Location: Mykonos, Greece

At Ornos Beach on Mykonos,  where all the gorgeous yachts seem to pull up, there is a restaurant amongst a touristy spot just steps from the beach that you can tell is the one where the locals frequent. It is called Porto Ornos Restaurant and Bar. The service is nothing to speak of but, the moussaka was the best my lips have ever encountered. Fluffy, soft, rich mashed potatoes atop thick, juicy, olive oil baked eggplant and small delicate crumbles of hours roasted lamb with a gorgeous confited in sweat fat-filled and tart tomato sauce.

It was divine, truly. I ate it with many breaths of disbelief in between each slowly fork risen bite.

How to Shuck an Oyster

What a lucky few weeks I have had with fresh, fragrant oysters regularly gracing my kitchen.  You see, in between holiday music and evergreen boughs, I have been scheming up Valentine’s Day delicacies.  Since chocolate is the name of my game, I am working on a way to combine the two.  But you’ll have to wait for a month or so to discover the result… I have to keep some secrets close to the vest.

Thanks to my experience at Le Cordon Bleu, I have shucked many an oyster.  A few thousand in and I am still taken by their beauty -  the roughness of the shell juxtaposed to the soft inner folds, the beautiful grays and greens, the subtle alluring aroma of sea. There is truly something magical about them.

My favorite oysters are Kumamoto.  As Hog Island Oyster company describes them, “Originally from the Kumamoto area of Kyushu, Japan, the Kumamoto Oyster takes three years to develop the small, deeply cupped shell that protects its surprisingly plump little morsel. Mildly fruity and sweet with a slightly mineral finish and a rich buttery texture, the Kumamoto is the perfect oyster for beginners.”  Hog Island will ship oysters directly to you but if you happen to be in California along Highway 1, you MUST stop at their picnic area and indulge on the spot.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with oysters at home. In the next week, I will start tempting you with some oyster and chocolate recipe ideas so you may want to practice. You will need a towel and an oyster knife.

1. Check all the oysters and discard any that are not tightly closed.

2. Scrub the oysters with a stiff brush under fresh, running water.

3. Place an oyster in a towel with the more rounded side down and the flat side up.  Hold the oyster as level as you can so that when it opens you don’t lose any of the precious juices.

4. Put your oyster knife into the oyster near the hinge.  You only need to insert about 1/2 inch of the knife.

5. Twist the knife so the muscles of the oyster are severed allowing the top to come off.

6. Carefully remove the top shell.  Scrape any meat attached off the top and into the bottom shell.

7. Slide the oyster knife under the meat to cut the oyster away from the bottom shell while keeping it sitting in the shell.

I like to serve them with the top shell alongside.

Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico

Experiencing Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico is one of the most precious memories from all my travels.  El Dia de los Muertos – Day of the Dead is a flavorful and ceremonial celebration devoted to honoring and welcoming back the souls of deceased loved ones. Bright and colorful altars are constructed in homes and public places adorned with a vibrant array of glowing votive candles, photos, marigolds, crafts and favorite foods of the deceased including beer, chocolate, grasshoppers, sugar skull heads as ofrendas. Every year at Vosges Haut-Chocolat, we make exotic chocolate skulls encrusted with black salt, jeweled eyes to commemorate this most vibrant of holidays.

Day of the Dead, celebrated on November 1-2,  is a historic Meso-American holiday that originated from the Aztecs 3000 years earlier. When the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico nearly 500 years ago, they encountered natives practicing this ritual that seemed to mock death. It was a ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate. Although the ceremony has since been merged with Catholic theology, it still maintains the basic principles the Aztecs had intended, a view that death is the continuation of life. Life was a dream and only in death did one become truly awake.
The skulls were used to symbolize this cycle of death and rebirth. As the Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations kept skulls as trophies and displayed them during the ritual to honor the dead and exalt the sphere of death and rebirth.

Much of the holiday centers around preparation of the best foods that are offered to ancestors who come back to visit the living during this narrow window of time.  Colorful skeletons in all forms decorate homes, cemeteries and altars.   Weeks in advance, time is expressly taken to prepare moles, marzipan, tamales and calabacha en tacha, candied pumpkin soaked in clove and cinnamon spiced brown sugar syrup.  Traditional liquors such as Mezcal served with worm ground salt and pulque are also abundantly served during the celebration.

A few years ago, I hosted a Yoga + Chocolate retreat in Oaxaca during the Day of the Dead celebration with my dear friend and yoga master, David Romanelli. Daily yoga and food experiences were centered around Oaxaca’s history and culinary traditions- this is the land of 7 moles and chocolate after all.  If you are feeling spontaneous and need a break from your daily grind, I insist you book a last minute trip to Oaxaca to enjoy the Day of the Dead celebrations on November 1 and 2nd.   Below is the itinerary from our Mexican yoga + chocolate excursion full of MUST DO experiences in Oaxaca.

Oaxaca, Mexico – Travel Recommendations

HOTELS
I highly recommend staying at the amazing Camino Real. The Camino Real is a gorgeous 5-star hotel set in a 15th century former convent of Santa Catalina. Otherwise, consider the Casa Oaxaca where you should visit no matter what for a Temazcal appointment and a dinner.

DAY 1
Every morning you will have the option to enjoy Camino Real’s famous Oaxacan breakfast buffet, an event not be missed while you dine within one of the many courtyards and listen to the sounds of monks singing.  Be sure to try the chapulines (grasshoppers) and pan de yema dipped in chocolate con leche or chocolate con agua, the favored drink of Oaxaca.

During the day, enjoy a trip to Teotitlán del Valle, a small village just outside of Oaxaca that is famous for rug weaving, mezcal distilleries, and the Mendoza’s Tlamanalli Restaurant.  If you can arrange a Comida Zapotecan old-style Zapotecan cooking in a class with one of the 4 Zapotec sisters, Abigail Mendoza you will be in for a treat.  After lunch visit a local mezcal producer and distillery learn about the art of making mezcal.  Dinner at El Naranjo, Iliana de la Vega’s renowned restaurant.

DAY 2
Depart for Monte Alban, a group of hills in the center of the Valle de Oaxaca which  holds one of the oldest cities on the American continent.  It is the capital of Zapotec culture with ancient ruins dating back to 500BC. Have a quick lunch at La Capilla, a famous open-air restaurant where you can see how they make blandas and tlayudas on large griddles.  You’ll experience their excellent regional cooking, specializing in mole negro, a mole with chocolate.  After lunch, stop briefly in Coyotepec, the home of black pottery, before heading back to the hotel. You will see this lace cut pottery all over Camino Real illuinated by candle light at dusk.

In the evening, visit the village and cemeteries of Xoxocotlan for Day of the Dead festivities. Click here for the description of the history, significance, and festivities surrounding this unique Mexican holiday.

DAY 3
Arrange a cooking class at Restaurant El Naranjo with one of Oaxaca’s most popular female chefs, Iliana de la Vega of El Naranjo.  Experience a hands-on cooking class after which you’ll sojourn to the Benito Juarez market and a local chocolate mill, where Iliana will explain the seasonal produce, the wide variety of fresh and dry chilies, and the making of Mexican chocolate.

DAY 4
Take a guided tour of Oaxaca City.  Visit the Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca.  The fourteen halls set in this museum, within the former convent of Santo Domingo, are an absolute must see. Lunch in Oaxaca’s main town square, known as the zocalo, at La Casa de la Abuella.  This restaurant demonstrates superb local Oaxacan cooking prepared according to old recipes carefully preserved by the lovely owner, Olga Scherenberg de Martinez.  The restaurant has a gorgeous view of the surrounding mountains, the town’s Cathedral and the zocalo.  The mole almendrado is highly recommended.

In the afternoon, explore 20 de Noviembre Mercado, the most popular market in Oaxaca, to experience wonderful Mexican food including Tlayuda grilled meats, chocolates, and moles. Try dinner at Marco Polo at 5 de Mayo Street.

DAY 5
Hike the mountains in the Sierra Norte, land of “the cloud people.”  The trip runs between 6-7 hours in total, including three hours of hiking. The hike is at 10,000 feet above sea level and is suitable for avid hikers only.  Then have a lunch at La Casa del Pueblo Restaurant. If staying in Oaxaca and opting out of the hike, be sure to visit the Photography Museum, a small contemporary open-air museum donated by internationally acclaimed, local artist Francisco Toledo.  The Contemporary Art Museum is another worthwhile one to visit. Dinner at Casa Oaxaca a must!

DAY 6
Spend an unforgettable day with famous chef Susana Trilling, including a comprehensive cooking class and market tour in Etla, giving you an insider’s knowledge of Mexican culture through its cuisine.  This is an experience of Mexico most visitors never have. Susana Trilling, teacher, chef, writer and television host will teach you to work with the native foods of Mexico.  The class, tour and lectures focus on pre-Hispanic foods, traditional culinary, medicinal, and spiritual herb usage, and the Spanish influence on the contemporary Oaxacan kitchen.  The participation-based class combined with the market tour provides fantastic insight into the daily Oaxacan food culture.

RANCHO AURORA, Susana’s home, is on a hillside farm overlooking the pueblo of San Lorenzo Cacaotepec in Etla.  It has a breathtaking view of the valley.  There, you will discover where the food you cook is grown, gathered, and prepared for use in the many forms of Mexican cuisine. Susana also has a marvelous store at her school for you food-ies and gadget collectors.  Note that her store only takes cash, either in dollars or pesos, or traveler’s checks – but no credit cards.  If using traveler’s checks, be sure to bring your passport.

Dinner at La Olla.

EXPERIENCED TRAVELERS… for those of you who have Oaxaca recommendations of your own, please leave comments. I am always looking for new adventures!

Where the Buffalo Roam and Make the Best Mozzarella in the World

I recently returned from a magical trip to the Southern boot of Italy. Stir crazy, I was and wondering… “Will I ever go on a another trip after my bambino/a comes into this world?!”  It was no longer that I could resist the sirens of Sicily, so 6 days later and 6 months pregnant I booked the trip. The Godfather has long been a favorite movie and I dreamt of experiencing Bar Vitelli in Savoca, Sicily where Michael Corleone first sees his Greek maiden. Being Macedonian, I always fantasized that I was Apollonia, well, until she was blown up in the car.

From the food side, I wanted to learn more about the Arabian and Phoenician influence of the island. Italian culture has always captivated me…the language, the languishing lifestyle, the passionate men, the football, the fashion, the naturally gorgeous women and of course the food artisans.

In the coming weeks, you can be sure to hear all of my foodie tales as I always say, “you learn the story of a culture by the food served on the plate.”

Before heading to Sicily, I wanted to stop in Naples to experience the real Pizza Napoletana and I visited the Amalfi coast to taste the true mozzarella di bufala, or buffalo mozzarella. The famous cheese comes from the Cilento Region where in the village of Capaccio Scala you can have taste at what some say is the best buffalo milk farm in Italy. It is just an hour and a half from Amalfi.

The farm to visit is the organic farm of Tenuta Vannulo. BE SURE to make an appointment for a tour and to reserve the amount of mozzarella you’d like to buy in advance. They sell their famous cheese only to the public at a maximum of 5 kilo per person, same price for everyone. They only make 300 kilos a day so to get your hands on some you must reserve days in advance. Since I didn’t know the rules, we arrived unannounced and luckily I was able to plead for scraps, and thus received 3 golf ball sized morsels of mozzarella on a simple plate with a plastic fork. The moment I took a bite the burst of milky fluid cascaded into my mouth, a fountain of lactation heaven.

One of the biggest shockers was that the texture of Italian mozzarella di bufala is almost rubbery…. ! It varies so much from the mozzarella cheese we are accustomed to in the U.S. Ours is often a mixture of buffalo and cows milk, but even the 100% buffalo cheese imported to the U.S. is soft. So imagine my surprise when I tasted what is known as the best in Italy and it was a bit stringy, and dare I say chewy compared to our burrata style buffalo mozzarella in the States.

After a little research, I got to the bottom of the difference in the cheese I am more familiar with and this more rubbery counterpart.  In the States,  buffalo mozzarella is often shipped and and therefore, it is stored in the water for days and up to weeks lending itself to the soft burrata style.  From the Italian perspective, this softening makes it a flawed product.  Now don’t get me wrong, the imported mozzarella cheese to America is still quite tasty, but it is completely different from its mother and origin.

In addition to the cheese, this farm makes the best yogurt and pudding or budino I’ve ever tasted (try the cereal pudding), along with ice cream, ricotta and whipped cream. To visit the Tenuta Vannulo farm is a true food experience. It is a do not miss and practically worth planning an entire trip to Italy.

If you are interested in technology, Tenuta Vannulo is more than just a farm. It is a cutting edge, state of the art facility that is the first in the world to use robots to milk their buffalo. The buffalo actually volunteer for milking when they are ready without the interception of man, making man more the observer and less the intruder. The 400 buffalo at this farm are treated with homeopathic remedies and the farmers strive for a symbiotic relationship between buffalo, wo/man and environment.

Other fun facts:
The water buffalo is native to India and though it is not exactly clear how they got to Italy, they have been roaming Italy since the 7th century. The stoic creatures prefer the Campania region because it is largely marshy lowlands. The big fellows like to keep their very large hooves wet and were used on farms to help plow since they don’t sink far into swampy land.

Does anyone know a farm in the US that is making fresh buffalo mozzarella? Keep me posted. I am longing for just one more taste.