Cool…mercado de san miguel

I have been thinking how delicious Spanish food could be, which reminded me of my  recent visit to Madrid’s world famous food market, Mercado de San Miguel.   Filled to the brim with Spanish delicacies as well as a sprinkling of ethnic food, walking through the market is a delight to the senses.

The building itself is also worth a visit.  Recently refurbished, the cast iron and metal structure is laid out in a series of stalls where you can sup on tapas as well as enjoy ice creams and have a drink.

Well, what did we love?  My favourite were the little cones of chorizo sausages, accompanied by freshly cooked potato crisps and little bowls of cold gazpacho soup and finished off with a cup of chocolate with churros.   What do you drink?   Sangria, of course.

Mercado de San Miguel

Plaza san Miguel

Sun – Wed 10:00 – 22:00, Thu – Sat 10:00 – 02:00

Cool…fashion & food @ Harrods

Loving the creative direction of these advertising shots for Harrods.  Shot in one of my favorite places in the whole world- the Harrods Food Hall.  The excess!  This could be something out of the nineties, it is so over the top.

A taste of NY in…London

Covent Garden has a bit of a dearth of good quick food. I had read about Mishkin’s in the TImes that morning and I thought it would be the perfect place for a quick Reuben sandwich on the way to see War Horse.

Decorated in the style of a 50s diner and full of the cool tattooed crowd, the air is full of the mouthwatering taste of salted beef.

If you squinted your eyes and were immune to accents, once you squeezed yourself into a red vinyl booth with the black and white checked floor and wooden detailing, you could almost imagine that you were in NY.

Though it possibly couldn’t be kosher, the mix of macaroni and salted beef in the mac and cheese was too die for. However, Heston Blumenthal’s autograph on the wall promising a heavenly Reuben was not too be. For my taste, it was way too thin- both the rye bread and the meats were not chunky enough, though the sauerkraut was pleasingly tangy. I tried to take a photo of it but its proportions just didn’t make a good image!

However, if you do want to eat something a bit different to the usual London fare- this is the place for you.

Mishkin’s
25 Catherine Street, London WC2
Tel: +44 20 7240 2078

Sometimes life is better….

Sometimes life is better when you add a macaroon from Ladurée.

Unfortunately you have to go to Paris to get one.

cool… laser cut nori

Totally loving these laser cut nori rolls sheets.  Because of the intricacies of the designs developed by international ad agency I&S BBDO, the seaweed used has to be a bit thicker than the normal nori seaweed used.   Too expensive at the moment to produce commercially (each sheet costs around USD10), they hope to be able to produce in larger quantities and at a lower price in time.

The designs are inspired by typical Japanese  ’katagami style’ of 19th century stencil artwork and are based  is based on an element of japanese history or symbology, meant to bring beauty, good fortune, growth, happiness, and longevity .  The tortoiseshell (final image) looks like the Goyard chevron logo and stands for longevity.   Fabulous

Cool…premiere pression provence

COOL…PREMIERE PRESSION PROVENCE

Provence’s rolling hills, warm climate and fertile lands mean that the produce that grows there is amongst the finest quality in the world.   Premiere Pression Provence grew out of founder, Olivier Baussan’s great love of this region.   Baussan is best known for setting up L’Occitane- the world famous french beauty and personal care brand.  After Baussan sold L’Occitane, he turned his attention to the olive plantations and its passionate producers that dot this area.

The producers of the olive oil that is produced in Provence are characterized by their unconditional love and passion for their olive trees and the land in which they grow.   Baussan brought these olive growers together to give them an outlet for their select produce.  Most of the production of the olive oil is done by hand in very small mills.   This means that there is a variety of flavours and they are the freshest that can be found, passing through only the growers and then PPP’s hands for packaging  before it reaches the  consumer.

In order to showcase the unique flavours of PPP’s produced, Eclectic Cool was invited to an event at Hyde in Lyndhurst Terrace to taste these delicious olive oils in action.   Hyde created a selection of tapas including a delicious grilled fresh scallop, timbale of smoked salmon, sizzling prawns with chorizo and  a gorgeous cucumber cup stuffed with crab and caviar.   The tapas were liberally drizzled with PPP’s varieties of olive oil- a lovely piquant addition to the flavourful bites.

I have always been a great believer in the restrained addition of olive oil and garlic to a meal.  I haven’t met a pasta or piece of fish that wasn’t improved by the  taste of extra virgin! PPP’s oils were a gorgeous clear green ranging in intensity of colour and flavour.

Impressed by the flavours, the next day I popped into the PPP store in Graham Street in Soho.   The bright exterior beckoned me into this little piece of Provence where I was seduced by the verdant smell and luscious but simple packaging.  I couldn’t help but leave with my arms filled with some oils and some pots of truffle & artichoke cream to spread over the Poilane bread I bought earlier at Great.  I couldn’t wait to get to my studio to start lunch.  This is what is true luxury should be.

Premiere Pression Provence (PPP)

39 Graham Street Central ( just off Lyndhurst Terrace)

Tel: +852 2805 1599

www.ppprovence.hk

www.facebook.com/PPPHongKong

HYDE

2/F & 3/F Lyndhurst Tower

1 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central

+852 2850 6283

YUM…POILANE BAR, PARIS

When in Paris, eat as the Parisians do and start your day off with  delicious croissants and breads, washed down with a café au lait or chocolat chaud.   No one does it better than Poilane.

Like Ladureé for macaroons, Poilane is synonymous with bread.  This robust sourdough is made from stone-ground flour and baked in a wood fired oven.   Poilane has been baking bread since 1932 and the experience and quality shows.

The last time I was in Paris, I was a little lazy and went down the road to Café de Flore, where I had a passable café au lait and an ordinary croissant- for the price of 12 euros.   This time I got smart and discovered that Poilane had opened a pretty fancy cafe nearby my hotel in the Marais.   For the price of 9.80 euros I got a basket full of breads and croissants, a selection of jams and fresh unsalted butter ,a bowl of thick chocolat chaud  and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

Arriving on the dot at 9am there were only a few people around, so I had a lovely quiet breakfast and planned my day. It was wonderful- so wonderful that when I went back the next day for round 2 and discovered it closed, I was very disappointed.

Poilane Bar Cuisine

38 rue Debelleyme 75003 Paris

Tel +33 (0) 1 44 61 83 39

Opening hours :
From tuesday to sunday, 7:15 am to 8:15 pm

btw…for we hong kongers- you can pick up Poilane bread at Great in Pacific Place.

MORE COMFORT FOOD…KASE SPAETZLE

All this cold weather has made me turn to comfort food, which of course is carb rich, laden with calories and oh so yummy.

I discovered a great dish called Kase Spaetzle which is pretty much the Austro- German version of macaroni and cheese.   This version is courtesy of the restaurant Goldener Burg, which also has a pretty nice hotel attached.  You can visit it here. I found a recipe for it here. It looks pretty easy.  In the recipe they use a utensil called a hobel, but I think you could use a colander or a rice press.

With melted emmentaler cheese and the additional of crispy fried onions and chopped chives, it certainly took the chill off- and the kids loved it too!

PARIS AGAIN….

No matter what the season, Paris still has allure. This was the first place I ever visited where they did not speak English. I remember getting off the Metro at Montparnasse and really feeling totally overwhelmed. I was 16 years old! How did my parents ever let me go? I survived not speaking a word of French but managed to subsist on a diet of pain au chocolat and McDonald’s. What a trip down memory lane!

The food is better and the accommodation definitely is. But Paris still has the ability to make me feel 16 again, full of the wonder and romance of it all