laocook

No, I didn’t fly off to Holland for lunch, I was browsing through my HD and found some pics that I took of my lunch with Darly.

Darly and a younger looking me (with hair!), comments about the Pink Jumper will not be replied to.

Its quite fitting actually, because I was thinking about her the other day when I was sipping Oysters with some of the Lao Cook Team. Its not really Oyster season (you can remember the season for Oysters, it during the months that end with BER, September, October etc…) However, in Spain, they send oysters from the north to the south because more people take their holidays in the south and there is a big market for seafood near the coasts. Most restaurants don’t make much money on Oysters, but the fact they have them on the menu helps bring drinks revenue, especially when the Lao Cook Team arrive, its not uncommon for us to take 3 or 4 bottles of Chilled White Wine with our Oysters. ;)

I used to eat Oysters with a nice Vinegar and Shallot based sauce, or sometimes I would add a dash of Yellow Tabasco, later a great friend of mine introduced me to Oysters with Olive Oil, Lemon Juice and Black Pepper and now I only eat them that way. I introduced Darly to the taste and now the Lao Cook Team, though they still moan for Jéow Som…

Darly and I anticipate the glorious Oysters at the New York Hotel, Rotterdam.

Not content with the Oysters, we continue with the Seafood Platter.

You cant see the bottles of wine under the Plateau, but you can see it in Darly´s face…

During my travels around Europe, I always look forward to having a Plateau de Fruits de Mer. Whether I am in Bordeaux, Lyon, Paris, Brussels or Rotterdam, if the menu has it, so do I.

Though I love seafood in its natural state (alive), I also enjoy it cooked. One memorable lunch I had was back when I was younger and had the chance to dine at The Waterside Inn, Bray, UK. It was truly exceptional lunch, great service, great wine and great food. There I had the magnificent Poached Oysters with Spinach, Scrambled Egg and Caviar. Sounded strange, tasted out-of-this-world!. The Oysters were lightly poached in their own juices, whilst the shells were placed under a grill, blanched Spinach with Butter was added then the Oysters where laid on top, and covered with the most creamiest scrambled Egg that I have ever had, and a nice dollop of Caviar provided the saltiness.

Many times I have thought about recreating that dish, in Lao Cook fashion, but I cannot do the dish justice by changing its perfection. Sometimes you just have to remember a certain dish for what is was.

No, that’s not an Alien, its Darly showing us she can swallow a whole Lobster…. remember the TV Series “V” ?

;)