All posts tagged: travel

Eating Breakfast in Australia

Published by Kathy Hunt

Travel can sound so appealing. Historic sites. Unusual wildlife. Exotic cultures, customs and cuisines. There is a less glamorous side, one that gets glossed over by pretty photos and exciting tales. It involves doing what you’d do back at home but with far less understanding or finesse. I’m talking about the day-to-day things such as grocery shopping and eating. On any trip I spend a ridiculous amount of time thinking about what, when and where I’ll eat. The meal over which I obsess the most, the one where I try my hardest to eat as I think the locals do is “the most important meal of the day.” Yes, I’m talking about breakfast and, at present, breakfast in Australia. After two weeks in Australia I’ve sampled a range of local breakfast specialties. Although meat products remain absent from my menu, I have added pikelets to the morning repertoire. No, these are not little fish cakes as fans of pike might assume. Ever had dollar pancakes? Then you’ve had a fluffier, syrup-soaked version of pikelets. Sprinkled …

Czech Strawberry Dumplings

Published by Kathy Hunt

With strawberry season right around the corner, it seems like a good time to talk about Czech strawberry dumplings. Until two years ago, whenever I heard the phrase “dessert dumpling,” I imagined a cinnamon- and sugar-dusted apple bundled into a buttery pastry and baked until golden brown. The thought of a whole strawberry boiled inside a casing of cheese-laced dough never occurred to me. Then I made several trips to the Czech Republic and learned how to make jahoda knedlíky or strawberry dumplings. After that I forgot all about those apple pie-like treats. It’s been said that no traditional Czech dinner is complete without the inclusion of a dumpling or two. A staple since the Middle Ages, the plump, round dumpling can be either sweet or savory. The latter tends to use potatoes and potato flour as its base while the former features flour and/or breadcrumbs and a filling of whole, locally grown fruit such as strawberries, plums or cherries. Shaped into balls, both types of dumpling are boiled, drained, sliced in half with a …

Pad Thai in Thailand

Published by Kathy Hunt

Pad Thai was my gateway into Thai cuisine. In my early 20s and unsure of what to order at a new, neighborhood, Southeast Asian restaurant, I opted for a simple noodle dish that promised complex flavors, interesting textures and a touch of the exotic. With hints of piquant tamarind, crunchy peanuts and salty fish sauce pad Thai delivered on its word. After that first satisfying encounter it became my go-to meal when dining or ordering out. After 15 years of sampling this specialty on American soil, I wanted it to be the first thing that I ate in Thailand. I’d tried countless Western interpretations of this stir fry. It was time to experience the real deal. This proved surprisingly easy for you can find noodle carts, shops and restaurants serving phàt Thai on almost every street in Bangkok. The same holds true in Northern Thailand. Popular with locals as well as food-obsessed tourists, this dish has a lot going for it. For starters, it’s inexpensive. Depending on where you buy it in Thailand, you can …

Eating Like the Locals with the Vietnamese Fish Dish Cha Ca

Published by Kathy Hunt

Thanks to my husband’s stepfather Luong, who was born and raised in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), I know a bit more than the average red-haired, American food writer about Vietnamese home cooking. For starters, in the country you might make your meals on a stove fueled by coconut husks while in the city you probably cook over a gas flame. Your meals may be as simple as noodles, rice or steamed fish or as complicated as spring rolls, hot and sour soups or meat-filled crepes. Whatever you make, it invariably is fresh, seasonal and local. While I understand Vietnamese home cooking, until last month, I didn’t have a good sense of what constituted a traditional restaurant meal. By this I mean something generally eaten outside the home or that bears the signature of one chef or restaurant. That all changed when I traveled to North Vietnam and ate cha ca. At the beginning of the 20th century, in Hanoi’s old quarter, a shop owned by the Doan family began selling a fish dish …

Shrimp Khao Soi in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Published by Kathy Hunt

Along with talking to locals, visiting historical sites and browsing museums and shops, eating—and cooking—the regional cuisine always helps me to understand a new place. When I don’t have friends to show me the culinary ropes, I turn to hands-on cooking classes. That’s how I ended up at the Green Mango Thai Cookery School in Chiang Mai,Thailand. Situated on a lush, bamboo- and coconut-tree lined property about 20 minutes from the center of Chiang Mai, Green Mango provided a lovely setting, well-stocked cook stations and delicious, classic recipes. Better still, it gave me a chance to learn from a native chef, shop for fresh ingredients and cook like Northern Thais do. Among the traditional dishes made at Green Mango was khao soi (also spelled “kôw soy”). A specialty of Chiang Mai, this spicy curry features red curry paste, wheat- and egg-noodles and beef or chicken. Since I was the lone pescetarian in attendance, I was allowed to make an untraditional version of this culinary icon, shrimp khao soi. To begin, I pummeled together such Thai …

How To Pack Lightly

Published by Kathy Hunt

Food fans, hold onto your forks and knives. This week I’m switching gears to discuss another passion of mine, travel. Because I enjoy traveling so much more without the burden of a huge, heavy suitcase or backpack to lug around the globe — and because a friend recently mentioned that she needed to learn how to pack lightly — I thought that I’d impart a few packing tips. So, for all those wondering how to manage three weeks or just three days with only a small carry-on bag … WHAT’S IN MY CARRY-ON FOR 1 to 3 WEEKS OF TRAVEL: *Ziploc bag with TSA-approved size (3-ounce) containers of conditioner, deodorant and sunscreen. Although I love my brand of shampoo, I figure that hotel shampoo is fine when combined with my usual conditioner. The Ziploc bag also contains Ibuprofen, a sheet of Benadryl (great for allergies, restless nights and allergic reactions), a few tablets of Immodium (the victim of food poisoning’s friend), loose Band-Aids, small hair brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, facial soap and tweezers. What the bag …

Snegl, Kannelbullar, Schnecken: Amazing Cinnamon Rolls

Published by Kathy Hunt

Snegl, kannelbullar, schnecken, skillingsboller or just plain old cinnamon roll. Almost every country has its own take on this pastry and it seems to have become my mission in life to sample each one. Yeah, it’s one tough mission. The variations are small but compelling. Denmark tops its snegl, which means “snail” and is an apt description of this swirled roll, with a thick layer of icing. Made from confectioner’s sugar, its sweetness balances out the heady cinnamon and adds beauty and succulence to the bun. Norway’s skillingsboller bears a strong resemblance to the Danish snegl. Most Norwegian bakers use a little less icing than their Danish counterparts. However, the result is just as delightful. Cardamom transforms the Swedish kannelbullar from a standard cinnamon roll to something far more complex and ethereal. Capped off with a sprinkling of pearl sugar, it, too, is a delight to see and eat. Some countries add raisins to their rolls. In fact, that’s how my mission got started; I thought that I’d purchased a pain au raisin for breakfast …

Check out Czech Trdelnik

Published by Kathy Hunt

Imagine a golden, cylindrical pastry reminiscent of a cinnamon roll, one that had been roasted on a spit over an open flame and then twirled through a mixture of sugar, cinnamon or ground nuts. This unusual sweet is a trdelnik. A specialty of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, this yeasted dough treat can be found in bakeries, at food stalls and street carts. In Prague no outdoor market is complete without at least one trdelnik stand. Hearty yet surprisingly light in consistency, trdelnik makes for a delightful breakfast, afternoon snack or dessert. A longtime fan, I’ve eaten it for lunch and, on one desperate night, as dinner. Because I don’t own an outdoor spit or tabletop rotisserie, my first stab at trdelnik was with my kitchen range. Since I didn’t think to buy a trdelnik form in the Czech Republic, I had to figure out a way to help the pastry keep its round shape. I couldn’t wrap the dough around water glasses, place them upright on a baking sheet and then slide them into …

apple strudel

Two Spoons up for Apple Strudel Light

Published by Kathy Hunt

What do you do with three unplanned days in Vienna? If you enjoy immersing yourself in a country’s culture and possess a hearty sweet tooth, you might decide to eat your way through your stay. That’s certainly how I spent my time there, sampling variation upon variation of the Austrian national dish apple strudel. In Austria strudel is often served with a pitcher of vanilla cream, in a pool of crème anglaise or with a side of whipped cream. Contrary to my husband’s fervent hopes, it usually doesn’t come with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. That’s fine with me. When it comes to strudel, I prefer either to eat it with just a dusting of sugar or with whipped cream added to the side. A fair amount of time, effort and space goes into making a traditional apple strudel. It’s the dough, rather than the filling, that requires the work. My short video, taken at the Café Residenz adjacent to Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace, explains the basics of authentic strudel dough. If you lack the …

Delightful Danish Brown Bread

Published by Kathy Hunt

At the end of summer I spent two idyllic weeks in the magical, Scandinavian land known as the Kingdom of Denmark. Vikings, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Hans Christian Anderson as well as Legos, Lars von Trier and Chef Rene Redzepi have all called this series of lovely islands home. Frequently ranked as the world’s happiest country, Denmark has the world’s highest minimum wage, a high per capita income, environmental and historic preservation, free university education and universal healthcare. It’s a country of breathtaking architecture, influential designers, renowned writers, fervent cyclists, golden fields, rugged coastlines and amazingly fresh, tasty, wholesome foods. Weeks after returning from vacation I remain wildly smitten with Denmark. Top among my obsessions are Danish pastries, films, mystery writers, the TV series Forbrydelsen, Ilse Jacobsen rain boots and the country’s dark, nutty brown bread. I first tried this hearty specialty six years ago in Sweden. There it’s known simply as Danish bread. In Denmark it’s called rugbrød, a flavorful, dark rye bread chocked full of whole grains and fiber. Danes eat it at breakfast. …