The Night is Still Young - Chef Laura in Israel Part 2

Although I've spent 4 days in Tel Aviv already, I haven't experienced too much of it outside from evenings. The Israelis give the phrase "The night is still young" another meaning. Not having realized that, I was surprisingly amazed at how un-crowded the restaurant scene was the first 2 days I was here having dinner at 7-8pm.

On Sunday, I went to Raphael, a Mediterranean style restaurant in the Dan Hotel. I arrived in time to watch the Sunset along with eating my dinner, and the view was just awesome. Not wanting to extend my gluttony over two evenings, I opted for only two courses - both appetizer portions (I know, can you believe it?).





To start, the charred aubergine, which honestly is the best roasted aubergine I have ever had. Roasted aubergine may sound simple, but a perfect one is quite hard to do. You need to make sure that the vegetable cooks without steaming on the inside which can make the result somewhat bitter and bland. At Raphael, the aubergine was roasted so that the the flesh was tender and the smokey flavor was brilliantly contrasted with an herb (that I could not identify but they call it "girelle") which had a tangy aftertaste.



Lamb ribs from crusted with white pepper followed, and was served with pommes puree mixed in with olives for that Mediterranean touch. They made the pommes puree as I make mine - with more butter than potato!



The following evening, in proper Israeli fashion of starting everything late, I had dinner (9:30pm) at Pinxos, a Tapas bar in the funky artist neighborhood of Nahalat Binyamin. Tapas is popular in Israel as a style of food, but not necessarily with Spanish flavors (influence maybe). I think the appeal comes from the traditional mezze cuisine, which is small samples of many different things. Actually come think of it, all the older cuisines of the world have a very similar philosophy towards food (read my post on Korea, although it's much younger).

Since there were two of us, I was able to sample a variety of items of the menu, including the fattiest sweetbreads, and an egg yolk ravioli which was my favorite item.





The most unusual dish was bulghur stuffed baby calamari, a la plancha.



The no-fail method to styling up a dish is very simple - add a drizzle of truffle oil on the plate, and you have instant success. Even the blahest food gets some sass from truffle oil. At Pinxos, almost ever dish came with truffle oil, which was a pity, because most of the dishes could hold their own! So, remember this trick, but use with discretion!


Scallop Carpaccio


Finishing off with the best ice cream in Tel Aviv



My awesome Israeli hosts took me out for my first Tel Aviv nightlife experience, starting at an American Style restaurant/bar called Dixies, and then finishing off at Shesek, a small bar tucked away on Lilinblum street. Although it was a Tuesday night, the crowds only started to trickle in around 11pm, and the streets were packed even when I was on my way home at 2am, which is, as they say, when the night is still young.


American Food at it's best - Beef ribs in Hoisin sauce


Seared beef carpaccio



In line with conquering my Israeli cuisine chase, I woke up the next morning at 7:30am, in time to have breakfast in a small restaurant tucked away in the Yemenite Quarter. The joint is only open from 7am through to 12pm, and only one item is served here, Syrian hummus with a fava bean paste, hard boiled egg, parsley, spices and olive oil. I could never go back to American hummus, although I just heard about a really great Israeli Hummus place in ... Cupertino!




Condiments for Hummus - Pita bread, onions, peppers & sweet mint tea

The hard core breakfast rendered me full till Israeli dinner time (10pm), which leaves me in search of a restaurant on the eve of the commemoration of the Fall of Jerusalem, where all establishments are supposed to be closed.

Wish me luck!

Old Eats Meets New - Chef Laura in Israel Part 1

I've been in Tel Avia 3 days already, and the city is starting to stick to my bones. There's much to do, and plenty to eat, so I've been beginning my mornings with the requisite 5 miles, and then cooling off with a swim in the Mediterranean. How could one not get used to this life? Waking up at 6 just became a whole lot easier!


Catching the Tel Aviv Sunset when I arrived, a good way to start my trip


A view of chinky beach

Israeli cuisine is complex - as one noted, Israel is a nation of immigrants, so flavors from all over the world can be found here. However, the chefs here take pride in using seasonal and local ingredients as well, adding a touch of uniqueness and antiquity sometimes to the food.

On Saturday, I visited Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee, which are locations dear to the Christian faith, and so have particular importance to me. For lunch, we ate at a restaurant by Magdala Beach, which is where Mary Magdalene was from. It was my first local meal, and to start, a selection of vegetarian appetizers, also known as Mezze anywhere in the region.



I opted for the grilled Peter's Fish, which is Tilapia, and is from the Galilee. This would have been the fish that Peter and Andrew would have made their living on. Produce like dates, olives, tahini have been around forever (literally), and to think that I might be eating the same food as Jesus and his disciples! Giving thanks for the food, now has a whole new meaning.




Fresh Dates - First time I had them



Dipping my feet in the Sea of Galilee after lunch

I finished off the day with dinner at Hebert Samuel, a sizzling new restaurant by Chef Jonathan Roshfeld. The concierge described it as "fabulous", and it did not disappoint. The menu is kept pretty simple, with a few items in each category. In addition to the regular menu, the special's menu was one of the most extensive I've ever seen! Most dishes could either be ordered as an appetizer or a main course, and I opted for the smaller portions for all the courses.



Everything was absolutely delicious. Ordinarily, I would not have ordered sashimi at a non-Japanese restaurant, but I was assured that the Yellow tail was local, and this was a dish for raw fish rookies. Yellow tail is usually heavy and fatty, but this was lighter, and served with a tangy yogurt sauce, which cut into the flavor very well.


Yellow tail Sashimi with Ladi of Lemon grass & Honey

The chicken liver pate (special) was the the best I ever had, unfortunately the brioche that it was served with was not hot when it arrived. The crispy sea bream was sprinkled with corn meal to made the skin extra crispy - a trick that I will be using next time! The vegetables were grilled, then sauteed, and it was served with a delicious red tapenade, which I can guess was made by first roasting peppers, then cooking it down with olives and tomatoes, etc etc. This was my favorite dish (seafood, can you imagine?), with all the love that went into it.


Chicken Liver Pate with Cassis


Sea bream with zucchini and tasso olives

Finally I finished with the lobster macaroni, a good way to end the meal, rich flavor, some fresh peas and shoots, and the pasta was of course cooked to al dente perfection. I even made space for dessert afterwards, and while I don't particularly love cherry dessert, this was pretty much made up for the rest of them all. Black cherry creme brulee, ice cream, and dark chocolate mousse cake (yes, I sneezed a lot).


Lobster Macaroni with chestnuts and lemon

Black Cherry Dessert

It was a great dinner, and some where between the first and second course, I forgot that I was dining alone. Unfortunately for me, since there was only one stomach, I wasn't able to taste the entire menu in one dinner. All's well that ends well, and as a reward for finishing 4 courses and one dessert, the bartender poured me two glasses of a late harvest riesling from Sharon.


After an awesome meal - you can tell I'm happy

Stay tuned for my updates!

The Cosmopolitan Seoul - Chef Laura in Korea (Final Installment)

There is a lot of Japanese influence in Korean culture (good or bad, that's debatable and depends on who you ask), so it's not surprise that good Japanese food is easy to find. Not to mention that Korea is a peninsula, so fresh local fish is very accessible. We dined at the Westin's Japanese restaurant, ordering a mix of two omakase bentos and some a la carte dishes.

The night before we left, Sung took as to one of the best Japanese meals that I ever had. The chef at Sushi Cho, is.... Chef Cho. He apprenticed under the best Japanese chef in Korea before moving out to start his own thing. Sung mentioned that Koreans tend to prefer white fish over red fish, and truly, I had some of the best white fish sushi. Of course, there was toro ( triple helpings for me), and abalone (triple helpings for Daryl). Fusing the Korean Hanjeongsik tradition of endless courses into the Japanese menu, we had:

Several vegetable appetizers


A huge Sashimi Platter (Actually two, check out the Toro portions)


Grilled White Fish


Cooked Abalone


Steamed Egg Custard


Ankimo - Monkfish Liver


Anago and Seared Toro Sushi


Yum.

Although less traveled than it's neighboring cities of Tokyo and Shanghai, Seoul is equally cosmopolitan. Of course, my standard metric is cuisine variety, and as they say, the proof is in the pudding, or maybe in this case, the Payard. We had tea and lunch at Payard Seoul, and the quality of the pastries and food was so much better than the NYC Flagship. Pastries were more delicate and meticulously designed and displayed, and although the food took a little while to get to our table, it was cooked to perfection. I had the squid ink risotto, and everyone knows that a perfect risotto is mark of a very high quality control - a true luxury, high end patisserie.


I made a fuss about how everyone kept trying to steal my eclair. Get your own!


We tried that dark chocolate tart


We also tried the opera cake on the left


THE French cookie - that I absolutely detest


It's better than it looks

In fact, it was not just at Payard that our western cuisine was done well. We had lunch at Vecchia e Nuovo, the Chosun's cafe, and the pasta was also cooked to al-dente, (with the perfect amount of sauce), and the fries (not mine), were crispy and fluffy (water blanched of course). I am overwhelmed with the amount of pride that Koreans put into making sure that everything that they produce is top quality.


Yes, I do have this thing for squid ink

It wasn't just the high end food that was cosmopolitan. Even the street style food was a melting pot of cultures - In Itaewon, Whole chicken on the rotisserie, Turkish Kebabs, Barbecued squid and octopus, and then Insadong with traditional Korean sweets that resembled dragon's beard, ding ding tang and muah chee (or mochi).







The last stop on our Korean Culinary adventure was the basement of Shinsegae department store, where we loaded up on office gifts of traditional Korean pastries filled with sweet filling of mung bean, read bean, dates, pine nuts, etc. Among the other traditional Korean sweets were French cakes and pastries like cream puffs, all sorts of filled breads, and imported Japanese treats like manju, which cost $5 a pop (yes, i bought them).




I had never imagined that visiting Korea would be so palate opening! The food truly reflects the cosmopolitan nature of the country, with dining traditions rooted deep in the country's history. Any preconceived notions about what I thought Korean Food was like completely disappeared the minute I stepped into Seoul, and I can honestly say that I'm so impressed with the quality, variety, and most of all culture behind the culinary scene here. They say you really have to live in a place to understand it properly, but I think eating through it might come up a close second!

Thanks for reading through Korea - Next stop, Israel!

A Carbonara Indulgence

I had a ton of Mentaiko Mayo leftover from the July 3rd BBQ, and since you can't keep mentaiko or fresh mayo, I decided to whip up maybe one of the most delicious/unique Carbonara dishes I've ever had - Mentaiko Carbonara with Lobster, Spinach and Fermented Uni!



Traditionally, mayonnaise is made by slowly whisking in a drizzle of oil into egg yolks until an emulsion forms. Starting slowly and with a good emulsion will ensure that your mayonnaise doesn't break even when more oil is added later. Homemade Mayonnaise is just the biggest luxury - it also a pain to make, but once you get the hang of it, I guarantee you'll never go back to commercial Mayo if you can help it! The secret to Mayo success is to be very patient, forearm strength, and have a great helper! The higher the oil to egg yolk ratio, the more lux the Mayo will be.

With this version, the kick comes from Mentaiko, which is spicy cured pollack roe from Japan. Mentaiko filled riceballs (Onigiri) are very popular as a filling, and the best Mentaiko Yaki Onigiri I've had is at Tanto, hands down! Try it, keep it, freeze it, or make Mentaiko Carbonara, but whatever it is, to make a good Mentaiko mayo, you've got to start with a good Mayo! It also worked deliciously well with our grilled lobsters at the seafood fest!

Mentaiko Mayo

Makes 2 cups

2 ea Egg Yolks
1 cup Oil, Light Olive, Canola or Grapeseed
4-6 ea Mentaiko sacs, about 1 box
1 ea Lemon, Juiced
2 ea Garlic cloves, crush smooth
2 Tbsp Hot water

Salt & Pepper

1. Whisk the egg yolks in a metal bowl until really thick
2. Very slowly, get another person to drizzle a teensy bit of oil down the side of the bowl
3. Keep whisking to incorporate the oil into your egg yolks
4. Once you start getting a thickened consistency,slowly drizzle the rest of the oil in, while whisking
5. After 20 minutes of whisking and a painful forearm, you should end up with some really nice Mayo
6. Add the garlic cloves, lemon juice and hot water to the Mayo, this should lighten up the color
7. Remove the skin from the Mentaiko sacs, and then whisk in the eggs into the Mayo
8. Season with salt and pepper

If you're lazy and want to use Shelf Mayo, skip steps 1 - 5.

For Mentaiko Carbonara:

2 portions Spaghetti
4 ea Thick sliced bacon
2 cups Baby Spinach
2/3 cups Mentaiko Mayo

Optional ingredients: Picked Lobster or Crab Meat, and Fermented Uni

Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta
While pasta is cooking, dice and fry up bacon until bits are crispy
Remove bacon bits from pan, and reserve
In the hot pan, wilt the spinach in the bacon drippings
Drain pasta, and while pasta is still very very hot, toss Mentaiko Mayo, Bacon, and Spinach together
If using optional shellfish meat, toss it in as well
Top with Uni

Serve immediately