Plantains, guavas and passion fruit

I’ve been in Sao Paulo since Thursday (working) but I had all of Saturday to myself. Being a lazy bum as always and got out of the hotel around 2pm, granted it rained for about 40 minutes before that so I was waiting it out.

I walked over to the Jardins area and Rua Oscar Freire, got a bunch of Havaianas as presents (also waited out the next rain shower there) and then went to Brasil a Gosto which was profiled in the NYT (I swear I didn’t remember what the reporter ordered, my order just happened to be very similar) for a late lunch. Whenever I ask “fala ingles?” they usually say something in Portuguese, which means that no, they don’t speak English. Here, they got one of the maitre d’s / managers (not sure who he was, but he definitely wasn’t a waiter) to take my order and pretty much wait on me hand and foot, but the servers brought my food out, and practiced their English on me. Good times!

I ordered a passion fruit caipirinha. How could I be in Brazil and not have a caipirinha? They also had caipiroskas (with vodka) and whatever a caipirinha made with sake is called. I always forget that passion fruit has seeds, which I don’t know how I feel about yet.

I was thinking about doing the 5 course tasting menu but was told it might be too much food for me, as it was an amuse bouche, appetizer, fish, meat and dessert. I decided to agree with that and order a la carte.

To start I had banana-da-terra (plantain) canapés on a bed of cream cheese and topped with pepper jam. I had to discipline myself to not eat all 8 of them (I don’t think this was meant for one person) but well prepared plantains are always fantastic.

Since their specialty is fish, I went with the grilled sea bass with baru crust, banana (I think it was really plantain) puree, and lima orange vinaigrette. Apparently baru nuts are native to Brazil and really creamy, kinda between a cashew and a peanut. My sea bass was a little overcooked but the accompaniments more than made up for it.

I couldn’t decide what I wanted for dessert. I was debating between cream cheese with guava (Brazilian cream cheese is different) and a baru cake with a molten center, shredded toasted coconut, hibiscus ice cream and caja sauce.

I couldn’t pass up on the Jamaica, JP :)

Pumpkin isn't only for Thanksgiving

Between Paris and Brazil, I got to stay in my favoritest (new word) city while waiting for my Brazilian business visa. It’s always so comforting and familiar to come back. I’m not sure how tourists enjoy the city, I don’t think I would if I were in their shoes. Too much pushing and shoving and NYC isn’t the friendliest place. But then again, I’m the one that does the pushing and the shoving…they just walk too slow for me!

A few months ago JP and I went to Locanda Verde (finally...I mean really JP, I told you once Bruni wrote his review it’d be hard to get prime dinner reservations! Yet you didn’t believe me. Regardless). We went for brunch and decided to start with the pastry platter. Pumpkin Spice Loaf. Oh gosh, I didn’t even know I liked pumpkin before biting down into this. It was crazy delicious and moist.

We later returned JUST to get the pumpkin spice loaf from the pastry counter. And then, while trying to find the recipe, I found out that the pastry chef at Locanda Verde, Karen DeMasco, includes it in her book, The Craft of Baking. I was going to go to B&N to write down the recipe but then I found it online at Lottie + Doof. I’m still going to go to B&N to check it out and make sure its 100% the same (I read somewhere there is also white pepper in the batter, which isn’t in the recipe). And voila:

The flavor was there, the texture wasn’t. I’ll have to try again sometime later but, for now, it sufficed.

Impracticality

I’ve been craving choquettes like whoa for some reason. And, for some reason, they’re actually not very easy to find. All I’m asking for is an unfilled cream puff sprinkled with pearl sugar! I don’t want the ones from Paul, I feel it’s a cop-out to get them from a chain. I want to find a bakery where they aren’t completely hollow on the inside but somewhat dough-y and egg-y still (yes, I know I don’t like eggs, but this is different). I wandered over the La Grande Epicerie today where I gawked at things and had to restrain myself from picking between 10 different kinds of fleur de sel for €10 each (granted, they were quite hefty pots, and they looked gorgeous) by being practical. “Nads, this will not fit in your suitcase. Why do you need this in NYC when you’re going to leave and come back here again? You can get some when you have an apt in Paris.” So that €10 pot of fleur de sel with piment d’espelette is an expense for the near future. It would look beautiful sprinkled on a piece of baked white fish…

Regardless, I managed to pick up some caramels pomme au beurre and some maldon smoked salt (ok fine, maldon salt is british but whatevs). I also picked a log of chocolate flavored with pimente d’espelette, fleur de sel and violette but then put it down because I tried to be practical again. And then in the bakery portion I spied choquettes. And then I decided the line was too long and the guy I got the chocolate from would notice that I didn’t have it anymore and felt bad. Plus I figured I could get some at Bread & Roses, my next stop. So I continued to wander around the store being fascinated and trying as many samples as I could.

After avoiding les pompiers trying to sell their Christmas calendars outside Le Bon Marche, getting somewhat lost, thinking Christian Constant was where I was going (it wasn’t, lets save that for another trip) I found Bread & Roses. Alas, I was foiled and there were no choquettes. I wasn’t really feeling buying anything, but I always feel awkward going into a small store or a bakery and not getting anything. So I decided to get the pur seigle noir aux raisins de corinthe (rye bread with currants). Don’t think of it as jewish rye bread (I really don’t like jewish rye), but its like a moist sourdough studded with plump raisins and a super crispy exterior. Good choice Nads, good choice.

And yes, there is only half a loaf left. I wish I had some really good butter to put on this...fattie Nads, again. The quest for choquettes will continue when I am back in January! Pan de queso will have to do in Brazil. I have a feeling that will be a very, very bad idea

matcha rush

There are really no sidewalks in Paris, at least not in the New York City sense. Its really just a little bit of elevated asphalt next to the sides of buildings, where two people can barely squeeze by each other without stepping off onto the oncoming traffic. And if its raining, and everyone has umbrellas, its an even more dangerous game, trying not to stab each other. But then again, you kinda have to be aggressive in Paris, since no one lets you have the right of way. So I walk around as if I’m in Time Square – you know, pushing and shoving past the throngs of tourists and rolling your eyes if they don’t walk fast enough, which they never do. Although I still haven’t slowed my walking to a Parisian pace…I’m still walking just as fast as I do in NYC. It really is a unique pace over there…unmatched by any other city I’ve ever been to.

And so, while half-sprinting though the rain, battling Parisians with my umbrella on the faux-sidewalks, I clutched my Sadaharu Aoki bag in which a minimalist box contained a Matcha Millefeuille and a Matcha Chocoron.

Ce quoi ca? It’s a chocolate covered macaron. Mon dieu. What will they think of next? 

Truthfully, I was a little underwhelmed. All the pastries were lined up perfectly, each a work of art and a splash of colors. Unfortunately, the millefeuille was a little too much and the chocoron chocolate a little too thick. But then again, who am I to judge as I scarfed down both without a second thought. Must eat salad for 2 days.

TJ's freezer * 10 = Picard

So there’s this chain of stores called Picard. Image the Trader Joe’s frozen section. Multiple that by 10. That’s Picard. All frozen food. BUT ITS SO GOOD. And we know how much I love TJs…

Case in point: sliced potatoes pan fried in duck fat, to which I added mixed mushrooms. Not just your regular shiitake, cremini, oyster, but chanterelles and porcini.

I could have made this! But I didn’t! I threw it pre-made and frozen into a pan for 10 minutes!!! Oh dear. It was all so overwhelming… I walked from freezer case to freezer case not knowing what to pick up (also not knowing what half the stuff was). And again I am cursed by not having an oven as they sell a ton of different kinds of frozen dough and oven meals. Maybe its better I don’t have an oven right now…cooking for 1 + having an oven = over cooking. And we all know where that goes….IN MY TUMMY. Muahaha.

Mr. Kayser is my new frenemy

I’ve been scarfing down demi-baguettes at a ridiculously rapid pace…but they taste so good! Warm baguettes from Eric Kayser? Oui oui! And its genius to get demi-baguettes as I can (a) stuff it into my bag and (b) not eat a yard of bread. Last weekend I grabbed one after work and stuffed it with smoked salmon. And ate it. ALL OF IT. omnomnomnom.

The past week I was in the capital of the Motherland. I decided to forgo an extra 30 minutes of sleep and take advantage of the breakfast there. Fresh fruit and berries? Check. 10 different kinds of fruit and veggie juices? Check. Sausages, mushrooms, eggs, smoked salmon and potatoes? Check * 5. And breakfast pastries and all this other stuff. And red currants. Although those were used as decoration…but I took them and ate them. My hotel room was ridiculously nice as evidenced by the bathroom:

And since I’ve been eating all these baguettes and smoked salmon and pastries, I decided to go light for dinner today. After being a lazy bum all day, I finally got myself out the door (the weather was 60F!!!) and wandered over to the Marche des Enfants Rouges (one of the few markets open in the late afternoon). It’s a covered market that also sells prepared foods that you can either take home or eat at the picnic tables provided. Apparently there used to be an orphanage nearby where the kids all wore red uniforms, hence the name. I’ve been craving veggies (note to self: buy a salad spinner when I’m back in the U.S.), so I picked up a head of Batavia lettuce, a few tomatoes and a handful of clementines. I was actually surprised that it was all so cheap…and I’ve heard numerous people say that produce in Europe tastes better than in the U.S. Perhaps. But the thing is, at these markets, a lot of the produce is shipped from all over the world, same as in the U.S. It doesn’t necessarily come from local farmers or other places in France, but can come from Mexico or Peru or wherever. So I’m not sure what people are talking about when they say things taste better. Maybe its because things are more seasonal here than in the U.S.

Regardless, my salad tasted goooood (perhaps it was the olive oil from Nyons?). I had it with a pounded chicken breast simply sautéed in olive oil with lemon.

I'm not a fan of cooking for one. Yesterday I made mushroom risotto and I always overestimate when it comes to grains and pastas. So I have some left over but not enough for a full serving. But then again, I ate more than one serving to begin with...

Une p'tite tranche

First thing I ever cook in Paris: cannellini beans (it sounds so much fancier than “white kidney beans”!) sautéed with onions, garlic, slab bacon and some tomatoes thrown in there as a thickener. Except I forgot I don’t like slab bacon. At least the Eric Kayser pain aux cereals made up for it.

Today I did my usual trios patisseries circle in the 6th arrondisement, walking past Pierre Herme, La Duree and Gerard Mulot where I went and got the most beautiful petite tranche of fig and pear tart. Then I put it in my bag. And came home to this:

Fail.