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!

When friends come to visit...

at your own house. 

the one you made chosing one by one its colors, furniture, every detail,

so it would be "homy" enough to raise your newborn 

and keep forever alive the love of its family. 

To live happily in it ever after. 

Hapinness is all around.

Alexia is now a proud mom and we were so willing to see her cuddling her child. 

Such a caring mother. 

And now twice as beautiful. 

Ice cream macarons from Sucre,
a new pastry store in Irakleion. 

Oly's photos. Merci.

In Paris, where pastry is all around

Never been to Paris, but always Paris "finds me" in one or another way- round 2.
Lover both of food photografy ( yet not capable of making extravagant shots), and professional pastry (c.c eating sweets of any kind),
I couldn't pass by a marvellous idea like this. 

"Patisserie" reminders around  the City of  Light ( or maybe City of candy). I am glad I saw Fantasy Pallete in between the images.Susan Hochbaum is a rather creative designer, who's book is about to be published.
Great, sweet idea. We will be waiting.

ps. The rasberry macaron photo is taken from unefoisparmoi blog.

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.

Nobu. That simple.

My taste spectrum has expanded enough through the years. When it comes to f-o-o-d, like when it comes to love, I taste- try everything. From this huge list of savor, few things are excluded- sushi was one, until some years before. But, as it seemed, it was the absolute outsider that won the battle. Thanks to Nobu Matsuhisa. 

Nobu’s restaurants are that famous worldwide, as the sushi itself. Quality materials,  exquisite service, great atmosphere, a place to be. Pure and simple. So, with every chance, I am there. And this is the ultimate dessert, mochi. At Matsuhisa Athens. That simple.

 

 ps. The chef patissier is called Marinos and something tells me that we will be listening at his name a lot in the short future.

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.

Patrick from Paris

Never been to Paris, but always Paris "finds me" in one or another way. This time, when my editor in chief visited the Valrhona and a dozen of  chocolatiers in Paris, brought back for us little parisien treasures. And this is how I met Patrick Roger, a patissier with the MOF collar. Famous for his ability to built huge statues, using, of course, pure chocolate, the extravagant chocolatier has connected his name both with Valrhona and excellent technique: the two basics you need so to succeed in french pastry's industry. His light green, almost turquoise, boxes hide masterpieces of fine chocolate. Size doesn't count.

Παρόλο που ακόμη δεν έχω βρεθεί στο Παρίσι, το Παρίσι έρχεται και με βρίσκει με τον ένα ή τον άλλο τρόπο. Αυτή τη φορά, όταν η αρχισυντάκτριά μου επισκέφτηκε το εργοστάσιο της Valrhona στη Γαλλία και καμιά ντουζίνα σοκολατιέρηδες, μας έφερε μικρούς παριζιάνικους θησαυρούς. Και έτσι γνώρισα τον Πατρίκ Ροζέ, έναν αξιέπαινο ζαχαροπλάστη, που φορά με τιμή το γαλλικό κολλάρο. Γνωστός για την δεξιοτεχνία του να χτίζει ολόκληρα αγάλματα, φτιαγμένα, εννοείται, από σοκολάτα, ο τολμηρός σοκολατιέρης έχει συνδέσει το όνομα του με την Valrhona και την υψηλή τέχνη: και τα δυο αποτελούν γερό θεμέλιο για να επιτύχεις στην γαλλική ζαχαροπλαστική βιομηχανία. Τα τιρκουάζ κουτάκια του κρύβουν αριστουργήματα εξαίρετης σοκολάτας. Και σε αυτή την περίπτωση, το μέγεθος δεν μετράει.

First FoodStep

My first post won't be a masterpiece, only a simple phrase: Today I start my blog, I start writing about food and my life. And sometimes, other people's life. 

I don't know if it is a bad sign to enter to the very first post using an "empty" photo, but this cup was the last edible thing that made me smile. A dessert, named Suntory Whiskey Iced Cappucino, signed by Nobu Matsuhisa, at Matsuhisa Athens. Chocolate mousse, espresso rice krispies and a dense flavour of Japanese whiskey. Cheers!

ps. I had two...


Δεν υπόσχομαι πως το πρώτο μου ποστ θα είναι αριστούργημα, αλλά μόνο μια φράση: Σήμερα ξεκινώ το blog μου, αρχίζω να γράφω για το φαγητό και τη ζωή μου. Και κάποιες φορές και για τις ζωές των άλλων. 

Δεν ξέρω αν είναι κακός οιωνός να στολίσω το παρθενικό μου post με μια «άδεια» φωτογραφία, αλλά αυτό το φλυτζάνι ήταν η τελευταία γεύση που με έκανε να χαμογελάσω - με την καρδιά και όχι με μόνο με το στόμα. Ενα επιδόρπιο, με το όνομα Suntory Whiskey Iced Cappucino, υπογεγραμμένο από τον Nobu Matsuhisa, στο Matsuhisa της Αθήνας, στον Αστέρα της Βουλιαγμένης. Μους σοκολάτας με τραγανά «κρισπίνια» εσπρέσο, παρφουμαρισμένο με αυθεντικό Γιαπωνέζικο ουίσκι. Γεια μας!


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