5 posts tagged “sweets”

A sorbet really, it's made with Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon...
here's the pic:

100_2150

So, i made this a long while ago, and I was happy enough with it...It's called Turrón de Vino, but it's not really a typical spanish  turrón mix, since it's really made with a sort of french meringue but with the added perk of wine.
This time i used this Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile:

100_1989

and here's the result:

100_2151

I also made and ice cream with this wine...more on the next post!
cheers

Here I wanted to show so me pictures i took a while ago in Caracas, of some typical  venezuelan sweets made out of coconut, strangely enough, to be that much of a "classical" and locally produced venezuelan product, they weren't  available everywhere and i had to look out for some of them, since there were none available near the place where I live...you have more of a change to encounter an italian  cannoli or a chocolate truffle, or any french-inspired pastry on any given bakery or patisserie than a coconut dessert here which i found strange.
Note that there are many more desserts made out of coconut here, but i only posted the ones i encountered and that could be readily bought. There's another one that's very famous called Bienmesabe, which has coconut too but i didn't find one that day.Later on, i found it but i didn't have my camera on me!

This is a type of coconut preserve with toasted coconut shavings and sugar cane:

100_0191

This is a coconut candy made with shredded coconut and caramelized sugar cane:

100_0188

This one is a shredded coconut sweet made with white sugar and condensed milk:

100_0187

This is another coconut sweet made with caramelized sugar, shredded coconut and condensed milk, i think it may have an egg or so:

100_0186

This is a sort of coconut preserve made with coconut and glucose -and powdered sugar of course-:

100_0185

100_0178

And smaller versions of the same thing called coquitos:

100_0177

100_0181

Called in Spanish: Mercado Principal de Merida.

Here are some pictures of the local market, it's one of the cleanest of the country and the only one with various stories high (for a popular market).

100_0351

100_0353

100_0357

100_0359

100_0358

Some wonderful local sweets:

100_0363

Local crafts:

100_0362

1 comment

Hope you liked them!

I found this bit of news on the net a while ago, thought it would be interesting:

Press Release:

SCENT DINNERS EXPLORE PERFUME IN PARIS, FLORENCE, AND ROME

Context, the network of scholars and other experts who lead walking tours of major world cities, will host a series of “scent dinners” with noted perfume critic Chandler Burr as part of their “Out of Context” series of site-visits, lectures, and special programs. Combining taste and smell with a fascinating discussion of perfume history, chemistry, and politics, the events will explore the intoxicating relationship between some of the world’s greatest scents and some of her greatest cities.“Chandler Burr has the uncanny ability to unfold something as seemingly silly and ephemeral as perfume in such a way that you see the complexity of human endeavor and aspiration” says Context founder Paul Bennett. “We’re thrilled to have him join our network and apply his unique lens to understanding and appreciating some of the greatest cities in the world.

The series begins on June 5 in Paris, with a dinner organized inconjunction with the historic Left Bank restaurant, Laperouse. Working with chef Samuel Benne, Burr will design a gastronomic and olfactory experience that explores the intimate relationship between Paris and the perfumes it has created —arguably the best and most important perfumes in history.
This will be followed by a second event in Rome on June 10, at the enoteca Casa Bleve, located in part of the ancient bath complex of Agrippa, where Burr will look at perfumes that evoke the Italian landscape.
And, finally, the series concludes with a special event at the Palazzo Tornabuoni in Florence on June 11.

Each evening begins with a discussion of perfume, its history and aesthetics. Burr introduces the fundamental idea that perfumes, like architecture, or a chair, or a dress, are designed and thus can be analyzed and broken down into their constituent parts. Working with a category of perfumes known as culinary/gourmand perfumes —that is, perfumes that are made from such edible sources as spices, herbs, fruit, chocolates a nd teas— Burr then begins deconstructing certain perfumes for the group, passing around samples of the perfume itself or its component parts to allow participants to “rebuild” the perfume themselves. For example, Burr might explain how Thierry Mugler's megahit Angel was designed to evoke an amusement park, and then pass around the molecul ethyl maltol, which is what one tastes and smells when eating cotton candy. In the Paris and Florence events, each perfume will be coupled to a dish designed by the chef in a way that expounds on these themes and ideas, allowing the participants to more fully understand the total olfactory and gastronomic structure of what they’re sampling.

The events are programmed as part of Context’s “Out of Context”series. This is a series of special lectures, site-visits, and thematic dinners that explore the great cities of the world in new andinventive ways. The series runs through the spring and summer, and again in the fall and winter.
Chandler Burr is The New York Times’ perfume critic and author of several books. His latest is The Perfect Scent: A year inside the fragrance industry in Paris and New York)(Henry Holt, January 2008). He speaks around the world on scent and perfume and hosts interactive masterclasses in gourmand scents.

To book your own seat, contact:
Paul Bennett,             +1 888-467-1986       ,             +3906 482 0911       , or paul@contexttravel.com

Their website: http://www.contexttravel.com/home/

I like Chandler Burr, his perfume reviews for the NY Times are spot-on (sometimes) and sometimes are just plain off.

I don't like the fact that he thinks that Gardenias yield no scent (or no essential oil)  though...there are thousands of types and some have a very intense scent to them!

photo (nothing to do with the dinners but just because) : LADUREE Paris (where they sell the best macaroons in the world, and one of the best all-around patisseries) This is the one on 75, Rue de Champs Elysées. Photos from laduree.fr

Ladureechamps

and one Religieuse:

Patisserie_religieuse1

5 comments

and for a perfume: Elixir de Merveilles by Hermes,photo from Hermes.com (smells like the sea, oranges and chocolate):

Elixir merveilles hermes

so, who wants to go?

Happy dining!