Category: Travel

A short trip to Kanazawa

After the heat of the summer and before the crowds of international tourists flock the country again we decided to go for a short trip to Kanazawa. Our last visit was more than 10 years ago, before the Hokuriku shinkansen opened… we drove there and stopped to visit friends and Shirakawa-go at the time and stayed 3-4 days in Kanazawa. But I had a rather fresh memory of the city, the many places we visited already, the atmosphere of a rather rich and refined city. So this time we decided for a rather different program:

1. We rented a house not far from the main market to be able to enjoy all the local and fresh food Kanazawa and Noto offer.

2. We moved by bicycle around the city to expand the explorable territories and just enjoy riding in new surroundings, see further than the stuck in time places, where people actively live and work.

3. We put more focus on the contemporary scene visiting craft galleries and the beautiful 21st century museum for the Yves Klein exhibition chiefly (we skipped the permanent exhibits), since we already visited all the historical sights during our previous visit. And visited also the National craft gallery that moved from Tokyo to Kanazawa a few years ago.

At gallery Kiku & Sayuu we incidentally found the same metal craftwork artists Yuichi Takemata, that we loved the first time we visited and where we had bought order-made spoons. This time we came back with sets of forks and knives. Also discovered Rei Camoy’s work, a great surprise and a new fancy.

Additionally we toured bakeries and cafes, and found the most exquisite bagels to-go and cookies for our breakfast at Hug mitten Works, up north of the city, a fairly uninteresting ride to a typical suburban area, but damn… the bagels were so good that it is my target ideal bagel next time I bake some.

The market was a great fun, local green grocers too, with local products, fresh fish and vegetables. The region is famous for certain greens, such that gynura bicolor – 金時草 – kinjiso, lotus roots – 蓮根 – rencon, and propagule – ムカゴ – mukago (recipe coming soon). And of course, a few local Japanese sweets… we couldn’t resist to have gold leaf covered castella in the city famous for its gold leaf fabrication.

The minimal kitchen

When on travel, eating out for every meal has always been a problem for me. Too much food, too rich, too many ingredients, too much preparation, too far… not enough simple food, not enough traceability… there are so many reasons why I love homemade food… I have been used now for a long long time to making my own food even with the simplest ustensiles and in the most rudimentary kitchens, but for long stays cooking with a kettle, a plate and a knife used for eating, that would be a little too constraining. So when we decided to travel to Paris I had one strong requirement: our hotel room should have a kitchen. We found a place that checked all the boxes finally: the Majestic hotel. The kitchen wasn’t even tiny, with a great opening on the terrace, but minimally equipped: a frypan and a pan. I bought a kitchen knife, a wooden spoon and a bottle of olive oil, and I was ready to cook for 10 days. I need nothing more than that.

The farmers market down the street on President Wilson Avenue on Wednesdays and Saturdays provided us with all the basic, local and seasonal ingredients we would need. The fish mongers, the cheeses and the organic stalls are really great. For breads there is also a nice stall. You can also find there beautiful flowers, kitchen knives, and a few Italian food stalls, perfect for ravioli and others stuffed pasta. We didn’t test the meat stalls, as I barely cook meat, but there are a few with a nice selection.

May in France is the season for strawberries, the very first cherries, green peas, asparagus, artichokes, new potatoes, new carrots etc… I focused my shopping on products I would usually not eat in Japan. Artichokes and white asparagus definitely were on the top of my list.

Nearby you can also find one of the trending patissier-boulanger shop: Cyril Lignac, which is the first one to open in the area: 7:00AM. With the jet-lag it’s almost too late, but we could manage to postpone breakfast until then and eat fresh pastries for breakfast. I would particularly recommend their pain aux raisins. Extremely delicious.

As a result, I tested some classic recipes and also created a super simple white asparagus recipe that I’d like to share with you.

White asparagus in tomato sauce

  • 5 white asparagus/person
  • 2 ripe and large tomatoes/person
  • 1tbs of olive oil
  • A pinch of salt and pepper

Wash and peel the asparagus. Cut in 3cm long chunks. Blanche them. Drain, let cool down and pat dry. In a pan add the olive oil and the diced tomatoes. Cook until it has reduced enough and it becomes a thick tomato sauce. add the cooked asparagus. Stir well and serve. That’s it!!!

A day-trip to Mashiko

Days off in the middle of the week are rare. Most national holidays would be somehow close to a weekend, so we would spend them in Ohara. This year the emperor birthday was on a Wednesday and we had to be in Tokyo the day before and the day after. Everyday I see mount Fuji from the window I want to go there, so we first thought about going there. But the fear of wasting our time in traffic jam, and the lack of idea of places to visit around kind of killed the idea in the egg. Instead we were looking for a place with not only rich nature, but something more. I pulled out our old guide books and we ended up picking Mashiko as our destination for the day. Our criteria were simple: the driving time should be about 90min, it has to have great natural environment, it has to have some craft or art to see, and some historical sights, finally a possible, even short, hike with a spot to lay a blanket and picnic in the sun. Mashiko 益子 is about 130km from Tokyo, many sites recently registered as national cultural heritage, in particular some temples in the forest near hiking trails, and is famous for its potteries. Additionally the place where Shoji Hamada, who contributed to the creation of Mingei 民藝. It ticks all the boxes.

A broad look at Mashiko

Mashiko is a small potter town. It is all well set to be a tourist attraction, but the pandemic made our visit a little paradise. Very few tourists in the main street, and even fewer people to the slightly more remote sights such as temples and shrines, and Hamada’s house. So every thing was quiet, bathing in the warm light of the cold winter sun.

Many of the pottery shops on the main street are just average but some do have a very nice collection of Mashiko yaki 益子焼. Some are more like galleries with edgy works. The indigo dye house down the corner of the street is worth the visit. On the opposite direction of the street, the big plaza with the ignominious giant tanuki (see picture above) is more so-so, but continue further and there is an amazing antique shop. But what we really felt for was Hamada’s residence, about 15min away on the other side of the hill. The walk there was charming, and the property is pure delight. It is nice to see all these kilns covered going uphill. Abd the Saimyoji temple and the Tsuna shrine.

Random pictures of Hamada’s house, Saimyoji, Tsuna shrine, the best 3 of Mashiko for me

It was really cold there but it was beautiful and quiet, and people really kind. I’m sure we’ve missed some interesting sights, but that’ll give us an excuse to visit again!!!

And as we could go back to Tokyo without packing on local products we stopped at Mashiko michi no eki 道の駅, a very nice new wooden structure, also quiet and spacious, to pack on fresh fruits and vegetables and on staples such as flour, soba, rices. They had an excellent selection very nicely presented.

We didn’t know what to expect exactly but Mashiko surely charmed us!

Winter favorite

A., and I too, are big fans of Brussels sprouts. Anytime there are some at the farmers market I would bug some even ic sometimes there are sold in tiny portions of 5 or 6! A few years ago we tried growing some in our kitchen garden, hoping for a consistent harvest, but once again the slugs and caterpillars were too quick at first and since then the plants grow leaves every year but never sprouts… I keep them thought, just in case!

Another winter favorite is turnips. The small and firm turnips of all possible shades from white to purple. That we never tried to grow yet… but they are easy to find by rather big bundles.

With these two in my basket I came up with a super delicious recipe, perfect for a side or starter. that can be eaten at room temperature or just warm: a beautiful and colorful plate of Brussels sprouts and tiny pink turnips. I dressed them in olive oil only bug you could easily think about adding a few drops of yuzu juice, or even more Japanese, a white miso and yuzu light sauce. So let me share my recipe.

Turnips and Brussels sprouts salad (2 servings)

  • 6 Brussels sprouts
  • 6 little turnips
  • 1tsp of olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Optional: a few drops of yuzu juice or grated yuzu peel, 1 tea spoon of white miso

Wash carefully the vegetables. Slice the Brussels sprouts in 4 or 5. Cut the turnips in 4. If you can’t find tiny turnips then slice them. In a heated pan add the olive oil and the vegetables. Cook while stirring gently for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper. at this stage you can serve. Add if you want to use them, the yuzu juice and/or the grated yuzu peels. If you use white miso, stir well the yuzu juice with the miso and too the vegetables.

Voila! Really not difficult and soooo scrumptious.

Pastizzi tal pizzeli

It is really interesting how much Maltese food has left a strong impression on me. I’ve already shared some of my favorite recipes from Malta, but one is still missing: that of pastizzi tal pizzeli, one of the three types of pastizzi, that with spicy peas. Why did it take me so long? Because I was waiting for the season of green peas to make them with fresh green peas. And now the season has come and I have gotten plenty of green peas so I tried making pastizzi. But for the genuine recipe you’ll have to wait longer, my attempt, though delicious, is a disgrace to the true Maltese pastizzi such that in the picture below.

If you look on the internet you’ll find several different recipes for pastizzi, one of the main difference is those that use spilt peas, and those that use green peas, but they all have in common that they are prepared with puff pastry and the inly spice they use is curry, hence they are often called curried peas pastries, but in my memory the taste was more complex than that, or the Maltese curry is different than that we have here… hum… anyway, the challenge was to start with the puff pastry, not something I am confortable making (I need a serious training for that!), in particular when I remembered how thin and delicious it was in Malta, almost like filo (something I should also try to make!), so I decided to go with a rough puff to save some time, and spare me the disappointment of a poorly done puff pastry. As for the filling, I used half of a new onion, two handfuls of green peas, curry, a bit of clove (after all this is the Maltese spice by excellence), salt and pepper. I boiled the peas, I chopped the onion thinly and cook it in a pan with olive oil at low heat until just golden and soft. In a mortar I puréed the peas, add the spices and the onion. Stir well. Then roll and cut the dough in 8 squares of 12cm and filled them. I used an egg batter and baked at 200deg until golden. Well that was it. It was tasty, delicious but it was not a pastizzi!!!

I’ll try again! 😉

Kwarezimal, my way

When we decided to go to Malta last winter I didn’t know what to expect… the history of the island is so much different than this of the neighbouring places such as Sicily and Greece… I imagined that the landscapes and the culture would overwhelm me with beauty and mystery but I didn’t expect that the Maltese food would have such a strong impact on me and on my cooking. More than the food, in general, it’s been breads, pastries and sweets that completely bewitched me. The mix of spices: clove and cinnamon more than any, the citrus fruits, the almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts, the dates, figs and honey… well I am still under the charm and cloves have made their way back to my pantry. When we were in Valetta our friends had in mind to test many of the pastizzi, so we stopped at several places to taste some and ended up rather full, but the kids didn’t seem that full, or the adults eat all the pastizzi and left nothing to them… ??? and so when after hours of walking up and down the city we stopped at caffe Cordina, they ordered some sweets. A. ordered Kwarezimal. At first, I wasn’t much interested in them but after a pause, my appetite was back and when she offered me to try I couldn’t resist. The small pastries attracted me, with the crushed nuts topping and the promise of a taste of honey. And yes, as soon as I had a piece in my mouth, there was something else on my to-do list of things to bake when back home. The one thing special at caffe Cordina is that their Kwarezimal is made from hazelnut powder and all the recipes I found afterwards were made with almond powder. The good point for me, it’s that it is a lot easier to find almond powder than hazelnut powder in Tokyo, the bad point is that the Kwarezimal I made didn’t match my experience at caffe Cordina, but it’s a good reason to try again with hazelnut powder, would I find some!

None the less the almond base treat was truly delicious. I used a combination of recipes I found on the internet to make my Kwarezimal and I was very happy with the results. Having eaten Kwarezimal only once in my life I cannot claim that they were true to the Maltese taste, but at least taste-wise and texture-wise it was delicious. So let me share my recipe here because not only it is delicious but it is super simple to make and vegan: no butter, no egg and no yeast or baking powder… I think it could easily become an energy bar for active days!

Kwarezimal (makes 8 pieces)

– 150g of almond powder (or hazelnut powder)

– 100g of flour

– 60g of brown sugar

– 1tsp of orange blossom flower

– 1tsp of cocoa powder

– 1tsp of cinnamon

– 1tsp of clove

– 1/2tsp of cardamom

– the zest of half an orange or any other citrus fruit

For the topping:

– a handful of crushed pistachio

– some zest of citrus fruit

– 3tsp of honey

Pre-heat the oven to 180 while mixing all the ingredients (but those for the topping) together. Add a bit of water if needed until you obtain a very dense and not too sticky dough. Cut in 8 and make oblong shapes slightly flatten on top (easier for the topping!). Set on cooking paper in the oven for 20minutes. As soon as out of the oven, spread the honey on top of each Kwarezimal, sprinkle the crushed nuts and zest. Let cool down before enjoying (it’s hard to wait, it smells so good!!!!!).

Malta

  • After being in Italy several times around Christmas time, whether in Sicily, in Tuscany or in Rome, this year we decided to go a little further south and went to Malta. It was a destination that has always attracted me while in the meantime I didn’t know what to expect. And it was actually a nice discovery. First of all a place with a new language. Indeed, like the history of Malta, the language is a very surprising one mixing so many influences. Sometimes it feels like Italian, sometimes includes English with Arabic tonalities, others it looks like Greek or Eastern Europe languages. The cultural heritage is quite impregnated in the food culture as well. The proximity of Sicily provides the country with all the Italian produces I love so much, but Malta also has a cuisine of its own. Being a rather simple desolated island, and inhabited by a crowd of hunters and fishermen there is a lot of game and fish cuisine. The former that I wouldn’t try as game is not part of my diet, in particular they love rabbit and for me it is impossible to eat rabbit. For fishes that was easier. They have always nice way of cooking them, whether it’s grilled with a sauce made of tomatoes and capers or in a soup. But to be honest the thing that impressed me most and attracted me most was the Maltese breads and pastries.

    • Baker’s stand at a morning market

    We started discovering the breads at a morning market in Birkirkara, the little baker stand had so many varieties. I fell for the little sesame rings called Qagħaq tal-Ħmira.

    Qagħaq tal-Ħmira

    While they look like a bagel they are so much more delicious!!! Slighly flavored with anis, cloves, and lemon, they are a little soft and slightly sweet, sonething closer to a very light brioche. I’ve already found the recipe and will try very soon making some. The other bread that was really nice was the ftira, a kind of flat bread, used often for sandwiches. It’s a bit like focaccia but much less oily. It can be served with all kind of things inside. I opted for an English contemporary version at Emma’s kitchen, a cafe recommended by my IG friend @junkikat who lived in Malta last year.

    Ftira

    The other savory discovery was the pastizzi. A Maltese pastry filled with ricotta, or green bean puree, or sometimes chicken or meat. While the one with ricotta were super delicious, the one with green beans purée slightly spicy were just over the top! The mix of the buttery pastry dough, crunchy and light and the thick purée slightly flavored with clove and other spices… damned that was sooo…. delicious!!! Pastizzi are a big tourist thing so you can find some everywhere. Sphynx is a chain store making some, but not necessarily my favorite. The Crystal Palace in Mdina had a good selection and they were quite good. In Birkikara we had some from a small cafe that were really good. Each are different so you can try them all and find the one one you like best!!

    Pastizzi

    Finally, let’s talk sweets! Maltese traditional sweets are made with honey, almonds, figs and are super delicious too. The most famous is probably Qagħaq tal-għasel. A ring with fig and honey in a little dough.

    Qagħaq tal-għasel

    While they look rather dry and stuffy, the fig and honey filling is actually all creamy and soft. My favorite ones were from Parruċċan in Mdina. There are also sweets with almond base paste such as what they called macaroons and that can be found in any confectionary, and also the delicious Kwarezimal, normally for Lenten, but available all year round at cafe Cordina in Valetta.

    Well of course we just didn’t spend all our time in Malta eating. We also visited many places, went horse riding and enjoyed the nice weather. I really loved Mdina for walking around the nicely renovated and clean city, all the places to visit, the vista of the island from up there, and the lack of touristic shops (may be because it’s winter…). There were also much fewer people than in Valetta hence it was very quiet.

    Artichokes

    One of the food I miss much in Japan as you already know, is artichoke. For some reason it is something that reminds me my childhood. From the simply boiled large ones that one of my grand mother would prepare to eat one leave after the other dipped in mustard vinaigrette, or the tiny purple artichokes barigoule of my mother or a recipe from my other grand mother “greek style artichokes” I love them all. When we lived in Paris I used to prepare some quite often and the greek style artichokes were always a good pick for casual dinners. When we go back home, my mother always prepare artichokes for me, usually for the very first day when we arrive, since they can be made in advance, and they are very good warm or cold it means lunch or dinner is always ready for us to eat anytime. Yesterday for a family lunch she made artichokes greek style. I thought I’d share that recipe today.

    Artichoke greek style (for 2)

    – 10 large artichokes (in worst case artichokes heart preserves)

    – 10 bell onions

    – 1 tbs of coriander seeds

    – 2 leaves of laurel

    – a branch of thyme

    – 3 tbs of olive oil

    – 3tbs of white wine (optional)

    Boil the artichokes and extract the hearts.

    Clean the bell onion by peeling one layer.

    In a large pan put the olive oil, the wine, the artichokes hearts, the onions, the coriander, thyme, laurel. Add just a bit of salt and pepper, cover with water and cook at low heat under cover for 40min.

    Perfect eaten with fresh rustic bread to enjoy all the delicious juice.

    Macau

    My job really takes to places I would never have thought of going, Macau is one of them… when we moved to Japan we traveled a bit around; Seoul, Pekin, Shanghai, Hong-Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia… but Macau wasn’t really on our list. And I wasn’t planning to go to the conference until I was invited to give a keynote talk…

    I can’t really say I have visited Macau but I have for sure seen a lot of casinos and shops, shops, shops all in mazes of corridors with no exit, so oppressive that you feel trapped. I lost my way many times until for a second I thought I made my way out, only to realize that it was a trompe l’œil…

    So I didn’t have time to see the historical places, but as I was looking for a real place outdoor to have lunch I found this interesting Michelin street food ranking and there was a few shops and cafes in Taipa, so I took a cab to grab my lunch there at Sei Kee coffee. I don’t know what I was expecting… probably something like Japanese pork sandwiches from Nagasaki, the famous kakuni manju. What I found was a pork bun a lot less refined, yet it was using these spices that you can smell everywhere in the city and are really smelling nice. It was tasty and good but too meaty and fat for me… The milk tea though was really good!

    Continuing my walk in the small touristic streets where shops sell mainly some kinds of what looks like dry meat, I smelled a nice custard odor, milk and eggs, probably from some egg tarts, a very famous Macau’s food but I actually found a biscuit shop, also with the Michelin street food sign and decided to stop to buy some almond cookies, their specialty, to bring back to Japan. There was no English either there, but good I know how to read kanjis and many are close enough to Japanese so I know what I buy and what is inside the products before buying them!!

    Well that’s about what I saw from Macau and tried… Now time to go back home! Though I love the morning swims when I live in a hotel, I prefer bodyboarding in Ohara. I am tired of hotel life, room service and being far from A..

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