Recently, I browsed through Monocle's "travel top fifty," and I was intrigued by no. 24: Sprüngli Luxemburgerli. These pastries are a take on the French macaron but are said to be lighter and more airy. I am dying to try them! Currently, you can only purchase them in Zurich and, of course, Dubai.
I could not find a recipe online. So, I'm not exactly sure what makes them lighter than their French counterparts. However, I found a blog that contrasts the two. The cream center makes Luxemburgerli more airy than French macarons which can have jelly, caramel, or ganache in the center. They're also much smaller than French macarons. They're about the size of a quail's egg.
Luxemburgerli were actually invented in France by Camille Studer in 1967, and then, they were brought to Zurich. The name went through several changes: Baiser de Mousse, Gëback des Luxemburgers, and finally Luxemburgerli ("little Luxemburger"). When it comes to purchasing these luscious buttery sweets, you should head to Sprüngli Confiserie.
Preserved meat counter at an Ipercoop supermarket in Italy. From Flickr user cary b's Flickr.
I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour until I run out. Please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.
I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour until I run out. Please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.
Telegraph.co.uk reports that the world's oldest bottle of Veuve Cliquot Champagne was found in a sideboard at Torosay Castle on the Isle of Mull. Chris James, the current owner, long curious as to the contents of a locked sliding door in the dining room engaged the services of a locksmith. He was rewarded with a perfectly preserved 1893 bottle, complete with trademark yellow label. The bubbly, now considered priceless, is on display in Veuve Cliquot's visitors' center in Reims, France.
In other news, I was really excited to find a half-full bottle of Tito's vodka I'd forgotten about in my freezer last week. But then again, I don't own a damn castle.
After holding firm back in June and turning down a buyout offer, Anheuser-Busch surrendered over the weekend and allowed European brewer InBev to buy them for approximately $52 billion. America's largest beer maker is no longer in American hands, a move that leaves some beer drinkers a bit concerned for their favorite brew (maybe this will convince more people to switch to locally produced small batch brewers. What?! A girl can dream).
The new company will be called Anheuser-Busch InBev, one of the terms brokered in the buyout deal. August A. Busch IV, the company's CEO (and descent of one of the brewery's founders) will be given a seat on the board. According to a press release issued by both companies, no US breweries will be closing because of the merger.
Healthy officials say celebrity chefs often fail to maintain basic hygiene standards, according to an article by BBC news.
Interestingly, however, the article only cites one health official, but it states that the issue was brought up at a medical conference in Edinburgh. Crimes by the celebrity chefs include not washing lettuce and using the same utensils for raw meat and cooked foods. Guilty shows include BBC's Ready Steady Cook and Celebrity MasterChef, which I've actually never seen.
I'm not sure whether the problem, if it exists, happens here in the U.S. as well, as I have never thought about the issue while watching food TV. I guess I always presume that ingredients are pre-washed, or that the washing is edited out of programs like Top Chef and Iron Chef America. Your thoughts?
I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour until I run out. Please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.
Metzger in Steinbach, Germany. From Flickr user aniika.
I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour until I run out. Please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.
I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour until I run out. Please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.
Two instances constitute a trend, right? Last night at midnight, I posted a video of my pal Sean's jaunt around a Bangkok sausage counter, and as it happens, today the lovely Jennifer Cooper Ashton sent me glorious food pix from her recent French sojourn. I'm taking this as a divine decree to post images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight witching hour (until I run out), so please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.
This week, the New York Times Magazine's The Way We Eat column is devoted various types of syrup-soaked semolina cakes and pastries. In Macedonia, these desserts are known collectively as siropiasta. Revani and samali, both made with semolina and ground almond, are served drenched in sweet liquid - lemon-sugar, honey, rosewater syrup. In France and Italy, more pudding-like cakes are made with finely ground semolina, also known as farina, and baked in water baths. Served with caramel of fruit, they make fine summer desserts.
I've always enjoyed reading cookbooks written by British cooks. There's something about the slight differences in vernacular and tone that makes the food seem brighter, more appealing and delicious than it appears to be in American writing. Jane Grigson is one of my favorite English food writers (I wrote about her Good Things book back in January), not only for her no-nonsense British wit, but also because she is deeply knowledgeable and really loved food.
Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book is a wonderful resource for anyone who cooks and eats vegetables (which means that everyone should really have a copy of this book on their shelves). Arranged alphabetically, it contains recipes for nearly every vegetable you can think of (because it was written in the UK, some of the veggies won't be where you think they should be. Look for Eggplant under Aubergine and Zucchini under Courgettes) and some you haven't ever thought of before. She doesn't just offer advice on how to prepare these foods, she also instructs on the way to grow or select the very best one.
Another nice thing about the Bison Books Edition (which is the one I have) is that there's an introduction written by food blogger/cookbook author Amy Sherman. She does a wonderful job of introducing Grigson to US readers who haven't heard of her and positions the book snugly into the local foods/Farmers' Market revival that is sweeping the country.
Living in Argentina during high school, I ate dulce de membrillo many times before I had a clue what the sugary, dark orange paste was. I later learned that membrillo is Spanish for 'quince,' and dulce de membrillo (literally, 'quince sweet') is simply a dense quince jelly.
The quince, which resembles an overgrown chartreuse pear, is a fruit native to Asia, now grown all over the world. Unlike pears, however, quince are not eaten raw (I've tried - they're sour and astringent and hard as rocks).
In Spain and Argentina, dulce de membrillo is sold by the slice from massive bricks and generally served with nutty, salty Manchego cheese or on buttered toast. I've also run across it in Israel, served for breakfast with thick, sour yogurt. Here in the US, you can find it at Spanish specialty stores, and some Hispanic markets and regular gourmet shops. It's got an interesting grainy texture and a somewhat floral, apple-like flavor. It's quite sweet - sweeter than most jams and jellies - which is why it's so good paired with cheese or plain yogurt. Try it with slices of Manchego on crackers, or slip some inside a wheel of brie and bake until gooey.
I think that a lot of people have at least had a passing thought of how to get back at our enemies. However, most of us just shrug it off and find healthier ways to deal with our problems. An Austrian man, however, took things to the extreme and poisoned, of all things, some chocolate truffles in an attempt to get his way.
Helmutt O decided that the best way to resolve his dispute with the mayor of his town was to bump him off. Helmutt put the deadly confections on the mayor's windshield with a note saying "you are someone very special to me." Of course the mayor ate the chocolates, suffered a stroke and, while he lived, now has to be cared for for the rest of his life. At the heart of the dispute was a rezoning issue. The mayor even agreed with Helmutt, but asked for a business plan that Helmutt never delivered. Blaming something on someone else when it's your own fault is sure definitely not the rational thing to do.
Two questions: Would you eat something someone left on your windshield? How could someone ruin something as wonderful as chocolate for their own selfish ends?
Did this really have to happen? The two Belgian inventors of this drinking game say it did, and on top of that only Belgians could have come up with it. I'm pretty sure they're right.
The object of the new game is to knock out space aliens...with your pee in a urinal. Called "The Place to Pee", the urinal has sensors on the sides to keep score and it's designed for two players. Also, women are not excluded from this game: there's a cone designed just for the female player. So after a bit of drinking, you and a buddy can go (pun intended) and play. The more you drink, the more you can play.
I don't really know the particulars, and I don't really want to. Would you play if your favorite bar installed "The Place to Pee"?
Healthy officials say celebrity chefs often fail to maintain basic hygiene standards, according to 
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
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Beware kids' menus!
