| 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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| She Who Eats |
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Name: Lauren
Home: Auckland, New Zealand
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