Places & Travel | Aapplemint

A Trip To A Hong Kong Market

May 042009

Hong Kong fresh food markets are an absolute must on any visit to the ex-colony. Bustling with life and colour, they remain an everyday part of many locals life, and are also a great place to grab a bargain. You can get anything food related here, from fresh veggies n fruits, all kinds of meat, live seafood, to spices, sauces, herbs, dried food variety and little restaurants and stalls of cooked delicacies. I absolutely adore coming to the local markets and explore and try out new stuff. And trust me there is so much out here, that I haven’t seen in my life before, and every visit i’m discovering something new. So its always challenging to pick up new ingredients and experiment. To me HK is a foodies paradise, with so much available, its so hard to resist … both to cook and to eat out !

Magical Maldives

All, Places & Travel 37 Responses »

Mar 132009

Last month i made a trip to paradise. By the end of this post you will agree with me that its as close to paradise as you’ll find on earth; serene, scenic and calm, a luxury playground whose physical beauty is almost overwhelming. Maldives are made up of individual resort islands, in the Indian Ocean, where 99% is water and just 1 % is land. It i s a luxury playground, where style flirts with soul in a wonderland of white-sand beaches, turquoise lagoons and breathtaking reefs. We stayed at the W Retreat & Spa, which is the last name in luxury and comfort.I’m not going to say much, and let my pictures do the talking, ‘cuz no matter what i say i can’t do justice to the beauty of this place and wonderful experience.

White Sands and a Raspberry Charlotte

All, Dessert, Places & Travel 69 Responses »

Aug 042008

If you ask me, how was my weekend, i’d have to say … simply fantastic. Celebrated a friends birthday at this breath taking beach resort called White Sands. Overlooking the Atlantic, this beach with its pristine white sands is located in the town of Gomoa Fetteh, about 1 n 1/2 hrs from Accra. There is a Lagoon Terrace, which is flanked on one side by a white beach, and on the other, by a salt water lagoon and bird sanctuary. I cannot describe how picturesque this place is and my photographs do not do justice. Its very rarely that you get a wonderful place like this in Ghana. I’m not going to talk much, but just share some pictures i took. And ofcourse i made the birthday girl a cake !!! This time it was a Raspberry Charlotte, which by the way, she loved

$White Sands Beach Resort 17\$

The Celebration

All, Baking, Places & Travel 69 Responses »

May 152008

To celebrate my big day we planned to go out for the day, rather than just doing dinner or going clubbing. I’m more of a day person, where i can have fun all day long amidst mother nature, opposed to a few hours in a dark room with cigarette smoke and loads of people. We decided to go to my most favourite place in Ghana, the Akosombo Dam at the lake Volta. I’m sharing pictures of this wonderful place with you, as according to me its the only place that makes being in Ghana easy for me.

This place does have quite a few interesting facts and history to it. To begin with, its the worlds largest man made lake ! And one of its benefits besides the fact that it provides electricity year round to Ghana and neighbouring countries, is that its loaded with Tilapia fish, which makes it a fantastic spot to go fishing. I must admit I’ve been fairly lucky with my fishing skills, and have never gone home disappointed. There are times when i get really small catches, but those just get chucked back into the water to grow to full size.

The water is so pristine, that a swim in the middle of the lake is almost irresistible. Very often the local fishermen living by the lake, offer rides in their little boats, a way for them to make a few cedis on the side, and for the visitors to get a feeling of the place the true African way.

A lot of you wondered and asked me, what the cake i made for myself looked like. Well actually i got my cake ready just at the last minute, before we left for the lake. I wasn’t sure if i would be able to take pictures, but luckily there was some cake remaining, just enough to do a little photo shoot the next day. Since i’m a diehard chocoholic i had to make a chocolate cake. This time i chose to do layers of a french vanilla cake and dark chocolate, sandwiched with a rich chocolate ganache and finished off with chopped hazelnuts. A cake fit for a queen ! Well i’m not implying anything here … aehm aehm … but yeah … the cake is royal, fit for royalty :p

And to end this post i leave you a picture of me, at my favourite place on my budday !!! Thank you all for your warm wishes and wonderful greetings. I did have a wonderful day

Macau – The New Vegas

All, Non-Vegetarian, Places & Travel 61 Responses »

Feb 252008

2, 500 HK $ – thats how much i won this New Year gambling in Macau. Not bad ‘eh …. wait till u hear how much my hubby made … 7000 HK $ !!! Oh yes, we started the year with a bang. We gamble once a year … usually on new years just to test the water and see what the new year has in store for us. We’ve been to Vegas and now to Macau and trust me when i say … Macau is the new Las Vegas of the east. It is a former Portuguese colony, which was handed over to the Chinese govt in 1999 . Its an hour away from Hong Kong by ferry. A gambling mecca from the Portuguese times, it has attracted gamblers from all over the east for decades. Now a planned city, with big casinos like Venetian, MGM, Wynn, Sands …. i mean all the works …. this city is booming with tourism. Macau’s annual gambling revenue has already surpassed that of Vegas.

The pictures below are that of Macau’s Fishermans Wharf, it is the first of its kind theme park in Macau, a place you should never miss if you planning to come visit. It offers live music shows, nightly explosions of the complexes 40-meter-high volcano, war games, daily jet-ski stunt shows, beautiful monuments and artificial vintage towns, shopping and eating. There are actually three major themes: Dynasty Wharf, East Meets West and Legend Wharf. Each one better than the next.

Macau is a paradise for gourmands. It would be hard to find another city with such an abundance of restaurants with so many different types of cuisine ranging from that of China’s Guangdong Province to Portuguese, Thai, Korean, Japanese, Vietnam, Indian, American, African as well as other western countries. Among all these wonderful restaurants, there is one that stands out most.
” Restaurante Solmar ” !

Established more than 40 years ago this Portuguese restaurant, is historical and famous for its elegant Portuguese cuisine. In the early 60′s, Solmar served only customers from upper class in private membership basis. Its food was so famous that the members used to smuggle the food out for their non member friends to taste. And then after public outcry to the government the restaurant was opened to public. And how i thank God for that. We went there the first time as it was highly recommended by our friends, and tried their famous African chicken. This dish remains popular in the Portuguese colony of Macau. It shows the influences of Portugal on Asian cooking, most notably by their introducing ingredients like peppers and peanuts as they travelled from Africa to Asia. Macau was for centuries a place where East met West, and that is reflected in the cooking there to this day. This particular Solmar’s African Chicken recipe is a very well guarded secret by the chef and u may find many versions of this on the net, but nothing comes close to it. I have tried to re create the dish, according to what i think comes closest to the real thing. Hope you like it.

1 whole chicken jointed and cut into 8 pieces
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped garlic ( don’t be scared … its not strong… the intense flavours of garlic sweeten as it cooks )
1 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
3 scotch bonnet red chillis chopped ( or more if u like it very hot )
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon Koon Yick Wak Kee curry powder ( a fragrant ainseedy pd found in Chinese stores) or alternately use 1 tsp 5 spice powder
2 potatoes peeled and cut into 4 pieces each
salt to taste
1 tbsp olive oil

In a big saucepan, heat the olive oil and sweat the garlic, onion and chilli till soft – about 5 -6 mins. Add the tomatoes and salt and stir till they have broken down and disintegrated forming a sauce. Add the peanut butter and curry powder and give it a good stir. Now remove some of this sauce and set aside for later to serve with the chicken. In the remaining sauce in the saucepan add the chicken and potatoes and mix everything well together, add in a splash of water if it looks to dry and cover it and let it simmer on low heat for an hour. Now just serve with lightly toasted warm french loaf and some lime, and don’t forget that extra sauce u removed. The potatoes in this dish are always way tastier than the chicken itself , and usually we all fight over them. Yet u should never add to many to the dish or they ‘ll soak all the flavour up.

… So now i have two posts with chicken and potatoes in a row

African Cup Of Nations and Ofcourse something Sweet !

All, Baking, Places & Travel 47 Responses »

Feb 112008

I don’t know how many of you followed the biggest sport event of the year in Africa, but since the past 3 weeks the whole continent has been glued to the tele for the 29th African Cup Of Nations , also known as AfCon , CAN – Cup of African Nations , CAF – Confederation of African Football ….
The tournament is Africa’s equivalent of the European Championships or even the World Cup football. It is held every two years instead of every four and 16 teams competed with each other to lift the cup. Professional African players who play their trade for European clubs like Chelsea , Man U , Liverpool , Arsenal …. all flew down and played for their respective countries. This year the cup was held in Ghana! All of us were eagerly waiting for this event which kicked off on 20th January. Fortunately for us Ghana being the host nation, we got to see a lot of the matches in Accra’s Ohene Djan Stadium. Sadly the Ghanaian team – “The Black Stars” did not reach the finals and secured only the 3rd spot.

Yesterday the 10th of Feb, was the final between the reigning champions of 2006 Egypt vs Cameroon. Above you can see both the teams singing their national anthems, Egypt on the left in the red and white uniform , and Cameroon on the right in the green and red. Egypt took the cup again this year, beating Cameroon to 1-0, a goal which was scored 13 minutes from time by Mohamed Aboutrika, making them the champions for 2 consecutive years. And also the recipient of the cup 6 times over, the most any African country has ever won.The entire event was sponsored by MTN and organized by FIFA , and if u see in the snap below, we have the man himself – The president of FIFA – Sepp Blatter sitting next to the Ghanaian president John Kufuor (ok its not a very clear image but i think u can still see them). Frankly i couldn’t believe i was sitting in Ghana, watching this event as they had done such a wonderful job organizing and hosting it. We saw some some excellent football from star players and experienced adrenaline rushes each time a goal was scored. Imagine the noise 45,000 fanatic fans can make. For me it was a first time experience and I’ve only seen cricket matches in the stadium. Read more about the game here, they also published my pictures

And if you’re wondering why don’t i have the snaps of Egypt holding the cup and that of the closing ceremony ? Its because silly me left the extra battery in the car boot and the battery in my camera ran out at half time ! How i hate myself when something like that happens.

And my sweet fix for this post is another very simple fruit, custard pastry. This was something i was craving for the past couple of days, and being very busy this whole week it was just the perfect thing.

Puff pastry
Mixed berries – Strawberry , Blueberry , Blackberry(which ever u can find, just make sure they are fresh)
1 egg yolk custard *
icing sugar

K i know u are probably doubting my cooking skills at this point , but trust me the simplest of things are usually the tastiest .
*Make your 1 egg yolk custard by heating about 200 ml of cream. In a bowl whisk together 150 gms of caster sugar, pure vanilla extract, 1 egg yolk and a tsp of cornflour, till well incorporated. Pour over the warm cream whisking well and bring it all back to a boil and simmer gently till think enough.
In the non stick baking tray lay the rectangular puff pastry and spread the custard all over.

Slice the strawberries and lay them all over the custard. Fold over the puff pastry, enveloping all the custard and berries around the 4 corners. You don’t have to be very neat. The slightly uneven edges look gr8 once it is baked. Dust the whole thing generously with icing sugar and bake in a hot oven until the pastry has risen and turned a lovely golden brown colour. I like mine to be crispier and a little darker in colour. But feel free to make it as you like. Change the shape, change the fruits … everything goes ! Best served warm with some good quality vanilla ice cream.

Coffee in Ethiopia

All, Drinks, Places & Travel 58 Responses »

Jan 312008

Sometimes I don’t know what I like more, tea or coffee. I have my tea days, where I’ll have anything from green to jasmine, rose bud, earl grey, mint, lavender … and then I have my coffee days … the blissful shot of caffeine – my espresso! This way I get the best of both the worlds (or so I’d like to believe). Right now I’m definitely going through a coffee phase. It all started when I stopped over at Addis Ababa – Ethiopia on my way here to Ghana. Did I mention to you that I lived in Addis for a year as well? Work related of course … But it was a wonderful experience. Nicely nestled in the high East African mountains, Addis Ababa is a really beautiful city. Not really developed, but then again thats the charm of that place. This time however I stayed at the Hilton and here are some pics i took in their beautiful garden. I was there only for 2 days, and I managed to do all my favourite things … I had my list ready on the flight: D, which included eating at my favourite Yemeni restaurant, eating the lovely local Injera and Tibbs, and of course drinking the world famous freshly ground roasted Ethiopian coffee. Wow I think all I did was eat and drink … I’m such a die hard foodie!

You must be aware that coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia. The story goes …. “According to national folklore, the origin of coffee is firmly rooted in Ethiopia‘s history. Their most popular legend concerns the goat herder from Kaffa, where the plants still grow wild in the forest hills. After discovering his goats to be excited, almost dancing on their hind legs, he noticed a few mangled branches of the coffee plant which was hung with bright red berries. He tried the berries himself and rushed home to his wife who told him that he must tell the monks. The chief monk called these berries the ” Devils work ” and threw the sinful drug into the flames, an action soon to be followed by the smell we are all so familiar with now. They crushed the beans, raked them out of the fire, and distilled the stimulating substance in boiling water. Within minutes the monastery filled with the heavenly aroma of roasting beans, and the other monks gathered to investigate. After sitting up all night, they found a renewed energy to their holy devotions. The rest, as they say, is history.”

Ethiopia‘s coffee ceremony is an integral part of their social and cultural life. An invitation to attend a coffee ceremony is considered a mark of friendship or respect and is an excellent example of Ethiopian hospitality.I managed to take some pictures to share with you how they serve coffee or “Machiato” traditionally. I apologize for the bad quality of pictures. It was really dark and I couldn’t avoid the camera shake, but i still wanted to click n share these wonderful pictures with you.

The ceremony is usually conducted by a young woman, dressed in the traditional Ethiopian attire of a white dress with coloured woven borders. The long involved process starts with the ceremonial apparatus being arranged. The roasting of the coffee beans is done in a flat pan over a tiny charcoal stove, the pungent smell mingling with the heady scent of incense which is always burned during the ceremony. The lady who is conducting the ceremony gently washes a handful of coffee beans on the heated pan, then stirs and shakes the husks away. When the coffee beans have turned black and shining and the aromatic oil is coaxed out of them, they are ground by a pestle and a long handled mortar. The ground coffee is slowly stirred into the black clay coffee pot locally known as ‘jebena’, which is round at the bottom with a straw lid.

The Coffee is traditionally served with popcorn, peanuts or cooked barley. In most parts of Ethiopia, the coffee ceremony takes place three times a day – morning, noon and evening. It is the main social event within the village and a time to discuss the community, politics, and basically all kinds of gossip.

They also consider it impolite if you leave until having consumed at least three cups, as the third round is considered to bestow a blessing. Hehe so be sure you are ready to buzz after one coffee session.

The lady finally serves the coffee in tiny china cups to everyone sitting around her, on little kiddie sized stools who have waited and watched her make it for the past half-hour.

After having coffee like this I don’t think I can ever settle for instant coffee. It just doesn’t taste right. And surely it feels so special when I bring out my exotic coffee pot – “jebena” and make some coffee … so therapeutic as the aroma of the freshly ground coffee bean fills up the room and shoots right up to the head through the nostrils. If in Addis you could sample this lovely coffee at the Hilton Hotel.

So I did this little coffee party and made some lovely Chocolate Tarts with sweet Chestnut and Fresh Cream icing. Perfectly sweet, bite sized coffee time treats.

The recipe is really simple. I used some left over chocolate pastry dough for the tart shells. For the filling I used equal amt of chocolate and cream, melted by pouring hot cream over the chocolate. I poured it into the baked tart shells and chilled it till it set. And then the icing … 2 icing bags, one with fresh whipped cream and one with sweetened chestnut puree. Chill it again till sets and serve with hot coffee.

Mumbai …

All, Places & Travel 76 Responses »

Dec 222007

… as its being called lately, though i still prefer the good ole “Bombay”. Its a city of life, a melting pot of all the different religions and castes of India, a city of many foods and of course Bollywood. I didn’t get a chance to make anything and take pictures, but i did make it a point to get out n go to the market and take a few pictures to share with all of you, to show you how we do it …. ” Da Bombay e-style”

The ” bhaji wala ” – vegetable guy .

Irresistibly fresh veggies. I always end up buying more than i need.

Basil and garlic chives sold in little plastic bags.

Was mesmerized by this beggars eyes, in the market.

More fresh veggies.

One bored apple vendor. When will this damn day get over

These are called “Pani Puris”. Little fried hollow crispy ball kinda things filled with mashed potato , and some sweet chutney followed by some spicy and tangy water. All to be eaten in one bite and it just explodes in your mouth. Yum Yum. Usually when u buy 1 plate, u get served 6 to 8 puris and the vendor makes each one with his own hands and serves it to you. When u finish one u extend your cup forward for another one. Truly a Bombay favourite.

This old lady is using the most preferred hand scale, to weigh the cauliflower

This man is selling some spiced fresh peas. Stands there from morning to evening, trying to make a living out of that. Life aint easy !

1 eunuch and a friend by the post box.

Lovely fragrant garlic , different quality different prices.

Whole wheat for sale.

followed by all kinds of rice,

and whole corriander seeds and 3 kinds of dried chillis.

Hahaha this ones my fav. The typical Bombay traffic cop. Dark middle aged fellow with an enormous belly. And in the background the B.E.S.T. bus.

Transports thousands of Bombay-its all over the city everyday. Gotta love it

Clay drinking filter water pots – ” Matka ”

This lady is selling “Pokh “, comes from the neighbouring city Surat in Gujarat. It is fresh jowar (sorgum) seeds, harvested early and baked in clay kilns till they fall off the pods and then collected and eaten with spicy sev. Delicious…. i grew up on this stuff.

Hehehe this man with his enormous mustache is selling all deep fried savoury goodies, which every Indian is addicted to .

The famous auto rickshaw. Very very popular and most preferred mode of public transport. When u catch one of these be prepared to hear blaring loud music and, and feel every bump in the road. U’ll be addicted i ‘m warning you.

By the mosque …

Some more deep fried artery clogging savoury snacks.

Fresh potatoes, onions and garlic

Sugarcane juice ! Take one cane pass it through this machine, then fold it over , squeeze a piece of ginger and a lime in between and pass it through the machine again and fold it over and keep goin on till u’ve squeesed the life out of the damn cane, collect the juice in a pail below chuck in some ice and ta da fresh fresh sugarcane juice !

Some aunties who prefer comming in at sunset to shop to catch better deal with the vegetable vendor. In this case for some fresh pea pods. I wish u could hear them bargaining away … haha

this was in Santacruz market in the inside where they sell kitchen utensils. Small n dingy place but u can find every damn thing in there for a gr8 price.

Bangles anyone ?

This hawker here has got on offer some peanuts , spiced peanuts , some kind of chickpeas and flatted and rolled out chickpeas. Will add some chopped onion n tomatoes with a nice tangy spice.

Late night shopping for footwear at Linking road , Bandra

And last but not the least , the “Ghoda Gadi ” literally translated to horse car.

Hope you all have wonderful and joyous holidays , Wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ….

Reminiscing Hong Kong

All, Dessert, Non-Vegetarian, Places & Travel 15 Responses »

Aug 132007

Mango and Coconut Sago Dessert

U cannot be a true Honkie if u haven’t got a passion for Sago.These little treats are a very important part of the Cantonese cuisine and can find them in almost every street corner, every dessert house. Sago is adored in India too, but i was never really fond of the way they make it there. With an awfully sweet rose syrup at the bottom of the glass, then a layer of sago topped with sweet milk and a scoop of vanilla ice cream this drink is called “FALOODA” , and the syrup changes according to your preference from green to orange to yellow, name the colour you got it … eek … another turn off ! As kids we called sago “frogs eyes” and so another reason to stay away from it. But when i tried the Honk Kong version i instantly fell in love with it. Like all their desserts this one is very low in sugar, as the cantonese have a very mild palate and cannot take strong flavours unlike their Chinese counterparts. I had some friends over for dinner last night and the menu of course was cantonese. And this is my take on the Honkie Sago, to seal the perfect evening. Personally i love the one with lychee but this time i opted for mango and coconut milk.

Ingredients

3/4 th cup green coloured sago
1 cup water
100 gms sugar
2 pods cardamom (optional)
60 ml coconut cream
1 tsp gelatin
1 tsp pure vanilla bean extract
pinch of salt
1 large mango diced
1 large mango pureed
toasted coconut flakes

Start with bringing boiling together the sugar, cardamom & 100 gms of water.When the sugar dissolves turn off the heat and add to it the coconut cream and stir well. In another bowl dissolve the gelatin in a tbsp of hot water and add it to the coconut cream mixture and set aside.
For the sago , take a large pot of water and bring it to a boil. Add the sago to it and boil it for 15 mins or until soft and transparent. Strain and rinse in cold water and add it to the coconut cream mixture. Add the chopped mango cubes as well and mix it. Take 6 glasses and equally divide the sago mixture between them. Cover with cling film and let it set in the fridge for a few hrs or till set. Meanwhile toast some coconut flakes on a small frying pan and keep it ready for the garnish.
Once the sago is set pour some mango puree on top and place some of the toasted coconut flakes in the center. This is best served chilled.

A F R I C A

All, Places & Travel 13 Responses »

Jul 202007

Hey everyone how are ya ! I’ve been away for long and am so happy to be back. All you lovely people left me such wonderful messages while i was away.Thank you so much! Well I’m back now and all ready to start blogging again. I left HK for India – was there for about 10 days , dunno how my time flew away there and have been here in Ghana since the last 6 weeks. Just managed to get the net connection at home today so well there’s my excuse for not being around for so long … What have i been up to all this while here in Ghana , actually nuthing much, just soaking up the sun, pigging out on Ghanaian food and chillin out. Oh ya and working occasionally ! I haven’t really taken any interesting food shots lately but what i did do as soon as i got connected is, i clicked a few snaps around my house to share with you all the wonderful things growing here.

As soon as i got here i planted some sweet basil and some mint, ‘ cuz i know for sure that these two grow really well and really fast here. And u always need these herbs around in the kitchen.

MINT

BASIL FLOWERS

Here’s a lime tree … nothing like having your own produce, when ever u need some just go outside and pluck them !!!

LIME TREE

And a custard apple tree, oh how i love these fruits. They re so creamy n sweet and full of flavour. And its in this time of the year that the trees bear this fruit.I always thought there were grown only in India but when i arrived in Ghana 4 yrs ago i found them here too and was ecstatic. So well now i have them growing in my very own garden – 2 trees !

CUSTARD APPLE

This one was a pure gift from mother nature to me. I locked up my place n left the last time and when i got back i found this in my garden.I didn’t even plant a seed ! its happened by pure cross pollination.Thats how fertile Africa is !

WATERMELON

And last but not the least I’ve planted some Ghanaian chillis as well. Better know at papito peppe .Only thing is that they’re still young and haven’t started bearing the fruit yet. So i guess i’ll have to wait.One of the many reasons why i love being here is that there is so much place around , i get to fulfill my desires of have my own little organic garden and plant things and look after them.Walk out with scissors in my hand while I’m cooking to cut off something growing in my own garden. I’m trying to get my hands on some seeds of vegetables that grow in this climatic condition.I even attempted to plant a pomegranate tree but my cutting died as it was not a proper one, i just got it from someone else’s tree.But I’m not giving up, will definately try again.So with this i end my post. Will be back soon . CHEERS !

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