Tag: dessert

douhua

douhua (or tofu pudding) has been another of this trip’s delicious discoveries. it’s refreshing, super soft, and melts in your mouth like nothing at all. i’ve heard in some provinces of china it is served as a savory dish, but in taiwan it is firmly a dessert, its smooth gelatinous chunks accompanied with ice, sugary water and other toppings like tapioca balls, taro, boiled peanuts or red beans.

sometimes it’s fancy and hipster, and other times it’s just the most basic dessert served on a stall by the side of the road.

it feels heavenly either way, the perfect antidote to the stifling heat!

Post author By ana
Post date April 7, 2023
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foooood in thailand

mango with sticky rice

i want to write an ode to the perfection that is mango with sticky rice… but i’m not a poet and words fail me. what is it about the combination of sweet glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and buttery yellow mangoes that makes this ~~probably~~ the best dessert ever?

is it the hot and cold dynamic? is it the fact that there’s fruit to spice up what would otherwise be a milchreis? is it the coconut milk, mellowing the rice and turning the flavor into something exotic?

i have no answer to these questions. all i know is that whether they’re served in street food carts or on a restaurant table, the result is always the same: an explosion of flavors in our mouths that make our eyes close in happiness.

at some point we started cooking it on our temporary home in koh samui, because we couldn’t bear to go a minute longer without it. we’ve eaten so much of them that i fear that we’ll go through withdrawal symptoms once we get back.

alas, i’ve never seen a yellow mango in europe, and they’re so much better than our “normal” mangoes, that i wonder if we could get away with planting a mango tree in our backyard. it would take some years for it to grow, but it would definitely be worth it. mmmm….

foooood in germany

kastenpickert

this year’s annual october pilgrimage to bielefeld was probably our 10th or 11th visit to the city. between postcards and rubberstamping, the city that doesn’t exist has slowly become the second city we know best in the whole germany. although i like traveling and discovering new places as much as any fellow wanderluster, there’s also a comforting allure in familiar places, that allows us to dig a little deeper under the surface, discovering a bit more of its essence… or its deliciousness!

this time, we made a new local friend who took us to try kastenpickert, a local speciality.

pickert is a potato cake or pancake from westphalia, fried and served with jam or a savory side. there are different versions throughout the region, but the one we tried looked a bit like french toast made out of cake. there’s nothing about cake or french toast that i don’t like, so predictably, it was really good.

i picked sanddorn (sea buckthorn) jam because i love its tangy taste and it’s such a rare sight for us in the south tip of europe.

in the end, 3 slices might have been a bit of an ambitious goal for a mid-afternoon snack… but it was worth it for the company and the opportunity of unlocking a bit more of the bielefeld puzzle. :)

foooood in canada

sweets in canada!

ok, so let’s get down to business and talk about canadian sweets. first of all, the omnipresent maple-syrup!

no complaints here, we’re big fans of it. the boiled sap of maple trees is a versatile product, which can be put in lots of things, including cookies, candy or glazing.

speaking of tim hortons, their selection is mouthwatering.

but if you’re not feeling like having a whole pastry, they have little donut holes called “timbits”, just a bite-sized hit of sweetness. timbits is also the name of their community program that sponsors kids sports teams.

next on our list, beavertails… these were a bit underwhelming, if i’m being honest, a limp piece of fried dough with toppings. i know dough is usually just a vehicle for a topping, but somehow, this sounded better than it tasted.

ice-cream! ice-cream was everywhere, and the canadians go all out on their flavours, making some fun combinations like bear claws (dark chocolate ice-cream with caramel swirls and choco-coated cashews), moose tracks (vanila ice-cream with fudge and peanut butter cups) or grandma’s cupboard (supposedly, all the sweets you find in grandma’s pantry)… and always in huge portions!

next, a mini peach pie that we had on a small roadside farmer shop on our way to niagara which was a-ma-zing! when i went to take the photo it was already half-eaten…

we also tried butter tarts, pudding chômeur, date squares… they’re all delicious and give you warm fuzzy feelings of happiness and christmas.

i guess canada’s spirit really comes through in their sweets. :)

foooood in portugal

a tripa do furadouro

the boy is originally from oliveira de azeméis, which isn’t far from the coast. the nearest beach is called furadouro, and it is famous for a special kind of “beach dessert” which he had never tried before: the tripa! we’d been hearing about this tripa (which means gut in portuguese) for such a long time that by the time we finally tried it last winter, it had reached epic fame proportions… could it live up to our high expectations?

turns out, yes! especially the one filled with ovos moles… it was delicious! the dough is a mix between a crepe and a softened wafferish cookie which is folded over your selected filling… it was soft and warm and just the thing for a windy cold the day by the sea! can’t wait to go back and try the one with condensed milk mmmm…