Monday Morning Spice: Momos in Sikkim

After last week’s edition, I figured – showing photos of beautifully tasty food to start a Monday morning might not be bad idea at all ;). So, continuing in the same vein.. here’s a photo of Momos I devoured when I was travelling in Sikkim, in north-east India.

Momos are dumpling made of flour and water, and are very popular in Nepal, Tibet and Himalayan states of India like Sikkim. They can have different types of fillings, like different kinds of meat, mixed with chopped-up onion, garlic, ginger, coriander and other veggies. Vegetarian momos are also quite popular, especially in India.

They are most often eaten with a very very tasty chilli-sauce or a pickle (called aachaar in Hindi) – which I think is almost the best part of it! 😀

Momos in Sikkim, India.

Also, you noticed the brown-coloured plate? It’s called a ‘pattal‘ and is a plate made of dried sal (or at times, banyan) leaves. The leaves are stuck together with toothpick-like small sticks. Brilliant, innit?! Great use of natural resources without causing any plastic wastage and pollution! 🙂

Feeling hungry? 🙂

Have you tried Momos before? Aren’t they delicious?

Monday morning spice: Full English Breakfast!

What am I thinking about at 7.30 am on a Monday morning?

About a ‘Full English Breakfast’!

This one greeted me at the end of my 12-mile long tiring night trek around Edale-Hope (in Peak District). And what a treat it was! And oh yes, a nice mug of hot chocolate too! 🙂

Yum! Not very healthy though 😛

Hot Chocolate served by a very cute-looking waitress.

Have a great Monday and a good week ahead! 🙂

Monday Morning Spice: Street art in Paris

Some very interesting street art from a (seemingly) ordinary street in Paris! 🙂

Street art in Paris

I wonder if Lucy is the name of the artist or the inspiration.. 🙂

Monday morning spice: A Mediterranean beach in Gibraltar

Some new Monday morning travel inspiration! 🙂

The ideal place to chill out – Catalan Bay beach in Gibraltar

 

Travel tip: Try to wake up early and reach Catalan Bay before sunrise. You’ll be treated to a very beautiful sunrise! 🙂 Oh, remember to take a fleece jacket or jumper with you – the winds can be really strong.

p.s. This was also the trip where I got spit on by a dog. More on that in my next post.

Monday morning spice: Food in Naples

Reviving an old section today – Monday morning spice – some photos to cheer you up on a dreary Monday morning. And thought, what better way to bring back a section which has ‘spice’ in it’s name than to talk about food! And that too food in Italy!

With absolutely no doubt about it, the top rank goes to… Pizza!!

You thought Italy was famous for it’s pizza? You’re right, but within Italy, Napoli is especially famous for it. And it’s not the typical pizza you’d fine which is baked in electric oven and has a hundred different type of toppings. The ‘real’ Italian pizza is cooked in smouldering embers of a clay oven. There are two main types – Margherita and Marinara (or, to be precise, pizza napoletana margherita and pizza napoletana marinara). These are very basic, very tasty and quite inexpensive (just 3-5 Euros for a full-size pizza). You can get ones with different type of toppings added to them, but they don’t really need any toppings. If you really want to mix it up a bit, get the margherita with double mozzarella – it’s yummy! 🙂

Travel tip: Only go for a pizzerie which has a sign outside which says ‘Vera‘ pizza – this indicates it will present to you authentic clay-oven baked pizzas.

And that’s how a REAL pizza is made! At Da Michele restaurant.

p.s. The pizzas in Napoli were so tasty, I don’t have a single photograph of them – I gobbled them up so fast! 😀

Continuing with the pizza theme, Neapolitans love cheese. Here’s a dish called ‘Braciola al ra gu’ which is essentially meat with cheese stuffed inside it. Luxury.

Okay. even meat has cheese stuffed inside it. Yum.

And to cap it all off, I also tried Risotto. This was at the unfortunately pricey restaurant called Locanda del Grifo (although pizzas were quiet cheap at just €4). This is Risotto fiori di Zucca, which was nice and tasty. Not mindblowing though.

Risotto fiori di Zucca

Italian food. I miss it. I am feeling very hungry now. I better go get a full English breakfast! 😉