You know that you've arrived in Paris when you see the bums drinking champagne. Now, had I only seen one bum drinking from a bottle of champagne, I would have considered this an anomaly; albeit an amusing one. However, I observed several bums drinking the bubbly. And saw quite a few empty bottles strewn around on lonely streets. And, so, I can confirm that Paris is a magical place where even the bums indulge in the finer things in life. Such is my vision of Paris.
Walking from where I was staying in the 10th arrondissement toward the Seine, I passed down a familiar boulevard, Rue du Faubourg Saint Denis. Prostitutes abound. They hang out in the doorways. And they hang well out and over their brassieres. For some strange reason this street is home to well-aged hookers; most are in the 50+ range. And most bear more than a passing resemblance to Marianne Faithfull. How delightfully odd.
I embarked on a little photography project while in Paris. Inspired by bad illustrations in an Air France magazine article on French food and encouraged by my friend Pascal, I put my whole stomach into the project. Basically, I photographed pastries with a famous Parisian landmark in the background.
In all, eleven pastries were photographed. Not quite all of the pastries were consumed after the photo was taken. Even I have my limits. More photos here.
I have always loved them from afar. Occasionally, succumbing to their pleasures. So tempting. Overpowering. Intimidating. Until. I finally broke down. Searched them out on the Internet. And decided to try it firsthand. With no regrets.
Yes, it's true. I made a batch of lemon squares. I've made them twice so far. The ones pictured below are actually lemon-lime squares. Tangy.
But be forewarned, this dessert contains dangerous amounts of sugar. It's a giant sugar bomb. Which is why I wanted to share the recipe. Found it at the LA Times website. Everyone should experience the tart excitement of this sugar overload. With a little raspberry sorbet on the side.
Now about the title of this post. Can't figure out where it's from? Think early 90's Brit alternative bands. The Soup Dragons. Off their album, Lovegod. Now, for the life of me, I cannot find a video of this song anywhere. Except for a 12" version (remember those) that doesn't really reflect the post-haze languish of the original. But, all is not lost for your aural and visual pleasure. This song also would have been an apt title for the post:
Well, if someone's gotta handle the tough assignments, it might as well be me. The relocation service department (WIN) of the West Sweden Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Västsvenska Industri- och Handelskammaren) sponsored a semla tasting contest. This activity involved eating, judging, and scoring. How could I pass up that opportunity?
First, the basics. What is a semla? A semla is a wheat bun made with cardamom that is sliced in two, filled with almond paste and whipped cream, and dusted with powdered sugar. Now for an important distinction: multiple semlas are called semlor. A good overview of the semla is here. Traditionally, semla was consumed on the last Tuesday before Lent, otherwise known as Fat Tuesday, or Fettisdagen in Swedish. But, Swedes cannot resist a sweet tasty treat. And so, you will see semla appearing in stores starting January and continuing on through Easter.
As part of the semla hype, newspapers have "Best Semla" competitions. And, so with Swedes weighing in on the best semla, it was thought to give non-Swedes a chance to test their taste buds and voice their opinion. Göteborg takes its semla seriously. There is even a semla academy in the city. There are established standards for making semla. More on what makes a good semla is here. Apparently, it's all about the almond paste.
I had tried a semla last year. And came away not being impressed at all. It was like eating a dinner roll with super light whipped cream. I don't even remember tasting any almond paste. Which may have been the problem. Still, plain [flavorless] whipped cream does nothing for me. I tried not to take this bias into the contest.
We tasted semlor from four different establishments; two of which were from the Best of Göteborg list. Each semla was cut into four pieces. As you can see below, cutting a semla is not always an easy task. But, the fresher (softer) the bun, the easier it is. This particular semla had a dry bun. Not so easy. And kind of messy.
Still, the pieces were big. And, I ended up having five. I had to resample Semla 1.
The results: the group chose the semla from ICA Focus, a grocery store, as the best. I used to love buying donuts, muffins, and cookies from the local grocery stores (Shaw's in Maine, King Sooper in Colorado, and Safeway in California). Just an unscientific observation.
Second place went to Brogyllen Konditori, which was voted #1 in the Best of survey. Interestingly, we rated the semla from Steinbrenner & Nyberg last; while the Best of survey rated it #2. My favorite was voted #3 overall. The almond paste was mild (not overpowering) and smooth. The cream, light but not too airy. And the bun was soft, moist, and slightly chewy. Cultural palettes diverge at the semla.
No, this is not a blancmange. Though it looks like it might have appeared in a Monty Python skit. This is annindofu; a Chinese dessert that is also found in Japan. Translations range from almond tofu to apricot pudding. It is also known as kanten jelly because the main ingredient is agar-agar. Which, of course, has a variety of names around the world, including kanten. Basically, it is a thickening agent derived from seaweed. It is 80% fiber, binds with glucose during digestion, and is part of a diet craze in Asia. Other diets facts about agar-agar can be found here. As for me, it is a new ingredient in my cooking arsenal.
So, annindofu? How did I ever stumble upon this? Well, it is a dessert. But, the story begins with my business trips to Tokyo over the years. I had a habit of eating at convenience stores. The variety of ready-to-eat food was too great to pass up. A far cry from a 7-11 hot dog (no, I've never had on, just referencing it). And, this is where I found the best steam cakes. But, I digress. There were small cups of what I thought was yogurt or custard with white translucent cubes. It was something better. And though I had no idea what it was called, I have been obsessed with it ever since.
Recently, I mentioned this to my friend Tari who lives in Tokyo. And, she not only found the name of this delectable treat, but also provided me with a recipe. I did run into an obstacle finding one ingredient (almond powder), so I searched for more recipes online. And found some here, here, and here. I experimented a bit and came up with my own variation. Mine is much sweeter than regular annindofu. Go figure. The truth is that I accidentally used sweetened, condensed milk instead of evaporated milk in one experiment. Best mistake I ever made.
An optional ingredient and one that was in the stuff I had in Tokyo is nata de coco, the white translucent cubes. Another high fiber ingredient, nata de coco is extremely sweet. The texture takes some getting used to. TJ spit it out. But, I love it. You should be able to find it in most Chinese and Thai grocery stores. Same for the agar-agar/kanten powder.
Here is the recipe. It takes all of 15 minutes to make this.
Swedonia Annindofu 4g (slightly less than 1 teaspoon) agar-agar (kanten) powder 400 ml water 1/4 teaspoon almond flavor 100 ml sweetened, condensed milk
Options: A few drops of food coloring 1/2 cup nata de coco cubes
Bring the water to a boil. Then, add the agar-agar powder. Whisk/stir continuously until all the powder is completely dissolved. This is key. If you need to, remove from heat and look at the bottom of pot to ensure that no granules are left. Add the almond flavor. Lower the heat and simmer. Add the condensed milk, turn up the heat, and stir continuously. Add optional food coloring here. Let the mixture come to just under a boil. Remove from heat. Pour into cups or a flat pan. Add the optional nata de coco to each container. Refrigerate for a few hours. Then, either serve directly out of container. Or, if you used a pan, cut it up into squares and serve with fruit. Bon appetite!
I leave you with Annindofu at Sunset. Enjoy. [Clicking on image will take you to my Flickr photostream]
One word about the color. Since I made the annindofu with condensed milk, it has a slightly yellowish tone instead of the normal milky white if I had used just plain milk. I wanted to add a little color. But, I added a bit more in order to mask the yellow. Still, it makes a nice contrast with the nata de coco cubes.
In all, eleven pastries were photographed. Not quite all of the pastries were consumed after the photo was taken. Even I have my limits. More photos here.
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