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.

Okayama Table Terra Take Two

Remember this?  My lovely Japanese parents took me to Terra one last time, seeing as I’d previously enjoyed it so much. We had a seven course (yes SEVEN) course meal where only the Pizza pictured was shared. Everything else, is portioned for one. To say that I was full is an underestimate. The first time we visited Terra, we joked that we had gate-crashed a zucchini party because it seemed to be in every dish. This time, to my absolute delight, the zucchini was avocado. As in, most of the dishes were with avocado. Sah yum.

1: A trio of corn pudding with lemon cream sauce, Tottori tuna, avocado and ratatouille caprese, and grilled vegetables.
2: Raw veggies with an anchovy sauce
3: Cold cream of potato soup
4: Gluten-free pizza margarita on a rice-flour base
5: Main dish of pork with panko (Japanese bread-crumbs), potato salad stuffed grilled tomato and avocado and roe eggplant pizza.
6: Vegan hand-made fettuccine with avocado, tomato and burdock.
7: Tea cake with vanilla ice.

Most ingredients local. All ingredients yum.

Thank you so much Terra! Oishikata (it was delicious).

PS the head chef walked us to the parking lot to say goodbye! Now that’s service, am I right?!

 

Italian Night and a *Stolen* Recipe

If you follow my blog’s Facebook and/or Instagram accounts then you might know that I made Italian food for my Japanese friends last night. Now, how does a Persian-Kiwi learn to cook Italian? By working jobs. At 15 I worked at La Porchetta, a chain Italian restaurant then at 17 I waitress-ed at iconic Cafe Valentino which was destroyed from the devastating Christchurch earthquakes whilst I was living in Israel. When Cafe Valentino reopened on St. Asaph Street, I immediately returned, this time as Duty Manager. That’s right, GIRL BOSS. I loved the actual boss, I loved the head chef and I loved the pizza (not specifically in that order).

Working at Cafe Valentino, I learnt so much from Chef Karren. Not only is she extremely talented but also so utterly passionate and committed. To me, there is nothing more beautiful than a person who sacrifices day in and day out for their art.

During “the calm before the storm” (quiet mornings before lunch) at Cafe Valentino, I’d often have the opportunity to watch the chef’s preparations. Though I couldn’t ever know exactly how they made what they did or what exactly went into it, let’s just say, I can take a pretty accurate stab in the dark. Today I share with you an idiot-proof *stolen* recipe from the famous Cafe Valentino:

Tomato Freakin’ Bruschetta.

1 medium red onion, chopped small
about 3 medium tomatoes , chopped small – I used a punnet of mixed colored tomatoes whcih included red, maroon, green, yellow and orange ones.
bunch of fresh basil leaves – chopped small
dollop of good quality olive oil
dollop of good quality balsamic
pinch of sea salt
pinch of pepper

Bread – Cafe Valentino would use freshly baked ciabatta, I used store-bought French baguette.

Finely chop vegetables and herb.

Add a dollop of oil then balsamic – I guess Cafe Val used a balsamic reduction but I ain’t got time (or skills) for that.

Season with a little salt and pepper.

Mix well then refrigerate (you can do this well in advance to serving, if you wish).

For serving, slice bread, toast in a toaster or toaster oven then top each bread with big spoonfuls of tomato/onion mixture letting it fall everywhere (as in on the plate).
***HOT TIP from Rosie Blakely of Gaikokumama: “I usually cut a fresh garlic clove in half, rub the open-side over the bread, then lightly toast by frying the bread with a little olive oil. Yummy. Try it if you fancy!”

Okayama Table Terra

For my little sister, Juri’s birthday, my Japanese parents took us to Okayama Table Terra. And oh my goodness. This place was SO delicious. I could not believe it! I wish I had discovered it earlier.

Terra is two storey and the interior is gorgeous. White chairs and dark wooden tables. Big mirrors, open kitchen, wonderful service and pot plants. Perfect for any occasion. Especially a couple date! EEEE

We had the chef’s choice set menu and it was to die for! WOW! I can’t wait to go back. Is the chef single?! Can I marry him? More details HERE.

Because I can’t fluently understand Japanese, I can’t give you the exact description of each dish, but what I can say is we started with an antipasti plate (featuring zucchini bruschetta), followed by a variety of vegetables served with an anchovy dip, then cold new season cream of potato soup, next delicious eggplant pizzas topped with cheese and mince, next pizza margarita and last but definitely not least (because it was our favorite), a vegetarian zucchini and soy-bean “bolognese”. WOW it was so delicious I wish I could eat it for lunch today. Heck, also dinner.

At Terra, we also had coffee and a little cake. At home, we had tea and a big cake (gluten, dairy and refined-sugar free) – which I made. Recipe HERE. Except for Juri, I doubled this recipe: made two cakes, placed them on top of one another and spread an all-natural raspberry jam in the middle of them. Mama Mia.

Italian Pasta in Japan

Basically, the Japanese LOVE noodles. Like, more than NZers love alcohol or bacon or Iranians love kebabs or rice. Though probably even more. Cause they have noodle festivals! Entire festivals dedicated to noodles! Noodles of several kinds but mostly there are 4; ramen (the thin and yellow fast-food Chinese noodle), soba (the healthy brown one made of buckwheat flour), udon (round and thick like moi) and somen (supermodel thin like moi in the future). Which are eaten hot, cold, on their own with dipping sauce, in a soup, in a stir fry and even as a patty in a burger bun! So you’d think after a life-time of living and breathing mamas home cooked Japanese noodles, they’d venture out when it came to dining at Bona Petito… No. What do they order? What SOLE pasta CAN they order? You got it, SPAGHETTI.

It’s funny, even their supermarkets, only sell spaghetti in their Italian/pasta isle. To be fair, on the odd chance, I might see shells or bow-ties, though I’m sure it’s not the Japanese buying those. As for all of the other good pastas; fettuccine, ravioli, tortellini, gnocchi etc they are only usually found in international import stores. Oh and when it comes to lasagne sheets, only the tiny square sized ones are sold because Japanese don’t have full-sized ovens in their homes.

So you go to an Italian restaurant and the only sort of pasta you can order is spaghetti.Which is fine… only a firstworldproblem and all but like, they’ll have packets of tagliatelle displayed around the restaurant for fun or as decoration to tempt you but they don’t actually serve that, no. Or any other pasta for that matter. Just spag. Just more fu&king noodles. #myjapanlife

Italian night and a savoury muffin recipe

Last night was Taka’s birthday (the father of the adorable baby I keep posting). So of course, we cooked. And by we, I mean me. I made Gnocchi with mushroom, spinach and tomato, a garden salad with organic greens hand-delivered to my home by the local organic farmer in an eco-friendly manner (wrapped in newspaper not PLASTIC as is everything in Japan and I mean every single thing imaginable) and savoury muffins (recipe below). The wholemeal and olive bread pictured is from Hugo et Leo. For dessert, I made my famous crumble but seeing as I’ve no photo evidence for y’all, I may as well have not bothered at all (sarcasm).

3 free-range eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup wholemeal flour
1/2 cup almond meal
handful of grated parmesan
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup of sundried tomatoes, chopped
handful of parsley, finely chopped

50 grams of cream cheese

Grease a 6 case muffin tray and pre-heat the oven to 180C

Mix together the eggs, olive oil and apple cider vinegar.

Gently fold in everything else except the cream cheese.

Place one heaped table spoon of batter in each muffin case, top with a dice-sized piece of cream cheese then cover with remaining batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the fork comes out clean.

Note: recipe doesn’t need any salt as sundried tomatoes and parmesan are salty enough.

review no29 La Gita italian restaurant

You know it’s gonna be good pizza when there’s a legit wood-fired pizza oven in the room. Everyone loves Italian but for some reason, the Japanese are obsessed with it. After the Jap classics (teppan, sushi, ramen etc), here, Italian restaurants are the next big thing. Naturally, they can’t all be amazing so it’s pretty exciting when you come across a good one. La Gita in Katsumada is definitely up there. Not only is the food delizioso, the atmosphere is great, too! My favourite details include the chequered table cloths, the football jersey on the wall and the wait-staff’s uniform. The menu is in Japanese and ITALIAN so make sure you’re familiar with the basics before you go: margarita, marinara, frutti di mare etc. My only complaint would be the size of my tiramisu. I mean, come on, look at that picture. No wonder the Japanese are so skinny, I inhaled it in one bite.
I WANT MORE.

Zeppole Di Patate AKA the best thing I’ve ever eaten

Yesterday I decided to cut sugar out of my diet for a month. A mere eight hours later, I gave in to zeppole di patate, a highly delicious (to put it mildly) Italian doughnut or donut. For once, I was/am lost for words. Imagine a plain donut (morethanamazing in itself) in mini bite-size form (perfect for shoving down gob) filled with chocolate or vanilla cream then presented one on top of the other, in a tower-like fashion on a handy wooden stick – aesthetic and practical! The taste you ask? Donut even get me started because I won’t be able to stop! These little rounds of heaven are seriously outofthisworld delicious (shit, I’m salivating into the keyboard). I have always dreamt of visiting Italy. You know, for the glorious architecture, the mouthwatering pizza margaritas, the iconic gelato and by all that, I mean the attractive0 (to put it politely) men but as of yesterday, the motivations behind my future Italian getaway were entirely revived. All praise the zeppole di patate. My goodness, even the name makes me hungry. Screw cutting sugar. It’s safe to say, these sweet rounds of dough definitely taste better than skinny will feel, ever.

I’m not sure where you can get these babies from in Christchurch (which is where I presume most of my followers reside) but in Tauranga, you can find this adorable trio (here I am referring to both donut and donut vendors) at the weekly Thursday night market in Papamoa, Dinner in the Domain; a lively feel-good market not only equipped with a variety of tasty eateries but also sporting a damn fine sea view – definitely a must!

One last thing, why is taking pictures of food so frowned upon? Am considering tattooing “I have a food blog, stop staring at me” across my forehead. Thoughts?