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Sørfjorden, near Kinsarvik in Norway. Stunning view’s from “Sonja’s walk”.

Tue, 16 Apr 2019 09:39:19 +0100

Sørfjorden, near Kinsarvik in Norway. Stunning view’s from “Sonja’s walk”.

Microbiome fodder: seeds

Thu, 03 May 2018 19:04:37 +0100

Microbiome fodder: seeds

Coffee and cake in Antwerp

Thu, 09 Mar 2017 21:13:03 +0000

Coffeelabs in Antwerp is a small coffee chain: veggie, fresh, high quality, delicious, not cheap. Vegan and glutenfree options. I went for lunch and coffee at the coffee shop near the University of Antwerp, Lange Klarenstraat 19: http://www.coffeelabs.be/. Spacious and good for working.

Coffee and cake: 5 out of 5. All other coffees I had during my stay in Antwerp (not that I tested many) paled in comparison.

I had a flat white (twice) and an americano with milk. Both excellent.

Ricotta lemon cake and a vegan cake with chocolate chunks, hazelnuts and cinnamon

Beetroot soup. Portions were generous.

Happy Christmas!

Sat, 24 Dec 2016 17:17:26 +0000

Happy Christmas!

Disneyland, Anaheim, California

Fri, 12 Aug 2016 20:05:41 +0100

I did it. Free falling without knowing I was going to (Twilight Zone Tower of Terror) and watching the musical Frozen (at least half of it) without ever having had any intention of seeing it: Disney California Adventure Park (https://disneyland.disney.go.com/destinations/disney-california-adventure/, the original one is Disneyland Park, next to it. It was more fun than I expected. Apart from testing mediocre coffee there is actually not much else to do in Anaheim).

The tower of terror. Not a ride for pathetically faint-hearted people like me. That said it is a good way to start with the Disneyland experience: after surviving the adrenaline rush anything is fun in comparison. And you will be close friends with the person sitting next to you.

Coffee in Anaheim, California

Sat, 06 Aug 2016 03:16:50 +0100

A pretty dire coffee situation here, at least near Harbour Boulevard. I tested a latte at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (http://locations.coffeebean.com/usa/anaheim/katella-and-harbor.html) and had difficulty in detecting any coffee flavour at all. Too much milk? Did the barista just get it wrong? Coffee too weak? Is awful coffee flavour worse than no coffee flavour? I’m tempted to violate the logic of my rating scale again (1=awful, 5=unbelievably excellent) and give this a 0.

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on on 1801 S. Harbor Blvd, Anaheim.

Some interesting health warning sign which a customer from Utah was surprised about. Seems to be a Californian thing.

Coffee in Vancouver: test #5

Sun, 24 Jul 2016 14:58:56 +0100

Ending on a high. Most amazing coffee at 49th Parallel Coffee, 2902 Main Street (http://49thcoffee.com/): 6 out of 5. Was tipped off by my friends Samia (Vancouver native living in London) and Marianne (London coffee geek). Had two coffees within 40 minutes and bought several bags of coffee beans to take back to London with me.

Coffee in Vancouver: test #4

Sun, 24 Jul 2016 14:45:17 +0100

To keep it short: 5 out of 5. The Parsonage Cafe (http://fernwoodcoffee.com/pages/parsonage-cafe) which is actually not in Vancouver, but in Victoria, on Vancouver Island.

A flat white at the Parsonage Cafe, North Park Street, Victoria.

Same coffee machine as in other places and widely different outcome.

Supermarket experience in Vancouver: Where is the Canadian chocolate?

Fri, 08 Jul 2016 18:14:52 +0100

Canadians really seem to be into British and German chocolates, while their own chocolates are hidden away. I tested a couple of Canadian chocolates and thought that they were very good and then discovered that they had actually been produced in the US (this is based on a sample size of 1 as I have only visited one supermarket, so a not very scientifically based observation and I’m sure excellent chocolate can be found in more specialised outlets).

Vancouver: watching whales

Fri, 08 Jul 2016 18:00:17 +0100

I went on a boat trip (there are several operators, this was with http://princeofwhales.com/), setting off from downtown Vancouver going to Victoria on Vancouver Island. Stunning views from the boat. Watching transient killer whales (orcas) moving and jumping about (trying to kill a poor seal) was amazing. We had Wilma (originally from Austria) as our guide - a biologist and very knowledgeable.

The Lions Gate bridge in the background, built by the Guinness family.

Orcas which - as I learned - are actually large dolphins. The whale pictures were taken by Tom from the Prince of Whales crew, using a professional camera (thank you!).

Me with a not very flattering hat that the crew gave out to freezing passengers. It was quite blustery on board and I felt chilled to the bone by the time we arrived in Victoria (dressed like a city person ill-prepared for an outing like this).

Eating out in Vancouver #3

Wed, 06 Jul 2016 20:16:34 +0100

We had dinner at Cactus Club Cafe in 1085 Canada Place, Vancouver (http://www.cactusclubcafe.com/). Overlooking the harbour. I had the soy-dijon salmon with whole grain barley, snap peas, shiitake mushrooms and soy butter sauce. It was very tasty but the salmon at Brix & Mortar (http://www.brixandmortar.ca/) was more tender (http://inceog.lu/post/146882871773/eating-out-in-vancouver).

Great view overlooking the harbour

This was the thai red currey pacific lingcod with coconut almond rice.

Nitrogen ice-cream in Vancouver

Wed, 06 Jul 2016 20:05:15 +0100

This was my first (Made by Mister on 1141 Mainland Street, madebymister.com). I had the dark chocolate flavour. Looked pretty whacky and tasted surprisingly good. Very moreish actually. Full dark chocolate flavour.

I felt like a gormless tourist taking these pictures (I guess I was actually behaving like one). The staff seemed to be used to it…

Coffee in Vancouver: test #3

Wed, 06 Jul 2016 19:58:07 +0100

Coo Coo Cafe (477 Davie St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2G2) seems to be a family owned business. They don’t have a website. So far the most distinct coffee flavour in my flat white: 4 out of 5.

There is definitely a coffee machine similarity theme going on in Vancouver’s coffee shops. Interesting that the results vary widely.

Coo Coo coffee, 477 Davie St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2G2.

Eating out in Vancouver #2

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 01:03:04 +0100

Went to Vij’s with my colleague Katharina (http://www.vijs.ca/). Vij’s is an Indian restaurant and was recommended to me by my friend Samia who is a Vancouver native, living in London. It’s a pretty busy, non-touristy place and you can’t book a table. We ended up eating on the roof terrace (really nice) which has a more simple menu. Very much enjoyed the food - fresh and very tasty.

Papdums with chutney.

Basmati rice bowls: paneer and kale with bengali curry and curried chickpeas and spiced beets. We had mango lassis to go with it - very refreshing.

Coffee in Vancouver: test #2

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 23:26:14 +0100

Tested a single shot flat white in Waves (http://wavescoffee.com/), another coffee chain. Asked for less milk and the barista asked exactly how much milk I wanted in the cup. Good service. The coffee flavour was not very strong or distinct but aromatic. I had several sips and could not make up my mind (I realise that I’m not testing the coffees under standardised testing conditions…!). 3.5 out of 5? I was recently told that I am a harsh marker.

Waves on 900 Howe St #100, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2M4, Canada.

Eating out in Vancouver

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 06:37:42 +0100

Had dinner with my colleague Anna in Brix & Mortar ( http://www.brixandmortar.ca/). Excellent food and service and lovely evening.

Bread and hummus at the Brix & Mortar. The Focaccia bread was delicious.

The wild local salmon was delightful. Perfectly cooked.

My desert picture doesn’t do the real thing any justice - it was unbelievably good: dark chocolate pot du creme, with peanut butter and feuilletine flakes. Very very filling.

Coffee in Vancouver: test #1

Sun, 03 Jul 2016 07:16:41 +0100

I am in Vancouver for a conference and one of my missions is to do some coffee testing. On day 1 of the conference free thermos-flask Starbucks coffee is provided before the conference opening ceremony - not a good way to start my day (that said the mini croissants were very good!). Ventured out with colleague Michele to find a coffee shop where I embarked on coffee test #1: Caffè Artigiano (http://www.caffeartigiano.com/) which is a chain.

I ordered a single shot flat white and compared to conference thermos-flask coffee this is delicious but I can’t taste too much coffee because the barista poured in as much milk as for a Latte. I later have another coffee, this time a cappuccino (normal 2 shots). The taste is stronger, not distinct however, and slightly bitter. Overall mark: 3 out of 5 (1=awful, 5=unbelievably excellent).

A few days later I have a cappuccino in exactly the same place and it is better than the coffees I tested before (high variance in coffee making, especially for different types of coffee? low within-rater reliability?). Increasing the overall mark to 3.5.

Caffe Artigiano on 763 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC V6Z, near the harbour.

The impressive coffee machine at Caffe Artigiano on 763 Hornby St.

Vancouver Downtown (Coal Harbour) on 1st July, Canada Day....

Sun, 03 Jul 2016 01:59:25 +0100

Vancouver Downtown (Coal Harbour) on 1st July, Canada Day. Breathtaking fireworks in Vancouver Harbour in the evening. Was just a little too jet lagged to fully appreciate them!

Photo

Sat, 11 Jun 2016 10:50:23 +0100

Fruity christmas cake - glutenfree

Wed, 23 Dec 2015 22:36:21 +0000

Felicity Cloake did a wonderful job developing a straightforward christmas cake recipe, following her usual analysis and testing of other people’s (seemingly well-established) recipes. As my mum is gluten intolerant and asked me to find her a glutenfree christmas cake, I decided to make one myself.

I used Felicity Cloake’s recipe but substituted the 130g flour with 100g ground Almonds and 30g Buckwheat flour. There are an additional 50g ground Almonds in the standard recipe which I forgot to add but the cake turned out well - very whisky soaked fruity, a little spicy (I ground all the spices myself), a little crumbly but rich and moist (I ended up soaking the dried fruit in whisky for two weeks because I didn’t get round to making the cake!). I used normal baking powder which can however be substituted by a glutenfree version. My baking time was around 65 minutes.

Merry Christmas!