Goin home...

The way home

Hong Kong airport after a traveling from Copenhagen, Berlin and Frankfurt.
Again what a buzz, the airport is packed with friendly people, a huge choice in food outlets and shopping stores, most of which are a little out of my league monetarily wise, just window shopping today.
We decide on crispy eel with miso, rice and pickeled vegetables for lunch, the food was ok on the flights, nothing to write home about, so I won't.
The next flight leaves Hong Kong in another two hours, so ill try and have a snooze, the seats on the Auckland Leg are in the back of the bus, so no room to stretch on this trip.
Our leg to HK gave us the exit rows so the feet could go up against the wall, great stuff.

Well, that is about it....
From the perfect madhouse that is Tokyo, being blown away to stay at a castle in Austria and having the opportunity to deliver a paper at an international conference, Vienna, stunning, Prague - ancient and a little scary, Berlin,  lunch at a two star, and so much to see we didn't even scratch the surface, Paris, loved it, and the Parisians - great people, be sure to wear an All Blacks shirt, Dijon, one of the highlights for me, a truly beautiful place, the real France. Copenhagen for Noma, an unforgetable experience, finally this mamouth trip home. A true whirlwind tour of some of the best places and food on the planet.
Has it "All been about the Food?" of course not.....the food in the most part has been fantastic, (coffee excepted) this trip has been about experience, personal development, meeting and delivering too like minded people who wish to take food to a new level....and to coin a fraise from Richard, "Time and Place"

Thank you again to Richard Mitchell who sorted and planned this amazing trip to further extend our research participation. Also to the Team at Otago Polytechnic, a passionate and dedicated group of professionals.  

 

Paris to Noma

A day of travel stretches through to when we dine at one of the best restaurants in the world - Noma.

The shuttle takes us from Orly hotel to the airport, then back to Berlin. A few hours of mindlessly walking around the airport, again drinking horrible coffee in the hope the "next one" will be better than the last - nein!

From Berlin to Copenhagen is a short 45 minute trip and we are treated to great weather again.

The first impressions of Copenhagen is how clean and efficient everything is. The train station is spotless, not crowded, and everyone specks English but appreciates "Takk" or thank you in Danish.

Again a beautiful city to walk around. We try a traditional bacon wrapped sausage in a  hotdog bun with onion, fryed shallots, mustard, and ketchup topped with dill pickles, yummmm, I could live on them. The franchise that sells them is called "steph's" we need one in Dunedin.

Wondering down the canal following the barges and weaving through the outdoor restaurants was a treat again, beautiful.....Karen we need to come here with the kids too.

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It's 1.00 am in the morning now and have just settled back from a night at Noma.

Here's the link below to a quick photo vid of the food.

http://youtu.be/cFMdh9Cg0L0

The menu goes something like this:

Gooseberry and elderflower

Nordic coconut

Rose hip berries and roses

Moss and Cep

Cheese cookie, rocket and stems

Pickled smoked quail eggs

Caramelised milk and cod liver

Ebleskiver @ greens

Sea urchin toast

Burnt leek

Berries and grilled veg

Shrimp and rhubarb root

Onion and fermented pears

Beets and herbs

Cauliflower with pine and horseradish

Potato and bleak roe

Wild duck, pear and kale

Blueberry and ants

Potato and plum

All this matched perfectly with wine or spirits, just amazing. The service was perfect without being formal. They work the room like a ballet. The chefs dive in and out of each other, 30 cooks flying in time, magic!!!

Click on the link if you want to see the photos, I can't do this place justice by writing or trying to cobble a video together. It is an experience, one that I am privialiged to have been a part of.

The night ends with beautiful coffee and a glass of Danish aquiver that will paralyze your liver with three sips, strong....bloody hell.

We also get a personal tour of the kitchens, out the back were they BBQ, test kitchen, production kitchens, even the pot wash and staff areas.... Brilliant staff, a few kiwis and Aussies.

They seem very open for people to starge, food for thought, all you budding Three star chefs.

We are meeting at Noma again tomorrow to go through the Nordic Food Lab, that will cap off this end of the trip then it's the thirty hours flying home.

Copenhagen, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Auckland then Dunedin.

No dought I will check in along the way.

Dijon to Paris

Dijon to Paris.

Today starts with a walk around Dijon on the hunt for breakfast.
Since the camera is broken I had the vein hope of trying to get it fixed, bloody impossible without the warranty card, and then it would take six weeks, no joy there. So my photos are on my phone and I'll rip them off my card when I'm reunited with my computer.
Breakfast eased my mood  a little when I found a fantastic chocolatier on the Rue de Liberty so that was my first course, six individually flavoured chocolates taken with a double espresso at one of the dozens of cafés in Dijons centre.
Richard had a meeting with his colleague at the university so I got to do some
"observational research " on the markets and eateries in this area, what a pleasure!
The food market is the only thing open till 10.00a.m. as the normal shops don't open till then. With food like the French have, I would stay home and eat breakfast everyday too.
The market is the hub for early Dijon, fresh fruit and vegetables ring its outside while inside, under cover all forms of charcuitiery, cheese, fish and of course mustard are traded.
By the time I had picked my way through all the stalls it was well after 10.00 so more exploration was called for in the form of pastry items. I couldn't keep up with the amount of Bolongaires, butchers, fromagiery, patisserie, and chocolate shops there were in two kilometers, spoilt for choice but again willing to take them on.
Photos here would be great....sorry....a little later.

I meet up with Richard and we walk around for another hour, it's time to leave Dijon and head back to Paris. I would love to return one day and spend more time. One of the locals commented, "The real France" We buy some rind washed soft cheese, chorizo, crusty bread and fruit for the train...magic.
The bullet train takes us back to Paris, not as comfortably as the first trip, the car is crowded and people are in the wrong seats for better views, upsetting a few but it all works out and we are soon speeding toward Gar de nord.

The first stop is to lighten the load by dropping off some of our gear at the train lockers again, a very good move as the trek begins exploring new highlights in this super city.
Paris is hurried and crammed full of people, they say Parisians are rude, I didn't find that at all, they just have somewhere to be and know how they want to get there. Pardon, Excuse moi, etc etc....is heard constantly. I like these people, because if you don't like their way, no problem, go somewhere else, they don't care.
The all black jersey is a passport to open conversation on the tube, metro and on the street, where one when you come to Paris.
The rest of the food for today is split up in bite size chunks, literally. Millfuille, Tart au Citron again with the pane au chocolate with coffee.

We see the art quater at the top of the Sacred Heart Church, that's a good climb. And views to die for of the whole city. We walk down to "moulin rousse" interesting part of town. We see the Effiel tower light up from the hill, along with every monument we didn't get a chance to pass by two days ago. All this time water, lots of it and food is a focus....for me anyway. By the way people do think your nuts photographing your food with your phone every five minutes. But there is a lot more eccentric people in this town than one cookie taking a few pics on his phone of lunch.

Come to Paris, it will leave you breathless, discover places like Dijon and enjoy great food, wine and brilliant people.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Germany to France.

The Berlin to Paris leg startes at 4.30a.m.

A electric powered taxi whisks us to Tegel airport where breakfast was not only unforgettable but uneatable also. The plane was 20 minutes late because one of the crew didn't show up but that's ok, everyone has an off day.

The snack consisted of a bread, pretzel tasting bun with warm water and not even a smile. The cabin crew are still asleep as well I think.

We land in Orly airport and catch a train straight to Poilane Bolongaire where two Pane Chocolate were ordered and kept to eat at the Eifiel Tower. What a bakery. Perfectly baked breads and flaky pastries of every kind load the shop....this is better than Airport food.

At this point my camera craps out completely so I am relying on Richard for the photography till I see if I can get my little point and shoot fixed....bugger :(

The Efiel Tower is next, devouring a pastry, in an A.B's shirt, in front of this fantastic place is a must for any kiwi.

We walk back to Gard de Lyon and then to Pyramides by train. I stop for a Nougat Mollintair at Gourmond Chocolate, great shop, fantastic looking product....the nougat, so - so.

After walking miles we stop for lunch at the Royal Opera, an authentic Parisian diner with all the trimmings. Traditional food, great waiters, tables on the street, and an old school menu that has been around for decades.

Croque Provensal, with a glass of Côte de provance rose for lunch, how was it? Traditional, would I change it at home? For sure, good Ham, thicker bread, and a nicer salad. But I'm in Paris, no complaints here.

We walk around the corner from the restaurant and here is the Louvre, what a site....you could spend a week here and only sctrach the surface. From the Louvre I can see the Arc du Triumphe, (excuse the spelling) following the Seine we walk about 3 or 4 ks through the Tuilles, the Champs e Laisse. Past the  Obelisk up to the Arc and the mad house that is that intersection, as big as Tokyo, less controlled.

The final snack before heading to the TGV, (the bullet train) is a Tart du Pomme, wonderful snack, pastry was great and the topping made from apple and vanilla was lovely. I would have had a photo but I ate it to quickly.

We are on the train to Dijon now, 200+ ks we are travelling at! great scenery, just about ready for a
nap. Will finish this after diner etc.

We just got back from dinner in Dijon with a colleague of Richards. He took us to a little restaurant called "Le Coin Cache" what a meal. Pictures on YouTube.

We ordered a set menu which consisted of:

Shrimp on ratatouille with sieved egg mayonnaise, Terrine of Foie Gras with warm brioche, A bream on gratin with sauce homard, Veal with morels and chanterelles in a cream sauce, Cheese from the region, I can't remember the local names but they were brilliant, A selection of desserts, brûlée, fromage blanc, red wine pear tart, petit fruit salad and a panacotta. This was finished with Tuilles biscuits and walnut Madeline's.

What a meal, Stephen, Richards colleague is also a M.W. Master of wine, so the french wine match was perfect.

The city it's self is a picture postcard of a French City, 220k live here but walking back from the restaurant you could have been in Milton on a Sunday morning it is that quiet.

I have the food markets in the morning in the square so I'll do some more photos from there tomorrow. Needless to say if you are in Dijon, the "Le Coin Cache" (the hidden corner) is the place to eat.

Berlin, day two

Berlin day Two.

Spritzkuchen is the name of the choux paste doughnut shaped treat above. Sooo light and flavoured with creme pate and white chocolate icing, "breakfast of champions" second breakfast.

So the day starts as it has for the last three with a mediocre breakfast and a walk to the train station.
Berlin first thing in the morning, in the suburbs anyway, is a very quiet place especially on a Sunday. All the shops are closed and hardly a soul on the streets or walking to the train.
This however doesn't last, when we get to Alexanderplatz, centre of town, the place is overrun with people for the main day of the marathon. We get a great view all the way around from what ever metro stop we stop at.
Cheering drums, flags you name it fans are going nuts. What a great day to be in Berlin.
The walking continues to "checkpoint Charlie" a bit touristy for me....euro's for photos with actors dressed in American G.I. Uniforms.
The wall however...

A very moving place to be, everyone is very respectful of this monument to the past, quiet not exploited at all.
We continue to walk and it's time for lunch, a little Italian number today found in a market place off Alexanderplatz again.
Italian vino, a great Gnocchi with tomato and pecorino for me, spaghetti for Richard, topped off with the biggest, lightest tiramisu I've ever seen. Need to walk a few more Ks after this baby.

After lunch we walk through the Oktoberfest again along with another market selling more German style snacks, you can call them snacks but the smallest weighs 500gms so it's bloody hard work.

Now it's time to start thinking about tomorrow, we walk to the train station again through open, tree lined streets each with a mix of the restored older buildings and the new where the originals fell to the  bombing of this beautiful city.

It's off to the airport now, Tegel airport has baggage storage for us, so while we are in France we need only take a day pack.... The bloody suitcase is too heavy for a two day trip.

After getting back from the airport we stop at the local pub next to the hotel again for a spot of dinner. Pilzpfanne Hubertus which is strips of pork with onions, mushrooms and spatzle with a great glass of the local gevertz finished off the night and me as well.

It's off to Paris and Dijon tomorrow, back to Paris the next day, then to Copenhagen.

Busy, busy times.....no video today....no time.

Check out the pic below of the local restaurant, great place, great food.

A day in Berlin.

A day in Berlin.

Our day starts as usual with the hotel breakfast, nothing special this morning. Canned fruit with average yogurt. The eggs looked uneatable but the pastry was ok....off we set to Meet Miles Watson from Pure Berlin about them coming to our conference next year.
So we take the metro to Alexanderplatz and have a walk around, checking out the set up for the Beer Fest later-on today. (Oktoberfest Berliner)
Meeting Miles and Sebastian at their favourite coffee shop where we are treated to the best coffee we have had on the trip.
Then the highlight of the day....lunch at the Two Star Michelin Fischers Fritz Restaurant at Berlins Regent Hotel.

Miles organised an intro from the Sous Chef for us along with a tour of the kitchen. An old school, very traditional lay out with Sauce, Entremetier, Gardemanger and Pastry sections, no induction or gas but hot plates super heated the air as we were shown through the tinned coppers and dutch ovens, Nirvana...for a cookie from NZ.
We ordered just two courses but ended up having six thanks to the Executive Chef, Christian Lohse, who come to meet us in the restaurant on his way back from the airport.
I'll put the pic's up on a vid, link to come.

 

Needless to say the meal was fantastic, the service was impeccable  and Chef was a very generous host.
He gave us our menu's, and a 250gm bar of his milk and hazelnut chocolate that he gets made exclusively for the Regent, wow...best chocolate iv'e ever tasted.
So the meeting went well, if the price is right and the dates fit we could see the first of our international participants for the conference on board.
After saying our goodbyes to Miles and Sebastian we go walking again...through the streets of Berlin, stopping at the Brandenburg Gate, thousands of people around with the Berlin Marathon on as well today. Then off to the Oktoberfest and what a experience that was, great food, beer-beer and more beer, we stuck to the food.

 

Spatzle with Pork and Onions, Libiercase with potato salad and sauerkraut, Sweet pastry with banana and chocolate and Pretzels everywhere.
Another great day, we have an extra day in Berlin tomorrow before heading to Paris.
we plan to have a look around on a tour, checking out more culinary offerings from this fascinating city.

Link to Youtube Vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7TLbfNnNUQ

  

Prague to Berlin

Country Four, Prague to Berlin.

The start of the move to our forth country today.
We move on from Prague, a very unique City, the landscape is huge, the streets narrow and the people give over a sense of hurried caution to everyone around them. A beautiful city all the same.
We spend the morning looking through street markets and see even more wonderful food on offer. We had the second part of breakfast in a chocolate shop, fantastic hand made chocolate. Then through fresh fruit stalls and more local street food to tempt us further.

Our train is delayed 80 minutes from Prague, when we do get underway we spend the afternoon on the train watching magic scenery go past. Apples and chocolate bought from the markets in Prague were lunch due to a lesson learnt from our previous trip through Czech on the train.

In Dresden we meet an older couple who tell us all about Berlin over the next 2 hour train ride, great people. He was a professor of demography at Berlin University, fascinating older man, it was great for him to share his story with us.
We get to Berlin and the train station is about as much of Berlin as we see. We are off to an outer suburb called Alt Reinickendorf to the Ibis for the night.
The hotel is ok, small room as usual and the net is still slow....whats with that. But nice people again.
We head off next door to a little German Pub for a meal.
We find out he's doing a beer fest of his own and talks us into a stein of the local, a Ham Hock and Berlin Curry whurst....Brilliant!!!

Well thats it for today, Big! day tomorrow with the meeting with Pure Berlin and checking out this huge city. Can't wait.


 

Vienna to Prague

Vienna to Prague, country three.

We left for the Mall by the train station early, before check out. A very pleasant start to the day with an open sandwich of Smoked Salmon and corn mayonnaise, caper berries and salad....I'll be making that when i get home. Fresh squeezed o.j. as well, set us up for the day.

We checked out of the hotel and caught the train into the city then joined up with the rail, 9.22 and its off to the Czech Republic.

We cross the border into Breclav just after 11.00am, time to try the dining cart out on the train me thinks, I need a Coffee.

The seating on the train  is a mad house, we had a different train  than expected so the seats were all out of wack, that mad the Americans all bitter and twisted, calm down mate!!!

Anyway, the dinning car was decidedly average. The coffee was undrinkable, and the prosciutto sandwich was stale, (it has a use by but no packed-on date) if this keeps up i wont be piling on the pounds in Prague.

The countryside is bleak and where there is infrastructure it looks a bit decrepit, overgrown and industrialised. Massive fields with corn, sunflowers, fennel and other crops stretch out to what seems the mountains in the distance.

Graffiti on every bridge, every fence, such a stark contrast from the vibrant and very polished city we just left behind.

We get into Prague itself and we are blown away again. Too many photos to list here, check out the attached vid again.

St Stephens bridge, the anatomical clock, castles, statues, streets lined with every Bohemian shop front, stall, beer and cafe you could ever dream of. Again I feel so privileged to be here to see these wonderful cities and experience their cuisine.

There Food....Langosh, Roast pork off the spit in the street, deep fried potato twirls, grilled cheeses, doughnuts formed on a pipe in a spiral with sugared almonds and vanilla sugar, stunning, just stunning.

We wonder the streets till our legs are sore and hear the faint call of a cold beer calling, time to get cleaned up and wonder out for dinner.

The hotel where we are staying is right in the centre of new town. The Hotel Meran, is an older place, it was taken by the nazi's in WW2 and through several changes of hands has now been bought back by the original owners family. Great story. The decor is straight out of a 1970's sitcom, but what makes up for that is the service. The lady at the desk must be in her 60's, great lady, friendly, helpful and really interested in how we were going to make best use of our time....if you want somewhere to stay in Prague, Hotel Meran.

Rich has crashed so I head down to the Czech museum and find a bar and another meaty filled bread type unit to have with the real reason I came out, to have my first Czech Beer in Prague, and bloody good it was too. These huge glasses are 50 kr, about $1.50 or something....great beer.

So the lesson learned here....don't worry about what a place looks like on first impressions, if its anything like Prague it will certainly surprise you. Cheers!!!

Internet is so slow, will post the vid later when a good connection is found.

Graz - Vienna

Up this morning at sparrows again.

Last day of the conference so we went to a couple of the last deliveries of papers, some interesting stuff on waste disposal, and another on the use of swiftlet birds nests as a very sought after culinary product in Asia, these have been around for hundreds of years but now they are starting to farm them, fascinating stuff.

So the conference is over, very rewarding and I’ve learnt so much, I will be on the look-out to write more abstracts….definitely!

Before we left for the train station the conference organized local artisan suppliers to host a mini farmers market and discuss their local fare, very well put together and appreciated. There are lots more photos in the movie from today, follow the link at base of this section.

 

 So we took a taxi to the train station, a local train to Graz this led us to the first snack of the day from a local bakery, a plundergebeck, I think I’ve got that right, a large Danish pastry filled with rows of poppy seed paste, vanilla cream pate, and a hazelnut spread…also a apricot and vanilla pastry, with a salami roll…wonderful. This experience was saddened a bit when a small boy came up to us begging for change, with his mother looking on from a discrete distance…poor wee bugger.

Then we caught the Main rail to Vienna.

About two and a half hours on the train, stunning vistas again…what a beautiful looking country!

We arrive in Vienna and book into Kaiser 23 Hostel, nice clean place with friendly people to help us out. The rooms on our floor have names…Sacher Torte, Wiener Schnitel and Guglhupf, all well known Austrian dishes.

We catch the Metro then a tram into the “Ring” tourist central….man overwhelming buildings and statues everywhere. (Again, check out the Vid)

We went to Demel for a Hot Chocolate and cake, this is one of the oldest and most well known coffee houses in Vienna, a glass walled kitchen is on view were you can watch the days production. Not cheap but well worth it.

 

Walked the streets again just looking and soaking in the Atmos….brilliant.

We had dinner with a couple of people from the conference, one of them a local. We ended up going to one of the oldest Inns in Vienna, the Gmoa Keller restaurant. Great meal, great conversation and cemented some very god contacts for the conference next year. The restaurant was very traditional but again have a look at the Flick….

 

So much food…Soooo tired….but now the next part of the adventure begins, off to Prague in the morning so who knows what that will bring, I hope the food will continue to be as good as we have had so far.
Bye Vienna.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UMgFFZL0-U

Seggau Castle, last conference day.

Last night at the Conference.
I presented my paper tonight and it went over well...I think? A big thanks to Richard who helped me no end, very rewarding. We sit in on a couple of sessions in the morning then its off to Graz, then off to Vienna for another night....looking forward to that, great city.

The food today:
I missed the photos of breakfast....so just coffee for this morning. I had a wonderful bread this morning spread with cream cheese pumpkin oil and toasted pumpkin seeds, a beautiful combination and a speciality of the region.

I had time for a few more photos of the castle and the old 15th century carvings off the chapel.

 

The buffet tonight was very well put together, curried barley, mash, crumbed turkey, a very nice tossed veg, salads....and two "old school" platters of, Vegetables in a chicken aspic and Porcini Terrine, bloody lovely, went back three times.

 

Wow, great stuff, love the beetroot and blackberry jelly....



So thats about it for today, busy / busy.
I will be sorry to leave this area, lovely people, beautiful setting....but off to see new pastures, and eat plenty of new food.
Will check in soon.

Castle Seggau, conference day two

Second day at the Castle Seggau and the opening of the conference.
Breakfast at 7.30, registration and opening at 9.00am, keynote speakers then parallel papers through to 8.00pm.

 

Long day but very interesting delivery and we made some great contacts, a few Richard may considerfor our up coming conference. 

Dinner was a surprise with Goulash, Chive potatoes and the good old "Serviette Knoodle" on offer.... this was my chance to compare my efforts with cooking that dish with the authentic Austrian fare, iv'e got to say....mine is better than the one I had tonight, Chef must have had an off night :)

Pretty cool day, learned a lot, had a lot of stuff go sailing way above my head too. Deliver my paper tomorrow, should be fun.

Will check in tomorrow.

Just a quick addition:

Link for the first night in Vienna....Nice, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r6jTiw_e4I