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Where is the Best Tapas in Spain?

by emma on 2011/02/10 in Europe, Featured Article, Food and Travel, Foodie Guide

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Eating, drinking, and sharing in good fun with friends is popular in every culture, but Spanish tapas takes this notion to a whole new level. While living in Spain I fell in love with the corner tapas bars that populate the country. You can’t travel to Spain without understanding this amazing concept and knowing what to look for!

Tapas is a legendary snack from Spain, a mouthful of magic. It is a bite size appetizer or snack (but can also turn into a main meal when consuming many!) Tapa means lid or cover, so the idea behind the name was that this little morsel that sat on a small plate would be the cover to your wine glass to avoid insects from getting in. Tapas has turned into so much more than just a cover for your wine! Tomar tapas (going for tapas) is a culture in Spain. The bars specializing in these treats are everywhere, and there are even streets dedicated solely to tapas bars. I lived in Logrono, in the wine region of La Rioja (lucky me!) and Calle Laurel was the place to be if you wanted tapas. Basically any night of the week this place would be packed with groups of friends traveling from bar to bar, tasting the specialty each joint had to offer! You literally can spend an entire night in one bar tasting all of their different pinchos (another word meaning tapas, generally said in the north of Spain). When I was in San Sebastian for a weekend, my friend and I stumbled upon an incredible tapas bar. We were early to the scene though, hungry by 8:30 when most don’t even head out to eat well after 10pm!! Still, it was so cool to stay in one bar for the night, trying absolutely everything and indulging in conversation with the many people who kept coming in and out of the spot. As you may have guessed, tapas is eaten standing up at a bar, (there are never seats in tapas bars!) with a glass of wine (vino tinto – red wine is the most typical) or a beer in hand surrounded by good friends (old and new) and interesting conversation.

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My favourite dishes, and some of the most popular include patatas bravas (fried square potatoes served with a spicy red sauce on a toothpick, or in dish to share), tortilla Española (the quintessential Spanish omelet layered with onion and potatoes), jamón ibérico (Spain’s famous cured ham just on a piece of white baguette, you don’t need anything more!), croquettas de jamón (fried cheese balls studded with ham) and champi (Champi is short for champigon, mushroom, and they are cooked in garlic and served as a trio on a little piece of bread). It is quite common that a tapa will be served on a little round of white baguette! I have only listed a few, but there are much much more choices available; in the town where I lived pineapple and shrimp skewers were popular as well as a skewer of salchichón (sausage). Generally I would say a tapa is between 1-4 Euros depending on the ingredients! A word to the wise: more than a few bars don’t have a specialty and instead have a slew on appetizers on display. These can be a bit old, so make sure to ask for a fresh one to be made; most bars will do this, as the ones on the counter are simply to display the many choices they have to offer!

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Another tip: before eating a tapa it is custom to cheers glasses with your companions and say Salud!! (Cheers!!) Seville is considered to be the tapas capital of Spain, but each city is unique in what they bring to the tapas market. I adored the tapas street in my town and subsequently the one I found in San Sebastian! If in Seville, head to Calle Jose de Velilla, a popular street filled some of the city’s favourite tapas spots. As I said, in Logrono, the street to be is Calle Laurel, and as regards San Sebastian anywhere in the Casco Viejo (old town) is the place to be. I’ve refrained from including names of tapas bars to visit, because each one is unique in their own way. The main thing to do when looking for great tapas is find a street where there are a multitude of bars serving up different specialties, because it is through adventuring you will really learn what “doing a tapas night” really means! When visiting Spain, take a night off from eating at your scheduled restaurant and try this Spanish tradition that is celebrated nationally!

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Kabab Kebab, Qabab… However you spell it, it’s delicious!

by Akseli on 2011/01/11 in Europe, Featured Article, Middle East

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Introducing Kebab in Finland
You probably know Pizza well, don’t you? That flat round Italian food that’s a junk food that can be dressed up… that can be thin-crust or deep-dish. But how well do you know Kebab? In Finland, kebab has risen to a cult status in the past years. Pizza has traditionally been the number one food to eat but now kebab, the meaty underdog, threatens pizza’s position as the leader of greasy, no-hassle fast food. In this article you will find basic information about kebab in Finland.

What is kebab?

Originating from kabab, the word “kebab” can mean two things: a ready-to-eat dish or the meat found in the dish. Traditionally, lamb is the meat used in kebab. However, nowadays beef is widely used as well. In Finland, beef is the more commonly used meat. You will probably see the stock kebab meat (when you are standing on the counter ordering) either in two ways: rotating on a vertical spit or put in the microwave oven from a little plastic bag.

Now you know about kebab meat but something is missing; you don’t want to eat meat only. Hence, kebab meat is usually served with:

Pita bread: The meat is put inside the bread. Salad, sauce, and whole chili are put on top. This is probably the most common way of eating kebab in Finland.
French fries: Kebab and french fries compliment each other well. Some salad and sauce are, of course, included. This is a popular style of kebab too.
Thin bread wrapped around it. We call it “rullakebab” and this translates to “roll kebab”. Have a look at the photo. It’s kebab meat, salad, and sauce stuffed together in the middle of a thin, round bread and then the bread rolled around them like a tortilla. Very delicious!

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These are the basic types of kebab dishes. There are variations, but the ones listed make the foundation of kebab sales in Finland.

What makes a great kebab?

All kebabs are good but some are better than the others. When looking for high quality kebab meat, you should look for how it is served. It’s a rarity if microwave heated meat is as good as meat from a rotating vertical spit, because spit meat is usually more fresh and moist. There are cases, however, when spit sliced meat is put into a heated container near the counter. Upon ordering the chef takes a chunk of meat from the container and some may confuse this with microwave meat.

What about the accompaniments to kebab meat, aka Bread and French Fries? Freshness is the number one important factor but several other things should be considered as well. Bread that is too dry and thick is horrible and will have you drinking gallons of water. If the thickness is less than 0.2 inches and just a bit moist there is no problem. On the other hand, a common problem with french fries that accompany Kebab is a lack of taste. Some restaurants get this and others don’t. Barbeque seasoning should be put on the french fries and they should be dipped in the kebab sauce to maximize the taste.

Now you know the basics about kebab in Finland. Have ever had kebab here, or how popular is Kebab in your area? Drop a comment in the comments section below!

[Pictures courtesy of flickr: 9stiches11stars, volvodriver, telegraph, geschmack, and holamun2]

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Recipes: Creamy Greek Tzatziki

by Julia on 2011/01/06 in Europe, Featured Article, World Recipes and Ingredients

I hope that everybody is having a safe and happy new year with friends and family.
There are a few plans this year, including trips to new destinations and hopefully new experiences with food that I can recreate and share with you.

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Today I’m just going to share a simple recipe that I was inspired to make after reading a Food Trotter post about Greece: A Beginner’s Guide to Greek Food. Having been there myself, I do remember how beautiful the food was, especially the lamb, moussaka and all the yummy tzatziki!

Tzatziki is such a versatile spread that can be used on souvlaki, gyros, salad, any kind of meat or even as a dip for chips and veggies. It’s simple to make and keeps for up to a week in the fridge (if it lasts that long!). You can buy some Greek yogurt and strain it, or for extra homemade goodness, try making some yogurt from my last blog post. Way back in the day, I worked for a souvlaki food stall that had some seriously tzatziki and this is how I’ve been making it since then.

Ingredients:

2 cups strained yogurt
2 lebanese cucumbers, peeled, seeded and grated
2-3 cloves of garlic, diced
juice of half a lemon
a couple tablespoons of mint and dill leaves, chopped
pinch of salt
pinch of white pepper
dash of olive oil (approx half a tablespoon)
dash of red wine vinegar or red wine (optional)
glug of white wine (optional)

Directions:

You want the cucumber to be not so watery, so what I usually do is put the grated cucumber into a clean tea towel and twist the towel so that the excess water comes out.
Mix all the ingredients together and let it sit for at least an hour for the flavours to infuse.
I know that the wine isn’t really traditional, but somehow it makes it extra nice!

[Pictures courtesy of pinchmysalt, and kerasma]

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Inspirational Budget Cooking and Environmental Consciousness Converge

by Nancy Huynh on 2010/12/23 in Australia, Europe, Featured Article, North America

[As we lead up to the New Year, Nancy will be diving further into 2011 Food Trend Predictions, and linking you to food around the world]

Restaurants, like the rest of us, are fighting to survive in a world of tight budgets, and intense competition.  Inspirational Budget Cooking, while seemingly creative in its right, is born from the broader environmental and food trend: Local Food.  With local eating making major strides in 2010, we saw the explosion of farm to table menus in restaurants of various flavours, colours, and stripes, the increase in local CSAs (Community Shared Agriculture), and a renewed affinity for regional craft food (Prince Edward County in Ontario, and Williamsburg in Brooklyn NYC are but a few examples that stand out).

Inspirational Budget Cooking isn’t simply about ensuring a black-inked bottom-line, it’s about using resources more carefully and minimizing waste, while still making great food.  Small plates, minimalist menus, and one or two dish ‘menus’ converges with the latest environmental trends of reduce, reduce, reduce, and local, local, local.

Yet budget cooking is nothing to snuff at. Chefs are truly pushing their creativity and reaching new limits to cook up inspiring dishes with ‘simple’, ‘humble’, and offal ingredients.  Making spare meat parts, like hoof, and tongue, or ‘blah’ local vegetables like parsnips and radishes delectable, palatable and menu worthy is no easy task.  Grandiosity is making way for the humble; foie gras make room for the pâté!

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Food producers are cutting back but still keeping it real.  Giant portions that only the very hefty could ever imagine finishing are replaced with smaller dishes or even with a “choose your own amount” [video @ 2:56] option.  Out of season fare is always pricier to obtain (transport) than local in-season goodies, or housemade pickles, preserves, and jams. New restaurants are opting for ‘previously owned’, ‘lightly used’, and ‘vintage’ furniture and decor for their renovations.  Bare exposed walls, open-concept, and communal tables are both chic and budget savvy.  These dining trends are all part and parcel of the convergence of Environmental Consciousness and Inspirational Budget Cooking.

These trends are not only the latest market trends, but they also prove to be fundamental strategies to staying financially afloat in this economy.  Less is truly more.

[Pictures courtesy of Serious Eats]

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A Beginner’s Guide to Greek Food – Emma’s Food Trip to Greece

by emma on 2010/12/15 in Europe, Featured Article, Food and Travel

[We'd like to welcome Emma, the newest addition to our Food Trotter team! Emma is a Canadian food adventurer, a student at the Culinary Management Program at George Brown Chef School in Toronto, and author of her own food blog Emma's Eatery]

I adore Greek food and fulfilled one of my food trotter goals when I travelled to Athens, Santorini, and Ios this summer with my two girlfriends. My family is Albanian, and as Greek and Albanian foods are quite similar (we share many dishes such as spanakopita and baklava), naturally Greek food is one of my favourites. My love for Greek food began on the Danforth, the Greek area of Toronto, but after experiencing authentic Greek food in Greece, I can confidently say that this love is no fleeting affair. From the tzatziki, a refreshing dip found in every restaurant, to the saganaki, a flambéed and melted cheese appetizer, I can truly say that my food trotting of Greece will last with me forever!

We landed in Greece while the sun was setting just over the hills, and all I could think of was the food that lay ahead. Tired and hungry, we arrived at the hotel and set out to start our two week experience of Greece’s culinary scene. I don’t think I could talk about Greece without writing about Tzatziki, a staple at every Greek restaurant. Tzatziki is a traditional “sauce” made from strained yoghurt, cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, pepper, and lemon juice. It is always served cold and usually accompanies pita, souvlaki, or gyros. Tzatziki is creamy yet light and refreshing, the perfect dip on a scorching hot day and delicious on just about anything. The fun part of a traditional dish like this is having the ability to try different restaurants take on the dish, so although the concept is the same, each place can customize it with their own unique twist. A good tzatziki is one that is seasoned well and not too thinned out; you really want to taste that thick Greek yoghurt being used in the dip. In my opinion, the more cucumber the better as it only helps to enhance flavour.

My favourite dish however is Saganaki! The cheese used for saganaki is usually kefalograviera, a type of sheep’s milk feta (much like halloumi). The cheese is melted in a hot frying-pan until it bubbles. It is then brought to the table in the pan and doused with a fresh lemon. In more westernized Greek cuisine, saganaki is flambéed at the table with brandy (usually with a shout of OPA!) and put out with the traditional lemon. I cannot describe to you how delicious saganaki truly is. When looking for a good saganaki, make sure the cheese is perfectly warm and oozing when it arrives at the table. It should have a bit of a brown crisp to it from being fried in a pan as it is typically served in a cast iron two handled pan.

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I have told you about my two favourite Greek dishes, but in all honesty, everything I ate there was phenomenal. The Greek salads were wonderful, filled with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, olives, capers, with big hunks of feta sprinkled with oregano and drizzled with olive oil. Spanakopita, a warm dish of phyllo pastry filled with spinach and feta, is an ideal on-the-go meal for the walking traveller. And Baklava, a dessert pastry filled with pistachios and then smothered with honey, was a staple dessert among myself and my girlfriends!

Living in Toronto, I am lucky to choose from a bevy of Greek restaurants that are able to provide amazing authentic Greek food right at my fingertips. My favourite spot in the city (and the best place for tzatziki and saganaki) is one I have been too for over 10 years, Mezes (456 Danforth Avenue, Toronto Ontario). Mezes serves traditional Greek food, with a wonderfully friendly atmosphere. The food at this restaurant mimics the food I found in Greece better than anyone else in Toronto. The Greek philosophy of food being a part of the culture shines through at Mezes and is a clear reflection in their food.

A great website to check out for all things food and travel in Greece is kalofagas.ca.

[Pictures courtesy of Emma, greek-salad-recipes, recipekey, and greenwichmeantime]

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Protection or Bullocks? Devon Cream Tea takes it right to the EU

by Jing on 2010/06/14 in Europe

In an interesting turn of event, campaigners from the county of Devon England are taking their beloved Devon Cream Tea to the European Union for Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status, securing European protection for the tea to be produced, processed, or prepared in Devon only. Devon Cream Tea, a method by which tea is consumed with a combination of scones, clotted cream, and jam, is an afternoon snack enjoyed by many in England and must be executed the Devon way: splitting a scone in two, covering each half with clotted cream, and adding strawberry jam on top (note: clotted cream first before jam). Frustrated by the way outsiders are mutilating their beloved Devon Cream Tea, angry Devon’eers are protesting other variations that use “sub-standard cake-like scones” that are tepid in temperature topped with “cream from a can” like whipped butter. GASP – How atrocious!

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