Food Porn Dictionary: International Edition

With all our recent travels, I thought it would be fun to put together an International Edition of the Food Porn Dictionary.  It's not just France that has great food in Europe, you know.  Our first stop is... COPENHAGEN, DENMARK Typical Danish food consists of open faced sandwiches, plus hearty dishes with lots of meats, potatoes, and gravy.  As I mentioned in my travel post, Copenhagen is surprisingly a huge "foodie town" with 11 Michelin stars across 10 different restaurants.  But you don't have to go to the fancy, schmancy places to get great food.  We had some great dining experiences at more local spots. Café Norden We started off with some tomato soup that, I swear, has forever changed the way I look at tomato soup.  It was spicy, chunky and had a hint of Indian flavor (almost tasted like Korma sauce).   The cream and oil on top added a richness that was so delicious! Then we split the sampler platter of  traditional Danish Open-Faced Smørrebrød (sandwiches) The first sandwich was Æg og Rejer m/Hjemmelavet Majo toppet med Karse (Eggs and Shrimp w / Homemade Mayo topped with Cress) The next sandwich was my favorite, Hjemmelavet Hønsesalat m/ Bacon (Homemade Chicken Salad w / Bacon) The final sandwich was The Hub's favorite, Flæskesteg m/ Hjemmelavet-Rødkål, Agurkesalat og  Remoulade (Roast Pork w / Homemade-Red Cabbage, Cucumber Salad and Remoulade) Restaurant Puk Even though there are many other cuisines offered in Copenhagen, we decided to go the traditional route for our first night. We started off with Fiskefilet serveret med Salat, Kartofler & Hjemmelavet Remoulade (Breaded Fish Cakes served with Salad, Potatoes, and Homemade Tartar Sauce) For dinner, we ordered and split both Hakkebøf med Spejlæg, Bløde Løg, Kartofler og Brun Sovs (Hamburger Steak with Fried Egg, Fried Onions, Potatoes and Brown Gravy) and Flæskesteg med Rødkål, Hvide Kartofler & Brun Sauce (Roast Pork with Red Cabbage, Boiled Potatoes & Gravy) We also had lots of delicious snacky-treats in Copes. Surprisingly, the Danish make some damn good pastries PORTO, PORTUGAL My girl's trip to Porto was probably my favorite of the trips I've taken here so far, and I can't wait to tell you more about it later this week.  Local cuisine in Porto includes Tripe (eek!) the Francesinha, and lots of seafood - especially Salted Codfish.  Funny sidenote about dining out in Porto:  when you sit down, your server will bring you a basket of bread with butter and jams...which you will then be charged for...so watch out for that! Our first night, we arrived in Porto really late and didn't have many options for dinner.  A little old man walking down the street led us to a nearby plaza where we enjoyed a really lovely dinner at a restaurant that, regretfully, I can't remember the name of and can't find online.  At any rate, it turned out to be a good a choice.  As soon as Stéphanie and I saw the Baked Brie with Pumpkin Jam on the menu, we new we had to order it to start our meal with a bang. For my dinner, I ordered the Pork Loin with Roasted Chestnuts, Fried Potatoes, and Stewed Greens.  It was really typical for a dish in Porto to consist of this formula:  meat, fries, and cooked spinach.  Have you ever had a roasted chestnut like this before?  It was quite good. Restaurante A Grade The next day, after our Boat Tour, we were looking for a place to eat lunch and stumbled upon this place, which I remembered from one of the guide books we'd read.  It's a family owned and run restaurant on a little side street in the old Ribeira neighborhood.  This was my favorite meal in Porto!  The seafood was so fresh and buttery, it melted in my mouth.  We started off with a little appetizer assortment, clockwise from left:  Baked Octopus, Mussels, and Salt Cod-Potato Fritters.  I'm telling you, that meaty, Baked Octopus was to die for and the Mussels were the biggest I've ever seen in my life. We ordered two dishes and split them both.  We knew we had to try the famous Salted Codfish with Boiled Potatoes and Greens. And we also tried the Sea Bass with Boiled Potatoes and Cabbage.  This was our favorite fish, cooked so perfectly with a fantastic salty crust. Kyodai Sushi Later that night, we had an amazing experience at Kyodai.  Aside from being the best sushi I'd had in Europe to date, the Brazilian owners were friendly and loved joking around with us.  We sat at the sushi bar (which I always prefer) and were immediately served course after course.  No menus here, folks, just eat what's put in front of you.  We started off with this lovely sampler of Seaweed Salad and Assorted Pickled Vegetables.  Then we were given bowls of Tempura Vegetables and Shrimp along with Grilled, Marinated Tuna that tasted all gingery and yummy. Finally came the Sushi Platter which was absolutely fantastic.  Fresh and simple, with the right amount of creativity.  There was lots of tuna, salmon, snapper, shrimp, and roe.  Our favorite part was the maki roll that consisted of salmon, cinnamon spiced cherries, and a jalapeño jam.  Ya, that's right.  In fact, we made such a spectacle over that roll that the chef decided to give us another!  We're just so charming. Café Santiago And no trip to Porto would be complete without trying their famous Francesinha.  This sandwich, which originated in Porto, is made by piling various kinds of meat on white bread, and then smothering it with cheese and a spicy tomato-beer sauce.  And if that's not enough for you, you can also order it with french fries and an egg on top.  Seriously.  We spent a lot of time researching where to find the best Francesinha in Porto, which led us to Café Santiago. We really wanted to do the egg and fries on top, but we just couldn't.  In hindsight, we should have ordered it that way and just split one instead of getting 2 regulars.  Live and learn. Like Copes, Porto also had some pretty tasty breakfast pastries, like this Almond and Egg Delight: I also tried out an Apple-Cinnamon Pastry: STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN The local cuisine in Stockholm reminded me a lot of Copenhagen, which makes sense since they're both part of Scandinavia.  Meats, cabbages, potatoes, sauces.  I loved it.  I only have pictures of a few meals from here, and they're not really the best quality, but I hope you'll enjoy them anyway. Rolf's Kök We went here on recommendation and we're so glad we did!  We all agreed that we had our best meal here.  We started off with a few appetizers:  Kalvsylta med Parmesan, Caponata & Rucola (Terrine of Veal with Parmesan, Caponata & Rocket Salad) and their special of the day, Beef Carpaccio: We also had the Hummerbisque med Cognacs Grädde & Hummerbouchéer (Lobster Bisque with Cognac and Cream), which was good but not exactly what I expected. For dinner, we picked the obvious choice, Rödvinsbrässerade Oxkinder med Gotlandstryffel & Potatispuré (Red Wine Braised Cheeks of Ox with Truffle (from the island of Gotland) & potato purée) The truffled mashed potatoes were ah-mah-zing. We also got the special of the day, which was basically Swedish Meatballs in a Mushroom Gravy (I'm paraphrasing) Berns Asian For our final meal in Stockholm, a friend recommended that we check out Berns Asian, which is part of the Berns Hotel series of restaurants.  This place was just breathtaking.  From the atmosphere to the food, everything was presented beautifully.  We got lots of dishes, whose pictures didn't really turn out that great in the dark restaurant, but I managed to snap a decent one of the delicious Sashimi Platter that we got.  Tuna, Salmon, Shrimp, Scallops and Hamachi.  Hamachi people!!!  It was a our first Hamachi sighting in Europe and The Hub was ecstatic. Here are some other not-so-great shots of the other dishes we got: Vitlöksfrästa Haricots Verts med Friterad Ostronskivling (Garlic Green Beans with Deep-Fried Oyster Mushrooms) Stekt Fläsk & Jordnöts Dumpling XI med Ingefärs Dipsäs (Roast Pork & Peanut Dumpling XI with Ginger Dipping Sauce) Koreansk BBQ Flankstek med Kimchi Chilimarinerad Gurka Och Het Majonnäs  (Korean BBQ Flank Steak with Chili Marinated Cucumber Kimchi And Hot Mayonnaise) Grillade Kycklingspett med Massamancurry Och Jordnötter  (Grilled chicken skewers with Massamancurry And Peanuts) Thaiköttbullar i Röd Curry (Thai Meatballs in Red Curry) Hoisin Glaserade Revbens Spjäll & Fräst Broccoli med Salta Svarta Böner  (Hoisin Glazed Ribs & fried Broccoli with Salted Black Beans) And in case you missed the first two editions of the Food Porn Dictionary, you can find them here and here. Bon Appétit, mes amis!

6 Responses to “Food Porn Dictionary: International Edition”

1. Julia says:

   November 7, 2011 at 5:04 pm

   1- everything IS better with an egg on top. 2- i want that octopus.

   Reply
2. Stéphanie says:

   November 7, 2011 at 5:44 pm

   Merci pour ces délicieux souvenirs!

   Miss you xxx

   Reply
3. alexa @ cleveland's a plum says:

   November 7, 2011 at 8:41 pm

   i kept scrolling and scrolling thinking the post was over, but no, there was more and more and more deliciousness.

   i think i need a cigarette after all the food porn.

   Reply
4. Greer says:

   November 8, 2011 at 11:11 pm

   Oh my god Natalie! My mouth is watering! The sushi looked phenomenal! so did the mashed potatoes! Think you could ship this food back to the United States? :) Yummmyyyy!

   Reply
5. Natalina says:

   November 9, 2011 at 7:20 pm

   This is why I love watching you chronicle your life in France. The food looks incredibly delicious and so different. Love it. It’s so beautifully prepared in Europe.

   Reply
6. Internationalf Food Porn says:

   April 15, 2012 at 9:10 am

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   Reply