Vetiver

Vetiver seems to be in all of my favorite fragrances all of a sudden.  Tom Ford has his androgynous scent Grey Vetiver, Chantecaille has Vetyver, Guerlain has Vetiver pour Elle - even Avon's mark brand has White Vetiver - and I have seen the fragrance is lesser known perfumes, lotions, and candles as well.  The perennial grass, from the lemongrass and citronella family (though decidedly less citrus-y) started use in India as an essential oil that represented tranquility, before becoming a popular men's cologne ingredient, but lately it is making the leap from men's to women's scents. 

The scent itself comes from the roots of the grass, which are soaked and distilled to create the deep, earthy, rich odor of Vetiver.  It's especially lovely smelling when layered with a spicy, woody fragrance like Tom Ford's Santal Blush.

Kowloon Dairy

This local Hong Kong dairy's bottles are some of the best packaging for milk I have ever seen.

Australia Dairy Company in Hong Kong

I recently visited Hong Kong, and had a number of amazing culinary experiences, dining in Michelin star restaurants and top hotels.  It's funny, though, how sometimes the simplest and most basic meals are the best. 

The Australia Dairy Company in Hong Kong's modest Jordan neighborhood, on the Kowloon side, serves British colonial breakfast food that's very popular with locals.  One of their features is the Hong Kong style egg sandwich:  two thick slices of white bread, toasted for a small fee, filled with eggs and your choice of cheese or meat.  I elected to have mine with cheese, which was white and processed similarly to American.  The eggs were scrambled and incredibly light and fluffy, perfectly balancing out with the bread and cheese.   


The sandwich could be ordered a la carte, or as part of a set breakfast with a bowl of macaroni and ham in a savory broth.  The first time I went, I had just the sandwich with a cup of Hong Kong-style milk tea.  I like my tea brewed strong, but this was by far the strongest, darkest tea I had ever tried, even cut with the evaporated milk it comes mixed with.  I followed the example of a man at my table, and added copious amounts of sugar, which made it absolutely delicious. 

The second time I visited the Australia Dairy Company I decided to splurge a bit, and I ordered both the egg and cheese sandwich and the Hong Kong-style French toast.  The French toast used the same thick white bread as the sandwich, and it was heavily sauteed in butter and served with an extra slice of butter on top.  I covered it in syrup and loved every bite.

Australia Dairy Company, 47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan, Hong Kong

Shoe Obsession: Tory Burch Eddie Watersnake Flats

I always hated flats, until I finally broke down and bought a pair of Tory Burch's Eddie flats in black patent for a trip to London last year.  I needed some sort of practical and comfortable walking shoe, but I didn't want to sacrifice style, and wanted a variation from my usual boots (London in October is no place for my other preferred footwear, the sandal).  A friend recommended Repetto, but those did not sit well on my feet, and I tried several other brands that tended to either hug too much, or slip off my heel far too easily.  I liked the construction of the Eddie because it's elastic all around, but not too tight, and it comes in real leathers that breathe and adjust to fit to the foot.  I wound up wearing the shoes all of the time, both in London and in my day to day life, and added a tan patent pair to my shoe wardrobe last spring.  Now that I have two practical, wear with everything colors, I am starting to look at some of the other colors and materials the Eddie comes in - I don't want to deviate from the style, which I know to be a perfect fit, comfortable enough for a few hours of walking, and of a simple design with minimal branding.  This fall the Eddie came out in watersnake leather, and I am obsessed.  The green shade of malachite is my personal must - a color like this is bright enough to pop, while still muted enough to go with everything.

Christmas Traditions

The BBC America Blog is currently running a series on Christmas traditions in Britain. So far they have talked about minced pies, Brussels sprouts served alongside the traditional roast (which for the upper classes once involved such exotic meats as peacock and wild boar), as well as music and pantomime... It got me thinking about about American Christmas traditions, of which there are many - this is such a large country with so many different regional and cultural customs. America is also not a Christian country (despite what many people want/seem to believe), while Britain has a strong history and ties to the Protestant Churches of England and Scotland, as well has to Catholicism, so in addition to Christmas we celebrate a variety of other days as part of the Holiday Season.

In my family, we have never had a set menu for Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve we have a lasagna dinner with our extended family (a nod to my grandmother's distant seeming Italian heritage), but otherwise we are lacking in Christmas food traditions... We have made everything from cassoulet, to latkes, to paella for the actual day. This year, though, I am leaning toward the British-style roast with all of the trimmings. Prime rib, Yorkshire puddings, and plenty of vegetables, but I think we'll skip the fruitcake and have a Sticky Toffee Pudding instead - I will definitely be making mine from scratch though!

BBC America Christmas coverage: http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/tag/a-very-british-christmas/

Hello...

This never fails to make me laugh... So happy that it's Friday!!

Food Fortunes

I recently stumbled across Food Fortunes, a site which combines astrology with cooking. Each month it provides a fortune based on your star sign, as well as recipes to go with your current emotional, financial, and romantic states. As a Pisces, I may be bypassing my December food fortunes of roasted yams and seaweed soup (not my favorites), and am instead going to turn to the recipe recommended for my rising sign, Taurus:

Oaxacan Black Mole with Braised Chicken

11 medium (about 5 1/2 ounces) dried mulato chiles

6 medium (about 2 ounces) dried chihualces chiles (see note in Variations and Improvisations below)

6 medium (about 2 ounces) dried pasilla chiles

1 dried chipotle chile (preferably the tan-brown chipotle meco)

1 corn tortilla, torn into small pieces

2 1/4-inch-thick slices of white onion

4 garlic cloves, unpeeled

About 2 cups rich-tasting lard or vegetable oil (for frying the chiles)

1/2 cup sesame seeds, plus a few extra for garnish

1/4 cup pecan halves

1/4 cup unskinned or Spanish peanuts

1/4 cup unskinned almonds

About 10 cups chicken broth (canned or homemade)

1 pound (2 medium-large or 6 to 8 plum) green tomatoes, roughly chopped

4 ounces (2 to 3 medium) tomatillos, husked, rinsed and roughly chopped

2 slices stale bread, toasted until very dark

1/4 teaspoon cloves, preferably freshly ground

1/2 teaspoon black pepper, preferably freshly ground

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, preferably freshly ground Mexican canela

A scant teaspoon oregano, preferably Mexican

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 ripe banana

1/2 cup (about 3 ounces) finely chopped Mexican chocolate

2 or 3 avocado leaves (if you have them)

Salt, about 1 tablespoon depending on the saltiness of the broth

Sugar, about 1/4 cup (or a little more)

2 large (3 1/2- to 4-pound) chickens, cut into quarters

1. Getting started. Pull out the stems (and attached seed pods) from the chiles, tear them open and shake or scrape out the seeds, collecting them as you go. Now, do something that will seem very odd: scoop the seeds into an ungreased medium-size (8- to 9-inch) skillet along with the torn-up tortilla, set over medium heat, turn on an exhaust fan, open a window and toast your seeds and tortilla, shaking the pan regularly, until thoroughly burned to charcoal black, about 15 minutes. (This is very important to the flavor and color of the mole.) Now, scrape them into a fine-mesh strainer and rinse for 30 seconds or so, then transfer to a blender.

Set an ungreased skillet or griddle over medium heat, lay on a piece of aluminum foil, and lay the onion slices and garlic cloves on that. Roast until soft and very dark (about 5 minutes on each side of the onion slices – peel it off the foil to turn it; about 15 minutes for the garlic – turn it frequently as it roasts). Cool the garlic a bit, peel it and combine with the onion in a large bowl. While the onion and garlic are roasting, turn on the oven to 350 degrees (for toasting nuts), return the skillet to medium heat, measure in a scant 2 cups of the lard or oil (you’ll need about 1/2-inch depth), and, when hot, begin frying the chiles a couple at a time: They’ll unfurl quickly, then release their aroma and piquancy (keep that exhaust on and window open) and, after about 30 seconds, have lightened in color and be well toasted (they should be crisp when cool, but not burnt smelling). Drain them well, gather them into a large bowl, cover with hot tap water, and let rehydrate for 30 minutes, stirring regularly to ensure even soaking. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid.

While the chiles are soaking, toast the seeds and nuts. Spread the sesame seeds onto a baking sheet or ovenproof skillet, spread the pecans, peanuts and almonds onto another baking sheet or skillet, then set both into the oven. In about 12 minutes the sesame seeds will have toasted to a dark brown; the nuts will take slightly longer. Add all of them to the blender (reserving a few sesame seeds for garnish), along with 1 1/2 cups of the chicken broth and blend to as smooth a puree as you can. Transfer to a small bowl.

Without rinsing the blender, combine the green tomatoes and tomatillos with another 1/2 cup of the broth and puree. Pour into another bowl. Again, without rinsing the blender, combine the roasted onion and garlic with the toasted bread, cloves, black pepper, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, banana and 3/4 cup broth. Blend to a smooth puree and pour into a small bowl. Finally, without rinsing the blender, scoop in half of the chiles, measure in 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid, blend to a smooth puree, then pour into another bowl. Repeat with the remaining chiles and another 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid.

2. From four purees to mole. In a very large (8- to 9-quart) pot (preferably a Dutch oven or Mexican cazuela), heat 3 tablespoons of the lard or oil (some of what you used for the chiles is fine) and set over medium-high heat. When very hot, add the tomato puree and stir and scrape (a flat-sided wooden spatula works well here) for 15 to 20 minutes until reduced, thick as tomato paste, and very dark (it’ll be the color of cinnamon stick and may be sticking to the pot in places). Add the nut puree and continue the stirring and scraping until reduced, thick and dark again (this time it’ll be the color of black olive paste), about 8 minutes. Then, as you guessed it, add the banana-spice puree and stir and scrape for another 7 or 8 minutes as the whole thing simmers back down to a thick mass about the same color it was before you added this one.

Add the chile puree, stir well and let reduce over medium-low heat until very thick and almost black, about 30 minutes, stirring regularly (but, thankfully, not constantly). Stir in the remaining 7 cups of broth, the chocolate and avocado leaves (if you have them), partially cover and simmer gently for about an hour, for all the flavors to come together. Season with salt and sugar (remembering that this is quite a sweet mole and that sugar helps balance the dark, toasty flavors). Remove the avocado leaves.

In batches in a loosely covered blender, puree the sauce until as smooth as possible, then pass through a medium-mesh strainer into a large bowl.

3. Finishing the dish. Return the mole to the same pot and heat it to a simmer. Nestle the leg-and-thigh quarters of the chicken into the bubbling black liquid, partially cover and time 15 minutes, then nestle in the breast quarters, partially cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until all the chicken is done.

With a slotted spoon, fish out the chicken pieces and transfer them to a large warm platter. Spoon a generous amount of the mole over and around them, sprinkle with the reserved sesame seeds and set triumphantly before your lucky guests.

See the recipes and your own fortune here: http://foodfortunes.com/