Time for Meze in ISRAEL

You barely sit down at the table, and, even before getting the menu, you see some restaurant employees bringing you a big glass of lemonade or chilled water and one of them holds a platter with lots of small bowls which they place on your table.

These are the Meze, or, starters. It is a word I have heard being used in Greece, Turkey and Cyprus as well (I'm including only my personal travels here) for small bites of a dish. Usually put in the middle of the table, to share. Just a way of making a feast out of every meal. And it's about the spirit of community, of enjoying together, of sharing with your friends, family and all your loved ones.

But it is also about the pleasure of eating and what better way to discover a community or a culture than through its food. Meze in Israel have a wonderful mix of influences, most of them due to the great location at the Mediterranean but also very Eastern and with Arabic influence. Hoummus is never missing, but you also find a lot of dishes with or made from eggplants, you see salads made of carrots with spring onions but also ones from carrots with fresh coriander leaves (wonderful combination - I used this recipe at home as well).

 Here you can see how a table for two can look like in Israel... and all my cousin and I ordered were the mains (on the plates in front of us). Yes, the mains are rather expensive (and from the countries I've traveled to, Israel was unfortunately one of the more expensive ones when it came to food), but we got all what was put there in front of us, plus tea and desert at the end of what we can call a feast, not a lunch! Oh, and in case we would have been starving, we would have gotten refills on those meze, with no extra charge. In the end, it is so important that with only one lunch/dinner, you can learn so much about the culinary culture of a country and about what locals do when they meet: enjoy live to the fullest!

Belgium Series - I - Belgian Chocolate

What better way to start this series than with what seems to be one of the most famous products of Belgium - the CHOCOLATE.

It is not the first time I am talking about chocolate (see here), but this time it will be another approach. I am not talking just about raw chocolate, but about chocolate in general and why Belgian chocolate is so famous.

The term of chocolate probably derives from Yacatan Mayan words "chokol"(=hot) and "atl"(=water). From times older than 1400 BC chocolate was used as a drink, a spicy drink. It was a mesoamerican luxury, drunk initially by Mayan and Aztecs. The beverage was done by grounding cacao seeds and turning these into a paste to which water was added so that this mixture would turn into a bitter drink.

In the 16th century, a missionary who lived in Peru and later on in Mexico writes the following about chocolate: "The Spaniards, both men and women that are accustomed to the country are very greedy of this Chocolate. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot, some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that "chili"; yea, they make paste thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh...".

1585 was the first recorded shipment of chocolate to Europe for commercial purposes. It was still served as a drink, but in order to reduce the bitterness, cane suggar was added and chilli was removed from the mix.


In the 17th century, while being ruled by the Spanish, Belgium was introduced to the cocoa bean. The drink was highly appreciated and a favourite place to enjoy it was the Grand Place in Brussels. Brussels was the place where the story of Swiss chocolate also began: the mayor of Zurich, Henri Escher, experienced chocolate for the first time in 1697 and took this discovery with him to Switzerland, which is now a primary competitor of Belgium in terms of chocolate production.





Being so much in love with chocolate, the Belgians searched for their own supply and found it in Congo with the help of King Leopold II. Unfortunately, chocolate history in this chapter is very bitter for the population of Congo.

However, the Belgians managed to surprise the world in the domain of chocolate, so nowadays only this part of history is remembered. 1857 saw the opening of the first chocolate shop in Brussels, by Neuhaus, which still exists today. Neuhaus' grandson invented 1912 the first praline, by filling an empty chocolate shell with sweet substances.

What makes Belgian Chocolate nowadays so unique, so luxurious, is the fact that these gourmet products are confections by chocolatiers who use the highest quality of ingredients and Old World manufacturing techniques. It is in the ingredients and the craftsmanship that the quality lies.

There are more than 300 chocolate companies in Belgium, and thousands of shops around the country, and when you walk the streets of Brussels like I have done recently, you will see how many shops offer you chocolate, you just need to turn your head to another direction and there you will see the next place selling chocolate. My advice: go with brands such as Neuhaus, Godiva, Cote d'Or, Guylian or Leonidas.



I have noticed a lot of shops selling you extra offers of "six pralines boxes for the price of ... Euro" or "special offer, only now 6 boxes for the price of 2", and most of them are in very touristic areas, such as next to the Grande Place in Brussels. There was another shop I entered, which was packed with Chinese tourists who bought around 10 boxes each of pralines,... next to the famous Manneken Pis statue, and once they went out of the shop I could see that even the price tags where in Chinese and so was the sales assistant. It was probably a place to stop for the tourists from that region of the world, and a place where they thought they would buy the real thing as a great deal. I must repeat the fact that I advise against it. Just across the Manneken Pis statue is also a small Godiva shop, and when you see the people inside the shop, creating then and there the chocolates, by hand, then you notice the difference.

I am not much of a hot chocolate drinker, but it was a very frosty day when I wandered the streets of Brussels and I must say I had my taste of hot chocolate heaven at Godiva. When I drank that "potion", I understood why that population fell in love with it - it was a drink that surprisingly raised my happiness level, without intoxicating me (as alcohol could do to you), and it makes me smile even now when I think of it. It made the snow which was falling down on me seem nonexistent and the humidity which was going through one's clothes, disappeared as well. Even the grey sky didn't seem to bother me anymore. Maybe all these feelings were also there due to the fact that I was on vacation, but I am positive that the chocolate had a great contribution to my well being.

(C) text and pictures by author, Ingrid Sabine Weber
Pictures taken with HTC phone camera

Belgium Series - Preview

Ahhhhhhhh Belgium,
first time I visited you, you offered me a lot of what I had wished for in this vacation: great company, wonderful food and a lot of new discoveries. So much commerce and wealth, politics and craftsmanship, beauty and sad reality...all in one place.
So stay tuned for what is going to be the Series about my Belgium travel - 4 cities, many museums, different food dishes and beers and stories that you might find fascinating. I know I was!

Russian Lunch

I have recently acquired a book by the author Wladimir Kaminer. For those who haven't heard of him, he's a writer in Berlin, with Russian origins (he received his citizenship for some years now in Germany), and he has a funny-sarcastic-ironic but very clever way of telling short stories, many related to the life in the East and contrasts to the Western life...differences between communism, socialism and capitalism etc.

One particular chapter in his book I found appropriate to connect to a really nice lunch I have had with friends and my mother recently. It is the chapter where Kaminer discusses about the thornfish. His neighbour Andrej drags him to the opening of a new Russian food store in Friedrichshain and there the shadows of the past embrace the author while his neighbor buys the thornfish. The thornfish used to be one of the basic and most common fish in the socialistic Russia. You would eat it yourself but also feed the cat. But besides the function of nurture, the thornfish gave a feeling of freedom and of unity with the rest of the world, because it was fished from seas next to Australia.

Yes, indeed, food has more functions. It makes people creative at times (using the same basic ingredient, you have to think of how to transform it each time so that you don't have the same result), it makes them remember the past (taste has a wonderful way of telling stories you thought long forgotten) and it makes people come together.

My mother tells stories about the Russian hospitality and how, if you were a guest in someone's home, you would never have to feel that there was not enough food. People would go borrow from their neighbors what they were missing, only to make the guest feel special and "at home" in their home. It's like making you feel warm around your soul too and not only around your stomach.

If we look at traditional Russian food, its main purpose is to provide a lot of energy and warmth. The weather we now have outside has been blamed on Siberian "winds", so imagine how it has to be there and what you must eat in order to stay fit. Soups are very common, followed by dishes based on meat or cabbage, just like these Pelmeni below (some would say they are similar to tortellinis), which usually contain a mixture of two meat types.


Here you can see the Piragi, a type of buns filled either with a mixture of minced meat with onions or with a mixture of cabbage and eggs. I prefer the second ones. All of these dishes are accompanied by good, fatty, sour cream (smetana), because energy is also built on fat.



My mother picked the dish mix above, a varienty of salads of which many contained cabbage, beans and beetroot (which is a rich source of antioxidants and nutrients and very important for cardiovascular health).

Pickled vegetables and fruit are also a fine way the Russians complete a dish, and I has small wild pickled apples to accompany my venison steak and my elk roast. Below you see a venison roast our friend got. It was so yummy he finished first.

To complete a real meal, one must enjoy a really nice black tea (черный чай) which is served usually in fine glasses in a finely decorated glass-holder.



In the recipient above, the sugar was "served". I loved the presentation in that restaurant and using trays and bowls and dishes with traditional pattern also gave a feeling of belonging, because you could eat like people would have for ages and would be considered part of the "family".

To end the lunch in the most traditional way, the tea is made with the samovar (самовар) and next to it you get some small sweet pretzels (бублики) or some chocolates which contain wafer (generally called конфекты).


But whatever you eat and wherever you are and no matter what nationality you are, it is important to remember that food can unite people for life and that the joy of sharing something with the person you love, be it family or friend, can never be taken away from you. Nor can your memories be stolen...I can still see the way my mother was traveling in time with every bite she took from that lunch.

Bucharest, My Love! - Part II - Magazinul Boieresc

Today I am taking you on our second journey in Bucharest - a journey which I had started last week with Hotel Sarroglia.

Also last week I have been invited to the official opening of the "Magazinul Boieresc" shop, a place which has special things to offer.

The term "boier" means translated into English something like "gentleman, nobleman, lord, governor" and in fact the Romanian word does include all those meanings. Being a "boier" was a lot about rank, class, and status, so the name of the shop is probably fit for the products it has to offer. One must really have some knowledge to appreciate the goodies hidden in this concept shop (and the shop is indeed hidden - a place for connoisseurs).

One of the gems this place has to offer is a variety of Romanian truffles and Romanian truffle products. At the opening I have tasted cheese with truffle, truffle foie gras, butter with black truffle, white truffle foam...it was just a delight!



You can also get a great variety of Romanian and foreign wines (French, Spanish, Greek etc.) and the one who selected them, Mr. Razvan Avram, is really passionate about wimnes in general and I have had a long and very interesting discussion with him.


Last, but not least, one last gem this place has to offer are the people you can meet. They know a lot about l'art de vivre and are so passionate about gastronomy in general while still having vast knowledge in other domains - it's very enriching to talk to them. It was a lovely night for me at the opening and I will surely come back.

(C) text and pictures by author, Ingrid Sabine Weber

Athens: Divani Apollon Palace & Spa

At the beginning of September I have been given the opportunity to stay at one of the Divani Collection Hotels in Vouliagmeni, 20km south of Athens. The region is known as a luxury escape for people from Athens, a really pricy area for real estate (among the most expensive in Greece and Europe) but also relaxing and sought-after place to be.


I went to this place with high curiosity as the area had been praised by a friend of mine who is a tourist guide and who had been there before me, and I came to find this:


There were these pools outside (with supplementary indoor pool and spa area),...and one of the pools outside was with salty water - this reminded me of the swimming-pool in Monaco on the Port Hercule - I used to love these kind of pools because 1. you know they are extremely clean while 2. still giving the impression you are swimming in the sea. And if you felt that wasn't right, that wasn't the real deal for you, you could just grab your towel and walk another 15 meters to the beach across the street from the hotel, a private beach for hotel guests.


I took these pictures below from the balcony of a room where a friend of mine was staying. This shows that next to the pool area you have a grass area. I must admit, I have never seen grass like this in all the 10 times I have been to Greece, and I have been there in April and September as well before, but this here at the Divani Hotel was a real treat! It invited me and some friends to some mini-golfing or playing many other games, such as football, however, I wouldn't advise high heels there, the earth below the grass was so soft that even in my ballerina shoes I felt like sinking there.




At the pool bar you could get a drink, but also towels (which I found to be really soft and comfy).

What you see there as being the first floor is actually level zero where my friends and I had breakfast and lunch. The food variety was great - from salad version of all kinds, including the Greek salad to international (Italian, French, Indian to just name a few) and Greek main dishes (Pitas and Mousaka were amongst my favourites) to all kind of sweet goodies but also fruits of the season as well as canned fruits.


This picture of me was taken short time before getting on the shuttle bus to the airport - which is 30minutes away.


Before I take you "into my room", here is the view I had every morning - the quiet sea was so relaxing and at nights the moon would reflect nicely into the water, being accompanied by ships in the distance.


Coming back to the room on the 7th (and top) floor which I got, I must describe the bathroom, which I adored - a lot of light and a lot of space - only for me!!! The icing on the cake was this mirror, of which I know my mother would have been a fan. She owns a magnifying mirror herself, which is really useful if you want to put on the make-up without wearing glasses, but this one had an extra: the light. You could turn on the light which was on the frame of the mirror and see.....just see....everything!


From basic hotel rules, if you leave your towel on the floor you want it to be replaced, whereas your bed sheets will always be replaced. Next to the sink I found this wheel which was a smarter (and maybe more eco-friendly) way of communicating with the maids what I wanted to be replaced and cleaned - towels and sheets included.


I usually don't use the shower gels/shampoos or anything else extra provided by the hotels I go to, but these "babies" were smelling so luring that I had to try them - and I was extremely satisfied.


On the table in front of the bed, inside the room, I found this catalog of "The Leading Hotels of the World" - that's when I realized why the service in the rooms and outside as well as the comfort were so flawless - for my friends in Monaco, you can compare with Hotel de Paris, Hotel Hermitage or Hotel Metropole (except for the architecture, which is more modern in the Divani Hotel).



Before I finish this entry, I must say that I had read some more and some less positive reviews on TripAdvisor before arriving at the hotel, that people could hear through walls or that their pillows were not good enough. I must say: yes - there can be some noise heard from the corridors, but only if you live in a vacuum or a place far from civilization, you can be deranged by it. I slept one night with my window open because I wanted to hear the sea and the wind blow - once I closed my window I felt too isolated.


As for the bed - I just love hard-comfy beds like that one. The pillows were just right - and if I would have needed extra one - there were some in the wardrobe!


What I appreciated the most in my stay at this hotel were the small services which were around small details but which made a difference: the fact that when I got upstairs from a busy day from the conference the curtains were pulled and my bed was ready for me to jump in - and the breakfast list as well as a candy wished me "Good Night!" and "Good Morning" (in a way) - that all made a difference: it made me smile and feel good. And isn't this what we all long for?

Monaco Royal Wedding: Monaco Makes a Dream Come True

The Official Engagement Picture
(Picture Source: http://www.monaco.mc/webdav/site/monaco-telecom/shared/_Actu/photos/06%202010/AC-09449-Portrait%20Shoot.jpg)

Today Monaco celebrates an event which has been long awaited in the small Principality, an event which most Monegasque people were wondering if they will get to see it. This event gives the small country a new stability and a view of its future: H.S.H. Albert II of Monaco will marry his fiancee, Miss Charlene L. Wittstock, an African swimming athlete.

All eyes are already on the Principality, as two long hard days are announced. There will certainly be comparisons to the wedding in London in April, but above all one has great expectations for the future princess, because she must win the hearts of the people, not just stand in the shadow of the memory of Grace Kelly. And she is on the right track there, with 48 hours of party announced and over 200 public events taking place - this will really create an atmosphere of closeness to the people, an idea which the Prince was keen on.

The official program, with the Monaco time looks like this:
First of July 2011 - 17:00 - Throne Room of the Prince's Palace - Civil Marriage
18:00 - Palace Square - Evening Buffet
20:00 - Port - Reception
22:00 - Port Hercule - Jean Michel Jarre Concert
Second of July 2011 - 17:00 - Courtyard of the Castle - Church Wedding
18:30 - Saint Devote Church - Ceremony of the Bridal Bouquet
21:00 - Opera Garnier - Official Dinner and Ball
22:00 - Louis II Stadium - Eagles Concert
23:30 - Monaco Bay - Fireworks, Pyrotechnical Arrangement by Jacques Couturier

After the civil ceremony on the first day, the prince and his princess along with 7618 Monegasques and their companions will take part in an evening buffet. The hotel chain Fairmont took responsibility for the food offered then, and the menu is selected symbolically: fairmont Zimbali in South Africa will offer typical African dishes and Fairmont Monte Carlo will help with the local touch.

Because the prince is known for his environmentally friendly behavior, compostable and biodegradable plates and cutlery have been chosen for this event. Even the vehicle of the couple is special! The 23 June 2011 specifically for the wedding delivered Lexus LS 600h L is a hybrid. The prince has long been a supporter of hybrid or electric cars and he promises a huge tax credit for everyone in Monaco, who chooses to purchase such a vehicle.

Also the menu of the official dinners should be made simple, durable and environmentally friendly. For this, the most starred Chef in the world, Alain Ducasse, has been chosen, together with his team from SBM. Alain Ducasse and his around 350 helpers will prepare the dinner for about 450-500 guests, making sure it has a strong local Mediterranean flair. The ingredients should be locally (this approach is environmentally friendly and also relies on ethics), therefore vegetables and other plants were seeded long time ago in the garden of the Grimaldi family, and tomorrow these will be used for the official gala dinner. The fish will be fished along the coasts of Monaco on Saturday morning by one of the last fisher families in the Principality. Although he has not officially released the menu of the dinner, Alain Ducasse has revealed some of it: for the reception of the guests he will serve fried dumplings filled with vegetables - probably the Monegasque dish Barbagiuan.

(Picture Source: http://cuisine-et-insolite.20minutes-blogs.fr/media/02/00/1678435700.jpg)

(Picture Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkBUldW-Sz-hj44v_I8DidY1OexMEoqWR1lH5c0jGdwgMu4uUAE1bHGB0uQsg3PhaUrfLGFONuTBrHnMFUzW1AFiI5VTY1vmMfbK7V1Ugaqe8n3M68rbBgTGzVZLAD1Y31gGQUENu9RY/s1600/empanadilla.jpg)

(Picture Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYGr5g2rfLaikIox4cx2qV9zw7j8mnJKKMHK6FJP_YQAXh0DfEsYc-RWtEk2gG5RrlkLoRfO66yzoSTJsgGZuMJR_FNE6X01dl1QEmZIJqJHd3TnFUsBo3ziPcMnjQiZdIEbdADxvoyQ/s1600/empa+abierta.jpg)

Afterwards, the Chef reveals that the fish for the main dish (red mullet, scorpion fish and others) will be cooked in fish broth and will be accompanied by red South African wine. For the sweet ending of the evening, Alain Ducasse will use the milk from the cows in the property of the prince. Foie gras, truffles or caviar are in the period of an economic downturn not welcome, the luxury now is being ecological.

Even if you don't come from Monaco, but you are near the happening, I advise you to be there. On July 1st at12 o'clock local time all parking lots in Monaco start to be without charge and more trains than usual will hold in Monaco. The concert of Jean Michel Jarre is the free and one should also not miss the fireworks at the end of two days, because Jacques Couturier can leave one speechless with his work.

But if you can not be there, 1500 journalists will be there for you, reporting from Monaco and you can watch the wedding live on the internet (on www.palais.mc, euronews, etc.)

Only a few hours left until the dream wedding begins...

(Picture Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9SPZm6HjGzClSwj3DQBP4ODlhBzj6tn2F8nvpAu9YRVNu5bS0KaPAaxxnucX25w-LNcO320aPcTfg6kN0vxOxaoFaJ4_XVLFoVaZHtXZ9NX6OnA40nksyLTYqA-mVrkIq-tErOt7fA2sq/s640/no+guard+changing++%25281+of+1%2529.jpg)