December 20, 2011 · 6:08 AM

Christmas in Portugal: Bolo Rei

Bolo Rei on display in Lisbon

In Portugal, one of the signals that the Christmas season has arrived is the arrival of the Bolo Rei (King Cake), a yeast-baked cake flavored with nuts and fruit and topped with a heaping helping of crystallized fruit. Eaten in Portugal until Kings Day (Jan 6), the Bolo Rei is nearly identical to the King Cake that is popular for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Like a King Cake, the Bolo Rei has a small trinket inside (traditionally a fava bean, but in more modern times, a charm), a practice which has now actually been outlawed (boo!).

The Confeiteria Nacional in Lisbon credits itself with introducing the Bolo Rei to Portugal in the 1800s. Throughout Portugal there are Bolo Rei being sold by every corner bakery, in all sizes. However, if you are not currently in Lusitania, there are many recipes available for Bolo Rei. Another Variation on the Bolo Rei is the Bolo Rainha – without crystallized fruit.

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December 19, 2011 · 5:10 AM

Zuari: Goan Cuisine in Lisbon

  Zuari
R. São João da Mata 41,
1200 Lisbon

“Dois pessoas, por favor.” When Orlando, the 34-year owner of Zuari, one of Lisbon’s most acclaimed Goan restaurants, heard our request for a two-person lunch seating, he seemed confused. He looked around the completely empty restaurant, and an immediately frustrated look came over his face. “It’s all full!” We walked past empty table after empty table, as he directed us to a tiny little table in front of a door leading to the kitchen. Apparently the only available seating? Who else was there – ghosts? At noon on a Thursday?

No matter – we had seats, and we wanted to eat. Lisbon is probably one of the best locations for Goan food outside of the former Portuguese colony turned Indian state, but as with any establishment, we were worried that the owners had changed the dishes to conform to more sensitive, even muted, Portuguese tastes. Luckily, we were wrong. For starters, the menu was encouraging: entirely in Portuguese. Few tourists coming this way, apparently – far from the city center and the metro, that’s usually a good sign. Orlando patiently explained the menu to us, as we had never heard of “Sarapatel” before. He spoke quickly, and M caught words like carne (meat) and pedacos (pieces) of linga (tongue) and a quick statement that “tudo e bom” – it’s all very good. He then scurried away, finally explaining the reason he seemed so frazzled: a big party was going to start there in about twenty minutes.

In we put the order: a bottle of water, two sides of white rice. For a starter we went with the obligatory Apas, a type of bread unique to Goan cuisine ( €0,75). It has a texture similar to a very thin version of naan, and a similar flavor, yet somehow manages to remain thick and hearty. L tried to Chacuti de Galinha (€7,00), a type of chicken curry with coconut milk and “spices.” A few taste tests later, and we could detect mint, cumin, coriander, cardamom, and black pepper. A slight spicy kick with a fantastic flavor profile, and three pieces of chicken – the real stuff, still on the bone – was more than expected. M went with the Sarapatel (€7,00), a mix of diced and pulled pork and tongue, simmered in a spicy – very spicy – and flavorful sweet tomato-based sauce. The texture and taste reminded us of a very spicy version of Carolina barbecue pulled pork. Regular readers of the blog will know how we feel about that! Plus, the spice level was one of the few dishes ever to satisfy M’s Scoville scale requirement, and he didn’t even have to make a special request!

The only disappointment of the day was that Zuari was out of their famous mango ice cream, due to the party preparations. We would have liked to try it, but the unexpectedly complex flavors in our dishes, combined with the great price – €20,00 for the whole meal – made this easily our best meal in Lisbon thus far.

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December 16, 2011 · 6:15 AM

Israeli Falafel in Paris: L’As Du Fallafel

L’As du Fallafel
34 Rue des Rosiers
75004 Paris

One of the few repeat destinations we visited on this small trip to Paris was L’As du Fallafel. We remember being impressed with the falafel four years ago, so we were excited when our friends that lived in Paris suggested we visit there again. As you might guess, the specialties at L’As du Fallafel are falafel, shewarma and the like. Approaching the restaurant you know it must be good, because even at an odd time like 3 PM – it was completely full, with a line for both take-out and restaurant service. One famous celebrity fan is Lenny Kravitz – a fact of which the owners are very proud – and there are photos and quotes of Lenny Kravitz plastered over nearly every wall and also on the outside of the restaurant. You can see evidence of the popularity below, a huge line to get in, even at 3PM (note also the Wikipedia article).

However, the line is not for nothing, L’As really delivers. The specific type of falafel at L’As is Israeli, which happens to be one of our favorite types, and one we have tried extensively on all of our travels and back in Chicago. Each falafel sandwich (€7.50) came with grilled eggplant (delicious), cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, and was doused in tahini sauce. As you can see below – this was no paltry sandwich. Though we had to wait for over ½ hour to simply sit in the restaurant – our food came out lightening-quick. The falafel were fresh and perfectly spiced, and arrived piping hot. We can’t imagine how many falafel they turn out in a week – at least several thousand, we’d bet. The crispy fries were nothing to scoff at either and the chicken shewarma (€9.50) was freshly carved off of the spit. We think perhaps that L’As du Falafel has grown in popularity since we were there last- we do not remember nearly as big of a crowd – maybe it is all of the Lenny Kravitz fans swamping the place? If you are craving some good, relatively cheap falafel in Paris, this place is certainly your best bet.

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December 15, 2011 · 10:12 AM

The Best Macarons in Paris

One of our main goals while visiting Paris was to sample the macarons. L and M are huge fans of macarons, and even had them as our wedding favors (chocolate, blueberry and chai). However, we will freely admit that none of the macarons in Chicago (even the most expensive) can rival those in Paris. Prior to our trip, we did some research to narrow down the overwhelming choices for some possible top contenders. After reading many ‘best of ‘ lists we arrived at two top contenders – Ladurée and Pierre Hermé. With this shortlist in mind, we set out to conduct a scientific study of what would be the top macaron in Paris, along with our good friends and gracious Paris hosts, T & I. Below, we compare the two shops on various parameters, and discuss our final decision. And no, we did not get IRB approval for this study (Social Science joke!)

Basic Facts

Ladurée
Location in Paris we visited: 21 Rue Bonaparte, Saint Germain des Prés, Paris
Flavors Sampled: Salted Caramel, Colombian Chocolate, Pistachio

Pierre Hermé
Location in Paris we visited: 72 Rue Bonaparte, Saint Germain des Prés, Paris
Flavors Sampled: Creme Brulée, Venezuelan Chocolate, Salted Caramel

Breakdown:

The line outside Ladurée

Price and Line:
Both stores had lines out the door (and were located mere blocks from eachother in the Saint Germain des Prés neighborhood).  However, Ladurée gets the hat-tip for having lower prices for roughly the same sized macarons. At Pierre Hermé eight macarons were €15.70, Ladurée came in at €12.10.
Verdict: Ladurée – we are poor grad students, what do you expect?

Strictness:
We got yelled at in each store for taking pictures – but only after about 20 photos. Oops…?
Verdict: Tie

Minimalist display at Pierre Hermé

Decor:
In terms of decor, the two shops could not be more different. Ladurée is a pastel-colored confection, full of filigree and antique fixtures. Pierre Hermé, on the other hand, is extremely stark and sleek, and really goes for the minimalist look. This style was also reflected in each store’s Christmas window decorations, as seen below.
Verdict: We slightly preferred Ladurée, for its old-world charm.

Miscellany:
Pierre Hermé provided little menus with all of the macaron flavors so you could decide while waiting in line. However, Pierre Hermé was also out of a flavor – one that might have been our favorite flavor! Overall, Pierre Hermé was more inventive, and had flavors like Olive Oil/Citrus and Chocolate/Foie Gras, whereas Ladurée only had more classic flavors.
Verdict: Neutral.

In terms of flavors, it was decided that at both locations, the salted caramel and chocolate were the best, so we will discuss those below.

Chocolates:
Both of the restaurants featured a single-original dark chocolate South American macaron, with chocolate cookies and dark chocolate mousse filling, dusted with cocoa powder.
Verdict: Split Decision – One of our testers preferred the Pierre Hermé, and two preferred Ladurée.

Salted Caramel:
Salted caramel is such a delicious and unexpected flavor – and is one that lends itself very well to macarons! All 4 testers ranked salted caramel as the top flavor at both stores. While each was delicious. the key difference was between the fillings – Ladurée had a filling of actual milk caramel, while Pierre Hermé was filled with a salted caramel-flavored buttercream.
Verdict: Ladurée – the actual caramel made all of the difference.

RESULTS:
You can’t really go wrong with either choice. But we do have a winner. Overall, considering price, decor and overall taste, Ladurée was the champion. We can’t wait to go back!

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December 12, 2011 · 4:46 PM

Battle Royale: Macarons

Coming Soon! It is no secret we love macarons – but who has the best macarons in Paris? We enlist an impartial 4-judge panel for a very scientific (sort of) taste test…. [UPDATE] Check out the results of our taste test.

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December 9, 2011 · 4:17 AM

Le weekend à Paris

Tagines in Paris

Tagines in Paris - by Sirexcat

Heading to Paris for a long weekend – excited for the macarons, tagines, cheese, falafel and Christmas market delicacies! This is our first time in Paris since 2007 – which is where we got the inspiration to start Eating the World at a Senegalese restaurant. We are staying with good friends in the 18th Arrondissement, which is a mecca for African food, so we are especially excited to try out some new dishes and hit some new countries (Like Tunisia, Benin and Togo). One weekend does not seem like nearly enough time, but we are so excited and grateful to get back to where it all began!

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December 8, 2011 · 3:01 AM

Recipe for Food Truck-style Halal Chicken and Rice

If you have been to Midtown Manhattan in NYC (especially if you had a hankering for a late night snack) you would have no doubt passed at least 1 food truck in the area selling Halal Chicken and Rice, a completely singular NYC dish. If you want to recreate the in/famous chicken and rice – which is usually spiced chicken chunks over yellow rice with garlic sauce – in your home, Serious Eats has a new recipe.

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December 7, 2011 · 4:06 PM

Discovering Portuguese Cheese

We’ve been in Lisbon for two weeks now, and have noticed the cheese and meat shops we expected to be so plentiful, well, aren’t. So, we have been searching around to find some good cheeses, and managed to pick up two at a small grocery store close to home on Lisbon’s far north side. They have a small, but well-stocked, meat and cheese counter, along with some bubbly-personality butchers and cheesemongers, which always make a purchase better.

Our first splurge was Castelo Branco, a semi-hard goat milk’s cheese named for the town where it originated in west-central Portugal. Castelo Branco packs a strong, pungent punch dispersed in a crumbly texture. It’s far too strong to eat on its own, but does make a great complementary flavor with something softer, like a simple salad or a pasta. We found it worked particularly well with a simple pesto pasta, which we have made a few times since we’ve been here. (M also decided to throw in some chouriço, but that is a different story).

Opening the refrigerator door every day and catching the wafting smells of the castelo branco made us opt for a slightly more mild second cheese. We opted for Flamengo, a semisoft cow’s milk cheese that is a staple on Portuguese sandwiches. It’s inoffensive, nutty, tasty, and melts very well – especially on grilled cheese sandwiches, we discovered. Flamengo usually comes in a red wax package, wrapped in red plastic or foil. Our brand was Terra Nostra (pictured right).

Over at CataVino, Andrea Smith has a great user’s guide to Portuguese cheeses that did a great job enlightening us to some of the finer points. Most interesting for us, Flamengo – Portuguese for “Flemish” – is actually a copy of Dutch edam (we knew it tasted familiar!).

And for those of you link-obsessed readers who clicked on all the links from this post, you will have noticed that our brand of flamengo is noted as “Natural dos Açores.” Does this mean we have officially eaten Azorean food? We think so. So with apologies to the hard work of Anthony Bourdain and his crew, up goes the flag!

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December 7, 2011 · 5:30 AM

Pastéis de Nata

One of the most iconic treats in Portugal is the little Pastel de Nata (Plural Pastéis) – a custard tart similar to a creme brulee in a phyllo shell. But that’s too simple of a description – it really is a completely different thing! However, the same delicious effect of caramelized sugar is the same, as you can see below.

One of the best places to get Pastéis de Natal is at the obviously-named Pastéis de Belém (Rua de Belem, 84, Lisbon). This place is a pure madhouse, with a huge line going down the block at nearly all hours (it is open to 11 or 12 PM every day). Below is a picture of the scene when we arrived – and this is just to To-Go line. There is also inside seating, where you can get a full range of coffees with your Pastéis  but there was even a huge queue to get seated there. Each Pastel is 95 cents, but common orders in the To-Go line (which moved shockingly fast) seemed to be in multiples of 6 – since they make pre-packed boxes of 6 to go. Insider tip – we ordered 4 Pastéis – but they gave us a box of 6. We figured it would only have 4 inside – but it had 6! We don’t know if this was because they didn’t notice, or that turnover was so high and fast that they just didn’t care. Maybe it’ll work for you too! The 6 little 3″ tarts were surprisingly filling, and were fresh out of the oven.

It really is quite an operation, and we can’t even imagine how many Pastéis get made in a day. David Leite has an inside look at the operation, here. Turns out that The Pastéis de Belem are trademarked and are considered the original Pastéis de Nata (which is now used as a  more generic name for the Belem custard tart). Of course there are many other places in Lisbon to get Pastéis de Nata, one of the other most famous being the Confeiteria Nacional in the Baixa (Praça da Figueira 18B, Lisbon). But in truth, nearly every bakery in Lisbon has their own rendition, supermarkets too. There’s no way to get to Lisbon and not enjoy a pastel or two, or a dozen. You can try to make them at home, with some delicious but challenging–looking recipes. But in our experience home renditions of custard tarts are never the same!

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December 2, 2011 · 8:53 PM

Exploring the Ferry Building in San Francisco

The Ferry building is something of a foodie mecca in San Francisco – located on the Embarcadero – it has a farmers market outside and a range of awesome local specialty shops inside. You are definitely spoiled for choice when you get inside with a range of bakeries, butchers, greengrocers and other delicacies. Some of our favorites included Cowgirl Creamery – an amazing cheese shop, Blue Bottle – a coffee roaster and espresso bar, and Miette – a specialty bakery. One caveat – you definitely pay for quality here! Nevertheless, if you are in San Francisco it is a must do, especially for the waterside views when sitting on the back patio. Check out some of our photos below.

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November 29, 2011 · 7:03 AM

Becoming European: Bialetti Espresso

The eaters are in Portugal for a month for research purposes and have rented an apartment. In our apartment there is a Bialetti Moka espresso maker. While we have long been familiar with this iconic little device, we had never used one. At home only L is a coffee drinker, so she set out right away to figure out how to make a cup. The official directions are on the Bialetti site, as well as many other step-by-step versions on blogs, easily enough. The whole process involved a set of unfamiliar tasks like grinding coffee to a just-above-espresso grind (?) and lighting an old gas stove (!), but after a little effort, a cup of espresso finally emerged. The espresso was definitely thicker and stronger than the kind from our Chemex pour-over at home, as it should be, and definitely tasted more like the cafe coffee in Lisbon.  With familiar coffee tools thousands of miles away we are thankful for the Bialetti.

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November 22, 2011 · 12:49 PM

New Orleans -> Chicago -> Lisbon

Just got back from New Orleans and will be leaving for Lisbon very soon. More eating to come!

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November 13, 2011 · 12:47 PM

How hummus conquered Britain

united_kingdomWe love hummus, and apparently it has also taken over the UK!

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November 9, 2011 · 12:19 PM

2012 Michelin Bib Gourmand list for Chicago

Eater Chicago has recently posted a list of the 2012 Michelin Chicago Bib Gourmands, a designation reserved for cheaper Michelin-selected places to get a meal. Like many, I surprised to see Girl and Goat on this list due to its cost. Nevertheless there are some great ETW-esque suggestions on there for world eats – like  Jin Thai, Smak Tak, Cumin, Xni-Pec and Taste of Peru.

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November 6, 2011 · 8:47 PM

No Souvlaki on the bus!

Lucky’s Souvlaki
Main Street, Thira, Santorini 848

Santorini is a rather expensive island, no surprise given the huge tourist crowd. However, hidden in the corners are a few places where you can still get cheap, tasty eats. One such place is Lucky’s Souvlaki, where you can get a pita full of grilled meat for less than 3 euros. Lucky’s Souvlaki is just north of the bus station in Thira, where we had to make many transfers to Ia/Oia and other parts of the island. Lucky’s is a tiny storefront, but is extremely crowded with both tourists and locals alike hoping for a souvlaki fix.

We each ordered a chicken souvlaki to go, from a rather large menu of souvlaki, falafel, gyros and other pita sandwiches. Souvlaki itself refers to meat that has been cooked on a kebab in Greek cuisine, and Lucky’s had a small mountain of meat ready to roast. Our souvlaki was cooked fresh to order and served with a healthy helping of tzatziki and tomatoes. Moreover, there were fries IN the pita – we also saw this preparation in Chania – who knew this is an apparently native style of pita preparation?

Though we were huge fans, unfortunately not everyone in Santorini is pro-Souvlaki. In fact, while attempting to board the bus after purchasing our Souvlaki we got kicked off the bus with a curt “No Souvlaki on the bus!”

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November 4, 2011 · 10:53 AM

Hawaii: The mixed plate lunch

Mix Plate Lunch on Flickr

Hawaiian food is pretty much unknown in the Midwest – not much of a Hawaiian population I guess. The mixed plate lunch is a staple of Hawaiian cuisine. It usually consists of macaroni salad, scoops of white rice and an assorted meat primary dish – anything from BBQ pork to fresh fish. One of L’s favorite places to get an excellent mixed plate lunch is Aloha Mixed plate (1285 Front Street, Lahaina, HI), though there are many fine options. Anyone know of a mixed plate place in Chicago?

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November 3, 2011 · 4:59 AM

Eating Oaxaca

Totally jealous of Mexico Cooks’ recent food journey to Oaxaca. It is definitely high on our to-go list (even though lucky M has already been there).

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November 1, 2011 · 6:01 AM

Pepitas for Dia de Los Muertos

Petaluma Dia de los Muertos by Fred Davis

Happy Halloween & Dia de los muertos! Having a crazy busy weekend M & I did not begin to prepare anything until yesterday afternoon in terms of festive decorations, but within the span of hour we managed to construct an ofrenda, carve a pumpkin and make pepitas – pumpkin seeds! We were pretty proud of our accomplishments, and our pepita recipe turned out pretty well – but word of warning – if you are going to substitute chili powder for anything spicier – these can actually be surprisingly spicy (we used ancho powder). This is probably an obvious point, but our pepitas came out really spicy!

Adapted from A Recipe from Food.com
Ingredients
2 cups pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg white, beaten until frothy
1 tablespoon chili powder (or 1/2 teaspoon ancho chili powder for the spice inclined)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F and spray baking sheet with nonstick spray.
Mix all ingredients and spread in single layer on baking sheet.
Bake until pepitas are golden and dry, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and separate pepitas with fork while still warm; cool completely.

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October 28, 2011 · 4:42 PM

Southern US: Hominy Grill in Charleston

Hominy Grill
207 Rutledge Avenue
Charleston, SC

We absolutely love Southern foodways and Chicago actually has some pretty good options. But since we were in the Southern foodie haven Charleston earlier this year we figured we would find some excellent southern food that would blow our Chicago options out of the water. The only problem was there were so many options! In our research, we found a few names that always came out on top, including Hominy Grill.

Hominy Grill is located in old red house, covered in vintage sign paintings including one that proclaimed “Grits are Good for You.” Now that is a health message we like. The inside of the house/restaurant was charming, with simple wooden tables, a whitewashed tin ceiling and ever-spinning ceiling fans. Between the two of us we ordered she crab soup ($4.50 for a cup) and fried green tomatoes with ranch dip ($4.25). Though fried green tomatoes seems to be a one of those dishes that always graces a Southern menu, neither M nor I had ever actually had it before. Both the soup and grits came out piping hot. The soup was decadently creamy and the fried green tomatoes were pleasantly tart. Though both of our appetizers were very good, we were most looking forward to the entree.

The pièce de résistance was without a doubt the shrimp & grits ($16.95), for which Hominy Grill is justifiably famous.  These shrimp and grits were gussied up with mushrooms, scallions and bacon, as well as a little garlic. They didn’t skimp on the shrimp and when they said cheesy – they meant it. The shrimp and grits were phenomenal – we have never had better! We regretted slightly not ordering two orders of shrimp-and-grits, but despite the sign on the outside we are not sure that would have been the healthiest thing to do. Had we been in Charleston for longer I can guarantee we would give Hominy another visit. We found a recipe for their grits in Southern Living Magazine, but I suspect they will not quite be the same.

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October 24, 2011 · 9:41 PM

Pizza by the Slice in Rome: Pizzarium

Pizzarium
Via della Meloria, 43
Rome, Italia

So one of the things we were most looking forward to in Italy was getting some good pizza (cliché we know). When scanning through the blogosphere for delicious places to eat on the cheap in Rome, we came across many glowing reviews of Pizzarium, so when knew we absolutely had to get there. Pizzarium is helmed by Gabriele Bonci, who is known for his bread and pizza know-how (and who was recently featured in the Atlantic). Pizzarium itself is a tiny, bright store, with nothing in the way of seating or much counter space (we ended up eating our pizza on the curb). However, this tight space is only a minor inconvenience.

When we arrived at the tiny Pizzarium we were stunned by the sheer variety crammed into a single tiny glass counter. On that day, there were about 15 varieties of pizza to choose from. Instead of getting pizza by the slice in the way Americans conceive of it, at Pizzarium they serve Pizza al taglio which refers to large, rectangular pizzas that are literally cut with shears/scissors and sold by the kilogram.

We tried 3 varieties of pizza: a classical Margherita Pizza (see above), Potato and Ricotta, and spicy Red Pepper Basil. For four slices we spent roughly 15 Euros – which is a pretty good deal for Rome. The crust was phenomenal, and really set the pizza apart from any we had previously. The crust, while not as thick as Sicilian sfincione (more on that later), had a nice thick crust like foccacia bread. We also appreciated the inventive flavor combos and the amazingly fresh ingredients. Pizzarium was the best pizza we sampled in Italy, and is a must do for anyone after (or before) a trip to the Vatican.

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