Tag: sweets

Categories
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…

Categories
foooood in germany in the netherlands

speculoos spread

ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to the best thing this side of nutella’s invention:

i wish blogs could convey the scent that emanates from this precious jar. it’s… indescribably mouth-watering. our friend isa showed it to us when we were staying with her, and in our excitement we almost forgot our manners and inhaled all of her precious stock! good lord, i could swear they lace it with crack…

speculoos are crunchy spiced (pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg) cookies from the netherlands and belgium. they taste a bit like crispier gingerbread cookies… but better! it’s hard to explain, the flavour is so characteristic – and in my mind irrevocably connected to afternoons writing my master thesis in the netherlands, with a cup of tea by my side.

the spread tastes like the cookies, and has an interesting story too:

In the area of Europe centered on Eeklo, Belgium, where the speculoos cookie originated, local workers had long known that a sandwich made in the morning with butter and speculoos cookies would develop a spread-like consistency by lunchtime.
In 2008, two competitors entered a contest on the Belgian television show, The Inventors (de Bedenkers), with a spread made from speculoos cookies— Els Scheppers, who reached the semi finals, and the team of chef Danny De Mayer and Dirk De Smet, who weren’t selected as finalists. Spreads made from crushed Speculoos cookies would subsequently go into production by three separate companies, and by the time they arrived in Belgian supermarkets, Speculoos spread caused a sensation, taking the “Benelux market by storm.”

it’s still hard to find in germany, but we’ve spotted it at kaiser’s and have been sharing it with all our friends ever since. seriously, give it a go if you can get it! :D

Categories
foooood traveling

kürtőskalács

it’s kind of messed up to write about something made almost exclusively of milk, sugar and gluten in the middle of a whole30… but i shall endure it to tell you all about the deliciousness of the hungarian kürtőskalács (chimney cake). the hungarians have my kind of cuisine: uncomplicated and flavourful. we ate a lot of delicious, belly-distending meals in budapest, but indulging in the omnipresent kürtőskalács was a daily temptation – one which we simply could not resist.

kürtőskalács is a very simple thing: a ribbon of yeast pastry rolled around a wooden cilinder, which is baked on the fire for a few minutes, and then rolled around in different sweet toppings, like sugar, cinnamon, coconut or nuts. some of the sugar melts in contact with the warm surface, which makes for a sticky mess – which is why they’re usually served inside a clear plastic sheet.
the result is a tube that comes apart in your hands in a spiral of fluffy goodness, cooked soft dough with a hint of lemon on the inside and a sugary shell around it, giving it a crispy texture. it’s… delightfully sinful, and heartily recommended! :)

Categories
foooood in germany

sweet berlin

imagine a market where the booths are all from local bakeries and chocolateries displaying their tiny bits of goodness… how could we resist such an invitation? so we’ve spent some time today cruising their stalls, picking morsels here and there, and then sampling them on some sunny church steps, along with friends. perfect afternoon in my book!


“kalter hund”, or cold dog, is apparently a typical german sweet made of chocolate and crackers. reminded me of our portuguese chocolate salami, with a higher cracker to chocolate ratio :)

other yummy things we’ve tried:


the minute i knew hudsons cakes was going to be in the fair, i knew i wanted a slice of their “chocolate lausitzer porter” cake. we had tried it before, and it stuck with us. it’s so good, moist but not too chocolatey… just perfect.

like they say around here, lecker! :)

Categories
foooood in sweden traveling

nöt-crème

in my head, netherlands has always been the holy grail of sweet temptations, the anti-diet country: they had vla! oliebollen! stroopwaffles! chocolate letters! hagelslag! speculaas!

but here in sweden… just, wow. i feel like we’ve entered a whole new saccharine dimension. we’re in a constant sugar high, giddy from all the treats and the excitement of discovering a new country. sweden is refreshing, clean, organised… and sweet, like you wouldn’t believe it!

case in point: nöt-crème.
these little things were invented by a family who started a company to produce one health product based on honey, herbs and all that good stuff… but that didn’t go very well with the customers.
so they thought “hey, how about we do something that resembles cake filling instead?”
they grabbed some hazelnuts and did just that, and suddenly they had kids queuing to buy the stuff and eat it straight from the package!

how cool is that? :D