Blueberry Pie

In the spring and summer in Prague, there are no shortages of farmers markets.  In fact there are dedicated markets that are set up in and around the various city squares every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday bringing fresh produce into each community.

In addition to the farmers markets, I have also noticed a series of fruit stands that seem to only sell seasonal berries from Monday to Friday.  There is one in particular that I pass every day on my way to work.  I noticed the berry stand started by selling Czech strawberries and has now expanded its assortment to include strawberries, blueberries, apricots and these smaller red berries that I am not familiar with (they sort of look like cranberries, but I know they are not).

Every day when I walk by the blueberries I think, it’s time to make blueberry pie.  Tomorrow, I think I am going to buy a couple cartons and experiment with the new pie pan I bought in Paris.

Here is my visual inspiration:

What is your favourite style/recipe for blueberry pie?  I would love to hear your recommendations in the comment section below.

Sansho

After seven months of living in Prague, I finally made it to Sansho on the weekend, one of the most highly regarded restaurants in the city.  This is one of the first restaurants you hear about in the expat community as the one not to miss.

On Friday evening, our group ordered the tasting menu between five people and feasted on Chef Paul Day’s mix of Asian dishes whose ingredients span several countries.

Overall, I think Sansho was the most flavourful meal I’ve had in Prague and certainly was some of the best Asian food I have eaten in the city in terms of authentic taste.  Sadly, the desserts were a departure from the rest of the Asian themed meal.

While our American and British style desserts were beautifully presented on the platter, I thought they were rather plain and unexciting.

The rest of the meal was worth it.

Easter Markets in Prague

I spent some time walking around the various Easter markets that have been popping up all over Prague’s square this past week.  I snapped some shots  to capture the colour and vibrancy of these markets that will be replaced by the markets of the next holiday or farmer’s markets (my hope).

Prague’s colourful Easter markets are filled with sweet smells, colourful eggs, ribbons, bunnies, chicks, toys, flowers, honey, pussy willow branches, and small gifts made of wood and glass.  Also sold is the traditional whipping stick!

Whipping stick. You read it correctly.  Apparently the Czech custom (dating back to the Middle Ages) is for men to whip women on Easter day in order to bring fertility to the family.  There is another tradition involving the woman getting to dump cold water on the man’s head but that was anecdotal and I am not sure if the water is part of the official custom or just in retaliation from being whipped.

While I did not witness the public Easter whippings, I did enjoy walking around the markets!!  I have never seen anything like these markets before in my life.   Easter, as I recall, is not as publicly or festively celebrated in Toronto.

If you had the holiday off today, how did you spend it?

Red Pif

I had the pleasure of checking out Red Pif, new a restaurant/wine store/wine bar in Prague  1, late this afternoon and I can triumphantly say, this place is a winner in the city if you are looking for a cool, design forward environment (not overly trendy) to sample wine, and have a bit to eat in the heart of the city.

In addition to offering an impressive selection of wines by the glass, the interior design is supurb, which makes the wine tasting experience a pleasure.  Who doesn’t like drinking in a light and airy space built of natural wood that seems to extend forever?

Other noteable design features about its space is that Red Pif has some very cool window shutters in the shape of cut out wine bottles (see picture below), high ceilings, an industrial looking, floor to ceiling wine shelving unit (comprised of mostly French and Czech bottles) and a stunning bar.  The menu wasn’t bad either.  I sampled a cheese platter and my friend had the pumpkin risotto.  Both were good and I would go back to try a full meal.  Red Pif was also non-smoking from what I could tell, a relief to those still hunting for bars and lounges in the city that don’t have you leaving reaking of smoke!

Photo Sources 1, 2, 3, 4

Mariánské Lázně + Weekend Roundup

This past weekend was all about relaxation.  My fiance and I have made it a point to take a full break on Saturday, no work, no computers, disconnect and have a mini adventure, so we don’t miss our opportunity to explore what the Czech Republic has to offer.  On Saturday, we woke up nice and early (so much for a sleep in), got in the car and drove two hours outside of Prague to a spa town in the Karlovy Vary region called, Marianske Lazne.   While the “official” spa season in Mariánské Lázně (also known as Marienbad), does not begin until May, there was still plenty of opportunities to unwind, soak, and be pampered at the various hotels around the city.

Prior to commencing our spa going experience, we decided to grab lunch at what has been touted as the only place to dine in Mariánské Lázně, a Spanish tapas bar called Medite. Medite is located on the main strip of the city and according to my fiance, it was “one of the best meals we’ve had in this country!” Since we were only eating lunch, we stuck to sharing a couple cold and warm tapas dishes including the herb pate and olives, two chicken soups, a stuffed zucchini with tomato bechamel sauce and sheep cheese au gratin, a dish that was something like a tortilla espanola (potato/omelet) and (for the fiance) button mushrooms stuffed with ham and goat cheese served on the equivalent of hickory sticks. It was all delicious and quite an unexpected treat surrounded by Czech cuisine.

As for our spa experience, I wanted to try the salt caves, where you sit in a salt cave for an hour which is supposed to be beneficial for a wide range of ailments, except we couldn’t find the location of the address I wrote down.  So we passed on the salt cave in exchange for a mineral bath at the Spa Resort Nove Lazne, a hotel built in the 1800s by the town’s founder, Karel Kaspar Reitenberger (the hotel is on Reitenberger street).  I asked the front desk what the hotel was famous for and found out it was and is famous for famous people staying at the hotel such as kings and princes.  Not the most motivating selling point if you don’t hold a fondness for Kings and Princes but honest nonetheless.

We selected a mineral bath which was an interesting and somewhat of a medical or hospital-esque experience (see my picture below of the room we soaked in).  The bath lasted for about 30 minutes followed by a dry wrap.  The lady who was administering the mineral bath salts, walked in, walked out, helped us out of the bath on to the table, wrapped us, unwrapped us and then just left.  No explanation, no interaction, simply walking us through the process of soak and dry off.

Overall, the experience was relaxing but I am not sure either of us would rush back just to soak.  Mariánské Lázně is apparently less commercial/touristy than Karlovy Vary (44km away) but outside of the spa, there is not much to do except look at the beautiful landscape/scenery/architecture, but I guess that is what it means to relax.

In the mean time, I also have some inspiration to share with you:

1. I am obsessed with the images and words (graphic design/branding) of La Tortilleria based in Mexico.

2. I learned there are some extremely talented Tel Aviv based wedding dress designers from Hatunot’s blog, not to mention, Hatunot is a helpful wedding site if you are thinking of getting married in Israel.

3. F for Fabulous posted some neat ideas for interior decor with chalkboards.  I am a fan of the first shot, where the entire wall is a chalkboard.  Imagine, you could have a rotating art display all year long thanks to chalk designs of whoever comes to visit.

4. This tart or cake “Galette aux pralines roses” from My DZ Decoration is bright pink and looks super fun for a party.

5. Homemade strawberry juice from The Food Club.  I have never had strawberry juice before but I would imagine it would turn into a mean mimosa.

6. I really enjoyed reading the musings of Like a Strawberry Milk, a pastry chef in London

Tea at Chateau Mcely

On Sunday afternoon, my fiance and I took a quick, thirty minute drive out of Prague to go for tea at Chateau Mcely in the town of Mcely. The Chateau, located in a tiny village surrounded by forest,  reminded me of a villa that I visited in Florence back in October.  The property sits on a large piece of land with beautiful views of hills, trees and farmland.  It was very quiet this weekend, we were one of three tables in restaurant for tea.

The tea menu is quite large.  I sampled something called Sunshine Mate, which tasted like chocolate, caramel.  A nice tea on its own but when paired with a tea, I kind of wished I ordered a Jasmine tea instead to cut through the sugar.  The dining area is beautiful and large made up of three adjoining rooms plus a fourth enclosed “sun room” outback.  We sat in the first dining area that had a massive French-country-esque wall hutch which housed beautiful platters, tea, champagne and other trinkets.  The restaurant had a light and airy feel to it as all the furnishings were in the white/lavender/eggplant/grey and beige family with an accent of gold in some of the furniture. The dining room also had some impressive cameo wallpaper!

The tea itself was great and the desserts were not overly sweet.  I always think back to my tea at Moroco (in Toronto) which I deemed the best tea ever (in Toronto) but it is so sweet you go into a diabetic shock from the sugar levels in their delicious desserts.  The tea menu at Chateau Mcely had a nice mix of sweet and savoury and the sweet items were not too overpowering so you could actually enjoy them.

Since we weren’t starving, combined a half portion and full portion tea and shared the two.  Tea came with four good sized sandwich halves (cucumber, salmon and a misc. meat I did not try).  On the sweet side there were scones, a homemade marmalade which was topped with mint, mascarpone cheese and fresh butter, two lemon macaron that were a bit overdone, four adorably mini pop-in-your-mouth tarts and two triangles of a brownie/dense chocolate walnut cake.

I would like to go back to Chateau Mcely to try their lunch or dinner one time.  This place would certainly be a beautiful spot to host an event or escape for a weekend of quiet.  The grounds (although snow covered) were beautiful and you feel like you are in another country, only 30 minutes out of the city.  I love this place!