Queijadas (Portuguese custard tarts from Sintra)

A Queijada is a muffin-like Portuguese sweet made with cheese or Requeijão (a type of fluid ricotta-like milk product). In a way, they are similar to the cheesy dessert muffins from El Salvador, called Quesadillas (no connetion to the Mexican food bearing the same name). 

Each region in Portugal has its own version but they are made first and foremost in Sintra, the capital of late Portuguese monarchy, with a milk custard instead of cheese.

Here is a view of the gates of the Pena Palace, just one of the many there up in the Sintran mountains.

This next one is a view of me from behind, walking up through the Pena Palace complex.

And this one is one of my favorites, from the palace kitchens, displaying all the copper baking trays that were at some point in use. Loved them :) 

Since Sintra was one of the places I loved the most when visiting Portugal last year (in July 2018), I decided to make something from there to commemorate the vibes. 
Main recipe source: here.

Last year: nothing
Two years ago: nothing
Three years ago: nothing
Four years ago: Salade de Pois Chiches (Jewish/Tunisian chickpea salad) (vegan).
Five years ago: Spinach, soy and apple smoothie (raw vegan).
Six years ago: Kohlrabi carpaccio with prosciutto crudo and Parmesan (raw).
Seven years ago: Smoked trout spread on hot buttered toast.
Eight years ago: Spicy shrimp and wild rice soup (Chinese).

Susam Tahinli Kek (Sesame tahini cake) (Turkish)

One of the greatest things I tasted in Istanbul was this cake, made with lots of tahini paste (yum!) and a lot of sesame seeds (both inside and on top). The cake also contains a few bits of chopped dates and walnuts, just for the occasional taste and texture variation. If you love sesame and you want to try a more modern, but completely authentic Turkish dessert, this tart is your best bet. 

I found several variations of this tahini sesame cake online, but I have to say that none of them were completely like the cake made in the Istanbul cafes I recently visited. So I adapted the recipe a bit in order to come up with a version closer to the original. After it was out of the oven and I tasted it, I became convinced that indeed this is it:). 

I love that the richness of the tahini taste is perfectly counterbalanced by the orange juice in the batter. You can't really taste the oranges, but it definitely feels lighter than you'd expect. 

Last year: nothing.
Two years ago: nothing.
Three years ago: nothing.
Four years ago: Bacon panzanella (bread and tomato salad).
Five years ago: Irish nettle soup.
Six years ago: Colcannon (Irish mashed potatoes and greens).
Seven years ago: Turkey pieces in emmentaler sauce.
Eight years ago: Orange caramel pastry windmills, Parmesan cream potatoes and Vegetarian chili tacos with avocado salsa (Mexican).

Moules frites (Belgian and French)

This is a national Belgian dish consisting of fresh mussels cooked in wine, butter, celery and leeks, accompanied by frites (French fries) and hand-made mayo. When I visited my friends Laura and Vlad in Belgium earlier this year (in June), almost every traditional restaurant displayed this dish on their menus outside the entrance :). I decided to make them at home and present them to you as the local specialty. 
I visited several cities in Belgium (Leuven, Brussels, Bruges), but where I loved it most was in Bruges. You can admire its famous market square and clock tower below:

By far the prettiest city, rightfully compared to a fairy-tale setting. I might be inclined towards it considering my older love for anything medieval (I will have a book - my phd, actually - be published on medieval festivals soon, yey!), but I still think the city is pretty enough to melt anyone.

If you happen to pass by Bruges, you must definitely try one of their boat rides. It takes you through the best parts of what the city has to show you and it's prettier than any boat ride you could imagine :). This is me (below), looking over a bridge towards the canals where the boats pass through (and some hour later we took a boat ride as well).

To see some scenery from Bruges, you could try watching In Bruges. It's a pretty funny movie :). To have a taste of Belgium try my mussels recipe, detailed below, after the jump.

Recipe source: Saveur. 

Last year: Turmeric-fried chicken with three chili marinade and tomato raita.

Two years ago: Baby making and no cooking :).

Bouneschlupp (Green bean and ham soup) (Luxembourgian)

I went to Luxembourg sometime during last fall (taking along the husband and a good friend) for an anthropology workshop and I was charmed with this lovely city. The medieval background is something I'm most sensitive to when it comes to falling in love with a place, and Luxembourg has plenty of that :).

I decided to present here something from their local cuisine, which is a rich blend of the cultures intermingled in the area and then a little more :). What you see above is one of the staples of Luxembourgian cuisine, the Bouneschlupp, a green bean and ham creamy soup. Not too complicated to make, hearty and with a charming day-to-day pub feel to it.

If you ever have to occasion to delve in Luxembourg, take it. If you're any little bit like me, you'll love it. :)
I particularly liked the Adolphe Bridge in the center of the town (pictured below), the historical tour with the tram (where we could hear Melusina's voice explaining the surroundings to us), and the complex system of walls and fortifications.

Last year: Crispy pizza crust (vegan).
Two years ago: Pickled red onions and Linguine alla matriciana with zucchini.

Garlic soup with chorizo and mustard (Czech)

We are great fans of garlic soup. If you haven't tasted any kind of garlic soup so far, you might think it's a yucky thing that will make your breath chase away all vampires :)). But a good garlic soup has a very subtle flavor, is great in the changing of seasons (treats light colds and such) and is so delicious and addictive you'll want one more bowl as often as you can get it. Try it when you see it on the menu at a restaurant you trust and you'll see for yourself.
There are many kinds of garlic soup - the creamy types, the very creamy types:)), the roasted types etc. But what we'll show you today is a soup made precisely identical to a soup we fell in love with while visiting Prague. It's the clear broth type, with visible slices of garlic, with a je ne sais quoi given by the grainy home-made mustard and a slight smokiness from the very thin and very fried slices of chorizo-type sausages :). Very rustic and warming. Below are some pictures from the nice historical tavern where the soup was at its best (though we sampled it in other Prague restaurants as well):

...As we've said, rustic and homey :). There was a guy inside singing folk songs at his accordion that looked exactly like the soldier figure painted outside (the legendary Svejk). We thought that was cute:). Make the soup and enjoy it as soon as you can :)


Last year: Romanian Pricomigdale (walnut biscuits), Salata z Boczkiem (Polish Wilted Lettuce Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette), Smoked salmon and cucumber starters and Sahne liquor cocktail (Cream cocktail).