Food Porn: Take 3

One of the perks of having a sister and one that blogs about food, is most definitely the freebies. How lucky am I to have a sister like her. She is willingly aiding to my stash of food porn. To give you a bit of a background, my sister did a poor review about Apsley's restaurant (one Michelin) in London and boy did they find out about it. And we knew they did because they invited her back. Twice. Making it in total, the Apsley's trifecta.

She took my mother at their first invitation and they were ridiculously spoilt. I remember my sister calling me and listening to her explain to me how the chefs personally cooked for them. How the wait staff lavishly adorned them with truffles, caviar, lobster, champagne etc. Oh god I felt like I had dialled one of those 1300 numbers it was so sexy. The food that is, not my sis.

Now it was my turn. They invited her back for the trifecta and how could I refuse when summoned? And I can honestly say with my hand on my heart, I had the most overwhelming, exquisite, mind blowing, orgasmic, heart stopping meal at Apsley's. It was that incredible.

There were copious amounts of "Oh MY GOD",  "Wow that is good",  moments coming from my sister's mouth. My mouth included. Not to mention, eye rolling, eye squinting, hmmm-ing, gasps for air, finger licking, lip licking and other expressions of blasphemy. It was all very intense.

Out of context, you would think we were not at the dinner table. If you ask me, it was all a bit too funny and if not, really strange to my sister react in this way. I don't think she was even aware of it herself. At one point, I had to laugh and tell her to, "Ssshh", and ask "Do you hear yourself?"

It was a once in a lifetime experience having these Michelin star Chefs cook for us. We received a personalised 14 course menu and amouche bouches, where we were served oodles of champagne, caviar, lobster, foie gras, 40 year old aged balsamic. All ceremoniously served to us all thanks to my sister's blog.

One of the highlights was when my palette experienced for the very first time, quite literally, an explosion of delicate fluid motions of flavour explode in my mouth when I consumed the Carbonara Fagottelli. To do so, you have to place the carbonara pillow on your spoon, place it in your mouth as a whole and push your tongue to the roof of your mouth and allow for the fluid centre to explode and ooze the melt in your mouth liquid carbonara filling. Wow it was like I had devoured a liquid fireworks display. Simply stunning. Having one, only serves to beg for more and to beg the question, how does one encase pasta around a liquid centre filling?

I ate so much that I had to excuse myself to the ladies and sit myself on the toilet with the lid down to adjust myself and to find the most comfortable position possible. Not my most gracious moment however, I will care to share. I leaned back and stretched my legs to allow for my food baby bump to form. I wasn't appropriately attired for the occasion considering I wore a skin tight flaming red dress. And I mean skin tight and flaming. Could I have drawn any more my attention to my engorged stomach? I really ought to have worn my moo cow dress slash fat suit to allow for some girth. But my finest hour was when I could not consume anymore that I went back to the bathroom and decided to throw up in order to make room for more. Don't judge. It is a successful concept inspired by the Nordic Vikings. Ahem, yes really.

So brace yourselves and welcome to some much needed, nasty, filthy, unadulterated, mouth watering, decadent food porn issue. Ever.

18 year old & 40 year old balsamic vinegar
The most efficient foodgasm ever made.

The sound of the perfect bread

Not wanting to be wasteful we ate every last drop
of the Balsamic Vinegar they served to us.
To which they kept right on serving us!

Trio of Aubergine, Blue Fin Tuna and Pomelo

Handmade Buckwheat Spaghetti and Mackerel

Seabass, papaya and cucumber
(Oh god I am getting flashbacks)

Group shot
Amouche Bouches

We gasped for air right at this moment

Langoustine, Fennel and Grapefruit dished w Caviar
(Wow this takes right me back)

Sea Scallops w Crescentine & Sweet Chilli Vinagrette

Foie Gras Terrine w Smoked Apple drizzled with Amaretti Powder
(Sweet, salty & fatty finish over the palette. Just mindblowing)

Lobster w Taglionlini
(Yes size does matter. These lobster pieces were perfect in size that was
 succulent, tender and juicy to the taste.
The Tagliolini had the most silky smooth textural tendrils I have ever tasted.)

Wild Garlic Risotto served w Albacore White Tuna.

Lobster Salad w White Asparagus, Artichokes and Strawberries

Carbonara Fagotelli - Signature dish, as described earlier.

Rumoured to be Michelle Obama's favourite dish when she visited
La Pergola in Rome.

Pigeon wrapped in Puff pastry drizzled w Mustard Seed Sauce
& Balsamic and Apple Juice reduction

Rum Baba served w Pistachio di Bronte ice cream 

White Chocolate Ball encased over a frozen Meringue centre
served w Lime & Passionfruit

Coffee surprise of Marscapone Fondant, Vanilla Ice Cream &
Amaretti Mikado

Petit fours that came out as petit tens!

Welcome to Kuwait

I know what you're thinking. Why Kuwait?

I have my reasons. My best friend lives in Kuwait for the time being and the unique opportunity presented itself to see Kuwait through a local's eyes. She is half Kuwaiti. So how could I say no. It was too good to pass up.

I must admit, prior to coming here I had my preconceived notions about the place. Is it a bomb? Is it the pits? And to be fair, the only reason I thought these things is because everyone in Dubai said it was a hole with no alcohol. Yes it is illegal.

But I thought how bad could it be? One of my best friends has been living here for two years. But then again, she really does hate the country. And yes she told me this after I bought my ticket to Kuwait, the clever thing.

Within the first five minutes of being here, Hanna and I are driving out of the airport. Some random guy in another car makes eyes at me, and he makes a distinctive eyebrow lift which is accompanied with a cheeky smile.

Confused, I ask Hanna.

"Some guy did a funny eye thing at me. Why did he do that for?"
"Like how?" So I made eyes at her, did the whole she-bang, just as he did to me.
 She laughed and said.
"He wants your number, just look straight ahead and avoid eye contact or he might follow us".

And it wasn't too long after that Hanna had to slam the brakes to avoid a collision in the middle of an intersection. There were a couple of guys doing donuts in the middle of it. The car had no wheels and sparks were flying left, right and centre. They were going round and round in circles blasting their music over the deafening screeches of their so-called wheels. Traffic was everywhere.

It's only been my first hour here. Kuwait is nucking futs and already, I'm in love.

Welcome to Kuwait.

Food Porn

Food porn and it begins in Dubai...

I had to get myself some Arabic food on my first day in Dubai. I just couldn’t wait. Every time I take a bite of something I have this insatiable desire to capture it on camera, it’s my thing, it’s my food porn. It annoys the hell out of my friends, especially when starved. But now, they find it kind of funny... like ha ha funny. I just have to take pictures of every thing I consume.

I picture it from up close and from a far. In different angles, then different positions, OH and even in different lighting. And if I am feeling particularly adventurous, I get them posing together, props included. Perhaps a San Pellegrino bottle, or a knife, or even a good action shot where I am in mid bite. Oh and a really good one is when you have the food split wide open exposing it’s revealing centre. Hmmm... All this for the sake of getting my perfect shot. And I’ve even discovered this really cool miniature effect on my camera. Because all I want to do, is get up close and personal with it and so do you, ya freak. 

Then I feel the need to publish it or at the very least show it to the person next me. I just need to get it out there. Heck, I even forage through my albums just so I can be taken back. Ohhh yeessss, that's the stuff right there.

I get knocked for it.  This is true.  I even get in trouble for posting it up on facebook via live feeds. But to all the people out there that just don’t get it, all I have to say is “Don’t knock it. It’s my food porn, just love it and embrace it”.

I love it especially, when I can get people going. They "pull their faces", they “ooo” and they “arrghh" and their symptoms of hunger pains are rising. I can tell. I can sometimes even get their mouths wide open and they give me the distinctive jaw drop with the "O" face.  Little do they know, they’ve just had their very own food-gasm. And honey, that was only a still shot.

Secretly... you know you want one too.

It's in my genes too. My sister is a far worse food porn addict than I am. She even has a food blog to boot. Have a sneak peek. And yes feel free to lick the screen, god knows I've done it.
agirlhastoeat.com

Here is my first collection of my eats and treats in Dubai. Feel free to me let know of your foodgasms about the collection. 

Welcome to Dubai and some much needed food porn.

Hummus

Moutabal
Eggplant with Tahini 
Looks similar to hummus but can you spot the difference?

Falafel

Fattoush
Typical Arab salad - YUM!

Labna w Garlic
Easily the best I've had in my life!

Group shot

More hummus

Another Fattoush Salad - hmmmm

Fresh bread 

Olives

Pickled vegetables
a typical accompaniment w Arabic dishes

Kibbeh
A meat version looking falafel

Haloumi

Kibbeh exposed

The money shot.
Arabic desserts dripping with a vanilla cream sauce 

The Mecca of Ex-Pats

90% of Dubai's population is made up of ex-patriates. Which I find, is a very fascinating statistic. It is essentially a hot pot of different nationalities and Dubai appears to be a manufactured city designed to cater to their needs. So far, I've managed to meet people from the Philippines, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Australia, America, Lebanon and the list continues to the point where I can't even be bothered. Heck, even Kiwis are here too.



I even met a real life snake wrangler from Australia in a Salsa club. I didn't believe him at first but through further convincing and he seemed sincere enough, he told me that when commercial property developers begin construction, the land usually contains snakes in them. His job is to be on call, capture them and remove them from the site. Funny.


I was also told that if you manage to land an interview in Dubai from your home country, wherever that may be. Corporations are likely to fly you into Dubai to interview you and if successful, they will pay a decent tax free salary, provide a company paid car and cover your apartment. Hmmmm... Dubai is looking more interesting as a workplace destination already.


This is because they just don't have the talent and Dubai is willing to do what it takes to attract top talent. And I know through a friend, of a friend, of a friend, that going to Dubai is a great way to work your way up the ladder swiftly, earn good money, save it and return home loaded.
But then, I spoke to another fellow ex-pat at the same salsa club and asked.


"So do you enjoy living here?"
"No."
'Then why are you living here?"
"I still have no idea."
"And how long have you been here for?"
"Just four years."


Of course I would find this interesting. I am in HR after all.


Weekends are Friday - Saturday. They used to be Thursday - Friday but since 2006 this was changed to Friday - Saturday to compromise between the holiness of the Muslims' Friday and the Western weekend of Saturday-Sunday. The western weekend was taken into account to minimise the loss on international business they were experiencing.


Obviously this affects happy hour, site seeing and how you should be planning your visit.


Welcome to Dubai, the Mecca of ex-pats.

Welcome to Dubai

When I think about Dubai it is kind of a weird place. Its Arab meets West with a touch of Vegas containing a thriving ex-pat community and a tourist hub that glues it all together. There’s no place quite like it.

You come here to party, shop, beach and eat.

You have a clash of Arabic and Western culture, where the consumption of alcohol is illegal except when you hold a liquor license. Either that, or you hop into a club or a hotel that has one. As a woman, you should dress modestly but when you are out in the clubs, all rules are out. Oh and let’s not forget the beaches where you can wear bikinis in full view of the public. Contradict much?

And you don’t want to get yourself too drunk. Arrests can occur for unruly public behaviour. I met this lady on my flight to London years ago whilst stretching my legs. Her husband was a Doctor in Dubai and she told me of a patient that her husband had come across.

This gentleman was incredibly drunk one night. He was doing nothing to hide it and was arrested. He was taken to prison that was located in the middle of nowhere , out in the desert. He was left there in the blistering prison cell with no water. He was extremely dehydrated and began violently convulsing. Prison guards didn’t know what to do with him, so left him. The situation didn’t improve so they decided to take him to the hospital, which was a few hours drive back into Dubai. By the time they got to the hospital it was too late. They treated him and now he is paralysed because they couldn’t get to him in time.

True story.

And the thing about Dubai is, it is very easy to forget where you are. That you are in a Muslim country. Myself included. I just got away with it. Girls that we met one night told us that they potentially got arrested because they had a couple of guys head back to their hotel to kick on for drinks. Clubs close at 3pm and they didn’t want the night to end. So they went back to the hotel room to get stuck into their duty free alcohol, (the only place you can purchase alcohol in Dubai) only to have reception call them and demand for their passport, lecturing them that they are not allowed visitors into the hotel and that this is a Muslim country. That this is not the custom nor the right way. Their visitors were personally escorted out by security.

Also, a true story.

But I can perfectly understand why these things happen. When the lines are blurred and filled with shades of grey, you are bound to get tourists falling outside the social decorous expected of them.

And I've been told, you can do whatever you want in Dubai, just don't get caught doing it. Doing what? Right? :)

Dubai is like one big party and everybody threw up. 

And those are always the best parties.

Welcome to Dubai.

Hello World

Up, up and away again...


So I've finally decided to quit my job and leave the corporate world to embark on another world tour again. Every time I do this I go through the motions of being excited and extremely nervous. More nervous if anything. And why is that? I've done this before, time and time again but something about it always scares the shit out of me. But you know what they say, you should do something everyday that scares you. So here I am, the self-masochist, exploring the world and scaring the bejeezus out of myself each and everyday for a good four months. 


I've packed my bags, finished all the loose ends at work, shit - I even worked the Saturday, the day after my last day, hungover and in the same farewell clothes. And for some reason, everyone decided to work the weekend too so they all bore witness to my dirty self. Classic.

At this point I am sitting on the plane and it hasn't really hit me that I've left it all behind and nor does it when I am in Dubai Airport. Just seems like I am at an airport. 


Despite it all, I remind myself, what are you nervous about? You LOVE travelling. You have four months to indulge in all of life's pleasures. That's the plan. I will get the chance to meet, see, taste and smell so many exotic things about the world and I just can't flipping wait. 


So here my journey begins.


Welcome to my confessions.