Findings

French Adventures

Thanks to another dedicated follower, I have decided to write this post. I have been to France only once, and during that trip, I also visited Geneva, Switzerland, and Amsterdam, Netherlands. Though those photos are buried deep somewhere in iCloud, I hope I can dig up some for you guys to see.

So we arrived in Paris, France, at around 3 pm, and immediately went to sleep, waking up at 5pm to go eat out. We didn’t really eat a lot of authentic foods while we were at France, sadly, and the place we went to was pretty bad, the spaghetti really tough and uncooked. But at least the ice cream was good! (Ice cream in French is la glace.)

The next day, in our hotel, we had a nice breakfast of buttery, flaky croissants (that I personally haven’t made yet), silky hot chocolate, and cafe au lait (coffee with milk). It also came with apricot and orange jam, and some cut up baguettes and sourdough boules from a local bakery. All in all, it was a satisfying meal.

We went out to the Versailles, and stuff we ate there wasn’t too good. The eclairs that I bought from a “high-scale” bakery were too sweet, and I felt like they were more “quantity over quality” type of place, which I did not like. We also walked around the Champs de Elysees, a famous street where the prime minister lives on. It was kind of like the French version of New York City. There were big, towering shops and that squeezed small businesses into little nooks and crannies. We went to a Haagen Dazs store, where the ice cream is homemade, and there are many flavors. we also stopped by a macaron store, but weirdly, we did not buy any and moved on. I was sad about that. (I have made macarons twice). My trip to France was (on the food scale) an epic fail. My family and I plan to go again soon to try all the authentic foods found in the country.

Here are some of them:

Macarons – a sweet, meringue-based confection.

Macarons come in all shapes in sizes, primarily in small, round, sandwich-like circles, and usually the filling is made of a ganache using all kinds of different chocolates, or buttercream, by creaming butter, sugar, and adding powdered sugar and other flavor elements. You can use dye and color the macarons differently, but the macaron-making process is a long, and hard one.

First, you have to whisk the egg whites (usually with a hand or stand mixer) until they’re thick and glossy, maybe about 3-4 minutes. When you pull your whisk out, there should be little peaks that form and stay. They should not droop to the side, or your macarons will be very liquid-y and not puffed up. When you are done whisking the egg whites (and slowly adding in the sugar), you have to, and MUST food process the almond flour and powdered sugar until there are NO LUMPS, and sift. This meticulous process is worth it- otherwise, your macarons become misshaped and uneven, yielding not Instagram-worthy macarons. Nobody likes to eat those kinds… (unless they taste really good on the inside) Anyway, after you pipe your macarons, you have to let them sit for at least 30 minutes or until your finger can lightly touch the top of the macarons and not be covered in macaron goo. Like this:

When baking, DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN! The macarons need heat to rise and form feet, so do not open the oven to check on them.

Finally, pipe your desired filling and enjoy! (I’m not going to give a whole overview, but here’s a recipe from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts)

Macarons (makes 200):

• 20 egg whites (add 1 or 2 extra for chocolate macarons)
• 18 oz sugar (granulated)
• 24 oz almond flour
• 32 oz confectioners’ sugar (powdered)

Preheat oven to 325 ºF.

Place the almond flour and confectioners’ sugar into a food processor and blend together. Sift into a bowl large enough for mixing.

On high speed, beat egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer using a whisk attachment. When egg whites reach soft peak stage, turn machine to low, and slowly add sugar. Turn mixer to medium speed and mix for approx. 10 minutes or until the whipped egg whites appear shiny and the sugar is dissolved.

Fold egg whites into the almond flour mixture using a spatula. At this stage, you can flavor or color the mixture to create assorted macarons.

Place parchemtn paper on a sheet pan and pipe small mounds that are approx. 1 in. apart using a pastry bag with a medium plain tip. Rest for 30 mins or until a finger can lightly touch the macaron shells without leaving a trace.

Bake for approx. 12 mins, or until the tops of the macarons are crusty. Remove from oven and let cool. Macarons will be assembled similar to a sandwich with assorted fillings.

Buttercream Filling (does not make enough to fill 200 macarons):

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream

In a large bowl, add the butter and beat with a mixer for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Sift in the powdered sugar and beat until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and beat to combine. Add the cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat to combine, until desired consistency is reached.

Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a round tip.

Add a dollop of buttercream to one macaron shell. Top it with another macaron shell to create a sandwich. Repeat with remaining macaron shells and buttercream.

Place in an airtight container for 24 hours to “bloom”.

Enjoy!

Or to make:

Coffee Ganache:

• 8 3/4 oz crème fraiche (or heavy cream)
• 4 1/2 oz sugar
• 3/4 oz coffee extract
• 1 lb milk chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 1/2 oz butter, creamed

Combine the crème fraiche, sugar, and coffee extract in a pot. Bring to a boil. Pour hot mixture over the chocolate and whisk to combine. Add creamed butter and mix to combine.

Repeat piping technique, but with ganache instead of the buttercream.

Enjoy!

(Best to freeze the macarons – if you refrigerate them, they will become gummy.)

Pâte à Choux –

Pâte à Choux is a specific way to make dough, used in pastries like cream puffs, eclairs, Paris-Brests, and churros. The dough starts out as butter in a pot, but then, once you add the milk, flour, and vanilla extract, it turns into a solid dough. Then you take the pot off of the stove to add eggs, so you don’t cook the eggs. (That would be… interesting…)

Don’t have a recipe with me…. sorry!

Thanks for reading my quick guide to some French pastries!

Food at Iceland

So my first blog said a lot about going to Iceland… but as one very attentive follower told me… WHERE’S THE FOOD???!!!

Well here I am, today! Sadly, I have no picture to show you guys, so that’s disappointing, but I can recommend you!

I heard from the locals that there are a few pretty common grocery stores around here that have good Icelandic food!

1. BONUS
   • A very nice store, with a piggy bank as the “O” in BONUS. Their breakfast pastries are very traditional, with yellow and pink frosting coating the sides, and a custard cream filling, topped with chocolate shavings. While I was at the grocery store, we bought what we thought was milk, but it turned out to be a sort of yogurt milk, sour milk kind of drink. So be careful about that. This grocery store is also the best store for the best prices.
2. 10-11
   • This grocery store is also pretty common, and it hosts a variety of convenience store food. There’s a lot of yogurt in all of the grocery stores, since Iceland has a lot of farms with cows and sheep. This grocery store is like the grocery store to just buy some stuff if you don’t have time and get out of there. But be careful – this store is very expensive for no reason…

Also, be really careful – don’t drink bottled water! All water, from the sink, to the showers, are all using natural spring water. Buying bottled water is just a waste of your Icelandic Krona, and stuff in Iceland is pretty expensive. Trust me. Just drink tap water. It’s better.

Onto the actual food! Here are some traditional food that you must get:

• Lamb
  • No matter how it’s served, in a soup or a brisket, you must have lamb when you go to Iceland. Their lamb tastes nothing like the teeth wrenching, dead meat at home. That’s because they let their sheep and lambs out all throughout the summer, and let them free-roam in land that’s thousands of acres across. That way, the sheep are almost wild, and they get all these nutrients from the grass they eat and not artificial food. Maybe the US is too crowded for us to have good-quality lamb.
• Skyr
  • I mentioned this in an earlier post, but Skyr, or Icelandic yogurt, is really good. They sell it here as well, but you have to get it in Iceland. Topped with some granola and fresh fruits, it’s so silky smooth and nice. They even have it as drinks! And you can get it in any flavor. They sell it everywhere in Iceland, just go to a store, or even a hotel sometimes has a little store that you can buy it from!
• Hákarl
  • I haven’t had this yet, but Hákarl is fermented shark. For those of you who are not interested, like me, just scroll over this. But Hákarl is a traditional dish in Iceland where they cure the shark meat with a particular fermenting process, and hang it outside to dry for up to four or five months! It then gets a very strong ammonia smell and has a distinctive fishy taste…
• Icelandic Fish
  • There are about 340 species of saltwater fish that have been recorded in Icelandic waters. Here are some of the most common species:
  • Wolffish/Atlantic Catfish
    Capelin
    Cod
    Dealfish
    Greenland shark
    Haddock
    Halibut
    Lumpsucker or lumpfish
    Lycodes
    Mackerel
    Monkfish
    Saithe/Pollock
  • It’s… a lot. They also have some fish found in the rivers and lakes, such as Arctic char, Atlantic salmon, and brown trout.
  • You should eat as much fish as you possibly can when you are in Iceland. The fish are very healthy and fresh from the waters, so they taste really nice.Especially look for “fish of the day” on restaurant menus, since most fish on the menu are caught the day before!
• “Best Hot Dogs” – Baejarins Beztu Pylsur
  • This restaurant was reported by Bill Clinton to have “the best hot dogs in the world”. These hot dogs are totally affordable, and though I haven’t tried one myself, you should get an opportunity to get a hot dog. (A friend also recommended them.)
• Dark Rye Bread
  • This bread is not your normal type of bread. This bread is baked in the ground! Areas where hot springs are numerous also means volcanic activities. Not only are the hot springs warm and nice, the ground also absorbs some of that heat! The Icelanders use a special wooden casket that is buried in the ground to bake this bread! The taste is quite sweet, and the bread itself is crustless and quite dense as well. Great with butter, smoked salmon, mutton, smoked lamb, and pickled herring or cheese!
• Baking Goods
  • You should always make a quick stop to a local bakery wherever you go. But in Iceland, there are some special pastry items that you should try out, just like how in France you have to eat at least one macaron. The Icelandic snúður is a soft cinnamon bun, usually with an icing topping. Usually good with coffee and a nice thing to wake up for in the morning.
• Ice Cream
  • Icelanders are crazy for ice cream, just like I am! Some ice cream parlors are open until 1 am all-year round! There is also a wide variety of flavors in all parlors! Most ice cream is also homemade!

Thanks to this awesome website!

Go-to Blogs

Here are some of my favorite blogs to go to when I’m craving any baked item!

1. Molly Yeh – http://mynameisyeh.com/
   • Molly Yeh is the descent of a Jewish and a Chinese, and she graduated from Julliard! How cool is that?
   • She incorporates a lot of her own culture and her husband’s culture into her food. She also is the star of Girl Meets Farm!, her own Food Network show!
   • Her recipes are down to earth, and downright delicious. Check her blog out!
2. Cloudy Kitchen – https://www.cloudykitchen.com/
   • Erin Clarkson is from New Zealand, but she moved to Brooklyn, New York, four years ago!
   • She was a geologist before, but now she’s cooking up some awesome stuff in her kitchen! (which maybe is cloudy?)
   • Her recipes are a real treat, and if you are looking for yummy stuff, come here!
3. The Vanilla Bean Blog – http://www.thevanillabeanblog.com/
   • Sarah Keiffer is a “self-taught baker and never-ending writer”.
   • She believes that all food comes from the heart and is full of love!
   • Her baked deliciousness comes through bursting with flavor and magic! It’s a true delight to explore her blog!
4. The Boy Who Bakes – http://www.theboywhobakes.co.uk
   • Based in the UK, Edd Kimber is a baker, a food writer, and has wrote three cookbooks! Wow!
   • He also won the Great British Bake Off (first series!)
   • His appearance regularly on TV has made him known for his delicious recipes and absolutely scrumptious food!
5. Displaced Housewife – https://www.displacedhousewife.com/
   • Rebecca Firth is a mom and she moved to Beijing, China.
   • Upon coming back, she had moved to California and now has 5 chickens and two kids, and spends her entire life devoted to food!
   • She wants her recipes to be fast, healthy, and easy, which they all are, but she forgot something else – delicious!
6. Tutti Dolci – https://tutti-dolci.com/
   • Laura Kasavan of Tutti Dolci, is a self-taught baker, whipping up delicious recipes that are totally Instagram-worthy.
   • She has a fierce passion for baking and has committed herself to creating wonderful recipes for both the mouth and the eyes!
   • She has a cat, and loves to put unique twists on classical favorites (trust me, they always work out)!
7.  ZOË BAKES – https://zoebakes.com/
   •  Zoë François is a dedicated baker. She studied pastry at the CIA, worked in restaurants and wrote numerous cookbooks
   • She was an ice cream maker at Ben & Jerry’s. That sounds fun!
   • Her recipes are creative and innovative. Come try them out!
8. Butter and Brioche – https://www.butterandbrioche.com/
   • Thalia Ho is the creative mastermind behind Butter and Brioche. She “believes in moments of sweetness”.
   • She wants to tell her story through all the recipes she makes, and the flavors and depth of her recipes really does that!
9. Call Me Cupcake – http://www.callmecupcake.se/
   • Linda Lomelino is Swedish and lives in the southern part of the country.
   • She had no plan with her blog at first, in 2009. But over the years, recipes and photography started popping up, and she began to write and create magic on the website.
   • Her blog is filled with imagination and creativity, and it’ll trap you in its world.
10. Liv for Cake – https://livforcake.com/
    • Last but definitely not least, there is Olivia Bogacki, the designer and creator of Liv for Cake
    • She is based in Canada, and is a “video game/project manager/instructor turned baker/blogger/photographer”.
    • She whirls up beautiful cakes and other pastries that let your tongue, and your eyes, have a good second taste, or look!

That’s all for today!

My first post!

Hi everyone! My name is ZhuZhu (pronounced like JuJu) Cai, and I’m excited to share with you new findings of food around the globe and great adventures! Let’s start with the most recent stuff

I’ve been to many places, from Canada to China, and also to… Iceland!

Yup! That’s right! I’ve been to Iceland. Crazy, right? Just so you know, Iceland isn’t as icy as its namesake. It’s kind of… green? Brown? Something like that. Well, I had a pretty fun time in Iceland, eating warm noodles and waffles, and also having very good lamb! (It’s fresh from local farms!) You also can’t forget about the yogurt, or skyr, as they call it. (pronounced skeer) The biggest and most exciting thing in Iceland, of course, is the Northern Lights! Or Aurora Borealis. I went chasing the lights! Two nights without avail, but, like the saying, the third time’s the charm! The lights were beautiful, like green streaks someone painted using a paintbrush that was bigger than the Earth!

Here are some myths I heard along the way:

Apparently, in some places like Siberia and Northern Mongolia, there is a tale about the Northern Lights that says the lights were the tails of foxes that danced in the sky, leaving streaking trails of brightly colored ribbons of light in their path. Another myth, this one from Iceland and other Scandinavian countries, says that the Northern Lights represent the spirits of the dead, traveling along a river of iridescent greens, blues, and opalescent purples. How nice is that?

Also, in Iceland, I learned that there are a lot, and I mean, a LOT, of black sand beaches! Literally! The beaches are covered in black sand, coating the huge hexagonal columns that rise up to “meet the sky”! The hexagonal columns were said to be formed after volcanic eruptions and out of basalt! In Icelandic myths, these great columns of towering rock were once said to be large trolls that pushed ships out into the sea!

I am so happy to visit the same country where the Game of Thrones was filmed! It amazes me how wondrous and beautiful this small island is! I even got to climb a glacier!

(Though sadly, it is melting because of warming temperatures up north. I’m lucky to have seen it with my own eyes.)

I went to the capitol most of the time, and Reykjavik is a beautiful city. It’s really cool to visit local bakeries, pose in front of the beautiful Hallgrimskirkja, a towering Lutheran church with a unique organ count of 5275 pipes! That’s crazy!

All in all, you have to visit the natural hot springs in little pockets of Iceland, go on tours with great, friendly tour guides, and see the black sand beaches and puffins that circle high above for yourself. In Iceland, there’s always a place to relax, to entertain, and to just explore! “Þetta reddast”, as the Icelanders like to say, “things always have a way of working out in the end”!