Fooding around Brussels

I only knew Brussels for the EU Parliament, Committee,
belgian beers and european, white-collar workers.
In the past months I visited Belguim for a gastronomic
event taking place in the Parliament.

I had the chance to get to know a little bit of the other side of the coin: what Brussels taste like.

First stop was Le pain Quotidien in Sablon.

Fresh bread, soury goat cheese, dried tomato, basil pesto, olive oil.
A little of le goût de la Méditerranée in center Europe.

Passing to the other side, I entered Wittamer finest pastry shop.
The reason of my visit was straight and clear: eclair au chocolat.

Sticky chocolate glaze, soft, flufy pastry, thick and smooth chocolate filling.
Strong and acid aftertaste of the fruity notes of the grand cru chocolate.
Très elegant.

Before dinner I went shopping.
Beer shopping.
In Grand Place among others there is a wooden old store, with a huge selection of Belgian beers.

 Apart from handsome, he was polite and willng to help me find the beer
that best matched my taste criteria. Unfortunately, I can't remember his name.

I gave him a smile, he gave me a praline bonbon.


With a sweet flavour filling my mouth, I left la Grand Place heading to Marcolini's "jewellery store", the Haute Chocolaterie of Sablon. 
The intercontinental chef pâtissier, so famous for his upper class chocolate creations is travelling form Europe to Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, Madagascar, Venezuela to find and choose by himself the best cocoa beans.

This is a dark gran cru tablet chocolate from Bahia- Brazil. It is slightly acid, made 78% Forastero cocoa. In their site you can find more of information. 

I enjoyed it with a Taf Rosebud espreso shot and it was divine.

Little do we know about Pierre Marcolini as a person, but, let's admit that we do care much more about his profesional capacity and his edible, tiny visions- his chocolates. 

The originals are handmade and signed.

PS. I dedicate this post to my beloved friends Eli and Michael with all my love for a great new start in the heart of Europe. A votre santé mes amis!

Bitter Broken Heart

Some weeks ago I paid a visit to my best friends commune in London; 

after years of wishing and dreaming about roomating 

four of them hopefully managed to live together.  

We had our chances to catch up and reunite our spirits,  

smile and laugh, 

hug and feel each other, 

hear the inner truth revealing itself. 

Turning back home was hard and sad. 

There is only one way for me to exorcise the evil. 

Baking. 

The british capital is always a tickle for my eye's and taste's curiosity, 

so I couldn't help but endure. 

In Spitalfields market I met Montezuma's chocolate. 

 Bitter mouthful and heavy, like lies between adolescents in love. 

This was the raw material for my chocolate fondant. 

Eggs, brown sugar, milk cream and a bitter, so bitter chocolate. 

My heart was broken.  

Unintentionally, but to the point. 

a Silicon Inspiration

I enjoy buying kitchen utensils almost as much as I enjoy buying shoes. 

To make the long story short, with this baking mold, I was thrilled. 

One of my collegues at work (ok, not just a collegue, the absolute working-with-person) bought it for me, just one day after I said I liked it. 

So that I thank and please her, I wanted to make an exeptional recipe. 

Chocolate was the basic ingredient, as always. 

Dozens of recipes passed on my mind. Cakes, brownies, mousses. 

Until it was NYT and a marvellous recipe with Nutella. 

 It's name provoked salivation: Chocolate Hazelnut Panna Cotta. 

You can follow the link to see the recipe as it was published in NYT, 

or continue reading to make my version, a customised one. 

 9 gelatin leaves, 3 gr. each

80 gr. of chocolate, bitter or milk, finely chopped

300 gr of Nutella

300 gr. cream

1 cup whole milk

seeds of one vanilla stick 


1. In a medium bowl, whisk gelatin with 3 tablespoons cold water. Place chopped chocolate in another medium bowl. In a large bowl, place Nutella.  

2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring cream to a boil. Pour half the cream over gelatin mixture and whisk gently to combine; add vanilla seeds. Pour remaining cream over chopped chocolate; whisk until smooth. Combine two mixtures; whisk well.

3. Pour one-third of the gelatin-chocolate mixture over Nutella; beat using an electric mixer on low speed until a smooth paste forms. Pour in remaining mixture and milk; beat until fully combined.

4. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into the mold. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator until set, about six hours or overnight. 

Chop, melt, boil, mix, whisk, freeze, unmold and share the ones you love. 

Arnaud Bignon au chocolat.

It was the first time I burrowed in a Michelin star awarded kitchen. A Wednesday morning I drove up to Spondi and participated to one of the cuisine lessons that take place weekly. Chocolate was the theme, so the motive was strong enough. 

Impressed by the utensils, the accurate moves of the chef, Arnaud Bignon and his marvellous technique that made everything look so easy. Simple food steps.

A three course menu based on the magical, brunette substance- dark chocolate. 

The chef  used it mainly as a spice, to give a pint of sweet flavor in a green apple- roka salad and then to underline the soft texture of a boeuf, filling a won ton dough ravioli. Shiitake mushrooms in a light broth were swimming all around it. Delightful. 

Dessert was a masterpiece, consisting of  six different mixtures and compounds. So complex taste. Chocolate sablé pâte, meringues in straw shape, chocolate ganache, crispy rice, lemon confit, matcha chiffon.  

After the masterclass, the menu was served in a luxurious table were the students enjoyed the blessing of eating and drinking. Every lesson costs 70 euros and it includes 3 hour tutoring, the recipes and a full meal. The classes are mainly in french or english. For further information you can call 210-75.64.021. 

Here you can read the article in greek.

Down in the kitchen.

Last week I entered the kitchen of a prestigious restaurant. 

Tutoring was the reason.

An honoured chef, some chic francophone ladies craving for learning and a three course menu, based on chocolate.

True pleasure.  

Guess where I was...

So many utensils, so little time to clean them

Coming up posts referring to the glorious menu and extra photos

Fantasy Palette

Like a palette of colors with which children paint in white paper. Those colorful sticks derive from fantasy and creativity, exactly as kid's paints do- except for they're actually chocolate.

Designed and firmed by Sadaharu Aoki, a prosperous Chef patissier from Tokyo, this artistic item is named Bonbon Maquillage.  A box with twelve little bars, that hide inside tasteful surprises, such as yuzu cream, caramel toffe and matcha tea. I was the lucky and daring one to taste the light green- which was wasabi. 
Mr. Aoki, congratulations.

Σαν μια παλέτα από τέμπερες σαν αυτές που μπογιατίζουν τα πιτσιρίκια τα λευκά χαρτιά. Αυτά τα χρωματιστά "ξυλαράκια" είναι προϊόντα φαντασίας και δημιουργικότητας, ακριβώς όπως και οι παιδικές ζωγραφιές που λέγαμε πριν- μόνο που τα συγκεκριμένα είναι σοκολατένια.

Σχεδιασμένα, με την υπογραφή του  Sadaharu Aoki, ενός πολλά υποσχόμενου σεφ πατισσιέ
 από το Τόκιο, αυτό το καλλιτέχνημα έχει ονομαστεί Bonbon Maquillage. Ένα κουτί με δώδεκα μικρές σοκολατένιες πλάκες, που κρύβουν μέσα τους ευχάριστες εκπλήξεις, όπως κρέμα από γιούζου, καραμέλα και τσάι Μάτσα. Ήμουν τυχερή και αρκετά τολμηρή δοκιμάζοντας αυτό που είχε ανοιχτό πράσινο χρώμα- δηλαδή γέμιση wasabi.

 

Ε λοιπόν, κύριε Αόκι συγχαρητήρια.

Handmade Treasure in a red box - Κουτάκι με θησαυρούς

Sometimes, career opens new horizons for us...
Last week my job opened a door for me. It was the one that houses one of the oldest chocolate patisserie workshops  in Athens. I smelt hot chocolate, fresh baked nuts, cocoa, praline, chestnut and love. The last "smell" was all coming out from the people that were creating each one. One by one. By hand.

All edible little treasures I share them with the ones I luv. Grandma is always the first on the list. Mostly because she's grabby.

Λένε, η δουλειά μας ανοίγει πόρτες. Πριν λίγες μέρες για μένα άνοιξε την πόρτα ενός από τα  παλιότερα εργαστήρια σοκολάτας στην Αθήνα. Μύρισα παντού τη ζεστή κουβερτούρα, φρεσκοψημένους ξηρούς καρπούς, κακάο, πραλίνα φουντουκιού, κάστανο, αγάπη. Η τελευταία "μυρωδιά" αναδυόταν από τους ανθρώπους που δημιουργούσαν κάθε ένα από τα σοκολατάκια. Ένα προς ένα. Με το χέρι.

Τους μικρούς θησαυρούς που μπορώ να γευτώ, τους μοιράζομαι με αυτούς που αγαπώ. Η γιαγιά έχει την πρώτη θέση σε αυτή τη λίστα. Κυρίως γιατί είναι λιχούδα.