
 Banoffee Tart in all its glory prior to cutting and carnage (photo courtesy of Rocket Kitchen)
And now for the pancakes. Despite the name of my blog, I really haven't been consuming many pancakes lately. Very few pancakes stand up to my criteria for really good pancakes. Not that pancakes are ever bad, but I still crave a hefty serving of huge pancakes so fluffy that you expect them to just drift off your plate and into your mouth, which in such a mesmerized state would probably exhibit some sort of tractor-beam like pull. Still, the pancakes at The Coffee Club are good. You get just enough to live satisfied but not so much that you leave completely stuffed and unable to function for the rest of the day (though on occasion this is a totally awesome sensation). You get three pancakes, which judging by size really should be called hot cakes. They come with a ball of vanilla icecream, a dash of cream, a tiny crisp mini pikelet-waffle hybrid, lightly grilled banana, strawberries and maple syrup, all dusted with icing sugar. It hits the non-breakfast filled spot and fulfills my sugar cravings. It also looks beautiful. But having eaten the pancakes here many a time, I have to say, their presentation changes slightly every time. They added the strawberries for free. I only ordered the banana as an extra (you can also choose bacon and strawberries for an extra price).
Mmm... I love breakfast. Whether it be a stack of pancakes or a bowl of porridge, I heart it. It is one of the last things I think about before going to sleep and the first thing on my mind in the morning. It is my number one reason for getting up and I feel weird if I don't eat it immediately after rising. It's a major part of my morning routine. It's also a habit to be recommended. It kick starts your metabolism and gives you energy to start your day right. Breakfast is awesome.
Derryn and I also went grocery shopping after our feast. I was happy to see that New World has added an international section. I was very tempted to buy chocolate green tea Pocky, but I didn't. But boy, oh boy, was that Men's Chocolate Pocky tempting. What is it that makes this Pocky more suitable for men, I don't know, but I'm intrigued. Does it have a mystical ingredient that makes you sprout chest hair and manly strength? Maybe I should try it and find out, if I am so daring. I was intrigued enough to buy a bottle of Zenya green tea with pomegranate. It tastes like raspberry cordial. I don't have any memory of ever eating pomegranate so I can't actually compare it to the taste of pomegranates. It's yummy and healthy tea though and good if you don't like the taste of green tea because I could not taste it.
*According to Wikipedia, tart is a type of pie that is served upside so that the crust is only on the bottom. Thus a tart is anything that does not have a top crust.
The Coffee Club and New World - Botany Town Centre, Cnr. Ti Rakau & Te Irirangi Drives, Botany Downs, East Auckland |
| posted by Lauren @ 7:22 PM |
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| Friday, June 01, 2007 |
| National Doughnut Day |
If you didn't know today is National Doughnut Day! It comes every year on the first Friday of June. Why Friday, why June? I don't know. But any day that is an excuse to eat donuts is good in my book.
The donut or doughnut (I prefer donut, it appears more aesthetically pleasing to me) comes in two types - the torus-shaped ring donut and the filled donut, a flattened sphere injected with jam, cream, custard or any other sweet filling you can think of. Once shaped and filled these doughy babies are dropped into deep-fried oil, where they make their transformation into the delicious snack we all know and all should love.
Where donuts come from no-one exactly knows. Their sacred history is full of holes (hahaha. Get the pun?). Some claim Dutch settlers to North America invented them. But then there is America's version of the girl at the reunion who claims to have invented post-its notes, Hanson Gregory, who claims to have invented the ring-shaped treat aboard a lime-trading ship when he was 16. He obviously wasn't a very popular kid though because no-one would back him up.
Though many associate donuts with Americans and fat, sluggish cops, it is the Canadians that consume the most donuts and whom have the most donut stores per capita. I guess Americans just get more attention because they are louder and resemble donuts more.
 Chocolate cream donut innards
As I said in Electric Satori, I am extending National Doughnut Day to NZ. Why should the Americans have all the fun? Of course, the celebration had to include the consumption of donuts so I made my way to Dunkin Donuts. I selected the traditional sugared donut and a chocolate cream donut to accompany the mini donuts my mother had already brought to celebrate the occasion.
The sugared donut, golden and delicately dusted with sugar; it was light and airy. The dough collapsed with every bite, then slowly sprang back. It tasted sweet, but not too much so. You could still taste that classic dough taste. This is the kind of donut you could eat a lot of.
The chocolate cream donut was my favourite out of the two because it was much more decadent. You couldn't eat a lot of these. The chocolate ganache filling was sweet, rich and creamy. It oozes out of its doughy home and I utter a delighted "mmmm" as the chocolate melts in my mouth. I lick the powdered sugar from my fingers with great satisfaction. It was gone too quickly, but then I only half of each donut. Not a bad lunch though.
 Labels: chocolate, cream, deep-fried, dessert, donuts, ganache, holidays, snacks |
| posted by Lauren @ 7:54 PM |
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| Sunday, March 11, 2007 |
| Dolce Vita |
I haven't had much dedication to this whole food blogging thing lately. Blame it on whatever. I went out to dinner last Friday but I was much too concerned with stuffing my ravenous belly to take photos. I have a few and they suck. Oh well, you just should have been there!
After hanging out at Erin's apartment eating crackers and cheese, Erin, Jen and I headed down to Queen St to meet up with Roxanne. We settled on Italian at Dolce Vita on High St. Jen and I used to go here a lot when she was still at university and we had pasta cravings, so we were interested to see what it is like now that they have renovated and possibly changed owners. I think the interior is what attracted me to eat there. Deep red walls give the restaurant a cosy warmth. The beautiful antique wooden bar that I always admired is still there but has moved to the back of the restaurants rather than the side.
We perused the menu for awhile before deciding to share dishes and a bottle of red wine (which I discovered I don't actually hate but must have had a bad experience with a crap bottle of red wine a long time ago). First up we got an antipasto platter which included breads, dip, salami, salmon, ginger, olives, ham and pickle. It was pretty tasty but I found the olives way too salty and refused to touch the pickles or the ginger... ugh. The rest was good especially the salami and the fresh raw salmon.
For mains, we shared fettuccini carbonara (roasted bacon and onion in a white wine creamy sauce) and fettuccine dolce vita (delicious roasted chicken, mushroom and onion in a creamy tomato and basil sauce). I'm not sure which pasta I liked the best so I can't pick a favourite, though you can't usually go wrong with carbonara. I wish I could have eaten more of it though. I find it hard to savour the taste of things in small quantities, on account of the fact that I stuff my face too quickly. I think I prefer eating lots of one thing rather than little bits of stuff.
We also shared a pizza but I forget the name of it. It was one of the meat pizzas. It was good but nothing completely wow inducing. Just an average pizza really.
We all ordered dessert. Roxanne and I both ordered the tiramisu, Erin got the baked apple pie and Jenny got a pancake ribbon dessert (I forget the exact name).
The tiramisu was okay but frankly, I think I could make one better. My ideal tiramisu may not be entirely authentic however. Firstly, it would have a stronger coffee flavour. This didn't have enough coffee. It would also have more chocolate because chocolate is what this tiramisu lacked. All the alcohol seemed to have settled to the bottom of the sponge as well. It would have been much better if it had been evenly distributed.
Erin had wanted to order the apple tart but was informed they had run out and the waitress suggested the apple pie because it was very similar. As to what the exact different between apple pie and apple tart is, I'm not too sure. I guess they are like cousins or something.
 It came out served in a glass, which was rather surprising and peculiar. I'm not sure how well chocolate icecream goes with apple part. I personally would find that the chocolate would overpower the tartness of the apple. Vanilla usually compliments apple much better. I didn't taste any of this so I can't say whether it was good or not. From my observations, Erin was either not too impressed or too full to eat much because she appeared to have just scooped out the middle.
The waitress couldn't adequately describe what the pancake ribbon dessert was but Jen took a gamble on it anyway. I actually have to say I preferred this more than my tiramisu. Who knows why I didn't go for something containing pancake. I have been acting rather out of character lately. Anyways, it was thin strips of crispy deep fried pancake doused in a sweet sugary white wine egg sauce. I don't know why I've never tried deep fried pancake but it is delicious and I wonder what a whole pancake would be like deep fried. The sauce was divine. It was similar to maple syrup but with a more eggy flavour. I could have just drunk it straight which in my opinion is the mark of a good sauce. It's not the mark of good manners or self-restraint but it makes a fine benchmark for weighing up a desert condiment. This was definitely a unique dessert.
On the whole the food was rather average, but I'd still go back to Dolce Vita during the day if I had a pasta craving. It was still satisfying.Labels: dessert, Italian |
| posted by Lauren @ 1:41 PM |
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| Monday, February 26, 2007 |
| Easter, Part 1 - Hot Cross Buns |
I've decided to run a series of blog entries on Easter food, which being a celebration of rebirth is much better celebrated at the time of the spring equinox, making some Easter traditions such as eggs, baby chickens and any spring decorations a little odd down here in the Southern Hemisphere, but it's tradition, what can you do? To fit in with New Zealand seasons, I'm gonna do a fall recipes series to celebrate the autumnal equinox and the dawning of the cooler months. If I were pagan, it would be to celebrate Mabon, which is the opposite holiday to what American Wiccans would celebrate at Easter, the sabbat of Ostara. I really like the ideas of the Wiccan Sabbats because I like honouring the changing of the seasons and I love a good excuse to celebrate with different foods. We need more holidays. I've even decided to create my own Thanksgiving this year but not on the date that the Americans or the Canadians celebrate it. I think New Zealand is in need of a good mid-winter holiday, something different from a mid-winter Christmas. I haven't decided on an exact date but it will be sometime in June or July.
I know I complain a lot about holiday celebrations beginning too early and Easter is not until April, but when I was at the bakery this weekend, I spotted chocolate chip hot cross buns and my belly cried out for their little doughy goodness. I don't like regular hot cross buns so I guess I got overly excited because I temporarily forgot about the existence of the chocolate chip variety. Anyways, if I'm gonna do a series on Easter-ish food, I should start early. There might be lots to cover.
Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, but they go on sale well before then and people eat them whenever they want. The cross as you all know is a symbol of Christ, whose death and rebirth is the reason for the season.  Chocolate chip hot cross bun Hot cross buns also became a part of popular culture when the street cry of English bakers was developed into a simple song to teach the basic notes of various instruments. You all know the song:
- Hot cross buns,
- Hot cross buns,
- one a penny,
- two a penny,
- hot cross buns.
- If you have no daughters,
- give them to your sons,
- one a penny,
- two a penny,
- Hot Cross Buns
I ate a hot cross bun for breakfast. Soft on the inside, slightly chewy skin on the outside and filled with a supposed "100 chocolate chips per bun", it was a pretty satisfying breakfast. I ate it plain but would very much like to try it with nutella; peanut butter; cream; more chocolate; or mascarpone cream.
I also tried a new type of hot chocolate. Chocolate is a very Easter-ish food and a wonderful breakfast beverage. Linda gifted me with a bag of spiced hot chocolate and I thought it would go well with a hot cross bun because they are slightly spiced. I added a bit of Cadbury Drinking Chocolate to make it richer. It was pretty good. The spices were subtle and of the sweeter variety like in chai tea, not of the chili variety. I really need to start frothing my milk for my hot chocolates because it would have been way better with thicker frothier milk.
 Labels: autumn, beverage, breakfast, Easter |
| posted by Lauren @ 7:19 PM |
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| Thai, Japanese and Mexican, Oh My! |
In addition to doing a lot of sightseeing this weekend, I also did a lot of eating! We didn't exactly take Chris on a culinary tour of Auckland because a)we didn't have reservations and b)we aren't that rich, but food was consumed and it was tasty, so we didn't fail on the gastronomy front.
On Friday night, Chris and I decided to eat Thai and since there is only one Thai place at the mall and I had just mentioned my love of the peanut curry there, SaNook Thai Express Bistro was our culinary port of call. For once in my life, I didn't order anything with peanut! Shock horror! Check out the flying pig! Can you believe it? Something must be seriously wrong with me. Not only did I turn down peanut but earlier in the week, I turned down an excuse to eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday! My gluttony compass must be broken. I wanted something a little less heavy so I ordered fried rice with shrimp, squid, mussels and shimp paste. I received a huge mound of rice which I could have finished but did not. Temperance must have finally befriended me. It was good but fairly bland tasting. I added some sweet chili sauce near the end and that was much better. You can't go wrong with sweet chili sauce.
 Seafood fried rice in shrimp paste
 Nam Prik Gai
On Saturday we visited what Justina proclaimed to be "the best food court in Auckland". I was not disappointed. Hidden away in the ground floor of an office building lies a small fast food heaven with establishments selling many Asian cuisines. I promised myself I would return to lunch with Justina at a later date in order to feast on more goods. I wasn't feeling very adventurous so I ordered my default Japanese dish of teriyaki chicken and was handed a number on a red block stand. While waiting for my dish, I wandered over to another stand to purchase a passionfruit soda that caught my eye.
 Passionfruit soda
 Teriyaki chicken
 Side salad with sesame paste (?)
Chris ordered the katsu curry. I'm unsure whether it was pork or chicken. He was supplied with a huge pool of curry, which was rather yellow compared to more orange Japanese curries I have seen. It appeared more soup-like than the last katsu curry I had as well. Occupied by my teriyaki, I didn't try any so I can't inform you of its taste.
 Katsu cury
 Awesome pot Justina also got dessert. I'm not sure what you call it but it was condensed milk, red bean and ice covered in red and green flavouring. It was tasty but I just had a few spoonfuls.
 Chicken burrito
Justina ordered the vegetable burrito because she was feeling herbivorous and wasn't that hungry. However, for a not-so-hungry person she ironically received a lot of food. Her bean burrito also came with rice, salsa and sour cream, which was in addition to the side salad she ordered. She did a good job putting most of it away, but ended up creating a works of art with the remaining bean paste.
 Vegetable burrito
 Steaming beef buritto innards
 Make your own burrito kit
It was good but no drool inducing. It's hard to tell where it was lacking. It was filled with dates and raisins, covered in rum sauce and served with vanilla icecream and cream, dusted with cinnamon. I think it could have been sweeter and perhaps the bread could have been softer, more liquid soaked. At least, that is how I would prefer it. I also felt like the sauce needed something. Either more sugar or even better, caramel! It wasn't bad but then I am comparing it to the fabulous bread pudding I had at Bubba Gump's in San Francisco which was amazingly rich, decadent and so huge I couldn't finish it.
 Bread pudding
Chris ordered the bananas foster. This would have been my third choice because it has been recommended to me before. I didn't try any of Chris' but I would like to go back to Giggle's and I'll try it then. Banana is flambeed in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and rum, then served with vanilla icecream. The thick sauce looked delicious and seemed like a good way to eat my favourite fruit.
 Bananas foster On Sunday, we had a lunch at the beach consisting of bakery foods I did not photograph. This concludes the eating adventures of Princess Buttercup and two of the delicate flowers.
SaNook Thai Express Bistro - 1 Sunset Terrace, Botany Town Centre, Auckland
Giggles Cafe and Grill - 124 Picton St, Howick
Labels: beverage, Cajun, Chinese, Creole, dessert, fast food, Japanese, Mexican, Thai |
| posted by Lauren @ 5:38 PM |
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| She Who Eats |
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Name: Lauren
Home: Auckland, New Zealand
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