Our Japanese Guests’ Day Two

On day two we went to Akaroa and it was such a nice day and such a fun time that it turned out to be our guests’t highlight. So far! As in, don’t go away yet, there’s much more to come.

I’m so predictable. Kapiti black doris plum and creme fraiche is my faveeeee.

Treated myself at the gift-store! Sooo cute, right?

Ugly but delicious.Gosh, I love NZ apricots! So did our guests. This is because apricots, alongside some other produce (such as good cheese, brown bread and beetroot) are hard to come by in Japan.

This has got to be the funniest photo. Here’s Yuko and her husband awkwardly agreeing to a photo by my crazy dad as Juri takes yet another selfie!
Beautiful Yuko.

The small houses in Akaroa are so adorable. Soroosh? Let’s go. 


Last but not least, a great Kiwi lunch: battered fish, squid rings, onion rings, L&P and Wattie’s tomato sauce.

In The Time French People Sing Hello, A Kiwi Has Told A Whole Story.

So. If you haven’t been keeping up and you don’t know, I am staying in Antibes, in the south of France, in the old town, in an apartment all to my own. The apartment belongs to Anita’s mother’s sister-in-law. Or Anita’s father’s sister.

Anita, is the most beautiful, hard-working and driven Italian girl you’ll ever know. I met her when she started worked for Cafe Valentino. I was her trainer. I still remember sitting her and another young man (Bryn) down and taking them through the menu. “What’s capsicum?” “What’s bacon? “What’s…?” “What’s…?” she mused as Bryn became more and more impatient. The next day, Anita had memorised the entire menu! So, it was no wonder for any of us when she became the restaurant MANAGER so soon. Yes, my boss! But I trained her! My oh my how we joked. And shared pizzas. And talked boys. And ate tiramisu.

Now, I am spending my days with her parents and I love them as I do my own. They are so generous, loving and natural. Daddy Dazzi loves food just as I do, and mama Dazzi knows exactly what to say to make my heart glow.

I really don’t know how I am going to leave. I have fallen in love with Antibes.

(Pizza for entree and pizza for main.)

On my first evening here, Daddy Dazzi treated us to real French Bouillabaisse, a traditional Provençal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille. The restaurant Daddy had chosen was by far, the most expensive I’ve ever been to. I felt like a queen and my tongue was on fire. I wish you could have tasted it too.


(Daddy’s thumb photography.)


Yesterday, I spent a whole day in Nice with mama. The weather was wonderful and so was she, as per usual. She held my hands, gave me kisses, and loving advice on relationships, marriage, children, and so forth. In between, she gave me a quick French lesson where she taught me to sing my words. She said: in the time a French person sings hello, a Kiwi has told a whole story. Which is so true because the French stretch their words almost as long as the Thai do, and true Kiwis speak without pause.



(Photos of me are low-quality because they’re taken by Mama Dazzi’s phone.)

(Behind the scenes food photography)

(Mama Dazzi working the cheese, olive tapenade and fresh basil like a pro.) This is lunch at Le Pin Parasol. If you find yourself in Antibes, this little brasserie is a definite must-go. It is not everyday you feel this much passion in the taste and presentation of a meal. Click HERE for more info.

Daddy Dazzi is preparing Lasagna for me tomorrow. Apparently, his is the best. You know, seeing as he’s a real Italian and all. Today over lunch, he discussed with his wife, the preparations for tomorrow. They spoke in Italian. They seemed to be arguing. Daddy switched to English: “I am the artist. I am not the worker,” he proclaimed to his wife. What he was referring to, was the shopping for tomorrow’s meal!

So, all I have done this week, has been to eat and eat and eat some more. Which is so bad because I am going to America in a few days and I really wanted to look good…Alas, I have no self control and these two are killing me.

Daddy Dazzi: a little pizza is good for the health. Yeah right. Also gelato, also crepe, also risotto. There is no stopping with Italians and food!

Get this: today, as we worked our way through lunch, Daddy asked his wife (much like my own father asks my mom sometimes) what they would be having for their next meal.

“The next meal?” I screamed.
“Yes the next meal.”
“Nothing for me!”
“What? That’s dangerous,” he warned.

Dangerous. Dangerous! Can you believe it? After eating all of this food! I have never laughed so hard before.

I Accidently Ate The Whole Day

Diet shmiet.

Mindful Eating For Dummies

Are you constantly hangry? Are you constantly craving EVERYTHING?

STOP! Don’t exit. This is not some generic ad for an ab-machine.

What this is, is a few simple steps in winning this seemingly impossible hunger game we, the wealthy 21st century humans, all seem to be playing.


1. CHEW
Remember my post about the health benefits of smoothie bowls? The more we chew, the more our stomachs signal our brains that we’re full. Apparently, we’re supposed to chew our food 20-30 times before swallowing. I hear ya! Ain’t no body got time for that. Well, I ain’t got time to buy new jeans either.

2. USE A PLATE
Try to do this even when you’re feeling angry or upset. No doubt, you’re less likely to eat a whole packet of Oreos if you see them on a plate. This visual reality check will instantly show you that the portion is too big.

3. EAT AWAY FROM THE SCREEN
Checking the number of likes on your new profile picture can wait. Experts caution that eating meals or snacking while distracted by our cellphones and/or computers makes our food seem less satisfying. Dissatisfaction will most likely cause us to seek out more snacks later. This concept also applies to eating food “on the go”: driving/studying/etc/etc. So like, don’t eat a muesli bar with one hand and hold the steering wheel with the other. Instead, pull over and smell the roses. This means focusing on the taste, texture and aroma of each and every mouthful. Remember, we are among the very few privileged individuals of this day and age who actually have access to such an abundance of food. Which means we are seriously obliged to give our food time, energy and respect.

4. PRIORITISE SLEEP
Lack of sleep can mess with our moods, food cravings and even cause our skin to breakout. It does this by increasing our levels of cortisol, the stress hormone that causes inflammation and turns on our oil-producing glands. In addition, insufficient sleep causes hormonal changes that decrease our satiety after eating, lower the calories we burn during the day, and turn on obesity-promoting genes. BRB snoozing!

5. BEWARE OF OTHER HUMANS (A tad OTT, but true.)
Other people can hugely influence our food choices. When US researchers looked at groups of three people for the 2012 Friends Don’t Let Friends Eat Cookies study, they found that if two friends restricted their intake of biscuits, the third friend followed suit, NOT ONLY when with the group but also when alone! On the other hand, when two friends ate more biscuits, the third friend also tucked into more, and again, ate more when alone. In short, pick healthy friends. Or, be that healthy friend. Let’s do this together <3

Seize The Moment. Remember All Those Women On The ‘Titanic’ Who Waved Off The Dessert Cart.

On the second last day of Christmas, I mean ‘The Parents Visit’ we ate. My healthy waffles (recipe HERE), my vegan thai curry (recipe HERE) and lastly, at Hokkaido (the name of the sushi train) in Tottori.

People Who Love To Eat Are Always The Best People

“People who love to eat are always the best people.”

“In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport.”

“The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.”

“A party without cake is just a meeting”

“You don’t spring into good cooking naked. You have to have some training. You have to learn how to eat.”

“Bon Appétit”

-Julia Child

From left to right: kale and spinach salad with boiled quail eggs and yuzu peel, sweet potato frittata, potato and venison in tomato sauce and last but not least, braised cabbage with cumin. Top centre is home-made mustard mayonnaise. Oh my goodness. If Julia were there, she’d have loved it.

Fried little fishes, that were scary at first but turned out to be super oishi (delicious) and fried sunchokes aka Israeli artichokes.

My favourite dish of the night! Parsley crumbed fresh sardines. Oh mama mia!

Pull Up A Chair

“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.”
― Ruth Reic

Had the most wonderful Saturday yesterday and I couldn’t wait to tell you about it but I just crashed when I got home. Tis what good food in belly does to you, people! First, a delicious home-cooked and I mean, really home-cooked meal by my dear friends, Mina and Shogo: vegetable medley, cabbage salad with koji dressing (like a super healthy fermented salt) and home-made kimchi (thanks Leo).

Next, we made hummus (to take for dinner later). We made two kinds using this recipe. The one difference being, we used homemade peanut butter for one and for the other, homemade tahini – which by the way, is essentially, blitzing 100% peanuts or 100% sesame seeds in a food processor until they naturally release their oils and a paste forms. Both good.

Next, Yukuli Cafe (third picture) in Setouchi where we had delicious Americanos and even more delicious sweets: traditional lemon and blueberry cake (the owner’s mom’s own recipe) and apple, cinnamon and walnut sponge cake. It was my first time at Yukuli and I felt the place (and the owners) had great energy. Perhaps the large glass windows letting in all that glorious light were to account for. Anyways, definitely a place worth visiting. Even more so for the English menu and late opening hours (23:00).

Last but not least, Munchies Pizzeria (coming soon) where I finally ate REAL pizza in Japan. And perhaps even better than the pizza (if there is such a thing) were the passionate owners who I wish I could have taken home with me. Absolutely precious couple. So so sweet. What a day!

Happy Valentines Day everyone. Or Galantines day? That’s the new trend, is it? Clearly, as you can see, I’m in an open-relationship with munchies (of all kinds).

New Year’s in Japan

The following extract is from education.asianart.org cos aint nobody got time to write a blogpost. Just joking, not really, but I will say a word or two. First, that I’m so darn lucky, I got to experience mochi pounding TWICE this year since I live so rural and second that the mochi, the adzuki beans (used to make the red bean paste, anko) and the soybeans (used to make soy bean powder, kinako) were all grown and made by hand by my lovely hosts. Also, that the old lady (obachan) pictured below is a great-grandmother and 94!

JOY JOY JOY! Happy New Year, y’all!

In Japan, mochi (sticky rice dumpling) is a tasty treat made to commemorate special occasions, most notably the New Year. Once essential to the New Year celebration, the practice of pounding mochi together, or mochitsuki, is now rare even in Japan, as busy people eat store-bought mochi rather than make their own. Traditionally, glutinous rice is washed and soaked overnight on the evening before the pounding.

The next morning the rice is steamed and placed in the usu (large mortar) where it is pounded with a kine (wooden mallet). Once the mass is soft and smooth, it is pulled into various sizes and shapes. It can be enjoyed a variety of ways: fresh, with different sauces, sweet stuffing, or seaweed.

An offering to the kani (deity), called kagami-mochi (mirror mochi), is comprised of two mochi cakes usually placed on a sheet of pure white paper in the center of a wooden tray. and topped with a bitter orange (daidai). Kagami-mochi is placed on the family altar during the New Year as an auspicious gesture that signifies hope for a happy and bright year ahead.

Mochi is used to make a variety of traditional sweets and it can be eaten right away or cured and dried for later use. When it is cured, it hardens and can be cooked with red beans, vegetables or soups. It is also popular toasted on top of a stove, dipped in a variety of flavorings such as soy sauce and sugar or coated with toasted soy bean powder. Toasted mochi inflates to several times its original size, forming a crisp crust with a soft, chewy interior.

The exact origin of mochi is unknown, though it is said to have come from China. The cakes of pounded glutinous rice appear to have become a New Year’s treat during Japan’s Heian period (794–1185). As early as the tenth century, various kinds of mochi were used as imperial offerings at religious ceremonies. A dictionary dating from before 1070 calls the rice cake “mochii.” Around the eighteenth century, people began to call it “mochi.” Various theories explain the name. One is that “mochi” came from the verb “motsu,” “to hold or to have,” signifying that mochi is food given by God. The word “mochizuki” means “full moon.”


Oh, and just to confuse y’all a little more, the very first image is where the rice cooks and the last images are of tochimochi being mixed into red bean paste or in Japanese, anko.

Sister visit, day 8.

MIYAJIMA ft. shrines, temples, an aquarium, a giant octopus cracker, a maple-leaf shaped fried fish cake, Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki and wild/tame deer.

Sister visit, day 7.

On day seven we ate our way through Japan: my favourite pancakes, this time apple flavour, Japanese soba, sushi-train restaurant and last but not least, MOS BURGER; the only fast food chain where your burger actually looks like the picture (and tastes as good as you hope).