Valencia, Spain: What to Drink ?

Above: Agua de Valencia. We had it at a really cool bar at the harbour area called La Vida Sin Dormir (VSD). A bit too sweet for both of us and not so alcoholic. Ingredients ? Cava, orange juice, sugar, wodka and gin. Some bars add Cointreau instead of wodka and gin.
For approximately 1 litre/1¾ pints:

- 1 bottle of Cava – Spanish champagne
- Orange Juice – freshly squeezed if possible but a carton works almost as well
- Cointreau
- Ice

Preparation:
Put a good amount of ice (a couple of handfuls) into a large jug or punch bowl. Add the bottle of Cava, plenty of fresh orange and some Cointreau (play it safe with the Cointreau as this can become a very potent drink). Obviously you can experiment with the quantities of each liquid to get it just the way you prefer. Salud !

Above, tiled corridor entrance at Horchateria de Santa Catalina.

Super tired bloggirl having a very cold horxata (orxata) de Valencia, a delightful nut drink. Valencian style horchata has an unmatched exquisite taste. The horchata recipe is simple, you just have to take into account that you have to soak some tiger nuts overnight in order to make an almod milk. Add cynammon and sugar.

When at Ciudad de las Ciencias I spotted this woman selling orxatas. I parked my bike and ordered two. She informed me she made it herself, on a daily basis. She was also selling the nuts, chufas (or xufas in the local Valencian language -  see below). I regret very much now the fact I didn't buy it.

Horchata is a home made drink. When in Valencia (or Barcelona too ?) do not forget to try this exquisite Mediterranean drink.

Açaí: Smothie & Juice

Above: I hold a glass of açaí juice from a carton, bought in Holland. It looks dark red/brown but not exactly purple, and there is some reminiscent taste of açaí  in it. Refreshing for sure. But the real thing ?

Today I decided to to make some smoothies using some bananas and blackberries. And then I found in the fridge this juice my husband loves: açaí blended with red fruits. Above you see the photo of it. I decided to "correct" the colour adding more blackberries for me (small glass on the photo below). Deeeeelish ! But yeah: then the açaí taste was almost gone.

I think this carton with açaí juice we buy in Dutch supermarkets is not the real açaí juice - it is more an adapted and diluted drink version to suit European tastes. Only 5% of the total amount of ingredients is açaí pulp which is mixed with apple concentrate, black berries, red grapes and other fuits. If you have never tasted açaí before, then you will probably like this juice from a carton. If you have tasted an açaí smothie in Brazil then you know you are not drinking the real thing.

On the  video below you can see how a kiosk vendor prepares the açaí smoothie in a bowl. Some people like it with granola or/and banana - which I dispense. I like it thick and sandy and so dark and cold possible: "petrol" like ! There are many ways of serving and enjoying it.
And you, while living/travelling abroad... have you ever tasted anything that seemed different from the original product back home ?

La Tulipe (The Tulip) [De Tulp]

When my husband turned 40, one of the presents he got was this book in a deluxe edition: Leven Als Gort in Frankrijk, by Ilja Gort. It could be translated to: living like a god in France. This is an expression the Dutch use a lot, "leven als God in Frankfrijk", meaning to enjoy an excellent life / enjoying life to the maximum with sun, rest and good food.

I firstly ignored the book and put it aside for a while. I had already read several good books of American (Magic Provence by Yvone Lenart), Dutch (Wonen op Vakantie, by Esther Verhoef ) and English (all books from Peter Mayle) authors about their lives in la douce France. So I had had enough of that theme. But this year during our vacation in France I decided to read "Leven... " until the end. My husband and mother-in-law had recommend it and I decided to give it a go.

Ilja Gort is a maestro and a componist, author of many world famous jingles (for Nescafe, Heineken and others). He has made some fortune with his adverstisement tunes and decided to buy a castle in France in order to start making the world's best wine. This while at the same time running his studios in Maartensdijk, Holland. After some frustrations the third castle he visits becomes the one: the XIII century Chateau de la Garde, nearby Saint Emilion, in the Bordeaux region.

I liked the book. Okaaaaay... It IS indeed a huge ad of Gort's talents, luck and wines. But the story behind wine making is delicious. We have a Dutch person who barely speaks French beginning from zero, with no previous experience - though he had read a huge library about wines. Gort and his then wife Turf search for the perfect castle in the Bordeaux area, have lots of difficulties in finding personnel to work in the wineyards, and learn how to interact with the French culture and way of doing things. The Gorts really had a hands on approach. An example: his 6 year old son (now in his twenties and following management studies in London) painted the tulip featured on the label. However, what impresses me the most is Gort's drive. He is a very successful wine farmer, a very successful componist, and a very successful author.

La Tulipe - rose'. I decided to give it a go while enjoying a meal salad - and I just loved it. It is made from Merlot and Cabernet grapes and considered the best French rose' from the Bordeaux region, got high grades from Robert Parker and keeps winning several prizes year after year.
In Holland you can purchase La Tulipe de la Garde at Albert Heijn.
The first images on this post were snagged from: http://www.tulipe.nl/
For a nice youtube video go here.

Update: my husband has celebrated his birthday recently and got from a friend two bottles of La Tulipe and a bonus: Het Merlot Mysterie, by Ilja Gort. I have already started reading it and asked my husband whether I could highlight with a yellow pen some words by page. "Of course you can " - he replied. He is such a discomplicated guy !  Probably he will be reading the book only next year during his next vacations...

Cafézinho and Koffie

Brazilian coffee: tastes round, very round. When you drink it with milk just like in the photo above, you miss the nuances of wood and fruit - heresy ! But well, it reminds me of my childhood. "Cafe' com leite", mmmm... (in Dutch it is called Koffie verkeerd or "wrong coffee")

I receive many e-mails from people asking me about Brazil, Brazilian language, culture, how/where to learn Portuguese in the NL, etc. etc.. Also people asking me randoms about the Dutch habits and culture. Complicated things like...
How to order your coffe in a bar ?

Lately I am loving the videos from Street Smart Brazil blog. Its a great medium to learn about many Brazilian traces, habits, gastronomy and so on. Wanna know about the country ? Then Read SSB blog. Example ? Check this vide about how to order coffee .

And also this one about the history of coffee I have just found in Youtube. The presentator is such a funny guy, I love all his videos !

Holland - and Europe as general - are another story regarding coffee consumption. You sit down and have a cookie with it - only one.
You sit down and calmly... drink... your coffee... calmly sipping with pauses.
Holland is big in coffe rituals b.t.w - it is called koffie drinken.
Would you like it black (koffie zwart), with lots of milk (koffie verkeerd) or with some drops of evaporated milk  (met koffiemelk) ?   With or without sugar cubes ? (met of zonder suiker klontjes) ?

It is something from the last decade or so that Brazilians are sitting down to savour it. Cause commonly you just down a tiny cup in two sips - while on the go ! You drink it to wake up, you drink it to relax, you drink it after drinking alcohol and before driving, after lunch, after dinner, when checking out at a motel, you drink it to brush away your sadness and you drink it when bumping into a friend on the street. Always on the run !
Now excuse me I am going to have a cup before I go to zzzzzz...

Heineken Beer Gloss

Not only during Valentine's Day.

Guarana & Mate [warana e yerbamate]

I am still under the pollen allergy claws. Taking Reactine and trying no to push myself toot much. Also with a shore throat and therefore drinking gallons of tea. Althought green tea is my ever favourite of all sorts of tea, I am always open to try new brands and herbs. Hubby has bought lately some novelties in terms of flavours: Guarana & Mate.

Well, guarana is not new for me. I think it is the most consumed frizzy drink in Brazil since the 60's: children and adults love it. In birthday parties, on the weekends, in bars and restaurants, you can never miss it... Here in Holland I guess you can find it in Finalmente Brazil shop in Amsterdam, or Samba Kitchen restaurant. My husband likes to (or used to) have it in powder form, in capusles, bleargh ! It is a natural shot of caffeine, an energizer.

How do I like this tea ? It is strange to drink something hot when you used to have it cold, as a soft drink. It is okay. I just keep thinking while tasting it: "mmm, guarana-as-hot-beverage-and-without-bubbles". Odd.

And I like to drink my mate very cold. In my other life, I used to love drinking Matte Leão during hot-hot-hot summer days. My parents have brought twice to Holland bottles of Matte Leão in powder, especially under my request.

I highly recommend you to try it with lemmon if you can find it. I do not care about this mate tea from Dutch supermarkets. I will use the sachets I have home and will not repeat them.

But the greatest world mate drinkers are the gauchos in south Brazil and the Argentineans.




So I put aside my prejudices and own opinion about this mate and went to ask two Argentinean colleagues V. and S. how they liked this tea version. I left some tea sachets on their working tables. Later that day, el señor V. replied: "Ahn, cara Anita. You want me to try this ...what ? Que es eso ? Tea ? From the supermarket ? Pero por que ? Why ? Your blog ? and what do you want me to say ? Me ? An Argentinean ? do you think I will try mate as Dutch tea ? NEVER ! Can I say that in your blog ? No ? Yes ? Bueno. You treat me as a guinea pig with your experiments... I do not know what I should answer. Are you sure ? Me ? ..." I got so confused that I left him talking alone and went to search la señorita S. She agreed smiling to try it, "Yes, of course ! For your blog ? Ay que lindo ! I will do it and I tell you later !" Days later she said she did it, ("yes, of course ! For your blog ! Lindo blog !"). So... "was it good ? How did you like it ?" - I asked. She got serious. She frowned. She said she couldn't remember what the taste was like.

At all.

Caipirinha

Guys, I know we are still on Monday and a working week is waiting for us. But c'mon ! The temperatures are going up in the Netherlands. Spring is the perfect time to start practising how to make the perfect caipirinha (my in-laws enjoy it so much that they will have it even during Christmas, birthdays or any other excuse).

Ingredients:
1 lime (not lemmon) / 1 or 2 tablespoon granulated sugar / 1/2 cup cachaça / ice cubes

Directions: Cut the lime in quarters then cut them crosswise. Put lime and sugar in a tall glass and mash with a pestle (or a wood spoon, rolling pin, etc). Add the same amount of liquor on the lime juice and stir it up. Add ice and mix it up again.

In Brazil, the guys that sell it at the beach put another glass upside down over it, hold both with one hand and shake. Great trick at parties.


For some variation, you can change limes for kiwis, pineapple or passion fruit, or mix them, but you may cut on sugar. Brazilian girls looove it with strawberries instead of limes, and the colour is just soooo beautiful ! Just do not call such variations “caipirinha” anylonger !

For a perfect recipe click here. If you wish to know more about the origins of this drink and detailed blend instructions click here.