Globalgourmets's Blog

Quadracentifiable – Limonecello

globalgourmets — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:13:52 +0000

OR Quadracentifiable Lemon Liqueur: I think that would mean 400 times more, however if you did 400 times more alcohol or Vodka, you might be certified “Quadracentifiable” – so i suggest you stick to the quantities below and if you do want to make it Quadracentifiable then add more Lemon…

There is more to Limoncello than meets the eye.

The Recipe and it Secrets:

Take the peel or zest of 6 to 7 lemons ( they must be fresh and the peel must be very thin – NO WHITE)

1 litre of alcohol / or vodka -

1250 ml of 5 cups water

700gr of 3 cups sugar

Large glass jar ( to hold the peeled lemon and alcohol)

Peel the zest from the lemons with a vegetable peeler place into a large glass jar.

Add the alcohol to the jar with lemon zest, cover glass jar with cellophane and store in a cool place for 7 days.

On the 6^th day boil the water and add the sugar to the boiling water

Stir the sugar until it is fully dissolved in the water

Set the sugar syrup aside to let it cool overnight.

On the seventh day – It really does sound like Genesis

Strain the lemon peels from the alcohol and discard the peels

Poor the sugar syrup into the glass with the alcohol and stir well

It will keep for 1 to 2 years, Store in bottles, with a cap or cork in your bar or in cellar. Chill before serving, there is some debate about this; the advice I got was to never freeze Quadracentifiable Lemonecello as it destroys the aroma. So I suggest you experiment.

I have to Thank You all for reading, I check the stats and there are many people out there – fantastic.

Please try this recipe, let me know how it goes for you.

Ciao from Amalfi….

Edit

Love in the kitchen

globalgourmets — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:31:45 +0000

4 weeks ago my 11-year-old son came back to live with me. He had been with his Dad in the North Island. I pondered what to do and how I could share the love of life with this beautiful 11-year-old young man who was having resistance to the good in his life.

I took inspiration from my stunning friends in Italy and thought I would help him ( and me find love in the kitchen)…

I started with what he wanted to cook. So chocolate chip muffins are on the menu most days and in the lunch box. This is a very special time for the two of us and with busy lives and job’s and single parenting and my son has dyslexia I though that sharing this adventure in the kitchen with you could help me and inspire others. Also it might keep me focused.

The action point to writing this blog was 1 week ago on a Friday night, we made muffins together dancing and singing, in English, Italian and Spanish…. my life was just bliss.

Join MUM and SON on our love in the kitchen adventure.

Mamma Agata

globalgourmets — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:38:28 +0000

There is a place south of Naples on the Amalfi Coast that can only be described as heaven.

It is said that life is made up of moments – times of wonderment that sharpen your senses and reinforce your vision and when your senses unite, you realise how fortunate you are to be in the moment, and recognise is for what it is – a window in time. The rest of the world drifts away, worries melt and you are in bliss on the Amalfi Coast, embraced and nurtured by stunning people who take life face on with love. ( Something I am learning to do more of)

I had the extreme pleasure of being a guest at Mamma Agata’s cooking school on the Amalfi Coast and in gratitude to Chiara I have decided to blog about her book that she and her mother have written.

I think it would be fun to cook thru the book like Julie and Julia but do it with my son Isaac. He is the most fantastic cook and loves to eat. This project will cover many objective for me. It will bond me more with the Italian lifestyle that I covet, with my son who I love and adore. He will get to be the creative director of the movie ( he told me this morning he wanted to be an actor). The outcome will be – interesting.

With Respect and Love we will begin the project.

Its interesting, lately I have been looking at the values of love and respect especially when we cook. If we love what we are cooking and respect the recipe and the ingredients then the out come will be memorable. Mamma Agata is this, she is true to tradition and cooks with love and respect to inject you being with her passion.

What I loved the most about my experience was how real it was, authentic, you cooked in their kitchen ( not a designer kitchen) an Italian kitchen albeit looking out over the Amalfi Coast was an added bonus.

Eating on the terrace with plump juicy lemons lopping around and falling out of the sky , the aroma of lemon infused with the soft heat of spring create JOY and DELIGHT.

We laughed and share stories and learnt to cook so wonderful dishes of the South of Italy.

Join Isaac and I on our foray into Southern Italy and our cooking project.

http://ow.ly/1Qro5

globalgourmets — Thu, 27 May 2010 02:22:53 +0000

http://ow.ly/1Qro5

Limoncello Limoncello

globalgourmets — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:42:44 +0000

OR Lemon Liqueur:

There is more to Limoncello than meets the eye.

The Recipe and it Secrets:

Take the peel or zest of 6 to 7 lemons ( they must be fresh and the peel must be very thin – NO WHITE)

1 litre of alcohol / or vodka

1250 ml of 5 cups water

700gr of 3 cups sugar

Large glass jar ( to hold the peeled lemon and alcohol)

Peel the zest from the lemons with a vegetable peeler place into a large glass jar.

Add the alcohol to the jar with lemon zest, cover glass jar with cellophane and store in a cool place for 7 days.

On the 6^th day boil the water and add the sugar to the boiling water

Stir the sugar until it is fully dissolved in the water

Set the sugar syrup aside to let it cool overnight.

On the seventh day

Strain the lemon peels from the alcohol and discard the peels

Poor the sugar syrup into the glass with the alcohol and stir well

It will keep for 1 to 2 years, Store in bottles, with a cap or cork in your bar or in cellar. Chill before serving, there is some debate about this; the advice I got was to never freeze Limoncello as it destroys the aroma. So I suggest you experiment.

I have to Thank You all for reading, I check the stats and there are many people out there – fantastic.

Please try this recipe, let me know how it goes for you.

Ciao from Amalfi….

Amalfi Tours – Tour Creation Project

globalgourmets — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:19:20 +0000

I am about to head off to Italy’s Amalfi coast to create a unique tour for the New Zealand and Australian Market. This project is fun, exciting and very unknown. Follow me as I blog each day about my experience and how I put together a tour that 100′s can enjoy with out doing HUGE research.

Amalfi Coast Italy is a very popular destination with many Australians and New Zealand Travelers. So often when you are on a tour you get the on and off the bus experience but never feel like you have touched the country you are visiting. It is my intention to create tours that will give groups of people a local, authentic and real experience of the culture, the people and the country.

Amalfi Coast :

The Amalfi Coast is a land of an amazing beauty, my wish is to share with you the beauty of this area, the history, art, traditions and cuisine, that makes this land so unique.

For your future Amalfi Travel needs, whether you are looking for a a tour of the Amalfi Coast or a Amalfi Coast Cooking Class, I am looking forward to make your Amalfi Coast Tour one of the highlights of your Travel.

Lytteton farmers Market

globalgourmets — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:07:07 +0000

3 fab Sausage Rolls please is the request and people come every week for the Sausage Rolls. When I asked what the stall was called, I was told on the receipt it said Hot Tarts but nobody is really very sure who is the Hot Tart.

My son comes here every week with his Dad and today I was blessed with a morsel of Sausage Roll hand me downs. They are so desirable but not even a 10 year old can polish one off on his own.

Shopping with Isaac at the markets is just great. You have to be loaded with cash and the list begins. ” Mum you must get some Biltong, its $18.00 a bag” said Isaac. I give him $10.00 and ask for a much smaller bag. Canterbury Biltong is made from an old South African Recipe and Prime Canterbury Beef. I love the chilly flavor. Reminder to myself to interview these guys one day.

Akaroa Salmon is my weekly must get, this pack of smoked bits was all that was left. Its always tricky in the summer because Cricket comes first in our family. Cricket then the market.

This is the lovely Anna from Gruff Junction. I have to have a fix of her cheese every week and today like the Salmon, the Feta was sold out but my lovely shopping assistant assures me the Halswelloumi will go down a treat and if I get a big block I can share it with him. Ahh – My wee boy ( Young Man and Foodie). Anna is on my list next week to interview and seemed excited. Which is always a very good thing.

This is only some of the delights that Canterbury has to offer and as I go around the Farmers Markets I am researching for New Zealand Culinary Escapes – sip, eat, wisk, stir….. with GlobalGourmets.com.

Enjoy – xx Christchurch New Zealand Lyttleton Farmers Market.

Building a Tour Company – Count Down

globalgourmets — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:19:50 +0000

The count down begins. On 26 march I begin my research for 2011 tours, this year I thought I would blog about it so you all can experience how tours are built and the amazing people who help me on the way.

I will be interviewing and blogging and posting on You Tube when I can to introduce you to some of the most fantastic artisan that produce stunning food around the world. These are the people you will meet on my tours. The real thing.

Tour with me, I will visit Cooking Classes in Hong Kong, Tuscany and Sicily, local farmers markets and interview food artisan on there craft. When you tour with Global Gourmets it is like you are with sort of on a culinary odyssey where you actually get to be Rick Stein ( well sort of).

Rosemary

Global Gourmets has been my dream for years now. To build a Niche Tour Company that sends people whipping, stirring, chopping there way around the world and experience the culture via food n friends.

“As for rosemary, I let it run all over my garden walls, not only because my bees love it but because it is the herb sacred to remembrance and to friendship, whence a sprig of it hath a dumb language.”
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)

Eat Pray Love – Chocolate and Desire

globalgourmets — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:00:11 +0000

Eat Pray Love – These 3 words together just remind me of chocolate. Is that because chocolate makes me feel good or do we all associate chocolate with feeling good? It doesn’t have that sort of ” oh do I really have to eat THAT “ feeling. It is more of the wonderment and delight and memories of sharing and feeling good. A steaming cup of hot cocoa on a winters morning. A sweet delight on your pillow with your sheets turned down. Does that make you tummy flip with joy. Oh it lifts the spirit and satisfies cravings emotional and physical. Today I am going to share with you my Yoga Bali Retreat introduction – inspired by ” Eat, Pray, Love” and a Mexican Hot Chocolate Recipe with a twist. My desire is that both treats will have your spirits sore. (check out the retreat menu)

Yoga Bali Retreat

PONDERING : So if these 3 words Eat Pray Love ( yes this post is inspired by the book) then is it ok to eat chocolate on a Yoga Bali Retreat? It is interesting to play with what these words mean to you and if you were “Eat Pray Love” what would you eat, who would you pray for and who would you love?

Does Yoga, Travel and Chocolate meet the desire of the human soul? I love this paragraph out of the book ” Chocolate” by Karl Petzke and Sara Slavin. ” To be human is to desire. We know that animals have wants and needs and memories, but unlike us, they live almost entirely in the moment, not in the past of the future. And it is the tangled interplay between the world of memory and world of the future that creates the human province of desire.”

This year I will Eat chocolate, Pray for my family and Love me more. To help myself and others have great joy I have created wonderful cooking tours around the world that truly allow people to meet the desire of the human soul. Eat – Pray – Love, Is this not what we do everytime we cook for our friends and family, the more love and joy you put into a meel the better it tastes and the more enjoyment people get out of it.

“I LOVE DESIRE, THE STATE OF WANT AND OF HOW TO GET; BUILDING A KINGDOM IN A SOUL REQUIRES DESIRE. ” Molly Peacock, from “Why I am not a Buddhist”

Please follow my tour and have the desire to join me one day as we – Cheerfully, Chop, Whisk and Stir our way around the world.

The Recipe for today is on the them of Desire and Love:

MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE

hot chocolate

4 cups milk

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon black pepper finely ground

Heat milk in medium-sized saucepan until hot. Add remaining ingredients and whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is slightly foamy. Serve in warm cups Serves 4.

Enjoy with Love and Share with your Love.

also from the book " Chocolate" by Karl Petzke and Sara Slavin.

CheeseFest10

globalgourmets — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:15:15 +0000

CheeseFest 10

CheeseFest - the ultimate food lovers experience – and will be bigger and better than ever before! Over 400 of New Zealand’s finest speciality cheeses will be on display for the public to sample. Talk to the cheese makers and improve your cheese knowledge!Cuisine Artisan winners will also be there with a range of wonderful products.

CheeseFest will feature the biggest collection of New Zealand cheeses ever assembled in one room, served with a complimentary glass of wine. Sample as much cheese as you want! Buy cheese at bargain prices from the NZ Sperciality Cheesemakers Association stand.

A selection of cheeses will also be on sale at very attractive prices to take home and enjoy. A cash bar is available to purchase other wines and beer to match with cheeses

Where: The Langham 83 Symonds St , Auckland. Parking at The Langham car park.

When: Wednesday 03 March 2010 from 5pm – 8pm Tickets $30 each