kitchengrl

Best meal I ever ate:

Degustation at Bagatelle, Oslo in 1999 (with wine pairings) - starter of salmon crudo; dayboat scallops with fresh fried ginger; beet carpaccio with forest mushrooms and poached langoustines; turbot with soy-yuzu butter and summer squash "fettucine"; cheese course; crepes with wild alpine strawberries. Also, early evening meal at Shilin Night Market, Taipei, involving steam-fried meat buns (with spiced beef), hot limeade, and giant fried chicken breast with hot red pepper.

My current drink of choice:

Santa Teresa 1796 Ron Antiguo de Solera, neat. And filtered tap water on ice.

I really wish I could:

Make perfect croquetas.

My "Go-to" dinner party dish:

I've never made the same dish twice when entertaining. Except lemon olive oil cake, to accommodate non-dairy eaters without having to make two desserts.

My favorite comfort food:

Eggs with a runny yolk; potatoes mashed with butter or fried in duck fat.

My top 5 favorite restaurants:

Din Tai Fung (Taipei, Xinyi Road); Shilin Night Market (Taipei); La Boqueria (Barcelona); Borough Market (London); Old Spitalfields Market (London)

My most tattered cookbooks:

La Technique (Pepin); Professional Chef (6th ed. CIA); River Cafe (Rogers/Gray); River Cafe Italian Two Easy (Rogers/Gray); Chinese Snacks (Wei-Chuan)