I’ve moved half way across the globe, from a sleepy rural village in the west of England to the buzzing city of Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand in order to eat better. I haven’t been disappointed.

I remember the food writer and TV celebrity chef Jamie Oliver saying that he dreams about herbs. Surprisingly it is the only sensible and normal sounding thing I have ever heard him say. It’s not unusual for me to spend days or weeks thinking, and dreaming about particular recipes or food, although I haven’t yet dreamed about herbs…I’m sure though it’s only a matter of time.

The foods available in Northern Thailand must rank amongst the most interesting and amazing in the world. There are influences from everywhere in Asia including China and India and the fragrant dishes of Malaysia, Indonesia, Lao, Vietnam and Southern Thailand (the old Siam). It’s a giddy mixture and a life’s work to get to know and understand them all…but I’m prepared to give it a go.

One of the biggest differences between shopping in the UK compared with Chiang Mai is the strong market culture. There are excellent fresh markets throughout this whole region that sell the freshest and bestest food anywhere on the planet. Huge piles of mangoes, cabbages, chilies, coriander, strawberries, jack fruit, limes, bananas (five different kinds), lemon grass and every other fruit or vegetable you can think of, fill the buzzing markets. There are times down at my local market when you literally can’t get in…it’s absolutely packed with hungry shoppers buying their dinner on their way home (Tescos eat your heart out).  

The part of the market that I go to first is the rice section. Back in the UK rice is just something you buy and cook and don’t think a great deal about. Bang it in the microwave and it’s done in 2 minutes. In Chiang Mai rice is a revered commodity. There are endless types of rice available for sale, either piled high in big sacks, or already cooked in big steaming vats. My favorite and probably the most popular in this part of Chiang Mai is locally grown sticky rice. I had sticky rice once in London in a Thai restaurant and quickly wished I hadn’t. It was a bit like eating glue. The sticky rice here is completely different; it’s warm and soft…more like fluffy mashed potato than rice. It’s the kind of food that will always be eaten because, like mashed potatoes, it is so damn good.

Once I have my warm sticky rice I start to look for something to go with it.  There are different ways I can go from here. Either I could try some Thai soups or curries and dip the rice straight into it, or invest in a tiny pot of spicy dry chili sauce called “Nam Prik Ta Dem” which is popular all over Thailand made out of dark red dried chilis and salted fish. Some people do eat the rice and the dry sauce as a meal in itself…it’s the cheapest complete meal available at most markets that will set you back just 8 Baht (or one third of a Mars Bar using the International Confectionary Conversion table).

If though, I have a few baht left over, which I usually do, (unless I’m in the mood for two thirds of a Mars Bar) I usually think about getting something from the grilled section. Chiang Mai sausages are excellent and famous throughout Thailand, and the rest of the world if I had my way. There are also grilled fish which range from the excellent and locally farmed Catfish to the expensive Snake Head Fish with soft flaky flesh. There is also roast chicken, or honey marinated pork satay, or deep fried vegetable tempura,  or mini kebabs of roast garlic and red shallots or fresh water crab pate, or whole grilled squid with sharp and sour fresh lime sauce, or fried quails eggs, or crispy duck or any one of the most delicious and unusual foods in the world.

Today, when it’s market time I’m heading for the fresh fish and seafood section at the back of the market and I’m going to buy myself a big bag full of giant Tiger Prawns and perhaps some Soft Shell Crabs. I’ll then pop round to the fresh herb section and pick out some big bunches of Coriander, Lemon Grass, Basil and Spring Onions. I can’t wait to get cooking with all these fresh flavors.

If Jamie Oliver shopped down at my local market he’d find it difficult to work out the difference between when he was dreaming about herbs and wide awake!

Enjoy your food.

Hang on to your hats, one way round no bumping…here we go. This is a whistle stop food tour for the serious food lover around the magical jungle city of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Not for the faint hearted.    

Our day starts early with fresh brewed local coffee at my good friend Khun Sonthaya’s Coffee House. Now this might not sound too impressive, but good coffee is not that easy to find in a city strangely obsessed with instant Nescafe and condensed milk. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big “condensed milk with everything” fan but first thing in the morning it doesn’t really cut the mustard, does it. Not for the likes of you or I anyway.

Khun Sonthaya only buys top class local coffee beans from a small company called HillKoff who grow their coffee on the humid mountain sides just outside of Chiang Mai. You can, as a special treat, ask Khun Sonthaya for the special Civet Poo Coffee that is now being locally produced by a small organic organisation up in the mountains. Let me explain.

At night wild Civets (a notoriously shy and illusive cat like mammal) emerge from their day time hidy holes to creep through the jungle feeding on whatever they can find…notably the freshest and ripest coffee beans which they are most partial to (apparently). As the coffee bean passes through their gut, acids remove the outer layer of the bean which gives the coffee a strong but smooth taste (I did say not for the faint hearted). In the morning a small team of poo hunters comb the mountain side for Civet poo in order to process it into tiny amounts of rare tasting coffee. The price as you can imagine is horrendous. In America it sells for between $35 and $50 dollars per cup.

After coffee, Khun Sonthaya will join us for the rest of our food tour. We’re all off to Ching Choo Chai breakfast restaurant on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Don’t try to find it by yourself…you won’t. It’s out of town and in an odd location off the ring road. It’s a real “locals only” place frequented by everyone from traffic cops to bank managers. There’s no menu, no hanging about and no disappointment; it serves the best breakfast you will find anywhere in the world (and God knows I’ve looked hard). You have a choice of 3 things; pork and rice, pork ball soup and rice porridge with (you guessed it) pork. I’m going to treat you to pork and rice (Cow Ca Moo). The pork is braised for hours and is so tender it does actually feel like it melts in your mouth. The rice is local jasmine rice that is served with the cooking juices of the pork. To off set the smoothness of the pork it is served with a spoonful of home made pickled cabbage and wonderfully hot spicy red chilli sauce.

Apart from serving the best breakfast in the world Ching Choo Chai’s prices are fairly competitive. To eat breakfast here with me and Sonthaya it will set you back less than the price of a Mars Bar in the 7 Eleven. So, breakfasts on me. I am the last of the big spenders!

Okay, ready for lunch? We’ll warm up by stopping off at the side of the road to buy a massive bunch of fresh Lychees. We’ll munch our way through as we speed off in my old diesel truck to a lunch restaurant called “that Northern Thai chicken place next to the moat”. Every lunch time they roast hundreds of chickens on big outdoor grills made from old oil drums. We’ll order a couple of plump golden good’uns and some hot and sweet red chilli dipping sauce. As a special treat…just because you’re with us today I’ll treat you to what is literally translated as a “Pork Shower”. Great name isn’t it. It is a type of ground pork salad mined with spicy chillies and freshened with chopped coriander and mint. It’s a great accompaniment to anything. We’ll wash all of this down with iced lemon tea and some of their home made coconut ice cream.

Now then, lets have a walk along the tree lined moat to work up a proper appetite…the leafyness and coolness of which always, and rather romantically, reminds me of  Paris (sorry but it really does). To take our minds of Paris I’ll treat you to some mango and sticky rice as we walk along.

Finally, as the day is drawing to an end and the sun is slipping behind the ever present Suthep Mountain we’ll set off, back out of town to my favourite fish and sea food restaurant locally known as “That fish and sea food restaurant out of town”. It’s a big operation and incredibly popular with Thai families. It starts to fill up from 5pm onwards and is staffed by an incredibly efficient army of waiting staff. We’ll get a table over the big central pond near the fountain so the afternoon air is cool and fresh. Our smiling waitress won’t leave until we have ordered everything we want, so nobody gets left behind. We’ll let Khun Sonthaya order as it’ll be quicker. I’ll put in a request for both of us, what about; a whole Pomfret fish steamed with ginger, shallots and lime, stir fried spinney crab, a few oyster omelettes (just because they are so good), some rice and a spicy papaya salad, all washed down with a big iced jug of beer.

We’ll sit out late under the stars in the moonlit shadow of the mountains listening to the distant and strange whirring noise of the Nightjars watching the owls swoop down from the forests and the bats flitting about the street lights. We’ll relax and talk about food, maybe order a couple of Thai whiskies and think about where we should eat tomorrow. Or shall we just do it all the same again.?

You may think the idea of having 5 different types of bananas to choose from is entirely normal. But, I can assure you that if you had grown up on the outskirts of London in the 1970s were it was unusual to buy fruit at all (unless someone was ill) you would also share my amazement. 

When we were kids a sign of extravagance was to have a bowl of fruit on the sideboard. At Christmas it was joined by a small bowl of walnuts. There were only ever 3 kinds of fruit in the bowl, apples, oranges and bananas. The apples were soft, the oranges bitter but the bananas were at least a bland non offensive alternative. They usually disappeared first, then the apples and the oranges were sometimes left untouched and alarmingly none the worse for several years.

How can it be that you can get to 40 something years old and not realize there are varieties of banana. You would think that someone might tell you along the way, in the same way that you get to realize that the moon is not really made from cheese or the school nurse tells every boy their eyesight is so good they could be a fighter pilot (I was eighteen when an optician nearly killed himself laughing).

When I moved to Chiang Mai I basically thought that bananas were bananas. I had some vague idea that I had seen tiny, miniature bananas in Harrods or somewhere posh like that, which cost about a million pounds, but just assumed they were some weird affectation of the rich and famous (“Jeeves….make my bananas smaller!”). It is therefore with childlike delight that I can walk down the road any time and peruse several varieties of banana in my local market.

At the moment the market looks like a banana festival on Planet Banana. There are tables full of bananas of every shape, size and hue of yellow. I love the tiny finger sized ones that come in enormous bunches of up to 20 fruit. What I particularly like is the fact that you get so much for only 20 Thai Baht and when you eat them you feel like a giant. The flesh of these tiny fun sized bananas is a pleasing dark yellow. As different to the white anemic tasteless things we grew up eating as you could possibly get.

The fact that they are so wonderfully small and good to eat really does get me. Imagine being able to eat little water melons or growing tiny little juicy apples on little fairy trees. Moving to Thailand must be as close as you can get to moving to a different universe.

Although the tiny bananas are a knock out they do not have as good a taste as the big traditional looking fellows. My Thai friend told me that the literal translation for this type of banana is “good smell” which is certainly well placed. When you peel them they are beautifully fragrant which makes them irresistible. Although the flesh is whiter than the small ones they are creamier in taste and not as grainy and seem to command much higher prices.

In between these 2 extremes there are what I call “everyday bananas”. I get the feeling that people don’t really like them, that they are a bit common, which suits me fine. They are certainly the cheapest, I can get a big bunch for just 10 Baht or even 5 Baht if they won’t keep too long. They tend to be fairly straight and modest in size. The last bunch that I bought had hard black seeds inside like lead shot. It was the first ever time I’ve eaten a banana that has got pips. Will the wonders of Thailand never cease?

I have a strange affliction whereby I will almost certainly cycle down to the market this evening completely certain that I don’t need to buy any more bananas only to return with another huge bunch feeling strangely proud. My children are beginning to develop a pale yellow tinge although luckily for me the novelty of banana sandwiches has yet to wear thin. Perhaps I’ll buy just one more bunch.

Explosive, colorful and gaudy: Korean gastronomy is a mishmash of intoxicating flavors and heritage. On a recent trip to Seoul, my tastebuds were erotically seduced by the city’s vivacious culinary scene. From steamy kimchi stew to wriggly seafood to colorful street food, Korean fare  is not just a feast for the eyes but also a feast for the soul. To begin your culinary education in Korean gastronomy, here are five typical foods found all over South Korea.

1. Tteokbokki

As South Korea’s ultimate comfort food, tteokbokki is so adored by the locals that you can find it in every street food stall and every dark alley. These chewy rice cakes are drenched in a lava of ruddy, sweet piquant sauce and punctuated by a host of spices. Tteokbokki traces its roots to the royal imperial kitchen, although these days it’s become more of a on-the-go fast food.

2. Bibimbap

If Seoul were to be a dish, it would be bibimbap. This savoury dish features an aromatic mound of rice laced with fresh, seasonal vegetables, topped with a fried egg and accentuated with thick chilli pepper paste. Casually known as one of Korea’s national dishes, the bibimbap is also ubiquitous in South Korea. For the best bibimbap in Seoul, head to the international restaurant chain, Bon juk, with new branches opened in Singapore and Malaysia.

3. Kimchi

Easily the most famous Korean dish in the world, kimchi has won a loyal following among both locals and foreigners. Kimchi is the creation of tradtion and heritage, and till this day, it is still very much part of the country’s gastronomy. The timeless dish is made by preserving cabbage in a host of condiments and spices for years. The amount of preservation time determines the texture and flavor of the kimchi.

4. Samgyetang

With the Samgyetang trend sweeping across the whole of Asia, it’s gained its share of fame across the glbe these days. The Korean chicken ginseng soup, rich in nutrition, is also outrageously tasty packed with a plethora of flavors and aroma. For a taste of the real stuff, Seoul’s Baeknyeon Tojong Samgyetang is a humble specialty restaurant that not only serves up the best chicken soup but also a rich kimchi stew that packs a punch.

5.  Korean BBQ

The Korean BBQ is a quintessential culinary experience: grilling your own meat and pairing that with a myriad of side dishes. Some of the popular meats to try on a barbeque are the modum gui (grilled beef) and tong galbisal (ribs) and they are best paired with the naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles).

As regular readers of these articles know, I like to spend as much time as possible at Northern Thai food markets. They are unquestionably the best in the world, or so I reckon. The range and quality of foods on offer is unsurpassed. Mountains of golden mangoes, water melons, dainty pots of fresh water crab pate, grilled catfish and huge bundles of bright green asparagus all jostle for space amongst a never ending sea of shoppers and hawkers.  

It’s tempting to tell you all the wonders of my local market but I fear that in my excitement I would ramble on for several hours if not days and forget why I started writing this in the first place, which is……setting the record straight on the mighty Thai Avocado.

Over the last 50 years agriculture in Thailand has undergone a huge revolution, largely, as far as I can work out, as a direct result from the incredible energy and vision of the King. Impoverished farming communities have been re-invigorated by impressive “Royal Projects” that grow and produce a wide range of unusual and organic foods; the Water Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese is particularly good, so too is the Smoked Rainbow Trout, the continental looking jars of Apricots In Brine, organic strawberry jam and the range of fresh fruit concentrates, my favourite being the earthy and salty Apricot (I’ve started to ramble). But one fruit, (or is it a vegetable) stands out in the markets, at the moment, as head and shoulders above the rest, and that is the mighty Thai Avocado.

I use the word “mighty” not as an exaggerated way to talk up this recent South American addition to the ever expanding Thai fruit and veg extravaganza, but as a way to describe accurately its massive size. I have never seen avocados this big in my life; they are the size of footballs. Had it not been for the fact that the word “avocado” is almost the same in Thai I really would have struggled to work out what it was (“Khun Alex want Awacaado”? Oh yes, Khun Alex certainly does).

The thing about them is not the size, although they really are whoppers, but the taste. Admittedly the super size ones have a more watery taste but the slightly smaller ones are unbelievably good with a super rich nutty flavour and a beautiful creamy texture.

At the moment I’m suffering from a mild case what might be called Avocado Madness. It’s a condition characterised by cycling to the market at the end of every day mumbling quietly to yourself “I wont buy any more avocados, I don’t need any more avocados…” and returning home in an elevated mood with a basket full of bright green “awacaados”. As all members of AA (Avocados Anonymous) know, it really is difficult to stop. One’s too many and a thousand is never enough. They’re so good and so cheap. I’ve made endless avocado dips which always seem quite special and remind me of Christmas, creamy coconut milk avocado curries and a wonderful pasta dish with avocados, cherry tomatoes, olive oil and basil. I’m nearing that stage where I think it’s perfectly normal to start most sentences with, “another great thing about Thai avocados is…..” and entertain the delusion that people really are interested. I think that soon I might have to detox on aubergines.

Unfortunately, and quite bizarrely, I have recently read that local home grown Thai avocados are of “inferior” quality to the imported Australian ones. As you can imagine I’m somewhat affected by this. I can only think there is some suspicious, underhand antipodeans food writing conspiracy going on. The local Thai ones are every bit as good if not vastly superior in quality and certainly in size and also of course in price than what I shall call from now on, the “New World Conspiracy Avocados”.  New world, old tricks.

So if you get a chance, wherever you are, trundle down to your local market and ask around for Thai avocados, they really are worth looking out for, especially if you’re reading this in Australia!

No, not avocados...strawberries!

Miramar may seem like a sleepy suburb in Wellington but it is the home of some most intriguing cafes in the city.

Polo Cafe

Polo Cafe Miramar is named after its historic polo grounds.  It will be a pity to just talk about the food in the cafe without a mention on a very important institution in the area – Weta. So before or after a meal at Polo please make sure to go down a few streets to Weta Cave.

And meet him…

Indeed, Weta as New Zealand’s premier visual effects company has an impressive portfolio that includes Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, King Kong, Avatar and the list goes on.  Weta Cave (the museum) showcases what went behind the scenes of some of the greatest movies ever made.  Both Weta Cave and Polo are must-goes when you are in Wellington.  Now, back to the food at Polo.

Free Range Chicken and Broccoli Fettuccine, NZ$16

This chicken and broccoli fettuccine is a refreshing take on pasta.  Extremely light yet tasty mainly due to some lemon juice used.  The generous amount of broccoli made this a total guilt-free carbo treat for anyone who is craving for a warm big plate of pasta.

Wild Hare Pie with Toasted Walnut and Orange Salad with Dark Cherry Relish, NZ$16

I enjoyed the strong yet not that heavy taste of the hare meat.  To me, the rabbit meat had a texture that was much more tender than beef without compromising on the heartiness of red meat.  What I did not understand was the liberal usage of terms such as free range and wild.  The cynical streak in me believed that it takes more than a layman’s discerning tastebuds to validate such claims.

Sri Lanka Pork Curry with Rice, Flat Bread and Cucumber Salsa, NZ$18

At Maranui

Sri Lanka pork curry tasted very nice and totally unlike Singaporean curry.  I cannot tell what spices they used but it’s just very tasty.  Cafe Polo is famous for their cakes and pastries (found in the glass cabinet beside the cashier) but I have to give them a miss as the servings were huge.  Well, if you have time to hang around the cafe a little longer to digest then please try the cakes for me! Who knows you may end up chatting with some creative and talented dude working for Weta and gain more than just a yummy dessert!

A little more than a stone throw away, Maranui is a cafe housed in the Maranui Surf Club.  People in Welly love its ambience, food and friendly staff.  Many found the place totally close to their hearts.  When Maranui was burnt down in August 2009, much support was given to the restoration process of this place.  After 10 months of restoration, Maranui finally opened its grounds on 1st June 2010.  I was trying to capture how busy the cafe was but failed miserably.  Believe me, the place was much more crowded than what my camera could portray.  Business was so brisk that we were told to wait for 45mins. Yup, people in Welly do miss their beloved Maranui.

Quinoa Salad

Quinoa salad is ordered off the counter and I hope I will be lucky enough to try the healthy salad again!  Quinoa, chickpeas, shallots, coriander with lemon.  It’s tangy enough for me to like.

Quesadilla (Capsicum, Cashew Pesto, Jalapeno and Rocket), NZ$10

We ordered both vegetarian and non-vegetarian versions of their quesadilla.  The vegetarian one is ironically more flavourful and yummy.  The sharp taste of capsicum and jalapeno gave much kick to this Mexican favourite! Now, if all vegetarian stuff taste so divine, there will be many more healthy people on this earth.  My mozarella and choritzo quesadilla was good but paled in comparsion to its capsicum counterpart.  Despite the cheese and sausages that went into it, the quesadilla was surprisingly light in taste.

Quesadilla (Mozzarella, Choritzo, Tomato and Coriander), NZ$10 with Flat White in the background

I will be doing Maranui a huge disservice if I do not mention their coffees. Rooted in Australia and New Zealand, flat white is not as ubiquitous in the world as latte.  People in New Zealand are proud of their coffee and flat white is their choice drink. Flat white has lesser milk, thinner foam and is served hotter than latte.  Word is that Starbucks has already launched flat white in some states in UK, hopefully it will reach other parts of the world soon!

Chocolate Fish Cafe

Finally, a cafe that sells delicacy on a humble piece of bread! Once a hidden find in Sorching Bay, Chocolate Fish quickly rose to an iconic position in Wellington when patronised by Peter Jackson as well as the Lord of the Ring’s cast and crew.  Business soared and the landlord took an opportunity to jack up the rent to $2000 per week.  The cafe subsequently moved to the current location at Shelly Bay sans kitchen.  I guess constraint breeds creativity, the cafe now operate on a bbq pit and aptly dishes out yummy kiwi cuisine everyday.

Scallops on bread, NZ$16

We had scallops on bread, crayfish on bread and the chocolate cake.  The generous serving of fresh seafood, garlic butter and nicely grilled bread added up to a rich and satisfying meal.  Crayfish on bread was served with a thick and crispy-in-parts omelette.  It was oily, decadent and left me craving for more. The chocolate cake with a huge dollop of cream was light in texture but rich in taste.  Unfortunately, I did not manage to try everything on the menus of all 3 cafes.  Oh well, this will be a good reason for me to return to Wellington again!

It was a bright and early morning in Beijing. Well, not early enough for the flag-raising at the birth place of the People’s Republic of China but we still manage to catch the many mobile breakfast stalls around the area.

We wondered around to realise that these ubiquitous stalls simply sell prata-look-alike pancakes and decided to grab them.  For just 5RMB per pancake, this sure made hearty breakfast for our empty stomaches.  Tasted like piping hot prata with egg (just an aside: piping hot prata has become unusually rare in Singapore, to think that I actually need to go to Beijing for that, sigh) but they are served with some sweet sauce and lettuce. Great stuff! Be sure to catch one of these stalls at almost every exit of the subway stations while you are in Beijing.

I am so so glad that we didn’t think about skipping breakfast for Tiananmen Square 天安门 is huge and crowded.  This is afterall the symbolic centre of the Chinese universe. A must-visit will be the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall 毛主席记念堂. Admission is free but be prepared to quene for hours to get in as Chinese from all over China flock in to pay their respect to the physical presence of Mao. I needed loads of energy from breakfast to get through the crowd, walked through the square before we reached the Forbidden City 紫禁城 aka 故宫博物院 (Admission: 60RMB from Apr to Oct, 40RMB for other months).

To say that the Forbidden City is huge is a serious understatement. To walk through the Forbidden City is just like walking through many Tiananmens.  It was really crowded inside and the photo below just happened to capture a rare corner without any human being.

By the time we reached the Imperial Garden (the grand finale after endless of gates and halls we had to get through in the Forbidden City) and out. It was way beyond lunchtime. We hopped into Fu Yue Lou 福越楼 at Qian Men Dong Da Jie for a duck, Peking Duck.  This unknown eatery is chosen instead of Quan Ju De for we did not like the over-rated chain.

At  Fu Yue Lou, we got better attention, crispier skin and more tender duck than the well-known chain.  For the duck bones, we chose the salt and pepper style of cooking (extra 8RMB).  The fried duck bones tasted totally ahem KFC.  Very yum and appetising.  The entire duck just cost us 98RMB while the 2 big Peking Duck players – Quan Ju De charges 114RMB and Da Dong charges 99RMB for HALF a duck.

I could not miss out an order of the shui zhu yu 水煮鱼 right in Beijing. Look at the amount of chilli that came along.  Beijing’s shui zhu yu is definitely not for the faint-heart.  The sichuan dish was full of kick, the fish slices were ultra fresh and full of bones. Ouch! Careful! Next slice!

Portions were huge for lunch and so we went to another huge place to walk. The Temple of Heaven park 天坛公园 was the place of worship for the emperor (son of heaven). These days people go there to admire the grandeur of Ming Dynasty’s architecture .  It is ANOTHER huge area and the main sights are the Round Alter, Imperial Vault of Heaven, Echo Wall and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.  While admission to the park is 15RMB but you need to fork out another 20RMB for enter the 4 main sights

By the time we are done with the Temple of Heaven it was near evening.  As a foodie who watches too much food tv for any good, I simply need to go Dong Hua Men nightmarket 东华门夜市 which happens to be round the corner of Beijing’s shopping mecca, Wang Fu Jing 王府井.  Lest you are distracted (actually I was indeed distracted) by all the Cartier, IWC and Uniqlo in the shopping street and missed the street leading to Dong Hua Men nightmarket, you can try to find the literal 井of the 王府 (well of the house of Wang) which the street is named after.

Yup, as seen from the above photo, the well is all dried and covered up by now, simply turn into the street after the well is located and Dong Hua Men Nightmarket is right in front of your eyes.  The fear-factor food street selling all sorts of scary food – scorpions, cicadas, starfish and silkworms (15RMB each).

I seriously do not know how many people eat the scary food but I was very purposeful.  I was there for my fried-ice-cream and the moment I spotted it, I had it!

Freshly fried in recycled oil but who cares.  The fried ice-cream (15RMB) was coated with a generous amount of icing sugar served on an equally delectable french toast.  Totally chased the simmering heat of Beijing’s tail end summer away.

While fried ice-cream was a yummy treat, the fried fresh milk (15RMB) paled in comparison.  Tasted just like some plain and gluely chinese cake in thick batter.

Another common street snack will be beef tripe (20RMB).  The ridged tripe 爆肚 was extremely pungent so you will either love or hate it and I belong to the latter.

Well, I decided to get some Tianjin’s buns just because of its name (kuo bu li 狗不理 translates loosely to dog ignores).  It was said that the original bun from Tianjin was Empress Dowager Cixi’s fave.  Ok it’s just meat buns (15RMB for 5).  If you are really interested there is a branch from the restaurant (suitably named 狗不理) the Empress used to patronise just off Jian Men Da Jie.

After exploring the food street, I was dead beat but still insisted on going to the gorgeous St Joseph’s church around the corner of Wang Fu Jin, went to Wang Fu Jin bookstore to get violin concertos scores for my brother (ultra cheap ok!) and explored the extremely similar but a lot more touristy Wang Fu Jing snack street before turning in for the night.

Experience a Japanese take on the quintessential pairing of a piece of great steak with a good bottle of wine. Here at Old Vine, the chef serves up a cuisine style he coined “fusion teppanyaki”, which simply translates into the fact that there are no tacky spectacles or flair-filled displays around the hot plate – just elegantly prepared food from the highest caliber of ingredients.

The specialty of the house is the Ohki beef, from the Yonezawa prefecture in Japan renown for their magnificently reared cattle. The combination of cold weather and their all-grain diet yields a marbled flesh equally tender but less oily than beef from Kobe and Matsuzaka. “In Kobe the cattle drink beer and get massages, like a lazy and unhealthy man,” says Senior Partner Jiro Kinoshita. “In Yonezawa, they eat a healthy diet, but because of the cold weather, they develop beautiful layers of fat.”

Like all great meat dishes, the ones at Old Vine scream for a glass of wine. And there are plenty to choose from. The entrance is lined with bottles from various estates, all personally autographed by the winemakers themselves. As the night progresses, feel free to migrate into the bar area to continue your wine tasting with the Enomatic Wine Machines, which allow you to select tasting, half-glass, or full-glass portions from an assortment of varietals.

Back at the dining table, attentive gourmands will enjoy the tasteful additions. Dip your rustic bread into two flavors of olive oils – robust or fruity. Or opt for the A.O.C. designated Lescure salted butter. And take a sip of the Vichy Catalan sparkling water, which carries a slight saltiness to cleanse the palate and is the brand of choice by Ferran Adria for El Bulli in Spain.

Only after the entire dining experience do you realize how well the 75-year old vine that adorns the doorway of the restaurant represents the philosophy here. Oenophiles have long since heralded that the grapes from old vines produce wines of a deeper complexity, and Old Vine restaurant carries within its many layers the same je ne sais quoi.

The soothing atmosphere and gracious staff quickly convert any first comer into a regular friend, who knows that like a good bottle of wine, Old Vine will get even better with age (or in this case, multiple visits).

Old Vine

1106 Bldg. 1/F, 1-10-6 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0031 Japan

Tel: +81-03-5771-2439

* A brief disclaimer on Hong Kong to Europe travel

A short trip from Hong Kong to Rome may seem aggressive to less-zealous travelers. You are, after all, wasting nearly 24-hours in air travel alone. The trick is to optimize your flight times. Cathay has a daily flight to Rome from Hong Kong that leaves close to 1 am and has you landing in Fiumicino around 7 am. Which means you can leave Hong Kong on a Friday night and be sipping espresso in your hotel’s breakfast nook by 9 am Saturday morning. After a leisurely weekend plus an extra day (or two) of nibbling, sipping and loitering, you hop on Cathay’s early afternoon flight back to Hong Kong, and will be arriving just past sun up and in time for a full work day.

Roman Holiday: Eat Your Heart Out

My boyfriend and I are, as it turns out, creatures of habit. If we spend one Christmas in Niseko, Japan it’s likely we’ll spend the next three. We make a beeline to GHM’s plushy Legian boutique hotel the moment we arrive in Denpasar, generally in September, just like we have for last five years. And so this spring, the same as last, we did not think twice about jetting to Rome for a short holiday.

I’d like to say that we went to Rome to behold the magnificence of her architecture, to gaze in awed wonderment at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, to whisper sweet nothings to each other on the Spanish Steps at sunset, but none of this was on the agenda. There was one purpose and one purpose only on our second pilgrimage to Rome, and that was to deeply and indulgently connect with the city’s food and wine. The type of cultural experience we were after involves a glass of smooth and spicy Barbaresco in one hand and a slice of slightly charred, wafer-thin crusted pizza in the other, sitting in a stream of perfect spring sunshine in the Piazza Navona, eyes shielded by chic Italian Persols.

Call us Plebs, call us gluttons, although we’d prefer “shameless foodies,” we came for the thousand year old vines and cuisine, Rome’s iconic purple artichokes, her deep-fried stuffed zucchini flowers, prosciutto and parmesan that brings a tear to your eye, etc. etc. You get where I’m going here. We came to behold, touch, taste, revel and deeply inhale; to queue for pizza with the locals, at revered institutions like Pizzeria Remo (Piazza Santa Maria Liberatrice 44, +3906-5746270) and Dar Poeta (Vicole del Bologna 45, +39065880516); to hunt down the city’s “best” trattorias, if there is such a thing; and to while away evenings at cozy wine bars—like the 1000-bottle strong Enoteca Ferrara—a vino lover’s oasis tucked away in the winding cobblestone lanes of the raucous Trastevere.

The New York Times boldly claimed in 2009 that if a title for best trattoria must be bequeathed then it should go to Felice a Testaccio (Via Mastro Giorgio 29, +3906-5746800), a no doubt strong contender. The food is ridiculously good. The roast lamb falls, neigh, melts, off the bone. The cacio al pepe—a handmade square-shaped spaghetti tossed with perverse amounts of powder light and sharp pecorino, a bold coating of fresh ground pepper and emulsified with a bit of pasta water and olive oil until creamy and provocative to the taste—is reason enough to keel over upon completion, confident you have died fulfilled and impossibly satisfied. And that’s before you try their infamous tiramisu.

But food aside, there’s something missing here, and for me it’s the gray-haired and ebullient waiters in bow ties, who scoff at your poor pronunciations and have made an art, and career, of service. Call me old-fashioned but I really love these guys, and my favorites this year just happen to be at a fantastic Tuscan-style restaurant called Girarrosto Toscano (Via Campania 29, +3906-42013045). Everything wows—not least of which is the perfectly soft and sweet cantaloupe wrapped in strong Parma ham. But the simple Spaghetti Vongole that came heaped with delicate clams, loads of spicy thin-sliced garlic and buttery olive oil stole the show.

Places like Girarrosto Toscano make it hard to convince yourself to leave Rome and risk missing out on another go at food glory. But we decided to be adventurous this year and head to the hills of nearby Castelli Romani, easily accessible from the city by bus or car.  Castelli Romani is a collection of quaint towns and home to the hotel-sized summer residence of the pope, but more importantly a hotbed of local wine and porchetta, a deeply salted and slow spit-roasted pig that is deconstructed and put back together with layers of Rosemary, garlic and other herbs stuffed between meat, fat and skin.

In the picturesque town of Frascati we had the great fortune of stumbling upon the very relaxed Cantina Bucciarelli (Via Regina Margherita, 27, 06-94010871), which serves an outstanding porchetta, perfectly tempered by thick slices of crusty white bread and a carafe of their house red. Life admittedly does not get much better than sitting alfresco on a picnic bench in the Roman countryside, reveling in herby fatty pork and a pleasant wine buzz. In the midst of our deep bliss, the rich and spicy Rigatoni all’Amatriciana that followed felt almost sinful, but given that we had yet to tour the Vatican more in that delightful bacchanalian than guilty catholic way.

No foodie tour of Rome would be complete without a few turns around Testaccio’s daily fresh outdoor market and a stop at the world-renowned Volpetti gourmet food market. And so on our last morning in the city we loosed our belts and strolled down the hill from the San Anselmo boutique hotel in Aventino to Testaccio. What I love about Testaccio is that, unlike a lot of the city, it’s a real neighborhood, with few tourists, a handful of phenomenal restaurants, and a lot of working-class Romans, who, on that crisp and sunny Monday morning were doing what most of us do, grabbing espressos and hurrying to work.

We may have looked like tourists but it was nice not to feel like a tourist. We perused fresh produce and meats in the outdoor market, alongside mothers pushing strollers and little old ladies, bought some strawberries for breakfast and washed them down with our last square of thick-cut, slightly sweet and just sour enough mozzarella pizza. And then we headed to Volpetti, a gastronome’s cornucopia of cheeses and cured meats, fresh sausages, handmade pastas, olive oils, syrupy aged balsamic and jar-after-jar of handcrafted culinary wonderment.

They must have seen us coming from a mile away, oversized camera in hand, eyes like saucers. We had reached the promise land. Our rotund and smiling new friends behind the counter lavished us with samples, after which would follow enthusiastic nods, cries of “va bene!” the ring of a cash register, and then more samples. Hands were shook, pictures were taken and, flight departure pressing, we left the shop vacuum-packed, arms heavy with goods and bellies satisfied, dreaming of the Roman fare we would whip up in our kitchen, thousands of miles away in Hong Kong.

Thai food markets or “fresh” markets are the best in the world and right now is the best time to visit them. Here are the top 5 things to look out for in food markets in Thailand.

Fresh Water Crab Pate.

This has to be top of my list at the moment. I love it. It’s Thailand’s answer to caviar. It has a strong earthy taste, is an appealing warm golden colour, is beautifully presented in tiny crab shells and the person who finds a way to import it and distribute it in “the west” will be a millionaire. It should be on the menu at top restaurants in London, Paris and New York and I’m amazed that it isn’t, I’m sure it’s just a matter of time. Because it’s seasonal you can’t find it all year round which makes its arrival in the markets all the more exciting. I have been buying the beautiful little shells full of golden pate for the past week and eating it with a tiny silver spoon that my Grandmother used to stir her tea. I’m sure she would approve. A pack of 4 little crab shells full of delicious fresh golden pate will cost you about 15 Baht.

Steamed Clams.

I’ve cheated slightly because I want to mention two things at the same time; Steamed Green Lipped Mussels and Steamed Cockles. You can buy both in most markets all year round. The mussels are delicious steamed with Basil and Lemon Grass and come with a little bag of spicy sour sauce. The cockles are usually steamed on their own but a quick dip in the spicy sour source transforms them into a rare delicacy. Both are delicious, typically fragrant and extremely good indeed. These will set you back 20 Baht a bag.

Giant Lychee.

Fresh Lychee are available in the west at expensive food stores and cost a small fortune, down the road I can buy a bucket full for a handful of small change. But, they are nothing compared to the king of fruit, the Giant Lychee. Oh my goodness they are fantastic. It’s a bit like suddenly discovering that somebody has made chocolate even better. The Giant Lychees are just coming into the markets now. They are twice the price but that will drop over the next 2 weeks. I bought my first bundle with the bright green leaves still on the branches a few days ago and my 2 sons ate them without talking in 5 minutes flat (a very rare occurrence).

Deep Fried Whole Soft Shell Crab.

In every Thai food market up and down the country there will be a stall deep frying things in huge deep woks. The variety of what is fried is a small book in itself. If I only had 20 Baht on me, my money would go on a bag of deep fried small soft shell crabs fried in seconds with a thin crispy batter. They are delightfully crunchy and crabby, if you know what I mean.

Sapodilla

The Thai name for these are Lamut, or sometimes known as Naseberries (apparently) and have been around for a good few weeks now.  I only mention them as I have a slight obsession with an idea that I have yet to try out that I’ll tell you about in a minute. Firstly, just to say these delicious fruit are almost unknown in “the west”, probably because they bruise easily and have to be eaten at just the right moment. When they are ripe they have the most fantastic syrupy pear flavoured. I was recently working from a very expensive 5 star spa resort on Ko Samui that would serve a handful of these fruit as a complimentary snack on a little silver platter with eating instructions and nutritional content on a little accompanying card. What a great idea. I witnessed guests raving about them, they really were knocked out. I think some of them would re-book just for the complimentary Sapodilla moment.

My idea that I keep thinking about is the combination of Sapodillas and Thai whisky, I think they are made for each other. Split the fruit in half, de-seed and soak over night in a slightly sweetened syrup of Thai whisky. Serve with coconut ice cream. If you try it before I do let me know what it’s like.

If you are interested in private tailor made tours of Thai food markets do let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction.

Happy food shopping and eating.

Alex