Food & Travel Guide to Montpellier, France – What to See, Eat & Do

This is less of a food and travel guide and more of our time spent in Montpellier. A short 24 hours of bistro food, gothic buildings and oysters.

BROC CAFE

When we reached Montpellier, we were hungry. It was only 4 or 5 pm. Somewhere between lunch and dinner. I needed something sweet and Roy had to have his coffee. A cafe perhaps? It was the only agreeable place at that time. So we shuffled into Broc Cafe where students from the nearby university were enjoying frites, roasted camembert and wine. After a cappuccino and a chocolate cake with a side of cream, we decided to take a look around the city. As we were leaving, a teenager with tousled hair and gold-rimmed glasses was slicing bread for dinner. Next to him, the cooks were prepping the beef on the grill for their burgers oozing with Saint-Marcellin cheese. I knew there and then that we were coming back for dinner.

COQUI THAU

The real reason we went to Montpellier was because of oysters. Oysters from the Bassin de Thau. Coqui Thau was opened by Christian, the first generation owner of the oyster farm. On the day we visited the farm, his son Eric was out on the boat looking after the oysters at sea. A mid-morning pan of Bouzigues mussels was simmering a la brasucade. With the tang of the ocean mingling with the crisp cool air, Eric shucked the oysters so effortlessly as if he was paring an apple. My memory of raw oysters are those spritzed with fresh lemon. I had thought that that was the only way to eat a raw oyster. But that could not compare to the oysters “Nino style”, a recipe from their friend in Alicante which I had not been able to put a finger on. A drizzle of olive oil paired with something luxuriously pink made the oysters taste like heaven.

Food & Travel Guide to Ubud, Bali – What to See, Eat & Do

Indonesia

If Ubud were a colour, it would be green. A rich, emerald green. Green is everywhere in Ubud. The wild dense jungle. The foliage veiling Leke Leke waterfall. Even the leaf wrapping the coconut rice cakes at Tukies. On any day, a mist rises from the layers of leaves that shroud Ubud in textures of green like a whispered secret.

UBUD

For years, I have been fascinated with Ubud. It is the cultural heart of Bali. A place that sings its praises rather than imitate something foreign. This is especially so for the food which I can’t stop waxing poetic about. Hearing this in the car, our driver Ngurah boasts affectionately, “We Balinese are very proud of our land.” And the land is abundant with ingredients that are transformed into an assortment of dishes – coffee and slow cooked pork sandwich at Montana Del Cafe, duck betutu at Murni’s Warung, turmeric rice grilled in banana leaf at Seniman Coffee, oxtail fried rice at Pison, gado gado rolls at D’tukad Coffee Club.

CACAO PLANTATION

Chocolate has always been for me a simple indulgence. A chocolate bar or nutella spread on a slice of bread. Chocolates have their humble beginnings in a plant. My first taste of a cacao seed at Cau Chocolates caught me off guard. It is a sharp contrast from the breakfast of homemade mixed fruit jams I had earlier at Sankara Suites. The taste is a blunt bitterness. It hits you hard like a swig of scotch served neat. The coaxing of the farmers is what brings out the chocolatey flavour of cacao that we are so attracted to. Later, the rich velvety taste of a chocolate ice cream, a taste that is nothing like the bitterness of its original rawness, gives me a newfound respect for farmers.

BABI GULING

Babi guling is an ordinary meal. Modest. No shiny silverware or linen tablecloths. But it is the pride and joy of the Balinese. At the entrance of Babi Guling Gung Cung, a whole pig is roasted to a deep auburn glow. A few ladies are the cooks. With every banana leaf atop a rattan plate, one of them crowns the rice and chopped meat with a crisp cut of pork skin. It is the mark of an authentic babi guling.

RICE TERRACES

It is still dawn when we reach Tegalalang rice terrace. The day before, Roy’s father had insisted on going at sunrise. “It’s the only way to see the rice terrace,” he said as a matter-of-factly. Or words to that effect. In the first light of day, we watch our driver weave through the rice fields that are growing greener with each passing second. He has lived in Ubud all his life and still, Tegalalang is an astounding sight. At this hour before the crowds flood the fields, Tegalalang is calm, peaceful. As the sunrise transforms the rice fields into a full-coloured film with the hum of waking birds as the background music, I am finally convinced: the sunrise is the only way to see the rice fields.

NUSANTARA BY LOCAVORE

Eating at Nusantara is like traversing the many islands of Indonesia. Outside the restaurant, a cook is fanning the fire into obedience as he roasts moringa leaves, base genep and ginger in coconut husks. It’s somewhat like a performance, but it’s much more practical than that (no, grilling indoors would have been absurd). It’s a prelude to the meal. And the meal is exquisite. Sawah duck cooked with star anise, nutmeg, kluwak and burnt coconut. Banana blossoms stir fried with chillies and leeks. A trevally grilled with candlenuts, soy sauce, coriander seeds and lemongrass. Nothing is familiar; everything is foreign. Our dinner is but a sampler of Indonesian cuisine. The rest? Well that remains a secret to be uncovered some other day.

Food & Travel Guide to Lake Como, Italy – What to See, Eat & Do

Italy

Our first experience with the Italian lakes was a Lake Como painted in sepia tones by the blueless sky. We were driving more than an hour from Milan when the road opened out into mountains surrounding a cool lake shrouded in fog and autumn foliage. It was in the evening; the moonlight was turning into a sleepy haze. And as night fell, the towns lit up the lake like a string of diamonds. It was at this moment when Lake Como awoke as the bejewelled crown of Northern Italy.

VILLAS

The magic of Lake Como lies in its villas – Villa del Balbianello and Villa Monastero among others – surrounding the lake like flecks of sparkling jewels. They are emblematic of Lake Como’s opulent residents whose gardens are nothing short of spectacular. Every view is a picture made even more perfect by the varnished mahogany boats that glide from villa to town.

In the aperitivo hour (before the late Italian dinnertime), we are at Pasticceria Siciliana Vittoria for Sicilian pastries. It is here where we hide from the rain and enjoy the warmth of a sugar-dusted sfogliatelle and a cappuccino, listening to the incomprehensible conversations trickle by us as regulars come and go.

DA LUCIANO

While I love Italian food, Northern Italy always feels like a distant cousin to Mediterranean Italy. Perhaps it’s the Swiss influence. A little cream here and there. But Da Luciano feels very much like an Italian place. A butcher shop turned bar and cafe run by a family. In the macelleria, Luciano is preparing the meats and cheeses. His sons, Andrea and Alessandro, are serving small plates of sliced roast veal, meatballs and charcuterie to the tables where there are glasses of spritz and a view of the lake. There is no fixed menu so Andrea tells you the dishes available for the day. The meats are cured or lightly seasoned with olive oil. No complicated flavours, just simple ones. We find ourselves returning again and again to this little macelleria-cafe, mostly for another plate of veal drizzled with olive oil.

VILLA CARLOTTA

When the rain clouds have dispersed, the sun turns a light on in Lake Como. From the second floor of the Villa Carlotta, the alps are in full view, adding a touch of drama to the lake like the opera music at the Teatro alla Scala. Under the warmth of the autumn sun, we have lasagne and cannelloni at Menaggio. Having finished my cannelloni, I find it impossible to eat another bite so I tell Roy, “You have to take care of the bread.” As always, Roy responds with “My pleasure” and he scoops up the remaining sauce with the bread and eats it with nothing less than that.

L’ORA DELLA PASTA

I call L’Ora della Pasta the Italian fast pasta place. There are trays of pasta in all shapes and colours on display at the counter. You choose a pasta and the server scoops a sauce (tomato or pesto) over it in a paper plate. “All homemade,” the server makes it a point to say. I always say that a good plate of pasta does not have to be expensive. At least not in Italy.

VILLA D’ESTE

In Cernobbio, the beautiful Canova Bar resides in the Villa d’Este. Here, we defy the social etiquette of the bar by ordering a tea and blueberry juice instead of a cocktail. After all, being in Italy means breaking a few rules. And it was a really good blueberry juice, as the waiter assures me, “It’s the freshest you will ever taste.” But we didn’t come to the hotel for a juice; we are here because of the ambience. The grand view of the lake from the terrace. A walk around the breathtaking garden.

PANINI

My favourite sandwich is Italian. A panini. Only three ingredients. A ham, a cheese, a vegetable. Nothing excessive. A mayonnaise or a ketchup is forbidden. As we can’t tell the difference from a coppa to a pancetta, Alberto at Passion takes us through the tasting notes of his hams and cheeses. As he slices the ham to the beat of Japanese anime music, we sit and watch him assemble a minimal number of ingredients into something delicious. A panini is about making the ingredients shine, nothing more.