Madeleines

My friend gave me this new recipe for (perfect, as he said) madeleines. So here they are from the first trial and they do look good. They came out really soft, not dry at all and the honey in the recipe is the most interesting. It gives a special taste and the nice gold color to the crusted sides. I'm thinking of making other experiences with different kinds of honey. When I find a perfect recipe (for my taste), I'd post it.

I'm always asking myself if I should post recipes of what I make on this blog. Because I started this blog mainly because I wanted to share my food and travel pictures. But I guess if I just post pictures of the things I made without the recipe, it can be frustrating for those who would want to actually taste what they see on my pictures. Therefore, from now on, I'd post recipes along if I'm confident enough about it.

Strawberry rose cheesecake

I loved Christelle's idea of using biscuits roses de Reims as crust base for a cheesecake. This makes a totally girly cheesecake! I preferred to mix in the crust a rose syrup because some people don't like a too strong rose flower taste. On top, I made a thicker (with agar agar) mint strawberry topping to keep it clean. This time again, I prepared mini sizes (10cm) and when cut, the tiny slices can be eaten in one mouthful with fingers.

Photography challenge

The girls on Culinographie had this fun idea of a Christmas photo challenge and the theme is "White & Gold". As I'm on the lazy side (and not a lot of time), I figured I won't do a complicate scene with props. So I tried hard to find a recipe on which there would be both white and gold colors. The result is this Saint Honoré with white chantilly cream and gold caramel toppings.

As there's not a single prop, I chose to put it on a black background. As I was playing with the lights, I found that the small directional lighting creates a kind of "Dutch golden age" feel. The main difficulty of this shot was the recipe itself: the cream that was melting. Note to self: shoot involving cream always need a second stunt replacement :)

My mini chocolate charlotte

 

This is my first cake I'm presenting to you since I began my baking school last september at Ecole Grégoire Ferrandi. The past weeks have been filled with exciting new things. At the beginning of the course, we were all in awe every time the chefs showed us a new technique or a new recipe. They are the masters even when it's just about cutting an apple into slices.

Now that I look back at some things I've posted before like this (my chef should never see this) or this, I'm really ashamed... I'm getting better but have still a long, long way to go before reaching the master lever :) But anyway, I made these mini charlottes and my little goddaughter told me they were really cute and ate all her slice without a single word in 2 minutes, so I thought I could share this with you :) 

Inside is a dark chocolate mousse at the base and

a praline mousse on top, topped with chunks of gavottes
for some crunchy contrast with the soft biscuit and mousses

Beesket

While roaming around Jonggak, I saw this juice shop and went in. It happened to be their opening day in fact. It's a new concept where they propose a very large selection of ingredients for you to choose and compose your own mix in three different kind: smoothie, yogurt or ade. The ingredients are represented on little hexagonal capsules you pick and put in the beesket which is then scanned at the cashier.

The concept is based on the natural ingredients and the fun in picking and creating your own drink but it doesn't come cheap. I paid 6700W for a pumpkin/ carrot/ orange smoothie but I got a free mug as a special opening day gift.

You can find out more about Beesket here. They even have the whole list of ingredients, each with a spectacularly detailed chart of its properties (calories, composition, vitamins, etc...).

Seoul - Sinsa

Garosugil, on the south side of the Han river, is known for its trendy shops, cafés and restaurants. I was there before noon so it was not still very quiet. As I stroll along the road, I noticed how the interior design here, in Korea, is always well done. In this trendy area, for sure, the shops and restaurants have the budget. But even in less expensive area, shops, and particularly cafés, manage to create a special mood for their interior. You can see that the design concept has included every detail. From the colors, materials, packaging till the font used on the receipt. I think that this reflects a trait of the Koreans. Things are never half done, every detail has to be well done.

For lunch, I chose this Japanese soba shop called Obiya. Their specialty is green tea soba. You can order with the soba a side of tempura. They serve chilled green tea and they fried the soba as chips. You get some salt mixed with green tea to dip the tempura.

Jeonju

Thanks to the Korea Tourism Organization, I booked a free trip to Jeonju. Their program also offers buses to Busan and Gyeongju. You just have to book early online on theire website here. Although the online applications were overbooked, our bus was not even half filled. But Jeonju is less popular than Gyeongju or Busan.

I come to Jeonju every time I visit Korea. I come for the food and  enjoy walking around the tradition hanok village. The university area is also great for shopping if not better than in Seoul. It's less crowded and you can get things cheaper than in Seoul.

There's been quite some changes in the hanok village. They are renovating lots of houses, probably to turn them into shops, restaurants and guest houses. More modern coffee shops also bloomed. The feel is definitely different now compared to the first time I came here three years ago. The houses they rebuilt now has only the roof and the structure from the origins. They tear down everything inside and use new materials for the inside. It's not quite as same as a tradition house that has been maintained in good condition. I hope the city will try to save the authenticity of the place.

Now, the food. My yearly pilgrimage to this beef soup restaurant Omokdae. Food is still so good but side dishes are getting smaller each year. The owner of the guest house I'm staying at explained that these days, vegetables have become so much more expensive that restaurants are now reluctant to give refill for the kimchi and vegetables.

And I ended up the day with an iced berry tea in one of the new coffee shops on the main street in the village.

Food and drink

Seoul is packed with coffee shops. At some area, you might have in every two shops. It makes me wonder how they survive with all the competition... and how you're supposed to know which one is good or not. As I don't drink coffee, I need a coffee house just to sit and get the aircon. So how do I choose? My most important criteria is... free WiFi!

I chose Miru as it was calm with only two persons inside because it is on a quieter street behind the main Ewha's shopping area. I ordered an iced yuzu tea, so refreshing.

After the geekette's pause, I walked around Hongdae, shopped some and then stumble on a street concert. The only I hate when traveling alone is dinner. Especially in Korea where lots of meals (like barbecue) can't be ordered unless you're two. So it's also a challenge to find a place where I can eat by myself which is not some franchised fast food chain store or the basic sandwich. And apart from the places for bbq and other group meal restaurants, the small ones close early around ten. This Saitamaya ramen shop was the best I could find for the night.

 Crispy kolokke

Grilled cha siu rice served with their miso soup

They also have rice and not just noodles. I'm gluten free happy :)

Korean sweet pancake - Hoddeok

After all the hard walk in the museum, this man has chosen the perfect spot to park his pancake truck. Actually, I noticed the queue before I could see what was the attraction. So I checked out what were written on the trucks then there was a queue of 10 persons. Yes again, for food, we, Asians, are ready to stand in queue under the sun. :) It was funny how everyone in the queue was standing but slightly bend on the left side to peek at the pancake making process. You see how fast the man is making the dough, put it in his special grill plates, flip sides, take out the cooked ones, serve them and do the cashier all at the same time. And the more you watch him, the more impatient you get to taste that pancake and you get so jealous of the people who just got theirs hot from the plates!

The pancake dough has completely risen during the cooking and it became this thin crispy and chewy (it's made of rice flour) crust with a filling of, I guess, cinnamon and brow sugar. We had some in Myeongdong last year and they were nothing close to this. The guy didn't lie on the signs on his truck saying "traditional hoddeok"!
It's always this kind of surprise encounters that I love the most in a trip. That's why I like to wander around places off the tourist route. That's when you get to see and taste the real thing! :) But it's also sad because even if I wanted, I could probably never eat this man's perfect pancake ever again.

Seoul's Times Squares

I have been offered this opportunity to visit Korea again. I have been invited to participate in a special event that will gather teachers and students of the Korean language from all over the world. As the events will be held in and around Seoul, I won't be able to move around the country as much I'd like to. There'll only be a day trip to Jeonju. I could never miss that beef soup!

So I will try to do stuffs I haven't done yet in Seoul like museums and other parts of the city that are more off the tourist's route. I have included in my plans a mountain hike and some biking along Hangang river but with the heat... I guess you have to come check back to see whether I would have mustered the courage... or not.

Today was a slow day as I arrived early in the morning. With the 10 hours flight, first thing on my list was a little hour at the jjimjilbang (korean bath/sauna). This time, I tried the Sealala in Yeongdeungpo next to the mega mall Times Squares. The facilites were okay but the big problem was it was filled with Chinese tourists who can not control their children running while shouting.... Okay, Sealala: done and to never do again.

I would have liked to check out the largest screen in the CGV cinema but the chimps just q
started this week so abandonned. Change plans to find some energy refill.
 

 Tonkatsu ramen

Then that left me nothing else but shopping in this mega mall. The mall has also a Shinsegae department store attached to one side and a small garden on the 6th floor rooftop. I feel like they wanted to create a high class mall but the crowd I saw while I was there (a weekday) were not the clients they expected. There is also an underground market in the subway station where it was much more crowded. I guess the prices are much more adapted to the people who lives in the neighborhood.

Côte d'azur

This is my first time going all the way to the south of France. Why haven't I gone there yet? Well, first, the 10 hours drive (or more, depending on traffic) are enough to scare me off. And I've never been  a beach person either. But then you never say no to a all girls trip.

Below is a little recap :)

Blue is everywhere, sky and sea.

Everyone needs these under the cloudless blue sky.

Upper right: boy selling ice creams literally in the sea.

Besides the beaches, there are lots of old and cute villages

to visit up the hills.

St Tropez with its crowd and the huge yachts.

Some vintage authentic styles.

And last but not least, the tarte tropézienne!

This is called "tarte" which means pie but it has nothing of a pie. Some say it is a kind of brioche cut in half and filled with pastry cream. We bought this one from THE bakery that claims to be the original creator of the recipe. To me, the bread is something between a brioche and a focaccia. The cream is a sturdy pastry cream. It is more digestible than it looks. They also sell them in mini sizes, also a derived product to imitate macarons...

If you want to know more about the original tarte tropézienne, it's here.

Mini choux - Popelini

Here we are, back to Paris. Popelini is a pastry shop located in the Marais, newly opened this spring.

The concept of the shop is to turn the basic cream puff into different flavors, dress them up cutely so they can be competition to macarons. Their looks only make you want to buy them.

I tasted 6 of them and my favorite is the simple dark chocolate. Don't look down on their tiny size, they are fully filled up inside their thin pastry crust. I found some of the icing too sweet so it's a pity it took over the flavor of the cream. I would say that eating two of these equals eating a regular éclair.

The idea, presentation and packaging are very interesting but they are quite pricey, equivalent to macarons. I would buy them again as a gift but surely not for myself.

 If you want to know more about all the flavors and the story of Popelini, check out their website here.

Marrakech - spices and flavors

Want some tea?

The last weeks were crazily buzy. I just couldn't find time to post. I haven't been lazing around though. I've been trying new addresses in Paris and collected the pics. Now that I'm back on track (almost), you'll soon be bored to get updates every day.

But before getting to the "older" Paris items, I'm gonna share images fresh from my recent trip to Morocco. Everything there is so colorful so it needed no effort to get these nice pics.

 Riad Magellan - Day and Night

Quiet haven hidden in narrow streets

right in the middle of the souk

First tastes of local cuisine... Miam...

Daily Yume cookies

I'm proud to present the first Daily Yume branded cookies :D 

 

The best waffle recipe

I have, at last, found the best waffle recipe and it is from "Cakes in the city".

The recipe is not only easy, the waffles come out all crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside. What's more wonderful is you can freeze them! I've tried it. All you have to do is to take one out right from the freezer in the and toss it in the toaster. They come out almost as crunchy as if they were just baked! Now, you can just sleep as much as you want on Sundays (or any other weekday you might afford) then get up and toast some waffles to start :)

Here is the translation of the recipe:

All credits go to Cakes in the city which is a treasure's box of recipes of simple everyday sweeties that reminds us of our childhood.

For 16 - 20 waffles (depending on the size of your waffle griddle)

500 g of plain flour

30 g of sugar

1 pinch of salt

5 eggs, slightly beaten

250 g  of melted butter

500 ml of warm milk

350 ml of warm water

2 packages of dry yeast for bakers (Francine is a French brand, a package from this brand contains 5 g)

powder sugar (or any thing you want) for topping

Disolve the dry yeast in 100 ml of warm milk and keep aside for 10 minutes.

Mix the flour, sugar, salt, eggs, water and the rest of the milk until smooth. Add in at the end the yeast and milk and the melted butter.

Leave it to rise for about 1 hour. It depends on the temperature of the place where you'll put the dough. It should double in volume.

Heat the griddles, brush with butter then stir a bit the dough so it goes back down a bit. Pour dough on the griddles and bake till beautifully golden about 4-5 minutes.

Sprinkle with powder sugar and enjoy.

They are so crunchy that I don't need to put any topping on them. So when I make them, I add in a bit more sugar in the dough. And you should think about setting an alarm to check on the dough during the rise time. Several years ago, I had a freaky experience with a waffle dough left unwatched that turned into a monster! Hours after, we found the dough literally like a living form, bubbling and trying to escape from squeezing itself from under the lid we put on the bowl.

Real dim sum

After the fusion dim sum, I had an urge to have some real ones :) 

I was so in a rush that I forgot to bring my camera. So just take this as a preview, I'll get more drool inducing pictures. This gives me another excuse go back to Chinatown for more chicken legs :P

Dim sum @ Chine Masséna

Dim sum @ Yoom, Paris

The sushi trend has lived its days but it's dying out slowly. The novelty combined with the healthy aspect of sushis started probably about ten years ago in France. Since then, many fast-food/ delivery chain stores have appeared selling classic or fusion sushis.

Now that people have already adopted sushis, a new trend must come to satisfy people's curiosity. Korean restaurants are spreading but due to the spicy food, I think it'd be difficult for Korean cuisine to conquer the French that easily.

The chinese dim sum is a new little trend blooming in Paris. While it's easy to find dim sum in London, it's really hard to find in Paris because there are less Cantonese natives here. I've tried the chain store Sum and the restaurant Yoom. Both have a high-end concept with fancy interior and the food is fusion.

So, more about Yoom. I've heard about it since it opened maybe a year ago? But I also heard that it's doing so well that you can hardly get in without a reservation. At last, I went there last week with some friends, I've called for a reservation, of course. The restaurant is small, canteen style, with long tables and benches. Interior design is clean with gray, beige and red accents. Menus and plates are printed with vintage Shanghai style illustrations.

You'll find on the menu items inspired from Cantonese dim sum such as Ha Kao and different kind of dumplings, steamed or fried. There's also items inspired more from Vietnamese cuisine like sticky rice crepe or steamed in banana leaves. For dessert, they have some home made and also serves 3 items from Sadaharu Aoki.

Everything I tasted were good. I most liked a set of beef dumplings that had a complex mix of ginger and herbs. I think the tastes are balanced, not too crazy fusion, just an enhanced version of the classic.

Obviously, as a true fan, I had to order an Aoki dessert to finish. There was 2 out of the 3 on the menu that I haven't tasted yet. I hesitated before choosing the lemon tart. Because I tend to always have issues with lemon tarts. More on that in another post, maybe...

Conclusion, as a pure Cantonese, I can tell you the dim sum you find at Yoom are not the "real" ones but it's still worth the experience.

First batches of macarons

I've never understood why macarons are so trendy these days. Don't get me wrong, I do like them (Hévin's are my favorites) but I've never been inspired to try to make them until I found  this "carrot cake macaron" recipe from Tartelette. When I was reading her post, I was already imagining the carrot cake baking smell and the taste all wrapped up in a tiny bite size macaron. So I got all excited and went shopping for ingredients to bake my first macarons. The truth is I'm not a genius so the first ones came out looking more like whoopie pies than macarons. I guess I should have started with a basic recipe... But the taste of carrot cake was definitely in there!

They were quite photogenic too AND gluten free!

I was surprised how little time it takes for the preparation. So, as I'm kind of lazy, this encourages me to make other trials. I've gone back to a more basic recipe in order to understand the meringue correctly first, yet I couldn't help adding some raspberry in the ganache. I'm happy because these second ones are looking more like macarons. There's still a lot to experiment...

Second batch, almost there...