Milan 2012: Day 6

For breakfast, because we both didn't want starch and I had to clear the fridge by the weekend, it was another plate of buffalo mozza with pan-fried fiori, beans and tomatoes. How lean is that.

Today was another full day at the university for Yi, as her students were in the middle of their projects which were to be presented to students and lecturers the next Tuesday.

It was a rainy day, the slow protracted drizzle kind of rainy day. What I love about Milan is there's no wind and even on a single-digit temperature day, it isn't cold. I will never go to Wellington, NZ ever again because the wind and cold there in the fall is beyond horrid.

E, assistant to the CEO of Domus and NABA, had invited us for dinner at her apartment that evening. We were thrilled that dinner was going to be a home-cooked meal because by then we were both quite bored with the same kind of menu everywhere we went. It is always a treat and honor to be invited for dinner at home anywhere, and I especially appreciated E's hospitality because she left the office at 6 pm to get home to prepare dinner for us.


For starters, we had salami, smoked mozza, savory pastries, piclkles, baby carrots, sweet cherry roma tomatoes and a white aperitif.


E's friend, J and wife, brought their beagle, the most well-behaved dog I've ever met. Momy was so well-trained that she stared at the food without plunging her face in even though she could easily grab some off the coffee table. While we were having dinner, I could see Momy in the kitchen from where I was sitting, staring up at the pots of food but she never leapt up the counter or made any attempt to get at the food.


We arrived just when W, Evelina's husband, was cooking the pasta. It took us about 45 minutes to get to their place so E must be a super efficient cook to get her mixed stew dish ready so quickly!


I nearly got ourselves a beagle in April this year but since we were to be in the States for a month, I had to give the puppy up. I wonder sometimes how it's doing and whether it's as good as Momy.


W's fresh fettucine with porcini was delicious, so good that Yi and I didn't leave much room for the beautiful salad (not in picture) or the mixed meat stew. Just looking at the photo makes me hungry.


E's mixed meat stew was made with beef, chicken and sausages. This is comfort food, and served with bread, it was perfect for the chilly weather. I've got to get the recipe from her!


I'm not sure what this is but there's custard inside.


We had two digestifs, one of which was grappa (not in picture) and it was stronger than vodka!

It's amazing to meet new friends and feel so comfortable with them. J and wife were wonderful and I enjoyed their stories and interesting insight about so many things. W is one of those people who are so warm  and friendly that they smile with their eyes. And he must read a lot, because he has such discerning observations and awareness about the world. E is so bubbly, warm and open-arm invitingly friendly that I am glad I didn't know her well enough because if I do, I'd miss her (which I already do)! We had an absolutely wonderful evening, and I've never had a dinner where the topics could range from buildings (the green building being built in Milan, the La Sagrada Familia, the church under the Milan Cathedral), food (Italian, Chinese, Malaysian, recipes), politics (corruption, bureaucracy, how things can be better), phonetics (why we should pronounce words a certain way, and Italian is pronounced the way it is spelt), travel (Istanbul, Malaysia, European countries), movies (Yi's turn down of the artwork for the album for The Fifty Shades of Grey lead to references to Deep Throat and The Last Tango In Paris, both of which I never saw but implied I did because I didn't want to be seen as ignorant, lol) to why Brad Pitt did the Chanel 5 commercial! Now, I can't think of many men I know who can hold interesting conversations on such diverse topics. We didn't leave until nearly 1 am, and yet I wish we had more time together!

Persimmons: Fall's Best Fruit

Hard persimmons on the left, soft ones on the right.


Yi loves figs but I now love persimmons, only Italian persimmons., because they are super sweet, juicy and don't have that 'pull in the mouth' feeling. That's one hard persimmon on the left and three soft ones in the tray.



Of all the fruits I ate in Italy last month, the persimmons were the best. The grapes were sweet and juicy, the plums too, and the melons, but it was the persimmons that took my breath away. In Malaysia, we get persimmons from Korea and Israel and the fruit vendors always tell us that the best persimmons in the world are from Israel. They are wrong. Israeli persimmons are not very sweet (at least not the ones we get here), small (half the size of Italian persimmons), flat on both ends and give a slight 'pull in the mouth', like some unripe fruits do. That's the main reason why persimmons were not on my list of favorite fruits. Italian persimmons don't give that unpleasant mouth feel and are more like Chinese persimmons, big, sweet and very juicy. Persimmons, like oranges, originated from China. I didn't know that hard persimmons and soft persimmons are two different varieties until I was told so in Italy. I've always eaten hard persimmons while my mom, who grew up in China, thinks persimmons are best soft. Apparently the Italians prefer soft persimmons too. The soft persimmons, called kaki, are more prevalent. My new Italian friend Walter, a great cook, gave me a persimmon recipe that sounds so mouth-watering that I want to share with you in case you can get hold of kaki.

Persimmon Coulis With Whipped Cream N Marron Glaces

1. Blend and sieve the pulp of 4 kaki persimmons + 4 T fine sugar + juice from 1/2 lemon (you just made a thick sauce called coulis).
2. Divide the persimmon coulis into 4 or 5 individual deep dish/bowls, top with a large dollop of freshly whipped cream (not too sweetened), top again with choc chips or even better, marrons glaces (candied chestnuts).

Doesn't that sound awesome? I can imagine how it looks and tastes!

Milan Day 5, 2012

Today was a lazy day. Went to uni, had lunch, went back to the apartment and napped. Didn't want to go out because the weather had turned colder. Yi had an invitation by the ad people who handled her Nespresso project to the opening of the premier mountaineering products store, Salewa. Despite my shyness, I enjoyed myself and met some very nice people.






Salewa makes the lightest quality ski jackets and equipment.








Glen Plake is the ambassador for Salewa. Glen is a top freestyle skier and a pioneer of extreme skiing. I didn't know when I met him that he had just survived an avalanche in Nepal that killed 11 people in Sept 2012. Glen's team was attempting to be the first team to climb the world's 8th highest peak, Mt Manaslu, without oxygen.


On the way home, we went to Grand Italia, a very popular restaurant frequently by the locals, for a late dinner with A, who was leaving the next day. This was Yi's delicious osso buco with saffron risotto, a Milanese speciality. 


A's pasta with zucchini, also very good.


My cotoletta, not as good as the one we had at Lost In Food Experience.


Lemon tart.


Tartufo nero bianco (black and white ice cream).


The chef was friendly and invited us to look at his wood stove where the pizzas are baked.

Milan Day 4 2012, More Of

Yi and I were to meet at the Duomo about 11 am. Her students were doing their workshop projects on the Duomo Square that morning and one of my SIL's nephews was visiting from London.

Walking to the Duomo from our apartment in the morning took about 25 minutes. I could've taken the tram for 1.50 euros, but I preferred to walk, peer at the shop windows and bite into a croissant on the way.


Halloween was in a couple of days.


Those steaks reminded me of Florence, Italy.




Halfway to the Duomo was a public square where people gather and perform or just chill (literally).




In the city center now.


The Duomo.


She/he is perfectly trimmed.


There were two lines outside Luini Panzerotti, on the left and right, each stretching to the end of the street. Apparently Luini invented the panzerotti, a deep-fried bread with filling inside. 


This panzerotti is filled with just tomato sauce and mozzarella. It tasted okay, a 7/10, and I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. Maybe I expected more because there's always long lines at this place. The panzerotti was almost like the Chinese hum jim bang but softer and finer in texture. On another day, I had the salami picante filling and it was slightly better. I also tried the sweet panzarotti with a short crust and peach filling. Cheap at 2.80 euros (less for the ones with sweet filling), the panzerotti is a clever variation of the pizza for people on the go.

Yi went back to uni while A and I went to La Scala, the famous theatre in Milan. Photos are not allowed in the theatre which was fully booked months ahead. Entrance into the theatre for visitors was 6 euros, and we were allowed to go to a box on the third floor (I think there were 7 floors?) to look at the prep of the stage. It reminded me of The Phantom Of The Opera, and I felt like I was one of the audience watching the Phantom's Opera.


Part of the theatre houses music relics such as Lizt's piano, musical instruments that are hundreds of years old, and a large collection of automatons such as the above which still work and churn out captivating music.


I especially like this prototype music record. It still plays, and plays beautifully.


From there, A and I went to Brera, the high class shopping, dining and residential area of Milan.








We had gelato 3 times that day--Grom's, Amorino and Cioccolat Italiani. They were all good but the next time I am in Italy, I will avoid these touristy gelateria and head for the neighborhood gelateria, the kind that have dark wooden furniture that look like they have been there for the last seventy years.


Dinner was at one of the Salsamenteria de Parma chain of restaurants near Brera.




Red wine served in bowls?! I prefer wine glasses, thank you.


This is burrata, creamy milky stringy very fresh mozzarella wrapped in mozzarella. Came with a large basket of crusty bread.


Burrata is even better than ordinary mozzarella! The stringy, stretchy cheese fibers are buttery and creamy and I recommend this as one of the things to eat before leaving this planet!




I wanted soups, soups, soups and expected thick, hearty soups but both these soups were watery and not delicious. From hereon, the dinner went downhill.




The waiter had recommended this, a New Year's dish. It tasted like spam and we couldn't finish it.


I had read somewhere that trippa (tripe) and beans is a Milanese dish so I ordered this even though I don't particularly like tripe. I should have been wiser. It tasted of tripe and beans, nothing special, and it was boring. The meal came to 53 euros for three of us, which was very reasonable but we were all a little bit disappointed because only the starter was good.