Tag: #foodfri

#FoodFri A picnic in castle grounds @ Fontainebleau, France

How’s everyone’s week been? Mine was busy covering an annually tradeshow. Luckily, they keep us journalists pretty well-fed in the press hall so I’m a happy camper.

Today’s #FoodFri is a picnic lunch I had in the grounds of Fontainebleu Castel in France. As you can see, it’s not quite as scandalous as Manet’s <<Le déjeuner sur l’herbe>> but it was a peaceful lunch.

I bought the supplies from the Monoprix near the castle after I dropped off at two bus stops too far from my destination. I decided that I did not want to stress myself with ordering lunch en Francais so I bought couscous, chicken, yogurt and H20.

Being cold, pre-cooked food, it wasn’t the best tasting dish I’ve had in France but I’ve had a worse meal (instant noodles I brought from Singapore.) Sacrebleu!

I found a quiet spot overlooking the castle grounds.

Not far away, a kindergarten group was having their lunch.

I decided to skip Versailles and go to Fountainebleu because I know that if I ever come back to France with other people, I would be dragged to see the Sun King’s palace. Napoleon had stayed in this castle and there was an exhibition of his things in the castle.

#FoodFri, short for Food Friday, is a weekly post where I feature a dish I’ve had while travelling or a dish you should try when you come to Singapore.

Other French eats

#FoodFri I bet you can’t pronounce this dish @ Xi’an

While we were in Xi’an last year, we went in search of an unpronounceable noodle dish. The Chinese writing for it looks like it would take two minutes to write just one character.

We didn’t know how to say the word, but we knew how to look and point.

We found a tiny stall with quite a lot of patrons. We settled down and sheepishly asked for a bowl each, mumbling our way through the name.

Biángbiáng noodles

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a terribly fantastic dish. Maybe we weren’t used to minced meat mixed with sauce and fried egg with tomator or maybe the stall wasn’t the best around.

From Wikipedia:
Made up of 58 strokes, the Chinese character for “biáng” is one of the most complex Chinese characters in contemporary usage, although the character is not found in modern dictionaries or even in the Kangxi dictionary.

Have you eaten any unpronounceable dish?

#FoodFri Xiao long bao @ Singapore

It’s lunch time here at my office and I am hungry.

Today’s #FoodFri feature is the multi-flavored xiao long bao (literally “mini dragon buns”, or “mini steam basket buns”) from Paradise Dynasty in Singapore.

I usually avoid restaurants to save money but I got this set using a Groupon voucher so it was a lot cheaper. According to my voucher, the eight different flavors are: Original, Ginseng, Foie Gras, Black Truffle, Cheese, Crab Roe, Garlic, Sze Chuan.

My sister and I each had a steam basket and tried to guess the different flavors. Most of the time we probably got the flavors wrong because some taste quite alike. Those that are really unique, eg Szechuan, are easily guessable.

I don’t think the buns are worth the fuss even though I’m a a big xiao long bao fan. I guess it’s more of a fun dish to treat guests to.

More #FoodFri to whet your appetite:

#FoodFri Milk in plastic bag @ China

When I was on student exchange in China, I was very fascinated with these milk-in-a-plastic-bag. Besides regular milk, other types of liquid also come in these bags, eg: watery yogurt or peanut milk.

From where I grew up, liquid milk either came in a bottle or a paper box.

I like milk in a bag. It’s more convenient to pack since it won’t have the pointy edges of paper-boxed milk or the awkward shape and weight of a plastic bottle.

But I don’t like how awkward it is to drink. I either have to cut a hole and drink it like I’m sucking on an udder or find a glass to pour it in. There’s also a risk of the bags leaking because of sharp and pointy things in my bag.

If you’re ever in China, give these milk-in-a-bag a try. They taste good.

#FoodFri California rolls are undeniable

Who says my #FoodFri has to be about good food? Not everything I put in my mouth taste yummy–especially that mouthful of detergent I once accidentally sipped.

So today, I shall show you one of the most disgusting meals I had in the US. Hmm… I think it’s the *only* disgusting meal I had.

I knew I needed to eat sushi in San Francisco but I was too timid to enter posh looking shops. In the end, I picked up a sushi set from Safeway supermarket.

If I could travel back in time, I would devote all my energy to change the course of my life around 8-9pm May 23. I would stop myself from buying this set even if it means physically forcing Marty McFly out of the time machine.

The wasabi tasted suspiciously like chilli. I wonder if they put jalapenos in it.

The California roll was sad. It has the traditional avocado in it–leaving me feeling “UH?”. The not yummy taste could not be covered up by the wasabi. Sad!

The salmon. Is this San Francisco? How could your fish taste so bad? They must have been made in China.

But what can I expect? It’s supermarket sushi. (Although I still can’t believe Cold Storage sushi can be better.)

#FoodFri Chinese food in America

Reporting from the US of A. I had two Chinese meals on the first two days.

Honestly, they were good. A 9.1 out of 10 good. Maybe it’s because they weren’t very cheap meals.

The crabs were huge! One crab could feed 6 persons, seriously! The lobsters weren’t as fantastic but still good.

Funny thing is, the vegetables here aren’t really chopped up nicely. I feel like I’m eating a bonsai sometimes.

Hungry for more? Check out my other #FoodFri.

#FoodFri Silk pudding @ Tokyo, Japan

Asakusa silk purin~

On today’s menu, it’s the Asakusa silk pudding which can be found near the famous Asakusa Temple.

The store is located in a pedestrian lane, far enough from the main street for us to enjoy the quietness.

The store front was plain–a display fridge, two round tables outside. There were two bins by the wall, telling customers to recycle its glass bottle and plastic cap and spoon.

The pudding, like its name, tasted silky and the caramel tasted slightly burnt. I’m not sure if it’s deliberately like that to contrast the sweetness of the custard or if it was fluke.

Anyway, mom and I polished the glass bottles clean. Yum!

Here’s a Google Map of the place if you happen to be in Asakusa.

#FoodFri: Giant profiterole @ The French Stall, Singapore

giant profiterole

Today’s #FoodFri is the giant profiterole found at The French Stall.

Vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two croissant-like buns with liberal doze of chocolate syrup.

I first had French food at The French Stall in Singapore. It was supposed to be an outing for NUS Francophile but there only three people went–two from the committe.

The French Stall is located at 544 Serangoon Rd. It closes on Monday though.

#FoodFri My first Spanish order

cafe con leche y pasta

Feb 19, 2011 12 noon @Barcelona

One of the best things about travelling is the memories. Today, I would like you to meet my first Spanish order–cafe con leche y pasta.

After seeing the sign outside, I went up the cafe counter, said: “Cafe con leche y pasta.” The employee spoke a long string of Spanish. I looked at her stupidly before blurting out, “No habla espanol.”

She pointed me to the pastry display. I picked the sugar powdered pastry. It was yums.