New, greener winds are flowing
• Lately, I've noticed that I'm gradually shifting towards a more plant based diet.
Rather than forbidding myself anything, my interest for meat & fish is just in decline, replaced with amusement of the vivid colours & health benefits veggies can give me.
I am fully embracing the direction I am going in, as I do believe the world would be a better place without industrial mass-suffering. And I thank the universe for letting all of this happen so naturally, for me.
However much I do like the thought of veganism, I also believe that it can promote other harmful mechanisms, such as importing food from all over the world. Animal produce or not, I think choosing local is the most sustainable option when it comes to the climate.
But.
I've been a sushi chef for almost 10 years. Not owning my own restaurant, or deciding my own menu, proves it difficult to stay as sustainable as I would like. Which makes me wonder what I can, or should do.
I don't want to be part of the old ways that's clearly steering us into the abyss.
I want to be part of the change.
And change starts with oneself.
(To be clear... I haven't even come close to figure it out yet. Just sharing my thoughts of today. Thank you for reading 🌱)
Happy Easter!
Somehow, even though I work with catering, I never really know anything about Easter. When? What? Why? For me, it's just another excuse for the days to get extra busy at work.
So now when I happen to be in my hometown Hällefors, it was just perfect to enjoy a traditional Easter buffe at my old foster family home. All of my 'step siblings', or whatever it's actually called, have 2-3 children each, and that's a lot of energy going on around... I was slightly awkward in the midst of the running around, playing, crying, but I guess things fell more naturally after a while (and 2 shots of rum). It was pretty heartwarming somehow. Even though we're not physically connected, I really felt like a part of the family again. I'm so lucky to be part of them.
So, down to some of the traditional easter food we've got in my part of Sweden:
- Egg halves with with crème fraîche, dill and caviar
- Different types of pickled herring
- Cured salmon with heartberries
- Smoked (?) deer wih capers (slightly red inside, my meat favourite)
- Potato salad with cornichons
- Boiled dill potatoes. More potatoes.
- Smoked fish
- Christmas ham (haha wtf) and strong mustard
- Salami & sausages
- Meatballs & smoked whatever-animal-it-was
- Janssons (potato gratin with anchovies)
- Assorted cheeses and crisp bread
....and the list goes on forever. This varies of course a lot from family to family, but you get the idea. Even though I would rather be drinking beer in my bikini and dance for hours, this felt good. It felt good to meet everyone again. It felt good to be part of a huge family. It was also one of the best food experiences so far this year. And tomorrow, I'll be back to munch on the leftovers of today <3
Fancy lunch
Seafood platter with ponzu oysters, pickled baby octopus and wasabi calamari rings, followed by crispy skin ocean trout with scallop, mussle and prawn tomato ragu. It costs to eat good...
Bulalo
Read about Smoke risto's award-winning Bulalo soup while researching about filipino cuisine, so there I went to try it out.
It came piping hot, so I removed the meat and cabbage and put it nicely over the rice. Also got a bit of chili oil on the side which I obviously dumped right down in the soup.
I also got a little friend laying under the table, probably smelling the glorious
For you who doesn't know, bulalo is a beef shank soup with the broth made from boiling the meat on the bones. Usually contains chinese cabbage aswell if I understood it right.
So I went to this very small local restaurant located on the outskirts of the tourist bubble. Ordered one with rice on the side;
It came piping hot, so I removed the meat and cabbage and put it nicely over the rice. Also got a bit of chili oil on the side which I obviously dumped right down in the soup.
Ate the meat and other beautiful beef tissue while the soup took its time to cool down. Tried to spoon up some soup in between each bite to fuse the different elements together. Jelly-like beef tissue/fat, soft, ultra slow cooked beef so tender you're ready to die. Broth just as salty as it should be, and also the extra sting of the chili oil. Oh my god... Extremely divine.
At the later part of the meal when the temperatures went to a good level, I just put everything on the plate and dumped it into the soup bowl (correction; what was left). All the flavors and textures came together to be ridiculously good.
I also got a little friend laying under the table, probably smelling the glorious
aroma better than I do. At that moment, there was nowhere I'd rather be.
Magic nigro chicken
It's been a lot of absence here lately. Maybe it's too hot, I'm doing nothing else than eating chilli-bursting spicy food and melting here. I arrived to Chiang Mai two days ago, and is just here for my mothers sake to be honest. Meeting my grandparents which I've never really spoken too, and also got to meet my biological father! More bout that another time.
North of Thailand means family business anyway, the sky is always grey (pollution) and I don't really like it here as I like the south. Sad sad grey skies, reminder of how we destroy our beautiful earth.
Oh well. My father brought some new stuff to cook with me today. I dropped my jaw when he pulled out a black chicken from he bag. Everything was black, the meat, the skin, the beak, the bones. WTF? I never even thought about its existence before. He made a soup by boiling it with herbs, garlic, other random thai stuff, we cooked together! The nigro chicken tasted exactly like normal though, but I must say it did look slightly scary when black even inside :P
Sad one. You wouldn't be too happy
'bout getting boiled either would'ya :(
Manly nigiri Manly nigiri
Went driving around Manly and areas around yesterday. The weather was quite shitty as it has been rainy for last week, but I got to see some spots at least. The natures wet face is another kind of beauty I'm incredible grateful for aswell, it is amazing to feel the earth drink the heavens to sprout new life.
Stopped at the local sushi shop and tried out some glazed scallop and king crab nigiri.
Oh god, I've forgotten how good scallop tastes when slightly burnt on top <3
Kindergarten cooking class
Held a cooking class for Lennox kindergarten today (Lennox is my sis's kid). Mum started with making masaman curry and chicken fried rice, and I showed them how to make coconut chocolate balls (of course I get to do the chocolate stuff :P). The kids are obviously too young to actually learn how to cook but the teachers described what was happening in a very good educational way so hopefully they learnt something small :)
When we came back home both mum and sis fell asleep in the living room while I was busy making gyoza dumplings haha!
A little taste of Italy
I was drinking some with my sis and a couple of Filipinos last night. Stayed up very late like usual and then woke up early in the morning again, unable to sleep. Again.
My lack of sleep is starting to get ridiculous, it's been like 1,5 months since my travel (and lack of sleep) started. I wake up early in the morning for the cause of sleeping early aswell, but somehow I end up not sleepy until late... and then it goes again.
Anyway, today I've been ridiculously tired all day. Like, sleepy tired. We went for lunch at a Italian place and had some spinach/ricotta ravioli with creamy pesto sauce, the thickest cheesy garlic bruschetta I've seen, caramel/chocolate ganache wih vanilla ice cream and tiramisu. Nice yeah, even though I eat spinach/ricotta ravioli every time I have pasta where I live in Malta lol. My excuse is that I've been out traveling for 1,5 months now alright, I'm allowed to have Italian
Nigiri feast and chocolate truffles
My last night at the ryokan. We had a feast! I made kanpachi and salmon nigiri, some soup and then helped the daughter of the house to make her valentines chocolate. Since there was no real chocolate-making equipment, I decided to just make easy truffles, but I have to say the household was fairly impressed. I just bit my tounge and kept he curses for myself, but I've learnt to appreciate what they see rather than what I see. I've understood that perfect is easier to reach in other eyes, especially for a family who doesn't usually make desserts, so I'm all really happy and grateful for their appreciation :)
Tomorrow, I'll leave Beppu early for Taiwan. Japan has been nice, but I can't deny that the weather here really sucks this time of the year. I've been missing Malta more and more, everyone seems to upload lovely, sunny pictures of Malta and I'm just like, I belong there. I belong in the sun and in the beaches. But time will come soon, in a week I'll leave Taiwan for summer time Australia and it'll all be glorious ;)
Capital Cupcake
This cupcake was supposed to have a baby blue frosting on top but it didn't turn out really well so I just made something to take a photograph.. The importance wasn't in the taste even if it actually was delicious ;) I've been baking like crazy this two last days, for the sake of nice photographs. I got a few nice pics but I could have done things better.. Always striving after the perfect, I guess I'll never feel happy about something I create :P
Anyways, going to the capital of Sweden, Stockholm today! Have an job interview for a job in Greece on sunday and plan to chill out and enjoy the ol' sthlm as much as possible until then. Maybe a trip to the cinema or an evening on a nice restaurant. I'll manage somehow.
Culinary arts does count
I haven't drawn much at all tha last week (or more?). The last time I drew was on that portrait, but I don't know, I haven't felt for picking up the pens at all lately. I feel that I should, but I just don't feel for it. It's not a permanent feeling, god no, I'm just in a period where I feel like creating culinary stuff instead. It can turn again in a couple of hours.
I'm thinking of making a chocolate tart today, but I don't know - it feels so pointless to just do it without purpose, without someone to give it to or a special occasion. At times as this, I really wish I lived in the same town as my friends.
Here's a randomly picked pic from when I made mini-tacopies from leftovers
Chocolate chip cookies and Lemon curd
Had terrible cravings after something sweet one evening that I decided to bake something. It ended up with my first time ever making chocolate chip cookies and lemon curd. The lemon curd wasn't really what I'm used to, good but not really how I want lemon curd to be so I'll just have to try other recipes until I find the right.
The cookies was highly appreciated by my bf at least :)
Food-shopping for fatties
Don't have any interesting work in progress-pics to show you yet, so you'll have to bear
with this totally irrelevant information. Theese pics shows what I bought last time I was in
Karlskoga and did ''the big foodshopping''. It's looks crazy for only two persons, I know.....
with this totally irrelevant information. Theese pics shows what I bought last time I was in
Karlskoga and did ''the big foodshopping''. It's looks crazy for only two persons, I know.....
Todays veggie lunch
Fried egg rice with tiny little pieces of green peas, red onion (rather purple), sweet corn
and red pepper. Doesn't really do that very often, but I had some rice from yesterdays leftovers..
Eat some chocolate please
Oh hi - eehhhh I'm soooooo sorryyyyy ;_; My best friend came over from Örebro and I just forgot everything that has with drawing to do. So no, I did not finish the last drawing I showed you guys hehe... We've been baking, playing ps3 and drinking wine. He's the first friend I've brought over for a veery long time, I've turned into some kind of hermit since.. a while.
I don't really have something relevant to give you guys, I just wanted to show that I'm still
alive. So here's a irrelevant picture of my praline crafting last christmas :D Doesn't it look nice?
Makizushi-sushi
Made sushi and drank some beer for the first time in a veeeery long time. The beer, that is. Even though I don't make sushi so often, I'm starting to get tired of these typish makizushis - I want to try different ones like urumaki, futomaki, maybe temarizushi, everything!
''Just go on and do it then, what stops you?'' I don't know... Lazyness? Okay, let's make
a deal. Next time I make sushi, I'll try out different styles. It's a.... semi-promise.
BrAun Multiquick 5
Just bought this lovely thing to help me at my adventures in kitchen! ♥
It was quite expensive, but I got it for 900:- thanks to SIBA's offer (30%off)
Chocolate
I've been staying home today and trying to finish my praline boxes.. I've been sitting in the couch and crafting like crazy, my finger's burning but I'm now done with the boxes!!! Just have to do truffels and nougat pralines and then I'm finally done... phew. It's actually exhausting in a wierd way, but I think it'll turn out okay.. Not as good as last year though.
Don't have pics on the actual chocolate now, so u'll have to bear with the ones from last year
Rulltårta
Baked a swiss roll yesterday, filled with raspberry jam and sugar around, and it was delicioouuuuus. I ate it in front
of the Tv while Anna Skipper proached about low carb diets and such things. How did it feel? It felt damn goooood
Double Bday
Pic from Mamis bday (5th nov), and five days after that It was my turn. It was a lovely
evening filled with chocolate balls, carrot cupcakes, chocolate cake, cinnamon
rolls and coffee combined with guitar hero and four of my lovely little boys ♥
evening filled with chocolate balls, carrot cupcakes, chocolate cake, cinnamon
rolls and coffee combined with guitar hero and four of my lovely little boys ♥
..and it's just repeat today again: but a even bigger one. More peeps is
coming today, it's weekend, so I just have to bake some more now!
coming today, it's weekend, so I just have to bake some more now!
