Spruengli, Zurich

This has to be made from heaven :p 

These tiny little macarons - aka Luxembourgli  are my favourite!!!! 

Small bitesize packed with flavour.  Light crispy but soft shell with creamy flavoursome ganache.  

It isn't as rich as the normal macaron which is what I love about it. 

Apparently the shells are baked for longer and at a lower temp than the normal macaron shell 

There are tons of flavours to choose from - In order of preference :p 

Hazelnut, Raspberry, Passionfruit with chocolate (seasonal flavour), Mocha, 

Lemon, Pistachio, Champagne, Caramel, Vanila, Chocolate 

Other than that, their quiche is very good too!! 

Buttery thin pastry with lots of filling! 

The one I had have lots of Spinach, Bacon (quite garlicy actually) 

Shakshuka

An easy to make, filling and flavoursome brunch.

Quite a healthy start of the day too :) a whole plate of veg

served with toasted olive bread

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/19/yotam-ottolenghi-breakfast-recipe-shakshuka


Serves 4 generously

cumin seeds ½ tsp
light olive oil or vegetable oil 180ml
large onions 2, sliced
red and yellow peppers 2 of each, cut into 2cm strips
muscovado sugar 4 tsp
bay leaves 2
thyme sprigs, leaves picked and chopped 6
chopped parsley 2 tbsp
chopped coriander 2 tbsp, plus extra to garnish
ripe tomatoes 6, roughly chopped
saffron threads ½ tsp
cayenne pepper a pinch
water up to 250ml
free-range eggs 8
salt and black pepper

In a very large pan dry-roast the cumin seeds on a high heat for 2 minutes.
Add the oil and onions and sauté for 5 minutes.
Add the peppers, sugar and herbs and continue cooking on a high heat for 5-10 minutes to get a nice colour.
Add the tomatoes, saffron, cayenne and some salt and pepper.
Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.
During the cooking, keep adding water so that the mix has a passata consistency.
Taste and adjust the seasoning. It should be potent and flavoursome. (You can prepare this mix well in advance.)
Remove the bay leaves, then divide the pepper mix between four deep frying pans, each large enough to take a generous individual portion.
Place them on a medium heat to warm up, then make two gaps in the pepper mix in each pan and carefully break an egg into each gap.
Sprinkle with salt and cover the pans with lids.
Cook on a very(!) gentle heat for 10-12 minutes, or until the eggs are just set.
Sprinkle with coriander and serve.

Macaroon Tasting in London

J'adore les macarons :p 

Pretty, delicate and packed with flavours

Here's a list of my favourites in London (in order of preference)

 1. Pierre Herme@ Selfridges
They do very interesting flavours
Their shell is less crunchy than Patisserie Valerie but moist and soft.

In the picture
- White truffe and Hazelnut
- Olive oil with Mandarin Orange
- Creme Brulee - Vanilla and caramel bits
- Rose & Jasmine

It's not cheap - around 7ish pound for the 4 macarons?

But how can you resist when you walk past the shop! 

Other yummy flavours - Passion fruit, Salted Caramel

2. Patisserie Valerie @ Spitalfield/Soho/Kings cross station etc

Flavours: Pistachio, vanila, strawberry, coffee, chocolate and lemon

The cheapest out of all - around 4 pound a bag of 6

Their macaroons shells are very crispy and light .  and not too much ganache.  

love it :) 

But the past few times I walked past Patisserie Valerie- they don't seem to sell these small bags of macaroon anymore.  only big box of 14 :9

3. Paul 

Everytime I go.. I buy this large Pistachio macaroon

It is quite filling actually.

Their shell is more chewy with soft creamy filling

It costs around 3 pound each 

4. Laduree

I love their packaging and colour scheme lol 

but I find their ganache too rich/sweet

I quite like their new flavours though - the Marshemellow range.  

e.g. lemon and lime marshmellow, apple marshmellow

It really depends on your luck as well.  I had it once and it was really dry and hard. 

It's not cheap too.  

Atariya - Bond street

Just behind selfridges

They have a few tables there but they mainly do takeaway.  

The price is very reasonable for the location - the above set was around 16-17 quid ?

fresh fish :) 

but of coz it can't be compared with Sushi say (which I think is the best in London) which cost a lot more.   

Other than this, their spider roll (soft shell crab with chilli mayo) was very nice too.