yes, quite interesting. this block costs me €11 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tenhosau...). the mass produced kind is not the same in that it does not have that goat's milk richness.

nice report. which reminds me i need to sort out the Porto pics from last summer.

i think the pure egg tasted things might have been ovos moles (de Aveiro). i like them :D

that is correct. the bad weather (it's been the coldest spring since mid 80's or so?) is responsible for the delay. it's happened only twice in history though. was first postponed in 2006.

herring sellers have been selling the so-called 'new' for about 3 weeks now.

<-- this seal eats around 120 a year.

do try bovril if you can find them.

i have always prefered bovril (see pic)

thanks. i've enjoyed reading your delicious "report".
i just love these two countries' food and wine culture!

'grass cheese': https://www.beemster.us/en-us/the-che...

they sometimes close it down for a couple of weeks so the mods can have hols.

unless the site has been compromised...

sorry i have no recipes... salsify is lovely and versatile.
i usually just cook them first then sautee with butter and mixed herbs. or make a gratin, creamy soup even.

everything makes sense now. thanks very much everyone for the ID and info. i had NO idea! would have liked to get some camellia seed oil, now that i know what it was.

i went on a saturday... it was a circus! everything evolved around eating, everyone wanted to try and buy something local to bring home. speaking of which i also bought something that looks like dried roots or veg. probably good in soups. (don't have photos on this laptop this moment though)

i'm currently post processing 3 weeks worth of photos from this trip, maybe i have more questions soon :)

thanks again.

looking at photos and drooling...

thanks! looking at the photos it's hard to find food i didn't like on the trip. must see/eat the rest of the country someday.

i have a few more pics of curious food stuffs. maybe someone has answers for me? attatched pics are taken in Beipu.

ate this thing and did not know what it was. not only it's unphotogenic but also not good .
but otherwise Taiwan is amazing!

second pic is the whole rig.

maybe your answer is found here... http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/866531

from "minkehval" in Norwegian.
i hope to try other species of whales in Greenland in the near future. i've heard they all taste different. however i still like seal more...

eating spaghetti mixed with coca leaves in a leaky tent in the pouring rain on the Inca trail.

most recently in high arctic, minke whale on the bbq in front of a glacier. two days in a row on the same boat to different places.

instant noodle soup by the fire (which was also 'central heating') surrounded by staring monks. it was sooooo cold and dizzying at almost 5000m altitude. the only light was the open fire. (at Rongbuk monastery in 2006). i've never been so cold, not even in Antarctica.

not a strange place to eat but the surrounding was simply spectacular: christmas dinner and a bbq on the ship in Antarctica. so much meat both times! (2009)

via Macau. and yes it IS Portuguese.

as for the tarts at least they're not as worthless as "Lord Stow"'s version!

some hopless beer are actually nice. new beer vocabulary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruit

beer soups i had in Germany a nice, actually. all made with seasonal dark beer (i usually spend christmas and new year hols in Germany, and strong dark beer is popular around this time of year.)

it (Anker Speculaas beer) was probably by brouwerij/brewery Het Anker. i remember having it on tap in Amsterdam sometime ago. remember to drink it last else all the beers after this one might taste strange.

anyways, i much prefer Lebkuchen spice mix and not in my beer, please.

and Nutella.

i think because it's something new/unfamiliar?

i tried 7 port wine lodges (within 10 days). where i had the best port sampling was also the most expensive and the tour of the cellar was the shortest! it was at Churchill's. their vintages are stunning.

apparently there are about 16 lodges in the neighbourhood. i shall check out the rest on future trips. was in Pinhao the day before but didn't check out any port producers there.

i sent home both red and green peppercorns bought in Chengdu. i thought the green kind was simply unripe Sichuan peppercorns. apparently it could also be Nepalese. hmm but why would Sichuanese use Nepalese peppercorns?

country sounds too broad but i tend to make (in no particular order): German, Portuguese, Chinese, Vietnamese. simple dishes only though. otherwise i like eating just about all cuisines, save for Indian and all kinds of curry (although i do love Thai food...).

yes, that's the one. how could i forget 'cyclist'! i go to Germany every year to eat and drink. on my last trip i got served a Radler by accident. the brought me a real beer straight away.

as a beer and wine purist i find all these mixed drinks revolting.

Schorle can also contain wine.

i think they are 'Spezi' and 'Schorle'.

i've seen the Peking and Sichuan episodes. are they the first 2? like miss Ching-He Huang, too.

i particularly enjoy the part where they go to a village/somewhere else, without the other. the simple life, the cooking, the old ways etc it's like going back in time. this was the best part of my trips to China, all those harrowing death trap bus rides in mountainous rural China!

i hope they're going to Yunnan next.

really now... Singapore? really?
i'd replace it with Taipei.

1. HCM city & BKK

Portugal for grilled sardinhas, Portugal or Spain for percebes (barnacles) and porco preto/pata negra (ham), Spitsbergen for seal, Argentina for steak.

but... wherever i go Germany remains my favourite. btw, where would one go (mostly to eat) given the choices: Mauritius, Sri Lanka (visa hassle, tourist prices etc), Colombia.

(greetings from Bergen, Norway.)

(please see my reply to CM)

i have been to bottom of the world, end of the world, roof of the world, and now naturally i must visit ceiling of the world. joking aside, i must be in the nature and mountains at least once a year. without the wilderness i probably go insane :D

all 3 taste game-y. meat is very dark and thus not photogenic but i did make some photos. i have had Swedish reindeer several times in the past but this is Svalbard reindeer, they live right here in Spitsbergen. they wander freely e.ve.ry.where, yes also in the streets. minke whale is nice too, especially on the barbie. yesterday i saw them in big chunks in the supermarket, in the fish section. normal arctic food it seems. seal is tender and succlent like pata negra! lol... my other half doesnot like seal so more for moi mwahaha.

seal, minke whale and reindeer. :D actually twice minke whale today, first was for lunch, bbq'ed in front of a glacier. too warm to get polar bears so maybe if i return in the winter.

greetings from Spitsbergen!

ps: seal is my fave out of the three ;)

half kilo of percebes (goose barnacles) followed by arroz de mariscos, washed down with vinho verde from Baião.

nice and cool here in oPorto, Portugal.

percebes. must find more percebesssssssss