TRAVEL – Page 4 – Scandelights

Franceschetta 58, Modena

Published on April 7, 2016April 7, 2016 by Hanna2 Comments

We rented a car on our second day in Bologna and I got a crash course in how the Italians drive, i.e. a bit crazy, but it was fun too.

The car took us to Modena, the city most famous for balsamic vinegar and the second best restaurant in the world right now; Osteria Francescana.

We were sadly not lucky enough to nab one of the twelve tables there, despite being waitlisted for every meal, so I guess we’ll just have to come back. I would sooo like to try Massimo Bottura’s iconic cooking.

But when I researched restaurants in Modena I discovered that chef Bottura has another restaurant in town; the much more low key Franceschetta 58, so that’s where we had lunch. They only serve a buffet for lunch, but it was very very good. I would have liked to try the a’la carte as well though, so I need to come back here one evening.

The buffet had both a cold and a warm section. The cold section (above) contained charcuterie, parmesan, bread, salads and cakes for pudding.

I tried most things from the cold buffet and everything was excellent. The charcuterie was very nice, just like the aged Parmesan. I also got to try proper ricotta (light years away from what we can buy in a packet at Waitrose), and it was mild but salty and very fluffy in texture. The salads were also very good and I especially enjoyed the one with bitter leaves, pears and crutons but also liked the one with farro, feta and courgette.

The hot dishes the staff plated for us. We had the pasta as primi and then came back for the main courses.

Both pasta dishes were amazing! The spaghetti hoops to the left (does anyone know the proper name for this pasta shape?) with speck, walnuts and endive was very earthy in flavour and very nice. But the orecchiette with salsiccia and tomato sauce was out of this world. I still dream about it; it was that good.

The main courses were great too. I absolutely loved the beef stew with cream and mustard (top right) and the sweet roasted vegetables. The potato purée was heavenly creamy and the pork stew with an undefined bitter vegetable was nice too.

There were two types of cake for pudding, one with chocolate and nuts that was rather dry in texture and not really my thing, but Caroline liked it. I preferred the other one with apple and pears.

If you find yourself in Modena I urge you to go here. It’s one of the best buffets I’ve ever had. And although it’s simple cooking and not extravagant in any way it’s done very very well. It’s also very good value for money; all of this gorgeous food only cost €17!

Franceschetta 58, Via Vignolese, 58, 41124 Modena, Italy

Trattoria Caminetto d’Oro, Bologna

Published on April 6, 2016April 7, 2016 by HannaLeave a comment

Our first day in Bologna (Good Friday) we walked all over town to explore, but despite the many restaurants here we really struggled to find a nice place for lunch in the area where we were. After a while we settled for Pizzeria Trattoria O Sole Mio, where we had an OK lunch. I had a pizza with plump porcini mushroomsch and Caroline had gramignone pasta with salsiccia and copious amount of cream. Nothing to write home about but just what we needed.

Our dinner that day was a little more exciting, as we had booked a table at Trattoria Caminetto d’Oro. The menu looked really good so we decided to share two starters to get to taste as much as possible. But first we had the amuse bouche above; a fish mousse with fennel I believe.

One of the starters was this potato filled ravioli with pecorino and black truffle. It was absolutely delicious and just the type of Italian food I had been dreaming about before our trip.

The second starter was the daily smoked fish: seabass, with finely chopped vegetables, orange peel, rosemary and thyme. Absolutely delicious! I must remember to pair orange with fish, it works so very well!

I never tire of truffle so I chose the poached egg with parmesan, white truffle, purple potato purée, croutons and a whole artichoke for my mains. Everything was delicious but it was a dish that you ate in sections because of the artichoke, but still lovely.

Caroline tried the ‘traditional boiled meats’, which was similar to a pot au feu, tender meats in a deliciously flavoured broth. Very filling though as some of the meat was sausages.

It came with two sharp sauces, to cut through the richness of the meat; one with herbs and one with chilli, both really nice.

We really enjoyed the food, but the service could have been better. The sommelier was not helpful at all, and actually quite rude. The saving grace was the restaurant manager/owner who really did a great job, but he should hire better staff!

Worth a visit.

Caminetto d’Oro, Via de’ Falegnami 4, Bologna, Italy

Italy in spring

Published on April 5, 2016April 7, 2016 by Hanna2 Comments

For Easter my friend Caroline and I went to Italy, to enjoy glorious spring weather and eat copious amounts of pasta. That’s our type of holiday.

We spent most of the time in Bologna, in the Emilia-Romagna region, but we also drove to Modena, Cierva and Ravenna. Driving in Italy was an, ehum, experience but we got into it after a while.

It was lovely to see all the fresh produce at the greengrocers. Bright red tomatoes, asparagus and courgette flowers made the mouth water, and strawberries were in season too!

We of course enjoyed pasta, cheese and charkuteries as well. And fish and seafood.

Just a change of scenery and pace was lovely, but also to enjoy some sunshine and be able to sit outside was amazing. I’m such a spring and summertime person I feel I came alive again!

I have plenty to tell you about the restaurants we went too, so hope you’re up for a few posts on Italy!

Danish sandwiches at Copenhagen Airport

Published on February 3, 2016 by Hanna2 Comments

When I go home to visit my family and friends in Sweden, I actually fly to Denmark as Copenhagen airport is the closest international airport. The train to Sweden takes only 12 minutes (over that famous bridge) so it’s very easy to get there.

I find myself spending a fair bit of time at this airport and although I have always liked certain things about it (the dark wooden floors, the hand luggage trolley and the shopping) the food selection has never been that great. This has changed in the last couple of years though and on my last visit, in January, I noticed that the well-known smørrebrød restaurant Aamann’s had opened a sandwich bar here that I just had to try.

I love the elaborate open-faced Danish sandwiches (smørrebrød) with more topping than bread and this one with steak tartar, tarragon mayo, capers, crispy onions, pickled red onions and cornichons was wonderful! It was also so filling I only managed the one (I will have to try the other ones another time) and very good value for money too at only DKK 65.

There are more places worth visiting for food at Copenhagen airport; Lagkagehuset and Joe and the juice have been around for a while now but I saw that Gorm’s pizza opened recently as well. It’s come a long way since the awful (and overpriced) sandwiches from a few years ago when the only safe option was a hot dog.

Cooking Course at Gioan, Hoi An, Vietnam

Published on May 1, 2015May 1, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

I had booked a cooking course for our last morning in Hoi An, at a cooking school I almost literally stumbled upon. There are plenty of cooking schools in Hoi An to choose from and I just didn’t like the look of the set menu most places offered. But then I walked past Gioan and peered in and a Swiss man just finishing his coursed started telling me how great it was. That’s the best form of PR so I signed up on the spot and booked my course for a few days later. I also liked that I could do the course on my own and choose my own dishes.

Before we started cooking we (an Australian family who had booked a class for the same time and I) took a tour to the market with a guide who explained what some unknown produce were, showed us local herbs and which vendors he preferred.

Back at the school my table was set up for me and we started cooking the first of my four chosen recipes straight away. It was quite high pace as the lesson was only 2 hours including the trip to the market but it all went well and the recipes were easy to follow. My teacher was really sweet and loved singing so we sang while cooking – it was great!

I really enjoyed this peak into Vietnamese cuisine – I feel I get it more now seeing what combinations of flavours they use a lot and having made dishes from scratch myself. All the recipes were great – all my four dishes were delicious and some better than the food we sampled in some of the restaurants!

One of the dishes the Swiss man was raving about was the fish in banana leaf and after tasting it I know exactly what he means!

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We used yellowfin tuna and although I don’t like tuna cooked through (I prefer it raw or seared) the marinade and the flavours made it delicious!

I also made country pancake rolls which in my mind beats all summer rolls! The crispy rice flour based pancake with prawns and fried quails eggs wrapped in rice paper with green mango, lettuce and mint were absolutely delicious together with the sour dipping sauce.

I also made a dish local to Hoi An called Cao Lau, made with thick noodles that contains ash (!) and are only made here, marinated pork and rice paper croutons. So nice!

The last dish was a Vietnamese beef curry which was amazing! It wasn’t as heavy as I had expected because it didn’t contain any coconut milk; instead it was made using coconut water (but regular water is fine too).

I really enjoyed this course and can’t wait to cook Vietnamese food for my friends! I did stock up on spices and rice paper while I was there.

Gioan Cookery School, 95 Bach Dang Str, Hoi An, Vietnam

Travel pics

Published on April 14, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

Hi,

I’m back in a sunny London with less jetlag than anticipated (yay!) and so much to show you. But let’s start with a selection of pictures from my trip to Hong Kong, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Neon signs galore in Hong Kong.

Caramelised pork in Hong Kong.

Tram in HK.

Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia.

Market in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Local noodles (made with ash) in Hoi An, Vietnam.

Snails and kumquats in Vietnam.

The market in Hoi An, Vietnam.

Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The Ho Chi Minh mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Street view in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Cava and pinxtos at Boqueria, Stockholm

Published on February 18, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

It was snowing in Stockholm two weekends ago so after walking around for a bit on the Saturday after a very late breakfast we were happy to escape the cold and look around a shopping centre. We got bored fairly quickly though and went to a pinxtos bar in the shopping centre and had a glass of cava. And then another. And then had some pinxtos.

2015-02-07 13.23.07

It was a really nice setting (especially for being in a shopping centre!) with high ceilings, natural light and lots of tables scattered around the atrium with the bar in the middle. Close by was the proper restaurant but we preferred the bar.

The pinxtos were not nearly as good as the real deal in Spain’s Basque Region, but for being served in Sweden they were nice. We had some with serrano ham and Manchego and I also tried a seafood one and one with chicken and tarragon. The olives and Spanish almonds were great!

Boqueria, Jakobsbergsgatan 17, 111 44 Stockholm, Sweden

Dinner at Tapa Negra, Palma de Mallorca

Published on April 30, 2014 by Hanna1 Comment

The first thing I do before going away is to research restaurants. Because for me, nothing ruins a good holiday like bad food. And usually the bad tourist trap food is quite pricey too, which makes it even worse. I resent paying for food I can cook better myself but will happily pay quite a lot for good food. Anyway, that’s me and that’s why I spend time reading travel guides and restaurant recommendations online.

Tapa Negra was mentioned in several British articles (but in no Swedish ones) and as it was close to our hotel and open on a Sunday I decided we’d go here the day we arrived to celebrate daddy’s birthday.

It wasn’t fancy but not too casual either and the food was very good! The menu offered a mixture of cold and warm tapas, small plates (much like at Opera Tavern in London) and a few main courses to keep everyone happy.

My dad loves prawns, so the gambas with garlic and chilli were a given. Really good!

We of course had some pata negra (jamón ibérico) too, ham from black Iberia pigs bred on acorns. I think you can convey from the picture how delicious it was!

We also had a chicken scewer with incredibly moist chicken that came with grated fried potatoes. Simple and delicious!

We also had patatas bravas (you can spot some on the plate to the left) and they were really nice, olives bread and a mini burger that was totally yummy.

We also ended up with some pan con tomato that we actually didn’t order but were happy to eat and pay for (it’s the Spanish version of bruschetta with tomato pulp on garlicky crostini) and also had a crostini topped with coldsmoked cod. Daddy passed on it but mummy and I really enjoyed it. In fact we enjoyed everything! It was high quality on both the produce and the cooking.

Since it was daddy’s birthday we shared a bottle of nice cava with the food (Juvé y Camps 2009) and after all that food we could only muster two puddings to share. We had the grandad’s pudding, which was like a more set version of a crème caramel with a thicker caramel sauce, and some vanilla ice cream. The ice cream was very good and the pudding alright, but maybe not as nice as all the savoury food we had.

Highly recommended but requires an advance booking, easily done on their website.

Tapa Negra, Ingeniero Gabriel Roca 29, Palma de Mallorca, Majorca, Spain

Dublin part II: Fallon & Byrne, the Exchequer and Bewley’s

Published on February 8, 2012 by HannaLeave a comment

After walking around in a grey, rainy and windy Dublin during the day, we were pleased when the rain stopped towards the evening.

We started our evening out at Fallon & Byrne, a wine cellar, food hall and restaurant, all under the same roof. The wine cellar was (of course) placed in the cellar, the food hall on the ground floor and the restaurant was upstairs.

The restaurant felt very cosy and was packed with people sitting around lots of small and a few larger tables covered with white tablecloths. There was a bar at the far end of the room and even the stools there were full. We arrived at 7pm, and in London it is very unusual to find a restaurant full at that time. But even though it was full that early, they relayed tables a couple of times through the evening, so it was obviously a popular place.

The menu and the ambiance was very similar; cosy but with some finesse! The service was efficient and professional; drinks, bread and butter appeared quickly on our table.

Karin’s starter was thinly sliced beetroots, marinated artichokes, rocket and a divine mild goat’s cheese.

My choice was celeriac soup with parsley foam. It was really nice, but not far off my own version, although the foam added another dimension. The bread was lovely too; crusty on the outside and lovely and soft within.

The starters were rather too large, so when it was time for our maincourses we were already quite full.

Karin chose pan-fried duck breast with potato fondant, pickled red cabbage and red wine jus. I chose herbcrusted halibut with perfect Pommes Anna, grapes and green beans. Both mains were lovely and had good combinations of flavours, but the portions were very really large.

We were too full to be tempted by the dessert menu, but Karin had a coffee, although a bit weak.

Afterwards we stepped onto the street and I realised we were on the corner from a bar my Irish friend Sineas had recommended; the Exchequer (on Exchequer Street).

It was a popular gastro pub/cocktail bar with some wonderful creations. I was too full for anything sweet, although I was very temped by the cocktails. Karin chose a Kir Royal and received a glass of bubbly with a pink cassis foam on top. A clever take on the classic!

After two drinks here we proceeded towards Temple Bar, the area where mosts pubs and bars are and we just chose a place at random, stayed there for a short while and then procedded onto a different one and so on.

Next day we were quite tired and wandered around Trinity College but felt after a while we needed to sit down and have a rest and some lunch. We just walked across the street to Bewley’s, a café on Grafton Street.

To be honest, the maincourses (pizzas and pasta dishes) didn’t look very appealing, but the sandwiches looked good and were exactly what we needed. I chose a toasted bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese and Karin chose a toasted ham and cheese ciabatta. We also got salad and lovely crisps on pur plates.

Fallon & Byrne, 17 Exchequer Street Ranelagh, Dublin 2, Ireland

The Exchequer, 3-5 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2 Ireland Ireland

Bewley’s Café, 78/79 Grafton Street, Dublin 2, Ireland

Dublin, part I: Guiness store house and Trinity College

Published on February 7, 2012 by HannaLeave a comment

On Saturday I met up with Karin at Dublin Airport; she arrived from Liverpool and I from Gatwick. Before I headed over to the other terminal to meet her, I went to the washrooms and this Irish lady started talking to me instantly. It turned all the Irish people we met during our stay in Dublin were just as friendly as she was.

After having left our bags at the hotel and had some breakfast we walked in the rain to the Guiness store house were we enjoyed the educational but sometimes a bit slow, exhibition. It was interesting to learn how Guiness is made and what gives it the distinctive dark colour (roasted barley).

: Karin outside the Guiness store house

Included in the ticket was both a little taster of Guiness and also a whole pint at the top floor bar. Before we headed up there we stopped at the floor beneath to have lunch.

Seafood soup with samphire

The menu sounded really nice, but the execution wasn’t really there unfortunately. Our soup tasted quite nice, but some of the seafood looked a bit sad and it was obvious it came from a supermarket counter and not a proper fishmonger.

The was also not hot enough. We loved the dark soft bread though. We also stopped at the shop on our way out for some Guiness toffee and chocolate.

Afterwards we wanted to see Marsh’s Library, the first public library in Ireland with books dating back to the 1500s. Unfortunarely it closed early in the afternoon so we didn’t have time to visit. Walking back to the town centre the sky really opened and we had to run into a department store to escape the rain.

We found some lovely looking cupcakes there. And the store itself was an amazing building, too bad they only had boring shops like Argos inside it. It had such potential!


Trinty College

On the Sunday we went to Trinity College in the town centre and it was nice and all, but both Cambridge and my old univeristy in Sweden is a lot prettier. The sign posting was also lacking a lot and it took us a while to find the Science Gallery but it was closed because they were putting up a new exhibition. So we went to another exhibition instead; the Book of Kells. It was fairly interesting but could have been displayed in a better way. The best part however, was that on our way out we had to go upstairs to the long room, which indeed was a long room with a wonderful rounded ceiling and lots and lots of old leather bound book and statues if famous authours. That was wonderful to see!