Curiosa
Ten months ago I was packing my bags with knives, chocolates and ambitions, eager to embark on the journey of a lifetime in northern Spain. Not knowing what to expect, I hoped for the best and prepared for the worst.
Continue reading ‘Stages, Stagiaires and Stooges: How I made my bones’
I’d done my homework weeks in advance and read about the G9 meeting in Peru earlier this month, where the International Advisory Board comprised of prominent chefs such as René Redzepi (Denmark), Ferran Adrià (Spain), Dan Barber (USA), Massimo Bottura (Italy), Alex Atala (Brasil), etc. got together to discuss plans for the Basque Culinary Center, lauded as the ‘Harvard of Gastronomy‘ according to our trusty newspaper in Basque country, El Diario Vasco.
Continue reading ‘My 2 Cents: Basque Culinary Center Inauguration’
Last monday marked the inauguration day of the Basque Culinary Center here in San Sebastián. The renowned chefs of Basque Country gathered to celebrate the first gastronomic university in Spain to offer advanced research in food development, nutrition and technology.
la cocina
For the past week that I’ve been back at Restaurant Martín Berasategui, I’ve been seeing some changes. Ch-ch-ch-changes…
Please excuse the irregular blogging schedule. I have been patiently awaiting my Spanish visa in order to return to Basque country. Alas it has arrived and I can confidently say, “I’ll be back” in my best Schwarzenegger impression.
La Concha
It all began with a simple pork chop…
crujiente
[surprisingly the best ever. And in Shanghai? Como?]
The heat wave in País Vasco today has me craving a chilly cone:
kukurutxo txiki
Thank goodness it’s domingo! Can’t wait to see this kiddo tonight.
When you work 15 hours a day, 5 days a week in a 3-star Michelin restaurant, life is often a blur.
frenesí
Ever since the oyster incident at L’Express in Paris, I’ve been wary of French oysters, but if Arcachon is renowned for their briny bivalves and the Huang Family Circus is willing to drive northwards a few hours in search of these juicy aphrodisiacs on a beautiful spring day, I am not one to shoot down a second shot at les huîtres francaises. 
No. 0
My family friends are visiting and to spend a weekend away from the restaurant, in the [French] Pays Basque with [legitimate] baguettes from the local boulangerie and [legitimate] croissants made with know-how, is heavenly. Like the Partridge Family, the eight of us packed into a boxy van (in Chinese we say ‘bread car’ for its shape) in search of le picnic. We ambushed a tiny, local boulangerie, picking up des sandwiches, des pains au chocolat et plus. We may have also given the boulanger une crise cardiaque, assuming he has never 1) seen so many Asians in his life 2) had to fill an order of 8 sandwiches (avec jambon de bayonne, chorizo, fromage, saucisson, all of which he sliced to order), 8 pain au chocolat, 1 pain de campagne, 6 cannelés et 4 croissants. Apparently I was having too much fun watching and forgot to take fotos, but here is our picnic on the side of the road.
fermentation is everything
