A quick update

You might wonder what is happening to this blog .... no recipes for a long time and few posts in a month.
Well, I guess we are trying to get our rythm and also enjoying Matteo the most, which makes cooking something difficult to do.
But it is getting better ... I mean Matteo cry, but now I have given him a complete blog and I hope this will calm him down!!

Soon I will manage to post some recipes. I can aleady see we are gettig used to the new life, despite everyday could be a different day. In the meantime, pay a visit to Matteo's blog (link here or use the navigation bar above) .... he has been waiting many many months to say hallo so, I guess, he has a lot to say now.

We had a ...white white Easter!

We are back from the Easter break ... and what an unusual Eater. 

Spring? Well ... here we had more than 15cm of snow this morning! Tonite ... well, there is only water left! Better this way!

I hope you all spent a nice Easter ... ciao!!

And yesterday I closed a 2-year (only) chapter!

What does this mean? Yesterday with other 84 people I was awarded an MBA ... or better defined as a 2-year suffering-sweating-not_sleeping-studying-having_fun chapter of my life

I guess with all these closing chapters ... you might expect a post on an opening one. Yes it will come in a  couple of weeks :-) And in between (finally) some more recipes!!

In the meantime ... se what effect a certificate has on people? I was looking weird! My mum was happy holding my diploma. My dad was taking photos. And my wife was observing smiling.

Ciao ciao!

Today I am closing an 8-year chapter

Today is a very special day, so allow me not to post a recipe (once again).

On the 1st of August 2000 I joined Philips Research ... today is my last day at NXP Semiconductors, which was previously known as Philips Semiconductors. Almost 8 years I have been working in Eindhoven ... surrounded by the same (but changing) buildings. And surely, I am much less of a scientist I was then. 

Today I am closing this chapter. Another one will be opened soon (and not only professionally) ... still, it is strange to do a change which implies not seeing the same people, place, city, etc etc.

So allow me a moment of though about it.

In the meantime, let me know what you think this photo is about. Of course, ex-colleagues, please say nothing.

A cool (but useless to me) gadget

I was about to share another recipe, but the service I use for storing my photos on the web is temporarily down for maintenance. I wish they would sync these not only to the US night, but such is life.

And it is funny, though, to see how services like this (or even internet) gets so much into our everyday life that once gone ... we get frustrated and lost in a "what do we do now?" mood. I still remember last time I had a very long Internet outage, the first weeks I could not survive! I needed to navigate! Gosh, it is almost like a drug.

Anyway, this photo outage at least give me the time to translate a couple of recipes today and will not last very long. No incontinence issues here :-) I leave you in the meantime with the official Ad of one of the most discussed gadget of the week. The sleek, fantastically designed ... overpriced and useless (to me at least) laptops ever: the MacBook Air. If we would use the food pricing system its $/Kg or €/Kg would be more like for truffles!

PS: The DMBLKIT gallery will also not be accessible until the service does not come back online.

How I killed the lobsters .....

CONTENT WARNING: the linked video contains material that might disturb somebody

Since a few asked ... the killing of (at least) one lobster was filmed by my dad with its digital camera. If you feel you are curious click on the photo and you will be re-directed (pop-up window) to a gallery where the video is.
Just a few notes .... the video is not great of quality (no light and from a photocamera). Pardon the talking from me (gosh I sound so nasal thanks to a cold), my mum and (very little) my wife. Above all ... it is not disgusting, but you are a WWF fanatic or cannot sustain seeing how an animal is killed do not watch. If you watch it, you might feel from my voice I did not like killing it .... but knowing the taste it has I did it anyhow.

PS: This video was taken a bit before the photo depicting the old wine in the previous post.

It is 2008!

It is 2008! A new year and ... an old beginning. Yes yes back to work after almost two weeks of spending time with the families thanks to my parents traveling all the way from the south of Italy to be here with us in Belgium. It was nice, very nice.

And since this is a food blog, yes there was a lot of cooking. But I did not take any photos so I will not post any of the recipes. I find that taking photos during parties or dinners with friends ... somehow not fun. I mean it feels strange. On the other hand I took some photos of something really nice we saw here in Turnhout on Christmas Eve: a monastery (or begijnhof in Dutch) lighted by 4500 candles in glass jars as in the photo above (see few others here). Quite impressive, not to mention very crowded and cold.

As regards the food, here is what we had and it would be nice if we all would share our menus from the festivities!!! So back to the menus ...

Christmas Eve: truffle & gray shrimp salad, crab salad, oyster risotto, gratin of scallops and lemon, rolls of turbot with ganda ham and basil (like this), panettone, pandoro. All with Boulard champagne.

Christmas Day: assorted crostini, roasted turbot rolls, Belgian endive soup, stuffed turkey with colcannon potatoes and string bean rolls, German marzipan stollen. Served with Boulard champagne 2002, Staete Ladt sauvignon blanc 2001 and gigondas De Bosquet 2004.

New Year's Eve: potato fritters, assorted rustici, pappardelle in lobster bisque', roasted lobster tails with a potato and (Sardinian) bottarga salad, lentils, panettone, pandoro. All with Goutorbe 2000, Boulard Petrea champagne, Chateau Vieux Maillet 1970 (the year of my parents wedding) and a glass of Fonseca Vintage 1987.

New Year's (by my in-laws): bread and salmon roll, boar pate' with red onion comfit, foie gras mousse with onion and hazelnuts, Boursin cheese roll, celeriac soup, gratin of cheese and wild mushrooms, veal prince orloff with Brussels sprouts and Belgian endive, Neapolitan pastiera. All with Boulard champagne and Bordeaux 1999 (do not remember which one).

It was very pleasant days and I hope everybody had nice time and feels recharged to start a new year! Once again I wish all of you a fantastic 2008 .... and now back to blog business too!!

Ciao

Class of 2007 ... It is finally DONE !!!!

Rotterdam (Netherlands). Saturday 14th of January 2006 .... The big journey begins. A journey that today, 24th of December 2007 ... ends ... after two years of pain, sufferings, joy, international travels, confusion, stress, happiness, drinking, driving and of putting myself back under scrutiny and our of my comfort zone. Two years of sweat and continuous feedback from people I never saw before.

Today, after two long and now feeling short, years ... My Executive MBA is concluded. Yes I have a last assignment to do and the graduation ceremony (next spring) ... but today we toasted with champagne in the J building of the Rotterdam School of Management and we closed it all. 90 people from all over the world who have embarked into a long journey of trying to merge studying (and a lot), working and living a normal life ... all at the same time.

Two years when keeping friendship and family happy was rather difficult and I felt lucky that my family and best friends were so understanding (boy, stress made my mood really difficult sometimes). Two years when every evening (almost) was a long evening on books, internet or typing something. When every week-end was on books or in class. When at least 30% of my holidays were actually for the books ... and when all this while keeping the work going fine.
I must have been crazy when I started ... but now it is done. Finished ... this chapter closes ... and now what? Who knows? Surely I will be happy to have a break and give Elke some of the time she was negated in the past two years (what a saint my wife!) ... then we'll see.

It will be strange now ... not traveling back and forth to Rotterdam (in two years 30000km !!!). Not seeing these 89 people. Not discussing business or ideas or strategy. It will feel strange.

In the end I am amazed. I guess very few would have guessed this crazy italian would end up from being an engineer (Italy), than a scientist (UK) ... to a wanna be MBA (Netherlands). Not to mention I seem to have learned a bit how to cook in the meantime!

Well, it is time to rest ... to all and to my just-ex-fellow-classmates ... have a great week-end! And let's burn these books!

Pierangelini & La Pasta al Pomodoro

Yes yes this is a recipe I did and blogged before (see here) but a recipe is not the goal of this post! My apologies for who can't read italian as they won't enjoy the links, but I could not resist in this debate over what guides and TV keep indicating as the best Italian Chef ... Fulvio Pierangelini of the Gambero Rosso.

Well, if you can read italian, you can enjoy the latest debates on this obviously arrogant (but not in the way of Gordon Ramsey ... at least he is fun to watch) that can be found here and here. But what is so funny ... well, I got to find a video (again in Italian ... sorry) where he spends 5 minutes debating why he has charged the equivalent of 25 euros few years ago (so more like 50 today) for a course of pasta in tomato sauce (count on 3 euros at home with best ingredients) and how he was upset people ordered it for kids. Sorry ... but is this guy an idiot?!?! I mean watch the video (here) and, then, you will understand what I mean. Sure I won't be missing not going to his place.

So next time, feel free to charge your friends or tell them that a dish like the one above is worth more than 50 euros in a starred restaurant. Then, note how many are not laughing!

PS: Of course, many won't agree.

Risotto with Porcini and Sopressata

So, we are back ... we had nice time in our short trip to Italy and I will report on a nice restaurant we visit, which marks finally the return of an italian restaurant in my top10 after many delusions. Of course, the recipe I propose here was not done while there but some days before. However, I wanted to share what we consider our best approach to risotto with porcini before the season ends. What makes it so special? The use of coffee as suggested by Lory and the use of a special cured meat called Sopressata (read the recipe and wikipedia for more).

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

On the road again!!

This time we go for a few days to Italy visiting my parents in Taranto ... a small (for italian standards, only 280000 people!!) town in the southern province of Puglia (or Apulia). Will be nice time and probably visit a nice Osteria called Cibus.
So ... I wish everybody a nice week-end (even if early) and I hope to post a new recipe sunday night once back! Ciao.

Arrivederci Enzo

Enzo Biagi (1920-today), Journalist. No Comment.

I have been nominated!!!

Well, I have been nominated!!! what ?! I mean for a meme .... and it is only the second time actually I get invited to participate to a meme. The rules and nature of this meme can be found here where it originates. Simply names 5 blogs that make you think, quickly describe them and invite to do the same. I have been nominated by Lory, which is an honor for me also for the kind words she uses.
To be honest, had not done it somebody else I would name her ... since her blog has been the best new entry in my list of daily visits this year. I never met her, but from how she write it comes across as a truly optimistic and sensitive person. Not to mention her nice recipes!! To me, it would be almost worth learning a bit italian to visit her blog.

So, who could I invite ... and mind if you have been already invited, my apologies, otherwise please do go on with the meme. Here is my 5 thinking blogs.

1) Kate of Appelmint. Another blog I most of the time read and rarely comment on. Amazing how much she travels and how her reciped and beautiful photos relect it.

2) Keiko of Nordljus .... honestly, the most inspiring photos I have seen so far. They speak for themselves telling the story of a recipe or a trip.

3) Francesco of tutto e' dimostrabile (eh eh you though I would name myself from the name!!!). Yes, we were classmate in high school and have not seen each other for a decade after that and a few years after it again. Still, his half italian half english blog is a nice read on trends, politics, technology, etc. Hopefully he will post again soon !!!

4) Donatella of parole di cioccolat0 ... it is always nice to see how somebody from the same part of Italy is living abroad and near by. She in the Netherlands (where I used to) and I in Belgium.

5) Finally, a close friend. Andrea of Good Morning Natlab. The name and the ties go a long way. From being colleagues to neighbors and sharing many wines till he moved back to Italy. His blog is not very active but the few posts always share something I find worth reflecting ot that remind of my past.

That was it. As you can see it is a mix of italians and not .... I would have named Lory, but she named me first. Now, time to post a recipe ... but it will be for tomorrow night.

Back from Champagne!!

(updated since I am trying to put in a slideshow!)
The photo above gives an idea of the weather we had. No rain but rather gray. Despite this, we had really nice time. Better than last year ... we found some grapes still ... so we tasted a few from Mercier, Veuve Cliquot, Philipponat, Moet & Chandon ... :-) All photo in this gallery (link).
We stayed in Mutigny (near Epernay) at Le Manoir de Montflabert ... basically a huge castle. To get into our room we needed to go through a secret passage that was so small the partner of my sister-in-law had almost to crawl! Well, he is tall, but even a person as short as me had to pay attention! The place was nice (really like being in a castle) when forgetting the host madame who was every second shouting some sort of welcome to the manoir in an excessively picturesque way.

What did we do? Drive around, eat at french restaurants, drink champagne and visit (once again Reims). First of all, you need to know ... we go there frequently ... therefore, we tend not to act much as tourists any longer. We still enjoy being in Reims. And let's start from Reims ... a nice big city. The main centre has some decent shops and a wonderful Cathedral which is slowly being renewed. Year after year they do something ... let's hope they finish it before I leave this part of the world! The structure is beautiful inside and outside with all the various building around. Not to mention all the wine shops surroundings it (avoid them ... lately they are boosting crazy prices, 460euros for a Clos de Goisses!!! I should put mine on ebay then!). but for us Reims means ... eating a baguetta at Pauls and enoy a nice coffee (with tarts) at Waida's ... the latter is a real treat! The patisserie looks so gorgeous!!!

What about eating out for real. Well, this time we kept it low profile. We went to La Table Kobus on friday night (suggested by the wine writer Tom Cannavan), where I enjoyed oysters followed by a porcini risotto topped with tuna and foie gras ... both simply excellent. Elke took the same main course but a tomato tart to start ... looked tasty! To end a really good Creme Brule' avec Grand Marnier. The place is not that fancy, but the food is really good ... the champagne list not too bad. Maybe a tad expensive (especially when compared to our favourite address Le Foch). Saturday we went to an old place of ours .... Le Vieux Puits. This time it disappointed us. The food was fast, not bad but kind of rushed out and salty. Prices (especially for drinks) way over the top ... not sure we will go back.

And now ... you might ask, what about the wines??? Simply as good as it gets. After few years of going there, we have finally understood that Champagne does not mean Tattinger or Dom Perignon ... that is marketing, not wine. Champagne means visiting small producers and recultant with passion and fantastic not simply french sparkling wine. Our favorite is Francis Boulard, where we spent a good three hours tasting his new 2007 line-up, the new harvest fermenting in the barrel (just 10 days old and a real experince!) and chatting over wine in general. This year I rather enjoyed his 2002 millesime (90) and his Petrea as usual (90). Fine expressions of terroir, balance and respectful wine-making. Bravo Francis!

We also visited (9.30am!!!) Champagne Goutarbe ... where we could only meet with a sales girl and taste their basic Brut, which was rather pleasant (77). But we wanted to taste more ... maybe next time Francis will give us an hand to meet the Mr. Goutarbe!! The third and last producer we passed by was Roger Pouillon ... this time showing wines mostly based on strong vinous personality from Pinot Noir. Decent the basic Brut (73) ... tad too fruity. But really impressve his top cuvee Fleur de Mareuil (90), where the new oak rounds the Pinot Noir and gives the final wine great complexity. Nice really nice.

All good to excellent wines ... superior to all big names (except for Krug and Salon) ... for a fraction of the price (Fleur de Mareuil goes for 21 euros ....). Only problem is ... I have now too much wine for the space ... meaning I need to drink a few bottles very fast ... ich!! :-)

So ... ciao and I go back to my champagne flute!!!


PS: The numbers among brackets is my rating (out of 100).

Off we go: Champagne

Off we go for a nice relaxing almost long week-end in the French Ardene, popularly known as Champagne. We go there once or twice per year to get some wine, enjoy good food (at good price) and spend some time in a nice part of France. This time we will stay in a B&B ... which promises to be nice. We will dine at an old time favorite of ours in Ay, Le Vieux Puits. And visit few recultants among which our dear Boulard, whose wines are simply delicious! The photo you see above was taken last year ... and be sure that Veuve Cliquot is not something I actually like much. One of the most decent from the big houses, but not comparable to the real champagne wine. Anyway, if I can (=get some time free for it) I will post a little photo story of our visit ... in the mean time. Bon week-end ... and cin-cin, prost, sante', salute!!!

MEME October 2007

I have been invited by K to join the MEME. A nice idea of sharing 8 things about ourselves (and in my case only me ... not Elke) and invite other people to join in ... and so on. I am not sure in which language it started or it is proceeding, but I take also this occasion to try out a multilingual approach for my blog. Still mostly in english, but the core will be in Italian too (maybe dutch later). We'll see.
Anyway, too much bla bla .... time to share 8 things about me and to invite Andrea, Kate and Francesco to join in!

(Leggi il post --- Read the post)

Praiano ... a disgression

I had planned to share a nice recipe, but ... it is late. I will not avoid to admit that I am late because I spent the evening playing on the Xbox with a friend in Eindhoven. Two old guys spending hours in front of a projector .. yes, seems nerdy but fun!!
Anyway, after almost 5 months I have had time to re-look at the photos I took in Praiano before our wedding. The place is really really beautiful. If you have some time, check out our small public gallery (link) to have an impression of this cute little village on the Amalfitan Coast between Positano (wikipedia) and Amalfi (wikipedia). It is worth a visit if you are in the neighborhood.
Ciao!!!

Grijze Garnalen or Gray (Dutch) Shrimps

If there is something I go crazy for in Belgium and the Netherlands, it is surely the Grijze Garnalen ... or, vulgarly called, gray Dutch shrimps. I love them in every possible way, but it is quite some work to use them as ingredients as they are small and peeling is way too much work. Yes, I could buy them peeled ... but I would loose the taste.
Anyway, they are gray ... but not so gray (see the photo). Last Saturday we spent the day walking on the beach and we watched fishermen catching them. The method is simple: get a net attached to a solid frame and pull the net in deep water by hand or with an horse. Get back ashore, remove everything which is not a shrimps and boil them immediately to preserve the taste. It was quite interesting to see the entire action ... if you are curious simply check my photo gallery (link) where the photos will give you a flavor of what we saw.
It was a nice sunny day (30C+ degrees ... yes in Belgium). Quite crowded and lots of shrimps in the nets. Overall, we enjoyed ... it was only a pity we could not find where the tasting was taking place before going home. So we saw them alive, but not cooked ...
Ah! In case you look at the photos ... the typical dress code for a shrimp fisherman is in yellow ... not black or red, yellow!! Elke was kind of very (often) specific on this point !!

Pieropan La Rocca 2004

I opened this bottle by mistake. I believe it to be the Calvarino and I even wrote so in the last post (which has been corrected already). It was a white wine like I have not drank in a long time ... so when I took the bottle to take a photo of the label I understood why. As you can see, even before I start, it is clear I love it. Few bottles will surely find their way into my house soon!!

Pieropan La Rocca 2004 Soave Classico

Country: Italy
Grapes: Garganega
Winery: link
Price: 20-25 euros

Impressions: Quite yellow in the glass with good curves. The nose is fresh and buttery with flavors of exotic fruits, flowers, a little bit of honey and slightly spicy. The taste ... wow, all the elements in the nose are there with a nice balance. There is also a sense of minerals with a palate of dairy, nuts and lemon acidity in the background. The aftertaste is as complex and it last ... this was the first day. We drank the wine over three days and it evolved loosing acidity and getting more complexity.

Verdict: Simply superb and I expect it to age well ... a few more years in the bottle and the complexity will come out more, while the fruitiness will go down a bit.

Would I buy it? Sure ... I am already planning to buy a case in august!

Rating: 93

Our Limoges dishes have arrived!!!

I know I know, I said I would post a recipe since we have got a few in the waiting list since before we left for the trip in South Africa, but ... we unexpectedly could go and fetch our wedding service, which we really love. We fell in love with it when we were served a meal in a restaurant and since then we tried to find it in order to add it to the wedding list. We found it in a nice shop in Kortrijk (near where Elke is from) called Bijttebier. Really friendly people and I bet it is impossible not to find something in their shop.
Anyway, the service is from Limoges, a JL Coquet Hemisphere mixed white and Tempest Blue with cutlery from Alessi. It was a joy to unpack it and look at it .... but it took us a few hours (and more for Elke than me) to wash every fork and every dish!!! Gosh! It went almost everything fine ... we just found two knives with a curved blade and one cracked dish. Nothing to worry ... but, as people who know me will imagine, I did make a bit of a hell for Elke when I saw one dish was defected!!!
Well, I promise next post will be a recipe ... ciaoo!

In the end, we got back home.

Just a quick post ... we are now back home after one month away in South Africa.
It has been a memorable trip and we had lot of fun blogging some photos and impressions of the trip. I might still share something on the wines, since I have tasted quite a few of them ... but as of tomorrow normal life starts again (apart from the 2000 photos I now have to work on in my spare time) ... the same for the blog. Back to the normal header and back to the kitchen as of tomorrow. I still have dishes I did not have time to share before we left and given our desire for cooking after so long ... we will try more and more!!!

Thanks for everybody who has followed us in our trip ... and I hope we succeeded in making you thinking of going to this part of the world. It is really worth it especially if you manage to see what lies beneath the surface: a country of strong contrasts which is trying to move from second to first world. I hope it succeeds!

The last day is an ostrich day

(Francesco) Here we are ... the last post from South Africa. We just had a nice meal at a place called JJ's on the waterfront of Knysna. Drank a nice bottle of Pinotage, really nice (and only 14 euros). I am writing while Elke is finishing of her packing. Today was relaxing, we basically drove to Oudtshoorn to visit a farm of Ostriches ... something Elke was curious to do. I have to say these animals look very stupid!!

They have big eyes and little heads and they have a weirdly flexible neck. We could see a bit how they are grown and feed them. Some people got lucky and sat on one of them. Elke was one of these lucky people ... after some convincing! As you can see ion the photos ... she looked nervous, but I guess she will write what se felt than. Well, as I said our trip is over. Tomorrow we will drive to George, drop our rental car and fly back home. So, starting from thursday ... back to the normal life and the blog goes back to food posts. I have still one post on south african wine I will add and lot of recipes we prepared before the trip, which have been waiting too long!!
(Elke) I have not much to add to Francesco's words. This is indeed our last post from South Africa. We should be back home from Thursday noon. It has been a very beautiful and diversified trip. We feel really happy about it, but we also feel we need to go back to normal life gradually. By the way, being on the ostrich was quite nice and the feathers of the animal were really soft and warm....

We saw the whales !!!!

(Francesco) Last days of our trip, we are now in our last hotel in Knysna. Probably the less special of the hotels, but fine nevertheless. Before driving to Knysna from Plettenbergbaai, Elke agreed on something I really wanted to do since we got to the Western Cape .... a Ocean Safari. Well, it is basically being in a boat and looking for whales. We were not extremely lucky, but lucky enough to see both Southern Whales and Singing Whales. They are huge ... really huge. And the noise they make are incredible. there was even a moment when two whales decided to pass below our boat ... that was scary. One moment they were few meters from us ... one moment they were gone! Unfortunately, we saw then mostly floating or breaching (with the tail). None jumped ... but it was a nice experience nevertheless. This was in the morning. At lunch time we drove to Knysna.

(Elke) Ksnysna is a nice place on the Garden Route and is mostly known for its lagoon. Luckily our hotel is on the waterfront near the lagoons, so we can enjoy the nice views very well. We decided in the late afternoon to go for a sunset boat tour on the lagoon to where the lagoon meets the Indian Ocean, a place called The Heads. Quite a relaxing thing to watch the beautiful and calm nature. We are quite happy we came to this place in the South African winter, because in their summer is must be overcrowded here.

(Francesco) Quite a relaxing and sea dominated day as you can see. Well, the trip is almost at its end ... two days to go. But what has amazed me (and surely also Elke) is how much diversity we have experienced. We have done and seen so many different things that it feels like much more since we have been home. It is safe to say ... it has been a great trip!

Up and down the Garden Route

(Elke) After a short break yesterday, here we are back again. About yesterday there is not that much to tell. It was mainly a driving day. The first part of the driving was a bit boring until Mossel Bay. Once we reached that village, the road got much better and the scenery much more beautiful. Also, it allowed us to understand why this region is called the 'Garden Route'. In Mossel Bay, we got to see a beautiful lighthouse, as well as the tree that is called the Postman Tree. At this tree, people used to put a shoe with a message, hence the name. As real tourist, we posted a post card for ourselves from there which should get a special stamp. We will see.....

Today was a beautiful day, not only because of the nice sunny weather but also because of what we saw. We started off in the Tsitsikamma National Park. This seems to be a very popular national park in South Africa, second after the Kruger Park. The name is derived from what is called land of water. We went there for the 6.5 km Waterfall hike. That one is rated as difficult. For the first few kilometers we did not understand why but then came the tricky part. There was a whole part along the sea which included a lot of climbing on the rocks. Francesco continued for a longer while than me, but the walk was beautiful.

After the nice surprise of the national park (we didn't know what to expect from it), we took a nice scenery road back along the Nature Valley Village. The name is not stolen as the nature is beautiful with nice lakes and lagoons. After the drive we ended up in Monkeyland, a place Francesco wanted to visit.
(Francesco) Well, the hike was beautiful but I had to drop my camera and backpack with Elke since I needed to climb up and down rocks. Very nice. It reminded me of when I was little and climbing rocks on the italian shore. And the waves along the coast (since the hike was along the coast) .... amazing.

Anyway, I guess we deserve a nice dinner. What Elke forgot to say is that this morning our morning was started by watching dolphins passing in front of our window and quite near the shore. As for Monkeyland ... it was funny. So many and funny looking monkeys. And so many noises and running around. Luckily no dropping on us while we were walking in this sort of jungle ... A very nice day!

On the road again .... first stop Hermanus

Here we are ... on the road again and literally! This time driving along the Whale and the Garden route. After a long discussion with Budget as they were trying to make pay things twice for our car, we left Cape Town and arrived in Hermanus. The best place for watching whales from the shore. Well, we have been a bit less lucky this time as it is windy and right now also rainy. On the other hand, we have been able to visit a couple of wine makers ... the wine from one were really really nice and we will seek them out once back in Belgium.
Now a couple of photos before we go for dinner (gosh, food here is wonderful ... I guess we will need dieting for a while after the trip).

Here is our car .....

.... and this proves Belgian cuisine is world-wide known and appreciated :-)

And Elke (and myself) was upset we could not see any whale ... yet.

Last day in Cape Town

(Elke) After Francesco's intermezzo on one of his favorite topics, wine, I'm here to give a quick summary on the day. The day started cloudy again, so we were afraid that our main attraction of the day, Tafelberg or Table Mountain, would have been canceled. But luckily, the clouds decided to disappear and we could go up the mountain. The Table Mountain gives the specific view on Cape Town and you can see it from any spot in the town. A visit up there is worth it, just to get a great view on the city. It also gives the chance to go for a good walk in nature, because the mountain is part of a natural park.

After this, we went around for a small city center tour. We saw the very much Dutch style looking Caste of the Cape of Good Hope. Also, a visit to the South African museum gave us some insight in the different tribes that are present in this country.
Now, it is time to make our bags (again) as we are leaving Cape Town tomorrow. As of tomorrow, we will be driving ourselves on the wrong side of the road. More news about that in our later items.
(Francesco) Well ... I will be driving ... sigh sigh. And Elke assumes we can get Internet ... let's hope!

Southafrican Wine ... few notes

(Francesco) So, after speaking about food and after visiting a nice wine restaurant yesterday, it is time to share with you my experience on South African wines. I had a few and one from Zimbabwe. Generally the wines are cheaper with very few premium wines getting above 60 euros a bottle and normally also because of their age. I am starting writing while Elke is getting a shower, but I suspect I will finish and post when we are back from our visit at Tafelberg this morning. Let's not waste time and delve into it. Do not expect a scientific description .... just my impressions.

Castle Beer NV. Yes, I start from a beer and I even post a photo of it. It is cheap and wisely available and I like it. Light and refreshing ... if only Heineken would be like this one ....
Cape Point Sauvignon Blanc 2005. Nice and refreshing. It has a flowery and nose with a taste of green fruit and spices. It has an hint of acidity. Lovely wine. But not sure if it will age more. I would love to see its price in a shop. when it is below 10 euros, than it would definitively be a buy. Otherwise ... not sure.
Vriesenhof Pinot Noir 2004. This could be a burgundy wine. Nice body and nose. Light red fruit with bell pepper and slight spices. Very round and long aftertaste. I would give it a bit longer time in the bottle, but it has been my second favorite so far. I would have liked it slightly more complex.
Saronsberg Shiraz 2004. A nice and gentle shiraz. Fruity with some underlying american oak feeling. Good body. Nice to have with meat instead of a Chianti. I feel this is probably overrated a bit considering the price.
Graham Beck Brut. Nice sparkling. Very gentle and refreshing. Something in between a prosecco and a brut nature. Definitively a nice alternative to champagne ... if I would ever find it in europe. Of course, if the price is similar to champagne .... then, it is no comparison. Get the latter, it has more depth.
Graham Beck Rose'. Not bad. It has a nice and refreshing feeling with just a bit of more of the Pinot Noir over the Chardonnay. I would love to get this one in my cellar.
Villiera Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. We got this bottle as a present because of my help in translating few things in italian for some guests at Kirkman's lodge. Nice wine. On the fruity side with a well balanced oak which gives vanilla and spicy pepper.
Villiera Brut NV. We found this wine tin the room as a wedding present. Something of a in-between prosecco and spumante. Not bad but would not be my first choice.
Villiera rose' NV. Like the previous one we got it (in the same lodge) for our wedding as a free treat .... but this time it was during sunset in the bush! This one was lovely. A nice rose with red fruit and strawberry flavor. Refreshening but with some body to go along a light meat-based meat. Gently bubbly.
Weltevreden Pinot Noir 2005. Nice nice nice. This has it all, still young and on the fruity side but it has balance in the nose and the taste where fruity and oak create a nice complexity that lives very long in the aftertaste. It is a great example of a new world burgundy. I wonder if it can be found in europe.
Kanokoop Pinotage 2005. Nice but still too young wine. Very much fruity and heavy almost like a young vintage port. Looking forward to try one of these in few years time!
Doolhof Unwooded Chardonnay 2006. A simple chardonnay with medium body. Peach and little honey in the taste, peach and flower on the nose. Short aftertaste. I would not buy for my cellar, but to drink during a meal ... why not. It is also quite cheap.
Riverstone Sauvignon Blanc Brut NV. Another wine we got as a wedding present, this time in Cape Town. Refreshening and ok. A bit a traitor as the alcohol comes out later ... and it definitively does not last much once open. Decent bubbly for the price ... and not bad when free :-)

Apartheid and Cape Town

(Elke) We spent another day in Cape Town. But in no way, this day was similar to the one of yesterday. This makes this trip really interesting. Today was dedicated to the battle for freedom after the Apartheid regime. This morning we visited District Six. At the moment there is not much to see over there, but the museum was worth a visit and tells again the bad stories of the Apartheid. After that, we went to the black township of Langa. The tour we did there was much less touristic compared to Soweto. To see this poverty always remains a shocking experience. This time we were mainly touched by the hostels where so many people live together in unbearable conditions.
After this, time for a change. We went higher up in the city to Bookaap. This part of Cape Town really looks like a postcard. The houses are extremely colourful. The ideal time to take some pictures again....

Our main goal of today was to see the Robben Island. This morning with the fog on the island, we were afraid we would have not managed. However, things got better. We have done the tour of the island. The good thing of these tours is that they are all conducted by ex prisoners. We have not seen the cell of Mandela itself, because they were doing renovation works in the building. A pity. However, we got quite a good idea of how much the present political leaders of this country have suffered there in the past.

By the way, today is the 89th birthday of Nelson Mandela. In a country with great respect for this man, this does not pass by unnoticed. Here in Cape Town they organise a football match of the African 11 against the Rest of the World 11. By coincidence, we got to the port to Robben Island at the moment the football stars got back from their visit to Robben Island. We only recognised a few like Gullit, Rijkaard and Carembeu but the African people really got excited.

(Francesco) This time I simply leave an hello to everybody .... we have few minutes before leaving for dinner and watching the football (maybe) !!!

More Southern cannot be!

(Elke) So, this is another message from Cape Town. So far, we like this city a lot. It feels also much more cosmopolitan and European compared to Johannesburg. Today we went for the touristic attraction that is not to be missed in the City. We went to the Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. Beautiful scenery road that leads there along the coastline. The Cape itself is part of a natural park with its own particular and very green vegetation. The point itself is very windy but not to be missed because after all this is the unique spot where the Atlantic and the Indian ocean meet.
After a good walk on the Cape, it was time for a delicious lunch. Compared to the rest of South Africa where we were before, we are in a fish area. Time for Francesco to go for one of his favorite food: seafood!

On the way back to the city center, time to stop for two nature miracles: the beaches with the African penguins and the green Botanical Gardens of Kirstenbosch. The last one were surprisingly colorful to be in the South African winter. The first ones are just so cute but also soo noisy...

(Francesco) And what about the restaurant we just visited. Gorgeous! We were at the Beluga. The place is really nice, a bit New York style and the food something of a asian-european fusion. I had mussels and coconut milk soup followed by seared Ahi Tuna in a sasame crust. Elke butternut soup and chicken with pumpkin tart. We really enjoyed the food. Nice wines too. Highly recommended ....btw, we payed 40 euros in two and portions were quite large!

Of South Africa and Food

(Francesco) Well well, it is a long time I have been in here and I believe it time to say something about how I the food is or has been so far. Today we had a nice trip in Cape Town, but this will be described later ... in this nice break I have (and given the free internet in our hotel) I want to talk about food!!
Where to start .... the safari lodges! No, first the restaurant I have tried before Elke joined. Moyo in Melrose Arch is the first one I have visited with most of my MBA class. It was funny as it was heavily designed in the way every white person would think of Africa. Heavy wood, funny dressed people singing, etc. etc. From this point of view, not that nice. As regards food, I had some very nice spicy tiger prawns with rice followed by a less interesting dessert. Overall, it was nothing really impressive in terms of food but it is worth a visit with a large group. BTW it is a chain ..
The next one I remember of is a chain on pasta and pizza called "Primi Piatti". I have to say that the pizza's are not too bad and the pasta ... well, ok. They cook al dente or actually almost a bit raw!! But their Napoletana sauce is horribly salty. Let's say this is fast food at its cheapest and again did not impress me,
I ma sure I visited another seafood place but I do not remember the name and it was not particularly tasty. They even sold us simple small tiger prawn as they were king ones!
Finally we had a really nice dinner (from which the photos) at the Cradle Restaurant at the Cradle of Humankind. This was impressive from the wines they served to the dishes. I do not recall the names of the wines, they were Southafrican and I am sure I have a photo somewhere. The starter was a delicious pumpkin and truffle soup, followed by a really tasty lamb (see photo) and a pannacotta with red fruit compote'. I loved it ... plus we had lots of fun!!!!
Now, what about the food at the lodges. It has varied quite a bit. At the first one, the Cybele, we had something in between dutch and french food. It was delicious ... really delicious. I still remember the vispotjie (fish and potato pie) and the chicken & prawn currie, and a nice rack of lamb. It was as good as it gets (including presentation) in our starred places. With nice ingredients, great bread and nice wines.
The second lodge we visited, Kirkman's Kamp, we had braai (the local BBQ) the first day and the second day a normal dish (meat or chicken). Everytime served by a soup in front and with a little tart slice with mango or avocado sauce. the best part were the soups! Thick and spicy, they were more than welcome. At lunch, we were given a light lunch based on salads, veggies, bread, cheeses, pasta salads and roast with chutneys. Followed by icecream. Overal the quality was good and the style somewhat European but very much spiced up!
The last lodge in Zimbabwe, the Matetsi Water Lodge, it was spicy food like stew or fish, lot of veggies, pumpkin curries. All extremely tasty with nice bread and cakes. And all done by them as you would expect in a country in serious troubles like Zimbabwe. Great spicy food.
What more??? In Cape Town we have a few resto's lined up (starting from tonite). At lunch we stopped somewhere along the scenic route for some fish and I has some really tasty fresh crayfish. This is a good start.
Ciao for now!!!

Back from Victoria Falls (now in Cape Town)

(Elke) So, here we are again. We were in quite a remote area for the last three days, and it is quite unbelievable to finally have wireless internet back. The last three days we spent were in Zimbabwe. Whenever you tell somebody in South Africa you go to Zimbabwe, they start to tell you how bad the situation is over there. Indeed, near the capital Harare the situation seems to be difficult with inflation going to levels of 20000% under the regime of Mugabe. However, we spent our time in Victoria Falls which is a point where four countries meat and basically on the border with Zambia. At the beginning we were a bit suspicious because you really can see the poverty and certain things are underdeveloped, but after the first "shock" we were delighted to be there. We were in a very nice lodge viewing the Zambezi river and got treated well. Also the game viewing was spectacular. I let Francesco talk about that.

(Francesco) This time the safaris were more about experience than photos ... why? Most of the great stuff happened at night and there is no magic there for photos. No camera could do anything if not with infrared (flash not allowed). During the day we saw also some nice things like a giraffe drinking, which needs them to really open their legs. Gosh! Their 'design' is faulty at drinking. Lots of baboons and crocodiles. And an amazing herd of 300+ buffalos, not to mention the one of 15 giraffes. So what made it spectacular at night ... we followed a herd of 60 elephants. Beautiful animals, we met and followed 3 lions ... and yesterday we enjoyed seeing a group of 5 lion where the mother was teaching her kids how to hunt! That was great! They tried to sniff and catch things like baboons and antelopes ... and did not manage. Every time under the scrutiny of the mother who would not help (since they need to learn) but who would play with them (especially the males) after a failure.

(Elke) Of course, a visit to the Victoria Falls had to include the Falls as well. This was just spectacular. Off course, the falls are not at the wettest (and we felt that!) and the strength that came out of that was really impressive.
(Francesco) Yes, the falls were really nice .... to conclude, the trip to Zimbabwe started suspiciously but ended really nice. One thing Elke (and I) will never forget is the noises in the night ... and this time it was not me but the hippos. They are really noisy!!!
I was almost forgetting .... We tasted wine from Zimbabwe!!! Yes you read correctly ... and it was not too bad. Light and fruity, but better than what produced in some well known countries ...

Jo'burg from the Casino to Soweto

(Elke) So, what can I tell you about today? The contrast with the other days really could have not been any bigger. Today, we experienced the real city life of the second largest city in Africa after Cairo, namely Johannesburg. The city has played a predominant role in the history of the whole country. It all began with the seeking of gold at the end of the nineteenth century. Before that, this city was nothing more then a collection of a few farmlands. It explains why the city center is not having any historical center at all. It contains mainly modern buildings. But when you think of Johannesburg, you usually don't think about the city center, but you associate it also with its role in the abolition of the Apartheid regime. The visit of the Apartheid museum gave us the right background to understand more the steps in that whole process. Our visit to the Constitution Hill with the visit to the old black male prison and the women prison was a symbol of that Apartheid museum. But at the very same place, you have the Constitutional Law, a symbol of the rainbow nation South Africa with prospects for a better future. This country is really full of contrasts. This makes it sometimes hard to live, but also so beautiful. Our contrast day could have not ended better than in Soweto. I usually thought this was a suburb of Johannesburg, but in fact they have about 4 million people living there officially. If you see their living conditions, it could be many more. The poverty is shocking to see but at the same time it is impressive to see how quickly it is changing and how many efforts are done. The people really have the hope and the pride their Soweto will be really beautiful in a few years from now.

(Francesco) What to say. I have already expressed my view on my experience in Alexandria and the museum. I was pleased to see that despite being not all new to me ... it still touched me just like Elke. One thing she forgot ... we visited a place where they have all sort of things for tribal rituals from roots to dead (dried?!) chickens!!! Brrrr!!!

Kirkman's in Sabi Sand (basically Krueger National Park)

(Francesco) So, we are back in Jo'burg. As expected we had too slow internet connection to try to post something and we were probably too excited and busy (wake up 5.30am and safari all day ...) to really post something while in Sabi Sands. Sabi Sands is a private Reserve attached to Krueger Park with no fence division. Therefore, animals can freely roam from the park to the reserve and vice versa. It was wonderful ... really wonderful. Elke was really sad to leave and it was only three days. Safari are a great experience when done in the proper way, with a ranger that knows where to go and how to track. When the jeeps can just roam everywhere ... and yes also implying taking down little trees (and we did lot of this) just to track down some predator. The bush is calm and full of life, the animals calm but still wild. Luckily they recognize green jeeps as not eatable or dangerous ... but get out of it and lions see a steak on two legs. We saw all big 5 (Rhino, Elephant, Lion, Leopard and Buffalo) plus a fantastic bonus ... a den of wild dogs with lot of little puppies. And at this den we saw something that few people in the world experience as wild dogs are rare. Well, I now leave the keyboard to Elke ... I might write some more after I am out of the shower.

(Elke) Hi, here I am, back in civilization. We really had a great time at Kirkman's kamp. It is a camp that was originally built in the 20's. And the whole building still reminds that old colonial style. Beautiful. It also reminded us of how tough it must have been for human beings at that time to survive in the middle of the bush, with the threat of diseased and wild animals around. Luckily for us, now this struggle is no longer there and we were extremely well taken care of with great food and great care of the staff to make us feel at our ease in the bush. There are so many impressions and the beauty of the experience is indeed that it touches all your senses. Indeed, going there is not only a matter of seeing the animals, but the sounds they make and the smell is as impressive and overwhelming. So, great experience and looking forward to the next stop in the bush in Zimbabwe. And one thing I learned: the bush never gets boring as it is something different every day.

(Francesco) So, what did we see? First the unique sighting: wild dogs feeding the puppies and playing with them. A fantastic display of caring endangered animals and something really few see as mentioned before. This morning we had an amazing chasing of the leopard with our jeep (and two other). This big boy was walking and we had to roam in the bush destroying trees to follow it ... till it decided the shadow of our vehicle was a nice place to stop ... gosh! The shadow in the photo is Elke's (who took the picture). We had to kick him out (by moving the jeep a bit). We saw also rhino (edgy and marking their territory), monkey (also stealing food), hyenas (gosh they way they cry at night), a group of 5 lionesses (!!!!), baboons, buffalo (we simply joined a large herd with our jeep), few types of eagles, mpalas (more than hundred), giraffes (lots), warthogs ... amazing to see and study how they behave. We only miss hippos. Maybe in Zimbabwe. Check the photos we added. Later today or tomorrow I will see how to put google maps links.

Of Cheetahs and Elephants