Ruby Foodie: Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop

I think that possibly
Maybe I’ve fallen for you
Yes there’s a chance
That I’ve fallen quite hard over you…

Hidden in a little coffee shop is Copenhagen’s first acceptable frozen yogurt disguised as soft serve ice-cream.

Sebastian and I had been meaning to try it once we spotted the little words “frozen yogurt” on their diverse menu of baked goods and coffees. A little stand was propped up next to their display case of croissants, sandwiches, and breads. The cafe also sold popsicles and ice-cream bars, so their froyo definitely took the back seat among all their other products.

We were skeptical, so we only got the small size, which comes with two toppings. My need to try everything enticed me to get both milk chocolate and white chocolate (Sebastian’s favorite). She layered the milk chocolate shavings in between two layers of the frozen yogurt and sprinkled the white chocolate on top.

Two spoons please!!

I regretted getting the toppings the moment I tried the frozen yogurt because the toppings ended up being a distraction from the deliciousness of the yogurt. The yogurt was so creamy (as you can probably tell from the photo) and flavorful, with just the right amount of tart and sweet. This one is on the sweeter side when compared to Frozz or Red Mango.

Finally some decent frozen yogurt in Copenhagen in a covert location at Frederiksberg Center.

It didn’t come cheap, but it is definitely a treat (sorry, I couldn’t resist this clever little rhyme once I thought of it)!

I remember burping (unexpectantly) loud during an (especially) quiet moment in the coffee shop and embarrassing Sebastian. No regrets, I thought it was funny and bursted out laughing.

My sweety, enjoying our delicious find (pre-burping incident).

We can grow old together here in this city, it finally has froyo. 🙂

I never knew, just what it was

About this old coffee shop I love so much
All of the while I never knew-

All of the while
All of the while, it was you
– Landon Pigg “Fall in love in a coffee shop”

Ruby Foodie – Dessert, Anyone?

Let’s start off with the famous “Danishes”, aka Danish pastries! So flaky, buttery, and custardy. These ones are from a famous (chain) bakery in Copenhagen, you can find them everywhere.

The one on the right is a “kanelsnegle”, a cinnamon roll!

I (along with a few others, who shall remain anonymous) once gawked, pointed, and yelled through the glass of this bakery, trying to get them to stop throwing the day-old pastries away into garbage bags as they were closing up for the night. We may have been drunk.

[I know these things are just called “Danishes” sometimes, but I find that it could be misleading to say, “Mm I’m going to eat a lot of Danishes!”. Best to add “pastries” after it. #cannibalism]

It’s a good day when there are baked goods in the house.

Cake! Need I say more?

Note the little design printed on the paper under the cake; that little pretzel crown called a “Kringle”. It is a symbol for “bakery” in Denmark! Usually gold, it’s a traditional guild sign that is hung outside bakery shops!

This is Sebastian eating melted ice-cream. He tried to hide it, but I caught him. He took a break from playing Flow on his Ipad to scarf down melted ice-cream with a fork. Back off, ladies – this fine gentleman is mine.

We were at his grandma and grandpa’s house. They spoil us with all sorts of sweets! 🙂

My first birthday party!!

Okay, my first Danish birthday party. Okay, it wasn’t even my party…

I still remember waking up the morning of my 7th birthday. I put on a new pink dress, got my hair tied up by my mom, and waiting anxiously for all my friends to arrive at my party. Games were played, food was eaten, presents were opened, and worries were non-existent.

Over the summer, Sebastian’s little sister had a birthday party and it brought back some nostalgic memories. 13 little girls, lots of screaming, some tears, hot dogs, soda, candy, and cake!

Being a foreigner, I was fascinated by all the little things that gave this party a Danish charm (all the things that are very normal to the Danes). I went around taking pictures of everything and the little girls probably thought I was crazy. That’s probably why they didn’t want to play with me and just wanted me and Sebastian to kiss. Kids are weird.

Danish people are weirdly proud of their strawberries. They are teeny and fucking delicious.

 

No, the party was not “Danish themed”. In Denmark, the Danish flag also symbolizes birthdays! Everything from table cloths, napkins, little flags on the table, toothpick flags on the birthday cake (see image below), big flags outside the house, to teeny flag confetti scattered all over!

At restaurants, you can tell when it’s someone’s birthday if they have a little flag sitting on their table.

It’s interesting that the use of flags doesn’t have the same connotations as it does in the United States. The Danish flag is not so much associated with nationalism, but more with celebration.

If I were to do this in the states, people would think it was either a 4th of July party, or that I am some sort of a patriotic weirdo. Americans: It’s true and you know it. If I threw all kinds of American flag paraphernalia around, you would not come to my party.

Hot Dogs, the Danish way! With fried onions and remoulade. WARNING: it may cut up the roof of your mouth (from the fried onions), but it is totally worth it. SoOooO good.

This is Lagkage. Layer cake. Also another birthday tradition in Denmark! The cake layers can be bought at any grocery store (comes in yellow and chocolate cake flavor) in packages, and you can choose any kind of cream, custard, jam, NUTELLA, or fruit you want in between the layers. So awesome and easy, fuck baking.

This was the best layer cake I have ever had, but thanks to my bad memory, I forgot how Sebastian’s step-mom made the frosting/cream (even though I had asked her twice…). It’s some sort of cream mixed with little bits of chocolate meringue. I don’t remember, I just know I ate a lot of it. All of it. I let everyone else have the crumbs.

Ahh, pink sprinkles! [Sorry for the product placement by Pepsi, they’re paying me a lot for this.]

Well there you have it, a Danish birthday party!! [If you were turning 7.]

Tillykke med fødselsdagen!! {Translated: Congrats with birthday!}

Ruby Foodie – While you were out…

For a few weeks, I had been enticed to make zucchini fries because of all the pretty pictures I had seen online.

Sebastian had already warned me he wouldn’t eat it because he doesn’t like zucchini, and I don’t fancy them too much myself either so I really have no idea why I decided to make them anyway.

So here goes…

I stayed home one evening and began “slaving away” in the kitchen. Sebastian called me to let me know he was on his way home and I asked if he wanted me to get things to make dinner before the store closed. He said, “Yeah! That would be great, I’m super hungry!”

By the time he got home and I went to go let him in the building, I managed to lock our keys in the kitchen. We had to ask one of our kitchen mates to let us back in to the kitchen (where I left my mess and the oven on…)

Sebastian asked what we were having for dinner… I was so preoccupied with these stupid zucchini fries that I had totally forgotten to go grocery shopping. We ended up having to order pizza (Sebastian had to walk there himself…) and I am a terrible girlfriend.

In the end, I realized that I had never had zucchini fries before and didn’t even know what they were supposed to taste like. So… I couldn’t really tell you if they were a success or not. They were just, meh. The pizzas were delicious though.

Ruby Foodie – Frozz me, please.

As you already know, I am a huge frozen yogurt fan. Remember when I introduced froyo to my Danish boyfriend, Sebastian? He said to me, “What is froyo?” My eyeballs popped out and I flared my nostrils when I heard this shocking discovery. I took him to Red Mango when he came to visit me in Seattle and he has since then become a froyo fan.

I’ve tried countless froyo places and even though frozen yogurt started off as a phenomenon in the States, I’ve never had better tasting frozen yogurt than at Frozz, in Amsterdam. They use Dutch yogurt and fresh toppings, and it makes all the difference. It’s flavorful, creamy, and natural. Now if only they expanded outside of the Netherlands!

There’s no frozen yogurt in Denmark (I will not count this place as a real frozen yogurt place), so when Sebastian and I went to Amsterdam this summer for Decibel, the first thing on our to-do list was to eat Frozz.

My sister reminded me that I could get it at the airport when we got off the plane (what better location, right?). She was the one who introduced me to Frozz, and we are BIG fans. Once during Christmas time, we bought ten Frozz “gift cards/certificates” (it was a 9 for 10 deal or something) all for ourselves…

It’s in a container! How cute!

They weren’t open yet when we arrived… I was sad for almost an hour until we made it out to the city and I made it my mission to find their new location in Amsterdam (they had recently moved… that’s right, I did my research).

It took a little bit of getting lost until we found Frozz at the top floor of a 6 story shopping mall (a quite fancy one), and I was finally able to satisfy my craving.

We were wandering the streets and saw Frozz in this contemporary concept store! This woman would not move out of the picture. I guess she was attracted to Frozz too?

I’ll be saving all the other fun stuff we did in Amsterdam for another post 🙂

Here is me getting more Frozz right before getting on the plane back to Copenhagen again… This time the container was open! I am not posing for this picture, I am smiling like an idiot because I was day dreaming about eating it.

Sebastian was excited too. He kept asking if he could eat it yet…

Nuh uh! …not before a quick photoshoot.

And that was our Frozz adventure. I wish it wasn’t only available in the Netherlands– or actually, if I was wishing for stuff, I wish I lived in Europe.

FROZZ EVERYDAY!!

Ruby Foodie – Paris Part 2! Le marché des Enfants Rouges

If you ever find yourself in Paris, you should pay Le marché des Enfants Rouges a visit. It’s the oldest market in Paris and they have the best crepe I’ve ever had. The market’s hours are a little limited, I’ve been there at least four times only to find empty stalls and people closing up.

There’s numerous family owned ethnic food stands including, Japanese, Italian, Moroccan and Middle Eastern. We had a delicious lunch at the Japanese restaurant last time we were in Paris, so this time we decided to try something different.

I’m not a big fan of couscous. My family liked it though!

We loved the pastilla at the other restaurant so much that we got another one. This one without all the frills was still delicious. I loved the clay dishes and the friendly waiter. He was obviously the family servant (the son) forced to work obediently at the family restaurant. We asked for an extra plate but he thought we ordered mint tea (I have no idea what happened there) and he had to take it off our bill. We felt really bad and left him a bigger tip because we accidentally got him into trouble.

The mint tea was really refreshing after the meal but it was way too sweet. The fresh mint and honey was a wonderful combination though.

Ruby Foodie – Paris Part 1! Foodie Finds Food in France!

Ah… Paris… 🙂 Yum!

We didn’t research very much before we arrived in Paris and even though great food is not hard to find in this gastronomic city, I think we lucked out in our restaurant choices. We were never once disappointed with what Paris served to us.

This little place was close to where we stayed and a little off the main road. We were specifically looking for some sort of a duck dish and just French stuff in general. I’m not going to lie, knowing some French (both me and my sister) helped a lot when deciphering menus.

The owner of the restaurant seated us at one of only 4 tables inside the teeny but cozy restaurant. She was so nice to explain to us almost everything on the menu. Most importantly though, she was more than happy to recommend dishes for us. She asked if there was anything specific we were searching for (duck) and if we were brave to try something very French (oui oui!).

The “something very French” was this “Beef Tartar”. It’s raw beef… so I was SO EXCITED TO TRY IT. I’ve always wanted to try other kinds of raw meats (other than fish). I loved it.

Next goal: Horse meat.

Next was our duck dish, as requested. We had never seen this spaceship looking pocket of meat, and apparently it’s called a Pastilla, and after some research, I found out that it is a Moroccan and Algerian dish. It was new and surprisingly good, it’s so fun trying something new and trying to figure out what it is and how its made. It was basically delicious duck meat wrapped in some sort of dough and there was some potato chunks in there too.

Sardines… My sister loves sardines, so this was all hers. Personally, I don’t like them, but I tried one, and yep, still don’t like them.

Mmm now for dessert. We were all about trying new stuff that day, so when given the choices between strawberries or figs, we went with figs. Plus, my parents love figs (old people love figs…)

I was a little disappointed when we all dug in and found out that our dessert was warm. Maybe because it was a hot day, but nonetheless, the flavor of the cooked figs was so pure and sweet that I really enjoyed it.

We stepped into another restaurant solely because crème brûlée was on the menu, but we were pleasantly surprised with all the other dishes (though not all “French” things) we ordered.

Have to get steak frites in France!

Mmm and the crunchy, creamy crème brûlée certainly did not disappoint.

Exploring the culinary culture of a city is a big part of the traveling experience for me. When I travel, I like to research news and magazine websites and blogs for recommended places to eat. There’s nothing worse than being hungry and frustrated trying to find a place to eat after a long day of sight seeing.

If you don’t have time to research ahead of time, I have some tips that might be able to help you avoid ending up in a tacky touristy restaurant.

Things to avoid:
1. The man or woman with the insincere smile, saying, “Hungry? Dinner? Pizza?” as you walk by, trying to lure you into the restaurant
2. A “tourist friendly” menu written in languages from all over the world
3. Restaurants nearby or right next to big tourist hot spots (museums or churches…) as they can be pricey
4. Old plastic menus that seem like they have never been changed
5. Generic furniture (tables, chairs, counters…) pieces

Look for:
1. “User review stickers” and awards from magazines, websites (ie. Yelp, Tripadvisor…)
2. A chalkboard menu, it might indicate that they frequently change their menu items according to what ingredients are in season or a chef that is capable of making a variety of dishes
3. People inside the restaurant (preferably those that look like locals)
4. Decor that has some character, shows that the owner actually cares about the restaurant
5. Set menu prices. Sometimes a ton of choices is not such a good thing; sometimes when the owner/chef limits their patrons to a few choices for a set price, it asks for the customers to trust that the portions will be enough, the food will taste good, and that the food will pair well with one another.

And of course, bon appetit!

Ruby Foodie – Copenhagen Part 2! Potatoes and Pølsehorn!

We went out to a meget, meget cozy restaurant by Frederiksberg Have an evening some time ago for a wonderfully Danish dinner. I wish I had a better picture of the place, but I don’t. It was cozy as fuck, just trust me.

We ate at the outdoor area and enjoyed the sights and sounds of children playing, music playing from the live jazz band, and the song of forks and knives clinking on plates.

A Danish dish I was recommended and instructed how to eat. It took a lot of effort to pull all the meat off the bones and I was left with a lot of fish in oil. Not sure if I would get it again…

And yes! that is coke in a beer mug 🙂

My boyfriend’s wienerschnitzel! Being Danish, he’s allowed to order something German from a Danish restaurant…

Potatoes with everything!! That’s how it’s done in Denmark. It never ceases to surprise me how much potato European countries eat.

Don’t get me wrong, I love potatoes, I’m just not used to seeing it in so many occasions other than next to my burger and in so many different forms other than a french fry.

My reaction has a lot to do with the fact that I grew up in an Asian household and our “potato” is rice. I remember one time we bought a 10 lb (around 5 kg) bag of potatoes home for 1$ [yeah they’re dirt cheap in the states], used 3 or 4 to make baked potatoes and then we didn’t know what to do with the rest. We let them sit there until they started growing sprouts.

I couldn’t tell you more than two Asian recipes that have to do with potatoes.

Tastes and preferences can differ so much between cultures. My parents cringe at the sight of mashed potatoes and my boyfriend complains about eating rice “all the time” (we eat rice maybe once a week). 😀

One of my favorite snacks! My boyfriend got me hooked on these, they’re like healthier and tastier versions of the American “pigs in a blanket”.

The American version is usually a rich, buttery, croissant dough from a can (the ones that *pop* when you open them), wrapped around a little cocktail sausage, baked in the oven. These Danish “Pølsehorns” (translated: Sausage Horns) are little sausages (I personally think that the cocktail sausages in Denmark are yummier than others because they taste less artificial) inside a bread dough. Our favorite is the wheat dough, and there’s even ketchup baked right into the little guys. They’re so cute I want to SQUEEEEZE them!!!!

You can get them at Føtex.

I really want to try baking them myself but I’m intimidated by bread. The thought of having to use yeast, rising the dough, the oven and baaaaaahhh!  just scares me.

Ruby Foodie – Copenhagen! “Hygge Brunch Brygge”

Please excuse my attempt at a Danish pun… [the title of this post]

Over a month ago, my boyfriend and I had brunch with his sweet grandparents who were visiting Copenhagen for a week. We went to a snazzy restaurant in Islands Brygge called “Aristo”, it was right by the water which would have been a beautiful spot for a meal, but it was raining that day. Nevertheless, we had such a cozy time and ate some delicious food.

Sebastian’s chicken wrap!

My truffle ravioli! The fresh pasta and truffles were mouthwatering. The dill was a little overwhelming though.

A delightful brunch on a rainy day. Glad those gray days are behind us though! 😀

Ruby Foodie – Austrian Wedding!

I don’t know about you, but I think food is the best part of a wedding. Maybe it’s because everyone is starving by the time dinner is served and their jaws are tired from all the smiling and small talk. Or maybe through all the long speeches and toasts, the food is probably the thing people remember the most about weddings.

The bride is a fellow foodie, so we didn’t have any doubt that the food would be delicious. The only thing was, it was boiling hot that day and being bloated and wrapped up in a tight dress or suit did not leave us with much of an appetite. I was devastated.

Smoked Carinthian trout marinated and pureed

Two sauces in harmony and marinated soya sprouts with King oyster mushrooms

I totally ate the flowers. I felt pretty afterwards.

Traditional Carinthian church fair soup

Ingredients unknown. I was told it was every kind of meat made into a soup. I did not enjoy this one as much as others, but probably because I don’t care much for soup. And soup was the last thing I wanted in that heat.

Choice #1 of 2: Grilled fillet of Carinthian highland beef

In tasty port wine sauce and Bearnaise, Fresh vegetables and mushrooms of the season, Creamy potatoes au gratin

I chose this one and it was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I could only eat half of it at first, then I went outside for a walk and came back to finish what I had started. The beef was so flavorful and tender, not anything like you would ever find in the states. However delicious, I couldn’t help but be reminded that the beef came from cows much like the ones that were roaming around in the back yard of our cabin (haven’t met the cows? See this post).

Choice #2 of 2: Butter-fried “Seesaibling” alpine fish

With chardonnay sauce, fresh spinach leaves, baby carrots and rice

I didn’t get to try this one, my steak had my full attention.

Various delights with creamy cottage cheese

Carinthian “reindling” ice cream with Nockingberg mountain berries and Prosecco-pear sauce

This dessert was really confusing. I didn’t know what I was eating 80% of the time. The only part I really enjoyed and ate the most of and fastest was the ice-cream in the middle.

I was happily stuffed by the end of the night and even fit in a few bites of the tri-flavored wedding cake (sesame, chocolate, and apple pie). I was in the bathroom when they were cutting the wedding cake, so I didn’t get a picture

I went to bed that night still dreaming about that steak, and to the sounds of cows mooing and cowbells clinking.