Lunch on the Mekong river

May 21, 2011

Welcome to my Saturday post. Behind me is a sign in Thai indicating that we are at the Mekong river.

Lunch at a “swimming restaurant” on the Mekong

Let me take you today to an exotic place on this majestic stream, where I had lunch with a couple of colleagues when I visited Udon Thani some time ago. I had to try some Isan cuisine which is not for everybody.

Come on to my boat

On the boat restaurant a large group of school children where having their lunch. They seemed to be on an outing together with their teachers.

The children were delightful

As I said before, 22 years living and working in Asia exposes you to interesting cuisines. I have eaten all kinds of food in my life but not one of the foremost delicacies of Thailand’s North-East: ants eggs.

In fact this cuisine tested my resilience.

An assortment of typical dishes

On the river you eat fish

Also soup is healthy

What would we do in Thailand without “som da,”?

So far so good

Almost all dishes contained the ants eggs sprinkled over them

They look well cooked, don’t they?

The ants eggs have a strong chitinous taste when you bite into them. It’s a strange feeling between the teeth too. In my body the chitinous inside of the eggs produced a tremendous amount of heat. I guess one has to be used to this kind of dish in order to fully enjoy it. My companions, almost all from the Udon Thani region, just loved the food.

By the way, we drank water with our meal, just clear water.

And the river flew.
Come to the Mekong.

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Styrsö Skäret Guesthouse, Gothenburg, Sweden

May 19, 2011

Swedish waters near Gothenburg

When I visited Gothenburg, Sweden last year I had a beautiful lunch at a cute little guesthouse called Styrsö Skäret. I was part of a group. Together with other participants of the conference we went on a boat trip to a small group of islands just about 30 minutes from the mainland.

It’s a kind of island hopping until you reach the place. The boat ride was extremely pleasant, the islands, which we passed, very picturesque. Only today I am able to post the story.

The beautiful Styrsö Skäret guesthouse

Styrsö Skäret is a guesthouse with restaurant, and we were booked in for lunch. The meal was pre-ordered. It started with a pumpkin soup.

The soup

The main course

The main course consisted of boiled potatoes with some capsicum veggies and a white fish. Awesome flavours, earthy but refined and delicate.

Delicious fish

The dining room

fro the dining room you have a beautiful view of the see. When we were there some clouds came up and we had some rain with a rainbow after. That was magic.

The wine cabinet

There was the possibility to order wine which I did not do because I followed the group somehow and just had water with the meal. Do not follow my example. Order a bottle of white wine, maybe a Chardonnay or a Sauvignon Blanc if you have the fish.

The service is very good, the ambiance is very pleasant, and the people are very friendly. My verdict: must visit when in Gothenburg. Highly recommended.

After your meal you can have a long walk on the island on hop on the ferry at some other pier. There are beautiful country houses to be seen, gardens surrounding the dwellings, and from almost every point you can overlook the sea.

This was such a wonderful excursion. I highly recommend the trip. If you are in Gothenburg take the time and visit the islands and treat yourself to a decent meal at Styrsö Skäret.

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Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon

May 15, 2011

The good news is that just across the street from the Center (ICLPST) where I teach in Taoyuan, there is a wine and spirits shop with a good selection of wines. Last night I bought a ‘2008 Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon’ from Margaret River in Western Australia. Xanadu Wines is a well known first class producer.

This is a good wine, full of black currant and plum flavours; and despite the 14% alcohol, the wine is not overpowering but delicate and finely balanced. I paid 1.188 New Taiwan $ which is not cheap (about 29 EURO). The cellar door price is A$ 35.

I must say that I was still a bit disappointed. I had expected something better for that price level. Maybe I am spoiled from the Mosel where a top class Riesling can be bought from the winery for 18 to 25 EURO.

2008 Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon

The back label, 14% alcohol

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Some other wines – Taiwan treasures

May 14, 2011

At Friday night’s birthday party of the International Center for Land Policy Studies and Training in Taoyuan, Taiwan two bottles of wine made from millet were presented to us.

Wines not made from grape vines taste of course very different from fermented grape juice. I liked the fragrance and aromas of a grain based brew. The sweetness is of course deceiving and the rest sugar might give you headaches the next day. But I was positively surprised by the freshness and the fine balance of the liquid.

Beautiful millet wine

The milky liquid with the delicate fragrance

PS: I was careful and had only one glass from each bottle.

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Family dinner – Little Yering Cabernet Sauvignon

May 13, 2011

To find a wine for every day which goes with many different dishes, nothing fancy, just for a family meal, can be challenging. To my great surprise, Yering Station Winery from Yarra Glen in the Yarra Valley in Victoria produces just that kind of stuff with its “Little Yering” brand. Moreover, here in Bangkok you can get a bottle of Yering wine for a decent price.

Established in 1838 Yering Station was Victoria’s first vineyard. That’s a awful long tradition in an Australian context. I like the place, the winery and the cellar door as well as the restaurant. Despite the fact that the vineyards are mostly planted on flat lands, one has a good view from the terrace.

2008 Little Yering Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz

The ‘2008 Little Yering Cabernet Shiraz’ is a blend of the two red grape varieties, an Australian classic so to say. It cost about 18 A$ if bought at the cellar door. In Bangkok you can have it from Villa Market for about 560 Bath, about 13 Euro.

The wine is aged in mainly old oak casks after it has undergone a malolactic fermentation. The vines are of medium age (7-11 years). I like the intense taste of red berries and the spiciness provided by the Shiraz grapes.

Dark red colour

We had ‘malanzane alla parmigiana’ for dinner. The photo below does not do justice to this delicious Italian dish.

Melanzane alla parmigiana

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Alamos – Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina

May 11, 2011

2008 Alamos Cabernet Sauvignon

We had beautiful gnocchi for my farewell dinner at home before leaving for Taiwan again. On my way home from the office I dashed into a wine shop and bought a bottle of red. I selected a ‘2008 Alamos Cabernet Sauvignon’ from Mendoza, Argentina. I just wanted something else.

It turned out to be a good choice. The wine complemented the meal and harmonized well with the gnocchi in tomatoes. I loved the fine aroma of the wine, the long finish and the intense fruit flavours of red berries with some spicy notes.

Bodega Alamos produces a wide range of wines. The grapes are sourced from the Catena family vineyards in Mendoza located on high-altitude sites (3,000 to 5,000 feet). The chief wine-maker of Bodega Alamos is Felipe Stahlschmidt. I could not think of a more German name.

The price of the wine in Bangkok was, as are all wine prices, ludicrous (25 EURO/bottle). However, given the Catena family legacy regarding the production of the Malbec variety, I will try their Malbec wines next.

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From time to time I need a beer

May 7, 2011

Wine is a wonderful drink but many of my winemaker friends drink beer to clean their palates.

So do I.

And some foods cry out for a cool brew made of hops and malt.

Tooheys Red is one of my favourite beers when in Glenburn.

I am off to China today where facebook and blogging are stricktly controlled by the authorities. The Man from Mosel River will disappear from the bloggosshere for a couple of days.

See ya later, hopefully.

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Progressive dining experience – do we need culinary art?

May 6, 2011

In today’s Bangkok Post a novel cuisine was described which is currently offered at the “Plaza Athenee Bangkok and Fin”, a place I have never heard of. According to the paper “Progressive dining experience” is a new gastronomic concept involving pop-up venues and somthing called “molecular cuisine”.

It promises an inventive, novel culinary adventure, something unique in Bangkok. The originators, Daniel Bucher and Axel Herz, are two young award winning chefs from Le Meridien in Hamburg.

But what is “molecular cusine”, “molecular cooking” or “molecular gastronomy”? Well, of course any cooking is “molecular” so to speak. According to Daniel Bucher it is “avant-gard culinary art combined with hard-core food science” presented in pop-up (impromptu) venues.

It is supposed to be what modern city dwellers want: sustainable, environment friendly, highest quality food for a competitive price in an environment with low overheads. It is supposed to provide creative freedom, fun and laughing and even “to make you love” food, I suppose.

The newspaer article does not provde any information about the price of the five course menu and the five wines which were part of the dinner.

Well, for an Epicurean like myself that should be the ultimate, should’nt it? If you eat for pleasure alone and not for nurishment, isn’t that the good life we are all striving for?

Despite the fact that I spent more time dwelling in big Asian cities than in rural areas, I am a country boy, and thanks god that. My type of food is not the deigner stuff you get in those modern restaurants. I want real food and not art.

You can find many of the meals I treasure here on my blog. But I am afraid that I have to go and taste for myself otherwise my criticism lacks a certain edge and the profoundness necessry to be credible.

As compensation, let me invite you to a glass of wine instead. My recommendation is, surprise surprise, a German Riesling, a ‘2009 Grans-Fassian Laurentiuslay GG’ by Grans-Fassian Estate in Leiwen, Mosel.

This is the best Riesling wine I tasted this year.

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The freedom to grow grapes

May 4, 2011

Two Hills Vineyard – Sauvignon Blanc Block

For us Australians in Victoria it is somehow unthinkable that we would consider to ask government for permission to plant a vineyard or to plant vines. My native Germany, however, is very different in this regard.

Recently I found a news story about a village in Saxonia, named Grosspoensa, which had planted about 1,000 vines near a re-naturalised open coal mine, now flooded and used as a lake.

In 2006 the village government had requested the planting rights for 26 ha from the higher level government. But because the village is not located inside the classified Saxonian wine region therefore this request was denied and planting rights were not granted.

Two Hills Chardonnay

Nonetheless the village planted 0.3 ha with vines disregarding the higher governments rejection in 2008. The plan was to rent out the small vineyard parcels to hobby vintners. Now the vines had to be removed again. The state ministry of environment and agriculture ordered the removal. Also a fine was imposed (3,700 EURO). The village tried to negotiate and a second fine of 4,800 EURO followed.

The villagers were outraged that they had to pay twice and to pull out their young vines. The European Wine Market Regulation, however, specifies what punishment illegally planted vineyards entail for the planters.

Well, European bureaucrats seem to manage the wine industry along the lines of an old fashinoned Leninist central planning scheme. Why do they not trust the market and the people exchanging goods through voluntary transactions?

Pip’s Paddock Chardonnay

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Glorious days at Two Hills Vineyard

May 2, 2011

Today is one of these days when I would prefer to be somewhere else. Well, where? This is easy to answer: Two Hills Vineyard in Glenburn, Victoria.

For some time I wanted to assemble some of the pictures I took while on the Vineyard last December and January but I just did not find the time. Now I am finally getting to it, thanks to the public holiday in Thailand.

In times of digital photography it is not easy to make a meaningful selection. There are just too many photos to choose from. I try to show you some of the natural conditions and beauty of the place with plenty of flowers and wildlife. But will also be hinting at some of the pleasures of eating an drinking.

Drying hay with the two hills in the background

Mothballed vineyard

Washing line with traktor

When we arrived the swallows had just fallen out. They were lovely little featherballs squeezing through any cranny in the door. Flowers everywhere, below is a selection.

Our young swallows

Hollyhock below the stairs

Australian native: Bottle brush

Native lily

Another native

Many animals roam our property. Kangaroos we can see every day. The bird life is the most amazing. We were thrilled when the king parrots visited. The kookaburra is hunting small animals and calling out with a thrilling “song”. But we have also many small creatures for instance shiny little skinks.

A King parrot visiting our place

The kookaburra, a meat-eating bird

A “roo” on our dam

A skink in dry gum leaves

The girls have fun in the dam

We have two dams. The bigger one is used for irrigation. The smaller one carries native fish, mostly silver perch but in both dams we catch “jabbies”, a type of crayfish which tastes very nice and is great a entrée.

Jabbies for lunch

The beauty of Victoria is that there is plenty of wine available. On hot days we consumed “bubbly”, lots of rose from the Mayer Vineyard, some white and plenty of Two Hills Merlot (left overs so to say from our 2001 and 2004 vintages).

Luckily we found another box of the 2004 vintage. Of the 2001 vintage we have still stock. Not every bottle is still drinkable. We chuck the ones which are off and consume the reasonable ones.

This bubbly does not reveal its identity

…and there is a bench to enjoy the wine on

2004 Two Hills Merlot

Reminiscing about the glorious days past is just wonderful. The good news is that the place does not run away (it just has to be lucky in the wildfires).

Hope you visit us one day. Cheers to the good life.

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