Must try Local Culinary Specialties of Italy - Quick Guide

Being vegetarian , its always tough to try unknown local food just like that during our travel. I visited Italy in June 2015 but missed to pen down my experiences :-). Cherishing my good memories here by writing a post and sharing with you all.

 Couple of things keeping the food related stuff aside.

....In 5 days three different cities of Italy can be visited on your own easily covering all major attractions. They are Rome, Florence and Venice [ We did this along with our 20 months old son ]. 

....Secondly,I really appreciate the way they have preserved their history, friendly system put in place for the visitors/tourists and support from the localities. Really amazing and Hats Off.

Let us dive right into my experiences related to food.

Gelato : This is the special ice cream originated in Italy. Gelato is an Italian word meaning "frozen". Gelato is made with a base of milk,cream,sugar and flavoured with fruit & nut purees . It is generally lower in fat, but higher in sugar, than other styles of normal ice cream. You can make out the difference when you have it. I just loved the unique texture and taste of this icecream. Gelato will be served in many ways like cup, cone, sandwich, cake etc. I had it in cone ( look at the pic below). You will find many shops and lot of flavors to choose.Easy to grab one.. Do Not Miss it ...

                                                            

                                        

 Spritz : This is an alcoholic beverage originated in Venice. To keep it simple, this is prepared by mixing equal proportion of white wine and soda water. Served in a glass by garnishing orange wedge. Looks like , style of preparation varies from town to town of Venice. This is served as appetizer. To know about the history and detailed method of prep , please click on this link .
  I tasted in Venice. It was almost end of my Italy trip, the day was very sunny and I enjoyed tasting Spritz ! Loved the ambiance as we sat outside the restaurant. Venice is a place to get lost :-). I had fun getting lost and finding a way out in Venice ... 

        

Italian Pizza: I am sure there is no need of any explanation for Pizza... Most of us are fond of Pizza nowadays. Get it into any pizza point in Italy and try Italian Vegetarian pizza.100% pure vegetarian pizza are served in most of the restaurants. Crust is really thin and very tasty. Instead of electric oven, special built in traditional wood or coal fired brick oven is used to bake pizza here. Nowadays, these setups are seen in many of the Italian Restaurants in India too. I had it in Florence. Again, Florence is a beautiful city where you can roam around and explore many things. There are plenty of coffee shops in the heart of the city where you can sit,relax and have coffee along with various kind of biscottis !! . If you are a cookie lover , you will enjoy tasting /eating many kinds of tasty cookies in this place.

Thanks for Reading my post ...Love to hear your experiences too  :-)
Have a Nice Day!

Unicum- Hungarian Herbal Liquor

I have already posted about the local food of Hungary which I tasted during my stay in Budapest. I had missed out to mention about Unicum in my earlier post. Unicum is one of the national drinks of Hungary.This was created by  Dr. József Zwack. This is produced according to secret formula using more than forty herbs.Want to know more about the full history behind this ? check out this wiki link ...

To me it tasted more or less like Amritarista ( this is one of the aristas in Ayurveda , consumed during fever).

Thanks for reading through my post.Please don't forget to add your comments/experiences to boost my post .

Never Miss to Buy a Special Seasoning Salt From SalzBurg

" ಉಪ್ಪಿಗಿಂತ ರುಚಿಯಿಲ್ಲ; ತಾಯಿಗಿಂತ ಬಂಧು ಇಲ್ಲ." , this is one of the famous proverbs in Kannada. Remembered this proverb looking at many varieties of salt :-).

Visiting Salzburg, city in  Austria is worth once in life time. It is so beautiful and amazing. I really enjoyed watching the nature all 3 days of my stay. Of course every new place I visit I am so curious about the local food and style of preparation. But here in Salzburg I found couple of hours was not sufficient enough for me to explore on different types of salt available in the store, located in front of  Hallein Salt Mine. 

 Please don't miss to visit this place during your Salzburg Trip !!

Checkout the below links to know about  interesting history of this salt mine and the process they follow to extract the salt.

http://www.salzwelten.at/en/home/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallein_Salt_Mine

  

As per Ayurveda, Saindhava Lavana/Rock Salt is good for health than the normal salt You can find rock salt as well as different spicy salts/seasoning salts in the same store.

  Friend of mine had got me one of the salts, "Bad Ischler Gewurz Salt" from the same place(shown below in the pic) before I visited salzburg.I used it while preparing the Brown ChikPeas Cutlets as a substitute for chat masala. I am sure we can use this seasoning salt in place of our Indian chat masala in few other dishes too like patties , samosas and bread rolls.

"Bad Ischler Gewurz salt" contains the following herbs basil, dill, parsley, marjoram, 

rosemary, bay leaves, and thyme.  Onions, celery, mustard flour, fennel, coriander and caraway are also added to the mix. My family enjoyed the freshness and aroma of this seasoning salt. I just spoke about one type of seasoning salt.There are other varieties of seasoning salts too at the store.

 

 

If you take a 90-minute guided tour in this place, you will be given free samples of seasoning salts at the end of your tour :-)
If you are looking for Indian restaurants in Salzburg, I would recommend you to go to "Spicy Spices" . Please read my review for the same here @ TripAdvisor.

Taste of Vienna

Vienna is famous for its wide range of top quality confectioneries. My stay in Vienna was short and I could taste only few authentic traditional specialties of Vienna. 

 Vienna is called "Coffee house capital of the world".Visit to Vienna will be incomplete if you don't sit in any of the cafe houses and have a cup of coffee along with freshly baked cake. There are plenty of coffee houses in the city. I had my breakfast in "Cafe Museum", one of the most famous coffee house of Vienna.Good ambiance and lovely breakfast.Enjoyed tasting few of the local specialties.

 What I Ate in Cafe Museum?
                      

Gulhupf: This is a Austrian term for bundt cake. This cake is a circular cake with hole in the middle and wavy pattern over the cake.Gugelhupf baked and prepared in a special way using flour, raisins, almonds and Krischwasser cherry brandy.It was so delicious and fresh. Enjoyed having this cake with hot coffee. 


Kaiserschmarren (Fluffy Pncake):

Kaiserschmarren is a shredded pancake made from a sweet batter using flour,eggs, sugar, salt, and milk, baked in butter.In the original recipe there are only raisins.But nowadays , lot of variations are available in various restaurants.Usually these shredded pancakes are sprinkled with powdered sugar, then served hot with apple or plum sauce. Its so yummy...Kaiserschmarren is eaten like a dessert, or along with coffee. I had this as part of my breakfast. It was so tasty and quite filling. Unique taste, I just couldn't compare to any of the Indian desserts.Worth trying it during your Vienna visit.

Kaiersemmel(Bread):This is one another traditional Austrian food.The Kaiser roll also called a Vienna roll is a crusty round bread, originally from Austria. It is made from white flour, yeast, malt, water and salt.Top side of bread normally divided into five segments, separated by wavy cuts over the bread. It is tasty and yummy along with butter and jam !! Sorry , Couldn't focus the kaiser roll while taking the photo, took a snap of the entire bread basket as my son was not cooperating.
He was asking "Idly" in Vienna :-(

  You will find lots of varieties of pastries and cakes in almost all the bakeries in Vienna. There are lot of local specialties available in Easter markets too.If you visit Vienna during Easter then advise you to visit Easter market in front of Schonbrunn palace. That is called one of the famous romantic markets in the world.

I tasted Nussbeugerl in Easter Market located in front of Schonbrunn palace. This Arch shape sweet stuffed bun is very yummy. Sweet filling is prepared with sugar, various nuts and few spices.I am sure cinnamon is one of those spices !!. Just loved the 
aroma of moist nut filling inside the bun. (I forgot where I have taken this photo of Nussbeugerl ?? , I am sure taste will be more or less same in all the bakeries)

Sachertorte: This is one of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties.This chocolate cake I tasted in a bakery which is located near the ticket office, Schonbrunn palace.I am sure you will find it in all the cafe houses and restaurants in Vienna, because it is very very famous.This special type chocolate cake has got different taste than normal chocolate cake. It is also served with whipping cream.
This cake is invented by  Franz Sacher In 1832.The head chef was ill so 16 year old Sacher who was doing his internship in the kitchen got  a chance to prove himself.  
Want to know more about history, composition ,origin etc? check out this wiki link

Things I missed to taste:

Another Vinnese dessert is kipferl a sweet pastry.Many guides will tell interesting stories behind this shape of the pastry.I just took a snap of the same.    
                    

Sharing few more clicks  below which are not tasted by me.!!

 

 I am sure this post will help you if you are a foodie or vegetarian who want to taste local cuisines of Vienna during your Vienna visit. 
Thanks for reading my post, Please do comment / share your experiences.

Two traditional hungarian food not to miss in Budapest

Kürtőskalács is one of the most popular street foods in Hungary.There are lot of places where this street food is prepared in  a traditional way and served hot. I tasted this food in couple of places. If you visit a royal palace in castle district of budapest, on the way you will find a shop where I enjoyed the heavenly taste of Kürtőskalács.It was drizzling and my family really enjoyed the taste and aroma of yummy hot Kurtoskalacs. Never miss this Hungarian specialty if you visit Budapest . 

Kürtőskalács is made from flour, milk , sugar, yeast , butter and egg. Just before the serving these rolled buns are given special toppings to enrich the aroma and taste. You can choose the toppings of your choice like cinnamon, kokos , almonds etc.I tasted  with kokos /coconut and almond toppings. Just loved both :-)...:-)........You can check this wiki link  to know more about the baking process. Prepared in special way, Its very different than normal cakes and muffins. That is  why it tastes different.Very interesting Isn't it ?

I got a chance to taste the  other local specialty food "Langos" too, Its a fried flat bread topped with grated cheese and sour creme. You can opt for exotic vegetable toppings.I tasted this @ food court , central market hall,Budapest.There will be long queue and you will have to wait for your turn !!. Worth waiting , It was so filling and tasty. Simply delicious. Different varieties of sweet langos are also available, because of the time crunch couldn't try that.Just took a snap !!

These two local specialties Kürtőskalács and Langos can be tasted by vegetarians !!

Thanks for taking time out and going through my post.Please add your comments and experiences :-)

Traditional Famous Dutch Food

My visit to Amsterdam along with my family was very short. Though I dint get much time to explore on food, I tasted proffertjes and stroopwafel. I just can't forget the heavenly taste of both the snacks. Don't ever miss to taste these two specialties of dutch food  if you visit Amsterdam. 
Let me go ahead and share the details around  proffertjes and stroffels.

proffertjes : I just loved proffertjes. Its so yummy and tasty. I had never tasted such a pancake in my life. You can call it as street food ya dessert ya pancake whatever ...The taste was amazing.

Poffertjes are mini fluffy pancakes prepared with yeast,buckwheat flour and 

sugar.Style of preparation is very similar to famous south Indian breakfast paniyaram/paddu/guliappa. Using a special pan with several holes in the bottom to hold the batter these puffed tiny pancakes are made.These are typically served with powdered sugar and butter on top.Other common toppings are strawberries and whipped cream.

During fall and winter this snack can be found in many outdoor markets. I had at "Albert Cyup Market" !! . This is another market place you shouldn't miss during your Amsterdam visit.

I , my husband and my 15 months old son all three of us really enjoyed the taste of pancakes to the core.These are served on a small plate with a small fork.Wind was blowing the powdered sugar around our face... It was fun :-)

I enjoyed watching/shooting the preparation of these pan cakes at Albert Cyup market too. Here is the video of the same.Do watch and enjoy !!

Prameela's kitchen is busy with "Poffertjes experiments" to match the typical taste of Poffertjes. I promise to get back to you with the Poffertjes recipe soon so that we all can make it at home and enjoy.


stroopwafel:

This chewy cookie/pastry is very delicious.This is very unique cookie and its famous in netherlands.This sweet snack is a waffle cookie which has two thin layers of baked batter with a sticky syrup filling in the middle. Its available in every grocery store and bakery in the Netherlands. I purchased at the same place  that is Albert Cuypmarkt. It was so fresh and very tasty. You can enjoy these Stroopwafels along with tea/coffee. I missed to take the photo. Please check in google images to know how stroopwafel look like ? Homework for you :-)


Thanks for reading !!

Popular Market and Food of Barcelona, Spain

La Boqueria: Trip to Barcelona will be incomplete if you miss this Market.You just can't miss this place as it is located in the heart of the city. This is near La Rambla.If you are a foodie you will love this market. You name the food item, it is available in this market !! Many varieties of snacks,meat,fish,ingredients like spices, spice mixes,lentils what not everything is available here.You will find exotic fruits,exotic vegetables, many types of juices,special Spanish non-vegetarian snacks, tapas too.Its worth visiting this place.I liked the presentation too. Each shop has its own style of presenting their products/goods.Just loved it.I am sure, This market is one of the famous markets in the world. People are very good and fun loving too. I clicked lots of lots of photos. Sharing few of them.I have explored only vegetarian food as I am a vegetarian. 

Two things you shouldn't miss in La Boqueria .....
1) When you enter the market you see fresh fruit juice stalls.Many varieties of fresh fruit juices are sold here.Loved the Fusion juices in other words juice prepared mixing combinations of fruits.I dint even think of few fusion juices before I saw there(ex: Strawberry juice mixed with coconut milk !!). You just cant't stop having one glass of juice.You feel like drinking more and more.

2) There are many shops selling dry fruits/nuts, sugar candies (sakkare achhu in kannada)and varieties of home made chocolates. I felt like buying a entire shop :-). I would say you  must try as many varieties of salty roasted nuts as possible( hazel nut , almond , pistacto, chest nuts etc list never ends). Don't miss to buy delicious roasted nuts with caramel coating. Also liked chocolate nuts, these are nuts with thick chocolate coating. 

 You will also find sun dried fruits, rare dried fruits which we never find normally in supermarkets.

I and my husband skipped our lunch that day after eating dry fruits/nuts , chocolates which we bought from this place!!! Its an amazing taste and experience....

Turron - Spanish Almond Candy : This is a traditional Christmas treat of Spain.There are two varieties, They are soft candy and hard candy. Suggest you to buy hard one if you want to carry it back home.These super tasty candies are made from almond, sugar, egg white and honey.I liked the way shopkeeper explained me about this sweet too. It was quick and very informative !!. These are easily available in all supermarkets.

There are lot many other interesting eateries and special food to be explored in Barcelona. Kindly request you to check and be ready with the plan before you visit Barcelona.

Thanks for reading....
Please do share your experiences too ...