[Chilli octopus salad]

Proof that fresh produce needs very little preparation!

A trip to the local supermarket today in Barcelona was a very exciting adventure indeed. I got such wonderful things as fresh Jamon (ham, although that’s an understatement), Jamon stock (ham stock, amazing), Butifarra (Catalan sausage), cooked octopus (above) and canned pimento peppers. You can see a picture of my haul here.

I came back to my apartment and my head spun from deciding what to eat first. Making lunch never seemed so hard! I figured that the octopus would go bad first so being a practical girl I used that. [Read more →]

[Fruit salad from Sun Fruits, Tokyo - Like my hand model? Sorry, he's taken.]

Afternoon tea never felt so fresh!

After a few hours of checking out the Roppongi district in Tokyo we found ourselves inside the super posh Tokyo Midtown complex. Feeling a little worn out we decided to have a healthier afternoon tea snack (ie. not Mister Donut!).

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a bright white store with colourful items. On closer inspection they weren’t just any old items they were the most perfectly formed and carefully padded pieces of fruit I’d ever seen! Expensive too. The store was called Sun Fruits. I think they’re a chain.

I didn’t really fancy forking out the equivalent of AUS$20 for one tiny mango the size of a lime, although it did look very beautiful, so I ’settled’ for this amazing fruit salad instead. Each melon ball was perfectly formed and all the citrus had every teeny bit of pith removed. Heavenly. [Read more →]

[Lamb and eggplant pasta]

The first dinner I’ve cooked in Barcelona!

I thought I’d be making something uniquely Spanish for my first homemade dinner in Barcelona but I let the fresh ingredients at the market and meals I had in restaurants over the weekend determine the results.

There was also another first today - shopping alone at the local fresh market - and realising I need to know more Spanish words and phrases! Like, ‘I’ll have half a kilo’, ‘Can I try those olives?’, ‘10 slices of jamon please’! It was a tad embarrassing to say the least and I’ll be rectifying it asap. [Read more →]

The best donuts in Tokyo?

I didn’t try all the donuts in Tokyo but these are the best I’ve tasted so far - in my life. I’m a fan of the cinnamon sugar donut and I don’t like iced donuts. I might be the only weirdo who doesn’t but that’s OK. I just don’t do super-sweet.

Dillon, on the other hand, has a sweet tooth. I find it strange that I prefer savoury/salty and he loves sweet/chocolatey. Isn’t it meant to be the other way around with boys and girls?

Let’s not dwell on that and get back to Mister Donut. It’s a global chain but is extremely popular in Japan with more than a thousand stores across the country. We stopped for morning tea while checking out a very cool part of Tokyo called Akihabara, or ‘Electric Town‘. It’s jam-packed with stores selling electronic equipment of every variety under the sun and quite frankly Dillon was in heaven.

As someone who’s a keen people-watcher it was really interesting to see the ordering behaviour of customers in Mister Donut. It seemed to be the norm to go there alone, order 3 to 5 donuts and sit and read manga or magazines for hours on end - I guess the free coffee and tea refills has something to do with it. [Read more →]