Canlis

One of my favorite things to do with Tyler is go out for a good dinner, preferably somewhere with a tasting menu and paired wines, so we can sit back, relax, and let ourselves be surprised by the chef.

This year for our anniversary we decided to try Canlis. Perched on the edge of Queen Anne and the Aurora Bridge and overlooking Lake Union, it's an institution. All I really knew about it was that it was a family run place, fancy and a bit expensive.

Arriving is like entering a sanctum--Tyler thought the dining room looked a bit like it could be a Bond villain's lair, but in the best possible way. Greeted by an actual Canlis family member (one of the grandsons of the founder), we were shepherded to our table. One thing I liked immediately was that they had tables along the edges of the room oriented so that couples sit next to each other rather than across from each other.

We already knew we were leaning towards the tasting menu, where you get five courses that are pre-set by the chef. I have to admit, when I first saw the menu, I felt slightly underwhelmed--caprese salad? Proscuitto and melon? Classics, of course, and appropriate for the season, but I thought it sounded slightly pedestrian.



Fortunately, I was proven wrong in that initial assumption over the course of the evening!

First, an amuse bouche, or little bite to wake up our appetite--a small cup of tomato pepper gazpacho with a bite-sized "grilled cheese" with house-made mozzarella, basil and a tiny sliver of tomato.



The gazpacho was rich and smooth, with a great punch of pepper flavor without being overwhelming. Sometimes I think gazpacho can be a little water-y, but this was rich and flavorful. And the presentation, with tiny, perfect drops of oil dotting the surface of the soup. I was intrigued.

Next came the caprese salad, a beautiful array of various tomato types, more of the house-made mozzarella and more. Unfortunately, I didn't pay enough attention to the waiter to really hear everything that was on the plate. There was an avocado mousse, which also tasted a little smokey, an aspic-like gelatin on the plate with basil seeds, and some green, popping things, that tasted a little fish-y and a little mustard-y. Maybe some kind of caviar with wasabi?



We had decided to also do the paired wines with our meal, and they had two options for that: the pairings listed on the menu or, for more, the "sommelier's pairing, with different pairings that the sommelier would come out and describe. We decided to do one of each, and Tyler was gallant enough to offer me the sommelier option.

The wines were delicious, but the best part about doing both was to see how the pairings differed. For the caprese, I got a sparkling rose, with a nice toast-y flavor that I thought complemented the tomatoes and cheese while Tyler had a Walla Walla rose which was very darkly colored and dry, but fruitier.

Next was the proscuitto and melon, which also included some dried/fried prosciutto (as Tyler described, like the thinnest piece of bacon ever), fennel fronds, fresh fig and pickled fennel and figs. Tyler got a Vouvray, while I got a dry Riesling. At first I thought I got the better wine of the two--I tend to like drier wines anyway--but I ended up feeling that the Vouvray went perfectly with bites that had the pickled flavors whereas the Riesling brought out the earthier, herbaceous flavors of the fennel and prosciutto when paired with the fresh melon. Mmmm.



Now onto the meats, and maybe my favorite course--basically chicken and truffles. Chicken breast with truffle under the skin, a perfectly seared morsel of chicken thigh, some chicken truffle sausages and an amazing truffle sauce. Earthy, rich goodness. For this course, we both got Pinot Noirs--one was earthy like the dish, the other more acidic as a counterbalance. I can never get enough of the earthiness, so I co-opted Tyler's for my own to bask in that flavor profile.



Then lamb. A slender tenderloin with ras el hanout, a North African spice blend, a baba ghanouj-stuffed squash blossom (I'm always a sucker for a squash blossom), some greek yogurt, and small bites of zucchini and a sun-dried tomato. Tyler got a nice Bordeaux-blend pairing, while I had Tempranillo. Again, both tasty, though I loved the lightness of the Tempranillo against the richness of the lamb.



Just as we were getting full and up to our eyes in richness and red wine, it was time for the palate cleanser. In this case, homemade ginger beer with flowers and cherries. These cherries were amazing--skinless and soaked or injected in the ginger beer so they burst in your mouth. (I think the waiter described them as grown-up "gushers".) Just the thing to wake us up from the rich food stupor, and heaven for Tyler who loves ginger.



Then dessert, a pannacotta that was strawberry shortcake-inspired, with shortbread at the base, strawberry gelato and other sweet goodness. (Yes, it's not your imagination, my memory blurs a bit as the evening wore one.) And, being Canlis, they noted why we were celebrating. This came with a dessert wine from Washington grown from very old vines (maybe 1917?) and a sparkling wine. Again, they were paired well for each of us, with me loving the sweet on sweet while Tyler liked the lighter acidity to match his dessert.



To stretch the evening just a bit further, we sipped some decaf americanos, where Tyler got his choice of four sugars to add to his coffee: raw sugar, regular sugar, splenda and vanilla sugar.



Then the evening was done. Along with our check came two treats for each of us: a Fran's salted caramel and another bite of deliciousness--and I failed to photograph them before popping them into my mouth.



So--my overall impression? Wow. The food was interesting, suprising and well-executed. The service unwaveringly good. Great view. Nice dining room. Excellent wines. We didn't know this before we arrived, but they're known for their valet service, which was impressive. You drive up and get out. When you leave, your car is ready for you. No tickets. No waiting. No asking for your car. Tricky!

If I were to split hairs, there were two things that was a little disappointing. We had one sommelier bring out our wine for the first two courses, but then another sommelier came out for the other courses. Normally, that wouldn't be a big deal, but after the first course, I thought we should take advantage of having a knowledgable wine steward tableside, so we had a nice conversation about the pairings and he left saying, "I'll be interested to hear what you think about this one" but then we never saw him again. And later in the evening we're pretty sure the new sommelier started serving Tyler the sommelier pairing instead of me, which was probably just a small oversight, but felt a tidge sexist.

All that said, it was an amazing meal and an amazing experience. Pricey, but worth it. I would definitely add it to my top five dining experiences and hope to go back for another celebration.


I remember when these rings felt new and strange; now we feel naked without them. Looking forward to another picture like this when our hands are old and wrinkled!

House of Hungarian Wine

We've been out of wine country for a little while. While there were wines in Turkey, we didn't explore them in the ways that we had in other parts of the world. So we came ready to experience the wines of Hungary, but with little prior knowledge to go on.

But the Hungarians were ready to help us out. For about $40, Tyler and I visited the House of Hungarian Wines, an establishment with the mission to represent wines from all 22 wine regions in the country and create greater awareness of Hungary's long wine history. For the entry fee, you get a map of how to progress through the cellar, a small souvenir wine glass, a packet of crackers, and a chance to try any of the open wines available.


One of the aisles in the House of Wine

Each region had a poster with a brief description of the region and varietals grown there and a sampling of wine, sometimes just one but up to four or five bottles. Needless to say, we tried a lot of wine, and my notes get less helpful as our tastings went on (though I did start with good intent, tasting only a small amount and moving on). We had a range of whites, reds, a few roses, and some dessert wines, though unfortunatley no sparkling was out for tasting. Mostly I tried to have tastes of varietals I'd never heard of before--and there were plenty of those. Here are a few highlights and observations:

We had a few tastes of a white varietal called Furmint. At first I thought I was being influenced by the name, but a few other tastes made me keep my first opinion--furmint tasted a bit minty/menthol. With an initial earthy nose and minerally taste, it was unusual but good. I'm not sure what I'd pair it with, but I'd be curious to try more.

Probably my new favorite Hungarian varietal, Kekfrankos is a red grape maybe a little like some pinot noirs, a lighter red with cherry flavors, velvetty, a little earthy or minerally, generally easy to drink. Another varietal I'll keep an eye out for was Kadarka. We only had one, but it was good enough that I put one of my little asterisks by it to remember I liked it, with some scrambled notes about earthy nose, a little spice, well-balanced and velvety.

The Hungarian wineries also made some really delicious Cabernet Francs, a grape that can be a little much on its own in the states and is usually used in red blends. But we tried two slightly expensive ones (that might be part of it) that had the usual mineral/stone flavor but in a drinkable way.


Enjoying Hungarian wines

Hungary is especially famed for wines from the Tokaji region, and we sampled a few of those as well. Early on, we had a Tokaji Harslevelu 2004 that was almost like a sparkling, with some light effervescence tasting a little like strawberry but with some buttery notes as well. Towards the end, when we were in the final groupings, we had a 2004 Furmint Tokaj. Not minty like the other Furmints we had tried, it did have some mineral tastes, a little herbiness/straw flavors, but not too thick or sweet. We followed that with a dry Tokaji, which was more like a dry sherry. It had a sweet and smoky nose but a very savory taste. Finally, we got to try a 2000 Aszu, the most famous of the Tokajis. Aszus are a sweet dessert wine made from wines that have rotted with a noble rot (botrytis) before being harvested. It had a good honey type flavor, not too thick or cloying, having some good acidity from making it be too much.

Overall, we had a few good finds and a good time finding them. Hopefully we'll be able to find some Hungarian wines when we return home as we just can't squeeze one more thing into our bags at this point!

Food Around the World: Kenya

During our time in Kenya, our Masaai friend and guide, Hesaan, would sometimes come up with interesting questions out of the blue. Not all of them were politically correct ("why do all Asians look alike?") but it was always a bit of a feat to try and answer them diplomatically and in a way that would make sense. One day he asked us, "Why do Chinese people eat dogs?" In our attempt to answer that one, we talked about how people all over the world find different things delectable. For example, most Americans don't eat goat. They'll use goat milk and make goat cheese, but your average American would think that eating goat is about as strange as we might find eating a dog. To this, the inimitable Hesaan replied that he would come to America and eat all the goats we Americans were too stupid to appreciate.

Fortunately, Jody of Eddybles didn't shy away from the challenge when it came to recreating a Kenyan meal. From my observations and her own research, she created a menu of Kenyan treats, Mshikaki (yogurt-marinated goat), Irio (like mashed potatoes) and Ugali With Roasted Tomatoes and Cabbage. You can try to take some of those American goats from Hesaan and read about other Kenyan delicacies at her blog.

Bon appetite!

Food Around the World: South Africa

Perfect for a late summer dinner, Jody at Eddybles took inspiration from the multicultural cuisine of South Africa to create a delicious recipe for Curried Ostrich Burgers With Raita and Sweet Potato Relish. You too can have an osterich experience, even if it doesn't actually involve riding one like Tyler! You can also read my write-up about the foods we encountered during our three weeks in South Africa!

Bon appetite!

Adventures in Winelands

Our friend Joe is the director of the University District Foodbank, and last year we attended their annual auction. It's a great event, with lots of wonderful auction items (you can support it this year if you live in Seattle and have a free evening on October 5th). And though we were madly saving money, we ended up winning one of the wine-related items--a plethora of South African wines wine and wine-related accoutrements (openers, a wine chiller fridge) with another friend. Thus our first introduction to many South African wines. And after two months in super-light beer to no alcohol countries, we were ready to hit wine country, or Winelands, again.


Typical Winelands scenery. It also made us realize how long we'd been travelling--last time we'd been in the Southern Hemisphere, it had been grape-picking time!

With our trusty Chico, we headed south and spent two nights in Stellenbosch, one of the main cities in the Wineland region about one hour outside of Capetown. With little time, we decided to do a bit of winetasting at one of the local restaurants that night with a wine tour the next day of four local wineries.

I have to admit, I have officially made the leap from wine appreciator to, well, a bit of a crazy person. We got to the restaurant and saw you could get tasting pours of three whites and three reds for 30 rand (~$5). But we were already familiar with three of them from our wine auction wine and I didn't want repeats on our whirlwind tour of the region's wines. Fortunately, the bartender was willing to humor us and allowed us to personalize our wine tasting...twice. So with my trusty notebook for making tasting notes at hand (strike two to being a bit of a crazy person), we dove in. Here are a couple favorites:

(Note: I forgot those notes; I'll add soon!)


The next day, we got ready to go on our wine tour. We'd been reluctant to be part of an organized tour in New Zealand because they were not inexpensive and we really wanted to go to certain wineries that appealed to us rather than the large-scale ones we thought we'd see on tour. But with our time constraints, and the hazards of driving around while wine tastings, we decided to give it a go. Lucas, our Dutch guide, picked us up along with two students from Saskatchewan, a British couple, and five Dutch couples/friends. We'd visit four wineries in the region (including Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek) and have a cellar tour at one, along with lunch and a cheese tasting.

The first stop was at Boschendal, one of the oldest wineries in South Africa. Apparently, the Dutch first started growing wine there, but were producing really low quality wines. So they invited some French to emigrate down, granted that they would bring their wine-making skills with them, so Franschhoek, or French Corner, was born. And because we were there over Bastille Day weekend, the town was decked out in the tricolor flag and people wearing berets.

While there, we tasted five wines: a blanc de blanc (or unoaked white blend), Chardonnay, Shiraz Rose, a red blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and a 2005 Shiraz. And, because I was curious after tasting one in New Zealand, we also got a taste of the Blanc de Noir, a white wine made with red wine grapes, rose-esque but with a sweeter smelling nose. Of the tastings, I liked the Chardonnay and Rose the most, but the one side to being one a tour is that it made it a lot harder to concentrate on the wines. It was much more social, and because we actually knew the most about wine of all the others in the group, we ended up sharing our knowledge with others we sat with. I was afraid they would think we were pretentious or killjoys, but it actually was fun to talk to people about the wines as we drank. Also, Tyler and I normally share tasting pours, so we drank more wine than we normally would at four wineries.


Our first tasting at Boschendal, one of the oldest wineries in the region.

After lunch, we went to what was probably my favorite of the batch, Dieu Donne Vineyards. Though I was disappointed to find that they had sold out of both their sparkling (they call Methode Cap Classique in South Africa, since it can't be Champagne) and their late harvest dessert wine, Tyler and I managed to make it through all nine wines they had for tasting by sharing our tastes instead of just doing five each as the others did. The highlight for me was definitely their 2003 Shiraz, light tasting but with good spice and a long finish. I also liked their Chardonnay quite a bit which had a toasty nose and good oaking for a butter-y, biscuit-y taste. Surprisingly, as much as we had enjoyed unoaked Chardonnays in New Zealand, I found theirs to be too acidic rather than the fruitier taste charactistic of the Kiwi versions. They also had a nice Pinotage, which is the cultivar specific to South Africa, a cross-breed of Pinot Noir and Shiraz. It was dark fruits with some mineral tastes and a little spice, with a long dry finish. Overall, their reds impressed me more than their whites, but it was pretty solid across the board.


Wine-stained barrels at Dieu Donne Vineyards in Fraschhoek



Appreciating a red and the views at Dieu Donne


Our third visit was to probably the most well-known South African wine in America, Goats do Roam, one of the labels of the Fairview Winery. It's a cheeky take on the French Cote du Rhone, and one the French were none to happy about, though they've all made friends again since. In addition to the Goats do Roam range, they also have an Italian range called Agostinelli, a Spice Route range of spicier wines, as well as some under the Fairview label. Again, by splitting our tasting, we tasted a good number (14 all told) of wines. I enjoyed them all, though most I would categorize as being fun, easy drinkers, with a consistent spiciness among all the reds we had. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing terribly complex either. The best of the batch in my mind were: Fairview Sauvignon Blanc, with nice bright acidic gruit and some green pepper taste; Fairview Mourvedre, which was a juicier red, with some nice white pepper spiciness, the Fairview Pinotage Viognier, a red blend with a dash of the floral Viognier for a spicy, juicy red; and the Agostinelli label Barbera, with nice fruit, spice and some acidity. But award for best name was the "Bored Doe" as part of the Goats do Roam label.


Goats actually do roam at the Goats do Roam winery

Our final stop was at the Seidelberg Wine Estate, which was until about 10 years ago the De Leuwen Jagt Winery; they changed the name for the international market that couldn't pronounce the Dutch words for "Lion Hunter." We tasted six wines there, and had a good everyday Sauvignon Blanc, a decent Pinotage that probably needed more age, and a Reserve Syrah which was very good, with a velvety mouthfeel and good spice. I was a little surprised to find that they age some wines in stainless steel containers with oak staves to re-create barrel conditions. The one we tasted, a Chardonnay, was way too oaky for my tastes.


Vines leading the way to Seidelberg Wine Estate


Tasting dessert wine at sunset with the whole crew

As much as I enjoy South African wines, I do have to say they have been less of a revelation than New Zealand wines. I don't know if it's because we have some more familiarity with them or because we just had less time and money to search out really unique wines, but many of those we tasted were good but not "I've got to find a way to get this in the States!" great. But we did have a great, inexpensive bottle last night recommended at a wine shop (Post House Bluish Black, a Bordeaux-style blend), so I'm sure more great finds are out there. Fortunately, many more seem to be available in Seattle, so even if we didn't have them here, they can still bring back memories of our time tooling around wine country in South Africa.

Food Around the World: India

It's time again for the travel-food collaboration with my friend, Jody, of eddybles. You can learn more about my food adventures and observations during our 34 days in India, and you can find Jody's delicious recipes inspired by these food forays, including Tibetan momos, sweet pea pistachio cakes and, in homage to my favorite dessert/beverage in all of India, a saffron lassi by visiting here. Enjoy!

Cooking Classes from Tibetan Refugees

To try and get over some of my feelings of travelling malaise, I decided to sign up for some cooking classes while in McLeod Ganj. I had intended on trying to do this periodically throughout the trip, starting in Vietnam, but stomach bugs and timing worked against me there. So when I saw signs up for a series of three classes on Tibetan food (momos, soups and breads), Tyler and I signed up.

The classes have been fun and tasty since we get to eat the fruits of our labor. For our first class, we learned how to make three different kinds of momos, or dumplings--vegetable, spinach and cheese, and sweet momos. We learned how to make the three fillings and how to form the dumpling shape as each type has a different style. We were lucky to have this first class to ourselves, just Tyler and I with our teacher, Lhado, a beautiful 24-year-old Tibetan woman. She would patiently demonstrate how to construct each one, then have us practice until we got it right. Then we would do it once more to make it stick.


We didn't have our camera with us, but I found this on someone else's travel blog who took the same class. It's a bit blurry, but from the 12 o'clock position going clockwise, you can see the sweet momo, vegetable momo and spinach & cheese momo.

During the fifteen minute wait for the momos to be steamed, we started talking to Lhado. We learned she had left her small village in Tibet at 18 to move to Lhasa for an opportunity to get an education (she said she didn't even know how to write her name in Tibetan when she left home). When she got to Lhasa, there weren't any opportunities, and the city was becoming largely populated by Chinese. Leaving a note for someone to give to her parents, she made the trip to become a refugee in India. She's been here six years and hasn't seen or been able to communicate with her family since. She is married, and she and her husband don't have children of their own, but some of children from their brothers and sisters have made the trip and live with them to go to school in India. She also explained that she and her husband can have the cooking school since it's in their home, but they can't open a restaurant since they don't have passports. Some local Tibetans find Indian partners to be the owner in name, but they often have trouble with the police. As she put it, when the policemen want to drink, they'll go around and ask for passports and basically scare the refugees into paying them bribes to stay out of trouble.

The next morning, we returned for our second lesson on Tibetan soups: Mothup and Thenthuk. First we made the dough for the two different kinds of pasta. The mothup includes small tortellini-like dumplings in a broth based on garlic, ginger and salt with lots of fresh vegetables, including tomatoes, onion, spinach, carrots, bell pepper and potato.

Fresh mothups, before being added to the soup

Mothup soup

The second soup, thenthuk, is a similar broth with thin thumb-sized noodles garnished with thinly sliced omelette on top.

Starting the broth for thenthuk

Rolled and cut noodles, ready to be torn off into thumb-sized pieces and added to the hot broth

Thenthuk, ready for eating!

This class was taught by Lhamo, Lhado's husband, and he also shared his story with us. He and a friend left Tibet with about 20 other people by paying a guide to cross the mountains. It took them two months, and at one point they were stuck in the snow with no food for six days while the Chinese blocked the one pass over the mountains. At one point, they ran into some tourists who helped them by giving them some food, water, and sleeping bags to complete their journey. In Nepal, they were able to get some assistance, and--I'm a little fuzzy on all the details--at some point Lhamo ended up in the hospital in India for three weeks, where he became friends with an English doctor who suggested and helped him set up these cooking classes for tourists. He hasn't seen his family in over ten years, though he sometimes gets news about them from other refugees who are from the same area. His family doesn't leave Tibet because they have land, animals and a home there that they will lose if they leave.

Lhado and Lhamo, our cooking instructors

And we still get to learn bread tomorrow!

The food has been delicious--we'll have to have a Tibetan night when we return to share our new recipes--but being able to connect with some people here has really been the most worthwhile part.

Food Around the World III: Vietnam

Writing about all our food experiences in Vietnam felt like a monumental task. The food varied quite a bit, with dishes specific to regions and even individual towns. So rather than try and capture everything, I wrote about some of my most memorable meals for this collaboration entry with eddybles. You can read all about fresh rice noodle, DIY BBQ and spring rolls and more.

For Jody's part, she included a fantastic recipe for Vietnamese Rice Noodle Bun with Beef. Before going to Vietnam, bun was probably my favorite Vietnamese dish--fresh rice noodles, fresh herbs and vegetables, grilled meat, with sweet and tangy fish sauce. Before leaving Seattle, I was sure to memorize the Vietnamese name of the dish so that I could be sure to order it even if menus weren't in English. I had bun a few times in Vietnam--actually my first meal in Ho Chi Minh City was bun (Tyler had pho, his favorite)! I think Jody's would probably still have all the verions I had beat, though.

Enjoy!

Food Around the World: New Zealand

We have much to catch up on, but three days on the road in the Mekong Delta did not lend themselves to blogging, and we are now travelling fast and furious through Cambodia. In the meantime, though, you can read about some fantastic New Zealand-inspired food and my general impressions of Kiwi cuisine at Eddybles where the collaboration with my friend Jody continues. See here for her inspired twist on the traditional meat pie with a kiwi pepper chutney, a sweet potato brie risotto spiked with spicy cashews, and hokey pokey biscuits. I think her take on food is likely even better than anything I ate in New Zealand!

Tasmanian Beaches

I suppose if Tasmania were a little bit warmer, it would be overrun and as popular as Tahiti, Bali and Hawaii. They have amazing beaches here! White sand, clear turquoise-green waters, beautiful surroundings. And that's not just my opinion. Since we've been here, we've visited a beach that was voted in the top ten beaches of the world and another beach that someone else listed as the second best beach in the world last year.

After Port Arthur, we headed north along the coast to the Freycinet Peninsula, famed for the Freycinet National Park and for its oysters. Despite my love of seafood in general and sushi in particular, I haven't had enough oysters to be a true lover. I blame my first experience for delaying my development in this particular area. While living in Austin, I went to dinner with some friends who were originally from the east coast and eating a big platter of oysters with great gusto. At my initial show of trepidation, they suggested that maybe I should try one first with a saltine. I think that had to be the worst suggestion ever, as I was then stuck trying to chew up a dry cracker along with the oyster. I had oysters again once during a happy hour in Seattle, and while I thought it was alright, I hadn't developed the love and fanaticsm that others sometimes have. But after reading about the local delicacy as a sweet-salty treat, reading about MFK Fisher's first experience with oysters, and my friend Jody's ode to them, I had to give them another try. And I'm glad I did. They're very similar to mussels, mostly just tasting fresh and of briny sea. While they don't lead me to wax rhapsodic as, say, sashimi scallops--which are possibly the most deliciously smooth and sensual thing I've ever eaten--they were quite good. I just wish that, like wine, I could have tasted a few different kinds at one time to better appreciate the differences between different varieties. (I should also imagine the shockingly good backpackers we stayed at in Swansea--modern, new, clean, a great respite from our past few accomodations! Definitely stay there should you find yourself in this neck of the woods.)

The next day we headed to the peninsula. On our way there, we were quite amused by these road signs:



However, we found out later that they only put these up where there are multiple animal fatalities. Actually, we've seen much more roadkill than live animals since being here, so it really is a problem.

But then it was time for the hike. We decided to do an 11 kilometer loop which would lead us past the Hazards, granite mountains that line the park, to an overlook of the famed Wineglass Bay, down to Wineglass Bay Beach, across the peninsula to Hazard Beach and back to the carpark.

The first stretch to the overlook was up, up, up along some neat granite steps and past the Hazards.


Steps to the Wineglass Bay Lookout


The granite Hazards

Then the bay. It lived up to its reputation, with beautiful blue waters and soft white sand.


Wineglass Bay from the overlook


Wineglass Bay Beach


I got a bit obsessed with trying to capture the color of the water

After the hike, we drove a short way to see the lighthouse with more views of the coastline.


The lighthouse, mostly referred to on its signs as a "Marine Vessel Navigation Aid"

One nice thing about Tasmania compared to New Zealand is that it's a much smaller landmass, so it's been quick and easy to get from one point of interest to another. We made our way to St Helens for access to the Bay of Fires. I hadn't heard about this beach until we read our inflight magazine to Tasmania and decided we had to go. It talked about amazing water and beaches (this is the number two beach in the world according to someone), with rocks that glowed in the sunset. It was amazing, even though you can see the weather only half cooperated by not actually raining on us. My only regret was that it wasn't a good time of year for camping. For $25 a day, we could have had a free camping spot and hired everything we needed to stay right on the shores of these amazing waters.....


Bay of Fires at Binalong Bay


Bundled up at the beach!


Tyler camoflagued amongst lichen-covered rocks

Who knew Tasmania would be filled with such great beaches? If only we had been here a bit earlier to better enjoy them.

Adventures in "Self Catering"

After Tyler and I decided that we really were going to try and travel around the world, we had to find ways to save money. No new clothes, no movies, no casual eating out. In fact, except for special occasions and our traditional Sunday Crosswords coffee and lunch, we didn't eat out at all. To aid our efforts, we also signed up for a weekly organic produce box. While that doesn't necessarily seem the common sense way to save money, it meant that we had food to cook--and that needed to be cooked in a reasonable time. Since I hate to waste food, it was a great motivator. And it also meant that I got better at cooking with what was at hand rather than exclusively relying on recipes and cookbooks.

We started cooking for ourselves (or self-catering, as Lonely Planet oddly refers to it) a bit in Chile. Without many facilities (refrigeration at one hotel, nothing most the time), this mostly meant some breakfasts (yogurt, fruit) and lunches (sandwiches with salami, cheese, avocado and cucumber). As we've gotten into more expensive countries (Easter Island, Tahiti, New Zealand), cooking for yourself is common enough that there are generally facilities at hostels and campgrounds.

Of course, there are also limitations. You never know exactly what amenities will be at hand. There's usually a skillet and a pot or two, but never a strainer, cutting board or much else. When you pick up that canned good, you have to ask yourself whether a can opener will be available (probably 50-50). And you may or may not be lucky enough to be somewhere that provides some meager basics, such as oil, salt and pepper--things that aren't convenient to buy in single serving packets. There might be refrigeration, but it's probably full of other people's rotting food, if it's available at all. There is also no such thing as a good knife while cooking on the road. They run the gamut from butterknife sharp to random bread knives. Mostly we relied on our trusty Swiss Army knife.

You also need to keep in mind other limitations--many times no oven and many other hostellers or campers all hoping to cook at the same time, so whatever you make needs to be made and finished relatively quickly. No baking, roasting or long cooked stews or soups.

Some of that situation changed with our Spaceship rental, which has some cooking amenities. At the very least, we do know what we have at hand (a worn skillet and a quart pot with lid, can opener, spatula, silverware (plastic), four plates and four bowls, cleaning supplies), but cooking skills honed from camping and backpacking trips still come in handy due to spotty refrigeration. There is a "chiller" that runs off the auxiliary battery while running and for two hours after stopping, but that means no DVD at night (the auxiliary battery can really only do one thing well at a time) and doesn't help at all if we don't drive that day.

The Enterprise also has a propane gas two-burner "BBQ," and when we rented it, the salesgirl was sure to note, "Be sure to refill the gas tank if you use it." That struck me as strange at the time (why wouldn't we use it?), but we've found on the road that all the campsites (holiday parks) have amenities blocks that include kitchens. Why pass up free electricity, counterspace, and possible interactions with other campers and Kiwis?

While these situations seems to lead many young backpackers to many meals of pasta or ramen noodles, we're old enough--and I like to cook enough--that we weren't going to go that route. While we did have the odd lunch of PB&J or ramen noodles, there was the odd moment of inspiration.

Quick Cheesy Pasta

Cut up any veggies you have on hand (usually carrots, broccoli, green beans) as well as any leftover salami/lunch meat and cube cheese. Bring water to boil (one amenity I will miss from NZ is the ready availability of hot water dispensers or kettles--always at the ready for tea times!), add veggies and pasta. Drain the contents, trying to minimize scalding of the hands and only cursing a little bit as noodles or veggies inevitably slip from under the lid. Add a good dollop of margarine (which can travel a long time without refrigeration) and cut up garlic (there's no real dicing possible with a Swiss Army blade) and stir. Then add the cubed cheese and meats. Since you can't refrigerate the cheese, it's already soft and melts quickly. If it doesn't melt completely, cover for a few minutes with the lid then stir again. Top off with a little salt and pepper and dig in. Especially good after a long day of hiking. (Note: can be made to be alfredo-y type noodles if no meat or veg is available.)

Lamb Burgers

Taste wine all day. Go to the market looking for something to go with the lovely Shiraz you bought from a local winemaker. Remember that the nice South African woman down the hall told you you could have her leftover buns from her sloppy joes the night before while looking at the minced lamb at the butcher (because in this town, only the butcher sells fresh meat). Mix ground lamb with garlic (again in chunks because of knife limitations), salt and pepper. Top with cheese, eat on salvaged buns with chips and good wine with green beans on the side, with margarine and some salt from packets found in the B&B kitchen.

Suggested variation: buy some local minced venison for a cervena burger. Quite good with a nice Pinot Noir.

Hot Cross Buns French Toast

Buy Hot Cross Buns but kind of forget about them for a few days. Eat a few, as they grow increasingly dry. Think about making Hot Cross Bun Bread Pudding until you realize no oven is available (nor is a baking dish). Realize instead that you could make eggs more palatable to the husband and use up the stale buns (remember, I hate to waste food) by making french toast with eggs. Top with margarine and sugar as no syrup is available. Very good with morning tea.

Camper’s Shepherds Pie

Boil water for dehydrated potatoes. Microwave packet of Beef Ale Casserole. Divide up potatoes and casserole on plates. Eat about two minutes after starting cooking. Great after kayaking when you don't have refrigeration and the closest grocery store is an hour away along a very winding road. (Actually, compared to the freeze-dried schlock you can usually buy for backpacking trips, this stuff was really impressive: no preservatives, no mystery ingredients, and meat was always the first ingredient. I also loved that the packaging for an item in every grocery store for convenience cooking noted specifically that it would be ideal for tramping and camping.)

As you can see, necessity truly is the mother of invention. But at least we have some good wine pairings with our meals!

Central Otago Wines and Secondhand Adrenaline

After skipping the Marlborough region famed for their Sauvignon Blancs, Tyler and I consoled ourselves with the fact that New Zealand seems to have wine regions just about everywhere, including Queenstown where we've stationed ourselves for the past few days. After a day of cold and two days of hiking, it was time to dive into a few local wineries.

The Central Otago region is fairly new to the wine scene. There are quite a few wineries now, but they didn't really get started until the late 1980s. Apparently, it's also the world's southernmost winemaking region, specializing largely in Pinot Noirs. On a weekend trip to Portland the last year or so ago, Tyler and I stumbled upon a food and wine festival. With your entrance ticket, you could taste wine from nearly 50 local vintners and taste appetizers from local restaurants. We decided to focus on Pinot Noirs, and though we surely stopped tasting with any kind of palate after our sixth sample, it proved to us that Pinot Noir seems to be a more versatile grape than many others. It can range from really light to deep, juicy to dry, young and fun to deep and serious. So a fun grape to taste a range of, whether in the shop or at a few different vineyards.

In other wine regions we've visited, we've blindly visited whatever vineyards had an interesting name or was convenient. Tyler mentioned the great tasting wine shop we visited in Queenstown, already, but it was a great way to taste local wines and then seek out those we liked best. (It was also pretty fun to see so many wines we recognized from our previous excursions; we need to do more of this in Washington!)

Here are a few of our thoughts and observations:

We tried the Mt. Difficulty Long Gully Pinot Noir at the urging of the helpful counterperson at the Queenstown wine shop. The most expensive of the ones we tasted ($95 NZD), it was smooth, with good fruit and the bit of earthiness I enjoy in my Pinot Noirs.

We tried two Pinot Noirs from Waitiri Creek. One was a really young Pinot, 2006 aged for only a few months. It was almost like a rose, fun, fruity and very easy drinking. The 2003 had ended up being our favorite of the seven we tasted (outside the Mt. Difficulty one noted above), with a good earthiness. Waitiri Creek was the first winery we decided to visit based on this, and the tasting room and restaurant are located in a cute, converted old church building. The cheeky Irish waiter confirmed that, indeed, you could taste the "funk" of the Gibbston earth in the Pinot Noirs. While there, we also had a refreshing rose and another Pinot Noir vintage. The rose, a bottle we decided to take with us to enjoy with dinner tonight, also seemed to have a unique winemaking approach. The grapes were left to soak uncrushed, then pressed later.

Our next stop was a winery I recognized from our wine shop visit (we didn't taste since a tasting pour cost more than $7)--Gibbston Valley Winery. Unfortunately, I think they are also listed in Lonely Planet and must make it onto many wine tours since they do a winery tour, and the facilities lacked personality. Among the many random tchotchkes for sale (soap, scarves, mugs, not wine related), there was a small bar where you could buy a tasting tray for $5 with four of their wines. Two (a reisling and Sauvignon Blanc) I wasn't crazy about. But they did have an intersting Blanc de Pinot Noir (which I'm pretty convinced is just a fancy way of saying they make a Pinot Noir rose)--lots of candy-ish watermelon flavors. While it might be a bit much after a glass, it did go down easily. While we were tasting, and Tyler was flipping through a Lord of the Rings Filming Location book on sale at the shop, I noticed that they produced a Pinot Blanc. Since they are related to the Pinot Noir and grow well in the same conditions, it's a little surprising we don't see this more often. It was an intersting and assertive white wine--bolder than a Chardonnay, with a little spice, a little dried fruit, and a lot of flavor. The most interesting of the bunch, and I was glad they let us taste something not on the tray.

Then we wound along a narrow precipice of a road to Chard Farm. I have to be honest; at the wine shop I had almost steered clear of this based on name alone, which I at first took as a bastardization of Chardonnay. But the tasting notes enticed me, and their 2004 Sugar Loaf Single Vineyard Pinot Noir ended up being my second favorite Pinot of the batch. After a quick game of toss with the resident dog in the front yard, we went in to taste a handful of really good wines: a minerally Sauvignon Blanc, an oaked and unoaked Chardonnay, their Pinot Noir rose, and two 2005 Pinot Noirs, the Finla Mor and the Viper. As we had tasted in Martinborough, the two were made from different areas and different aged vines. The older and more expensive Viper was a great example of what I like my Pinot Noirs to taste like--weighty in the mouth, silky, with some good taste of the earth thrown in as well.

To break up the wine tasting parts of the day, Tyler and I decided to eat a sandwich at the original bungy jumping site: Kawarau Bridge. If we weren't going to engage in the extreme activities, we could at least get a contact adrenaline rush from those willing to shell out $150 to jump off a bridge. The scenery was fantastic, and it was somewhat thrilling to watch people take the dive, even if we weren't actually doing it ourselves.


Someone takes the plunge!


The bridge and jumping off station--we only saw one person get to the edge adn then decide not to jump


Sign on the women's restroom

Well, that's probably all the reports from wine country, at least until South Africa!

On a side note--we did taste a fantastic Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough's Cloudy Bay Vineyard. I recognized the label from a delicious Pinot Noir I had enjoyed for dinner in Seattle, and the minerally Sauvignon Blanc makes me believe my memory of the good Pinot is true. Just thought I'd mention it since it might be easier to find than many of the others' I've mentioned on our wine journey through New Zealand!