notes from the road.

Photographer and Hungry Ghost contributor Mary Rozzi writes in on her Slow Food meal in Barcelona, Spain.

The other night I ate with a group of friends at Origens in Barcelona Spain, a restaurant recommended by a Slow Food Website.

 It was soooo good! At first I was a little put off by the plastic menu outside and the lack luster decor, but the restaurant was recommended by a Slow Food Site as a restaurant using all local and organic ingredients and products. A summary of each dish was give on the menu and there was a description of what was in each plate.

We tried one of everything and it was such a great time!

We  all loved the duck with pear sauce but my absolute favorite was the local pork stuffed apples!

We were a tough crowd, but  in the end, we all walked away thouroughly satisfied and with big smiles on our faces!

Origens

c/ Vidieria 6-8

08003 Barcelona, Spain

933 107 531

the organic market of san antonio, mira flores, lima, peru

 

 Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved

In the tiny neighborhood of San Antonio, located in Miraflores, in Lima Peru, there is a small organic market on Saturday mornings. The market rotates around Lima so if you don't catch it in Miraflores, look for it in other locations.

The market is an organic local Peruvian food market. A market of this kind is still something of a rare thing in a country totally obsessed with food. I imagine as the Slow Food movement takes hold and people start to see the value of local and organic, these kinds of markets will become easier to find. Our Peruvian chef, friend and Slow Food member, Gonzalo Angosto took us to the market in his neighborhood of San Antonio. The market is only 3/4 of a block long but is jam packed with fruits and vegetables, organic eggs, Peruvian coffee, local honey and Peruvian street food. Oh, and I can't forget the most delicious little sweet caramels individually wrapped by nuns! I think Peruvians are obsessed with these salty, nutty little caramel treats as I saw them in many incarnations across Peru.

I bought some brilliant yellow canary beans (frijol canario) and a mixed bag of organic beans ( (frijol pusacc punuy) as well as some red (quinua roja) and black (quinua negra) quinoa and a couple dried peppers (aji and aji amarillo) and some pink sea salt.

The dried goods are beautiful, easy to pack, make great gifts and travel well.

We had to buy some pecans with caramel covered in chocolate, and wrapped in individual little blue and white papers. These had to be consumed immediately as it was too hot for them to travel... but there were no complaints. Go to the market early, if you can, and have a local peruvian coffe and some street food. There are many kinds of Peruvian pork breakfast sandwiches and they are absolutely not to be missed! (more on this later)

Wander a bit and pick up some things to take home, once you are back you will be happy to have them and I guarantee it will make the trip that much sweeter.

A note.

I always bring honey and sea salt back for my own pantry and for friends because it is a unique gift and you can virtually find it anywhere. The Peruvian sea salt is a soft pink and very strong in flavor, so if you get it use just a tiny amount at a time!

link to Gonzalo's hostel

lime in the coconut... inspired by a recent dance party in mexico

On our last day in Tulum, Raoul generously climbed the palm tree in the hottest heat of the day and cut fresh coconuts for us to drink and eat. The younger coconuts turned out to be the sweetest.

He cleaned them with his machete and hacked off the tops . Somehow, while drinking the coconut water, one of us spontaneously broke into song which inspired a bit of seventies style singing and dancing ... so we looked up this video to share with Lula, Sam and Odette and then the real dance party began.

absinthe and oysters at maison premiere

 

 Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved

Visible only by the bar/oysters sign swinging gently in the rain is Maison Premiere, a new oyster house and cocktail den on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Inside, you will find a cross between a Paris bar of the 1930s and a  New Orleans speak easy. The vibe is a little burlesque, a little grungry and a little Donald Draper.

The bespectacled waiters and lacy waitresses serve cocktails, oysters and other raw bar delights. The only choices there are to make here are what to drink and which oysters to choose from the 22 or so varieties offered. 

This place definitely transports you for a moment. Everything about Mason Premiere has been considered, even the tiniest details. It rides the current wave of decor that nods to Hotel Delmano or Freeman's. Maison Premiere has a slightly decrepit and battered look. Portraits of someone's ancestors line the walls, oil lamps flicker quietly against the cracked plaster, even the wooden pull chain toilet is meant to transport us, if only for a bit, to another time.

We ordered both East Coast and West Coast oysters. Our favorite, hands down, was the Beau Soleil; a small creamy, sweet, almost buttery oyster, from Neguac, New Brunswick .

Maison Premiere offers dollar oysters monday through friday 4-7pm. So go, sit, and sample a dozen or so. Try a glass of absinthe (they have the largest offering of premium absinthes in New York City) or have a cocktail or a glass of bubbly and allow yourself to be in another time.

osteria morini

 

 

 

Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved

 It is no secret that the food of Emiglia Romagna is some of the best in the world. It is a secret however, that the best time to sample some is lunchtime in New York City at Osteria Morini. Morini is a relative newcomer to the Soho/Noho neighborhood, opening just seven months ago, but bound to be here for the long run and to become, like the food it represents, a classic.

I am freelance, and on the very, and I mean VERY, rare occaision that I finish early, I like to have lunch somewhere out. It feels very civilized and mildly European to sit and have a glass of wine in the middle of the day. It's kind of satsifying, like playing hookey.

Yesterday, as luck would have it, I finished early. So I snuck off to Osteria Morini with my friend Meredith for just one of these lunches. I have been to Morini at night and it is quite crowded and hard to get a table. We walked right in at 2pm and although there were many open tables we decided to sit at the bar and have an appetizer or two.

We sat at the bar and ordered a glass of wine. We are both of similiar minds in our wine preference. We were looking for something a little earthy, smokey and dirty. We found our perfect wine in a Chianti Ruffina, a biodynamic wine with black forest fruits fine chalky tannins and a  little earth.

We shared some mortadella and proccuito polpettine, made with pork and veal and served in a little bowl of tomato sauce. They were so tasy! It brought me right back to my grandmothers house and that smell of sauce that I think has  permanently altered my DNA. That particular smell and taste is home to to me. It conjures up my Nonna in her house dress, her transluscent skinned hand waving that spoon full of sauce in front of me, as I am allowed one little taste, but what a perfect taste it always was. My grandmother was very funny because she could never just sample the pasta to see if it was done, she always had to take a little pasta put a pinch of sauce add one meatball and a little bit of pecorino and taste it all together... this is what Morini's polpettine reminded me of, home.

We then shared a porchetta sandwich of thinly sliced roasted pork with with balsamic pickled onions a salsa verde, arugula and a lardo pesto. It was the perfect amount of food for a midday lunch on rainy spring day.

 NOTE......

I have to add that after going the other day...I became obsessed with those meatballs. I had a lunch plan this week with a friend and her daughter. I suggested Morini. Initially she was worried that it might be too crowded or fancy for a toddler as her daughter is just two and a half, but I assured her that it would be fine. We discovered  not only is Morini a great secret spot for lunch, but that it is also really kid friendly! The staff was super nice, they had a booster seat and there were plenty of things for her to eat. She chose a proscuitto and cheese panini and some mozzarella with rosemary olive oil and grapes... we shared the homemade tagliatelle with ragu antica and then finished it off with a panna cotta (served in a little mason jar) with bitter orange marmalade and salty pistachios.