Tag: love

Best Vineyard Food – New Zealand

M's Adventures
Eggplant/aubergine salad. So much better than it sounds.
Eggplant/aubergine salad. So much better than it sounds.

We were whizzing past the views of paradise on Waiheke Island off Auckland’s coast. The bus driver/guide had suggested places in his well rehearsed voice but after all the other tourists got off at the beachfront restaurant, I asked him again. Where would you eat? He mentioned a vineyard that had won some award last year. He said it was a bit of a walk at almost a kilometer.

The view from our table... vineyard to ocean...
The view from our table… vineyard to ocean…

We got lost. We asked a local for directions. He heartily endorsed Casita Miro. When we found it, we went in through the kitchen. Like everything else in New Zealand, it was both casual, elegant, and ridiculously fresh. The restaurant bakes all their own bread and their food is tapas style. They make good coffee as well so you can enjoy a latte as well (in New Zealand, they have another drink called a “flat white” which is a latte with no foam hence flat. The best one we had was made by an Italian guy down at the harbor in Auckland).

Tagine style lamb shank.
Tagine style lamb shank.

Casita Miro is only open for lunch so plan for it. Enjoy some of the vineyard’s wines… make this a destination.

Deep-fried mozzarella.
Deep-fried mozzarella.
The large windows of the restaurant.
The large windows of the restaurant.

Bucket List Foods – Fresh Hazelnuts in Denmark

M's Adventures

Some people have places they must see before they die on their bucket list. To me, certain interesting people and certain foods are the destination. Fresh hazelnuts in Denmark is a destination.

Hazelnuts in shell and two ready to eat (one I have started…). These are not completely fresh.

Fresh hazelnuts are juicy and crisp. Try them. Make it a part of your trip if you are in Denmark in September.

One Year of Madventures.me – Still Mad for Food and Adventure

M's Adventures

Madventures.me is one year old. One year ago, I started this blog in preparation for new adventures in food and travel. One year of great food and travel in Amman, Copenhagen, Dhaka, Doha, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Krabi, Luang Prabang, Mumbai, New Delhi, New England, Singapore, and many more.

I started this blog to share some of my adventures with family and friends. As I’ve blogged, my blog has evolved into a source for providing information on restaurants in Dhaka, shopping, and how much one can do in Bangladesh. As a blogger, I’ve been enormously happy when readers from all over the world visit my blog. Thank you for stopping by… from almost the entire world:

Map of visitors to madventures.me in the first 11 months.

As my readership expands beyond people I know, I’m curious about what leads readers to my blog. So here are the top search terms people have searched for in the past year:

Top search terms on madventures.me.

Land of Choices

M's Adventures
Land of milk and soy, goat, almond…

I was recently in the new Trader Joes in Clarendon, Virginia, USA, and I was bedazzled by the array of new choices. Mine was a normal reaction and I came prepared with camera.

Bread by any name.

Whether you call it a tomato or a tomato, it’s still a tomato. Milk, however, is not just milk. And how great is that!

Thank You for Loving Bacon

M's Adventures
Danish bacon frying up in a pan.

I was wrong. In recalling Danish bacon, I simply remembered that it was my favorite kind of bacon. When I got to Denmark this time around, I set out to fry some up. When I cooked the pack of bacon, all 250 grams of it,  and realized that no fat came sputtering out of it because the bacon is much more  akin to pancetta, thin and not woodsy in smell… (the Danes have their own breed of pigs called the Antonius). When I ate the first crinkly mahogany strip, I realized that I had been utterly wrong. The Danish bacon was much better than the bacon of my memory.

The sticker says “thank you for loving bacon”.

 

Bangladeshi Home Cooking

M's Adventures
Eggplant, fish, squash, potato, taro root mash, gourd, peas, red spinach, beans, taro leaf…

A secret was revealed to me… plain home cooking Bangladeshi style. Every time I’ve been to a Bangladeshi home, I’ve been served beef, chicken, biryani, and other bounty of the table. The food in Bangladeshi restaurants is fancy as well. I just want home cooking. Apparently, home cooking involves lots of “mash” made from different vegetables. Like in most cultures, this is not considered good enough for guests.

Veggies, shrimp curry, eggplant dip, pomelo and apple salad…

Finally, a Bangladeshi friend of mine understood me and my out of town guests (it makes me really happy when this level of cultural understanding happens) and he invited us to dinner. He made us “ordinary” food of vegetables. And more vegetables. I loved it. We had taro root in three different ways, tamarind sauce, squash, peas, eggplant, potatoes, fresh chapati, rice, beans, shrimp, and so much more. My favorite was the white taro mash with chiles. My guests were thrilled to be invited to a Bangladeshi home on the very night of their arrival from the other side of the world. I’m glad to have been given a friend who so comprehends me. He explained to me that even he likes to drop in on friends so that he can get real home cooking.

Taro mash. These mashes are typical, apparently.

So now I’ve got to learn this skill. More taro root for me please!

A Monsoon Wedding in Bangladesh

M's Adventures
A happy Bangladeshi bridal couple.

Wedding season in Bangladesh is December-January mainly because the temperature cooler (and family from abroad can make it as well). It’s been ten months since I started this blog and one of the most popular themes I’ve notice people search for is information about Bangladeshi weddings. Now that I had the honor of being invited to another one, I have more photos to show.

Groom poses for photos as he cuts the roast.

My friend and arrived at the community center three hours late due to other social engagements which was just in time to sit down with the bride and groom.

Children are welcome at weddings even late at night.
The bargaining begins…

I know that before I went to my first Bangladeshi wedding, I was curious about what would happen. I hope to go to more weddings while here.

The groom takes his bride and she acts demur.

Dating in the Desh

M's Adventures
Courtship, Bangladeshi style.

Bangladesh is a crowded country so getting away from the madding crowd for a quiet “date” with someone you are courting or being courted by… is somewhat a matter of real estate. Famous Lalbagh Fort, considered a mini Taj Mahal, looks quite different from what is shown on the Amazing Race TV show, but it is worth visiting. There is a mausoleum built by a grieving father, a harem with baths, sweet smelling flowers, and a 300-year-old pool. Interestingly, what makes the fort so attractive is not the tomb, pool, or harem. In a crowded country, the walkways and niches provide a private place in a public space for young Bangladeshi couples to court. This a romantic place and there must be something in the air.

Lalbagh Fort’s mausoleum to two daughters.

Love rocks!

Courting Deshi couples wait outside the gate for the Fort to open.
The harem at Lalbagh Fort with the crowded apartment blocks just outside the fence.

Meze, Music, and Smoke – Istanbulli Night

M's Adventures

I came to Istanbul to see friends and to eat. Then so much more happened. Like the Hagia Sofia, this city of living myth and carpets wrapped her mighty magic embrace… and now, my heart is falling hard. When I told this to my friend, she said, “Good. I’m glad that you are leaving your heart here… then you’ll come back for it.”

Entertain the night. Welcome to Istanbul!