More, more, more!

This is the meal which knocked the socks off the rest of our Seattle eating experience: fillet of salmon, stuffed with clams and smothered in a smooth, creamy, tomato sauce on a bed of crisp salad. This is the meal which makes me now consider writing down the exact contents of a good plate so I can hope to emulate it when no longer on the same continent. But sitting here now, gazing at the picture and putting myself back in the seemingly grotty bar, this is the meal that I wish I could eat again right now...

Chow time

Clam chowder, The Needle. Seattle, WA. USA.

K and I had been lucky enough to get a last minute booking at the revolving restaurant at the top of The Needle. Fantastic value, amazing food. Despite K's outstanding ability to knock over drinks down the revolving wall (therefore dribbling tomato juice around the edge of the entire restaurant), we managed to stay for three mouth watering courses. My first: smoked clam chowder.

Rich, creamy, but still light enough to be able to face more food afterwards, this is what chowders should be all about. Every single mouthful had a new flavour, which, given the ingredients, was almost as impressive as the view.

Croatia

G and I spent 10 days in Croatia, eating our way around the beautiful islands and sampling some incredible food, usually in the sunshine or to the sound of the sea.

A favourite was the squid ink risotto which, given the location of the restaurant (nestled into the wall, next to the harbour, right in the heart of the old town of Dubrovnik), we'd expected to be overpriced and unimpressive. Not at all. The sticky sweet risotto rice initally looked fairly scary due to its shimmering blank inky colour and the lumps of squid certainly appeared to have a lurking quality. How wrong we were. We ended up going back twice and discussed when we'd be able to visit again so that we could work out the recipe.




The food you get on day trips when abroad is often, understandbly in some cases, pretty underwhelming. Sadly, the prevalence of bones in the above picture does hint that this was one of those. Except, when you are munching on crispy, yet soft, fish whilst sitting on a boat gazing over intoxicating turquoize seas, you don't really notice the bones because you simply want fuel for more swimming and sunbathing.

G LOVES oysters... LOVES them. So, whilst I took the opportunity to feast on giant langoustines, he sampled a seafood platter which included huge, squidgy, slippery oysters. I managed to pilfer one and was instantly transported to a world of salty sunshine in one momentary mouthful. I still vote for oysters kilpatrick, but for those people that can't bring themselves to get over the texture, try them in Croatia and you won't look back.

One of our favourite nights out in Croatia was on the island of Korcula, in a fishing village called Lumbarda. We'd had a beautiful day walking through the pine forest to reach a small, rocky cove so returned to the apartment hungry and ready for good eatin'. Once a week, the local producers brought their finest fish, meats, cheeses, wines, cakes and concoctions to either cook for you or pack up to take home. Families and friends gathered under the fairylights or strolled from stall to stall, sampling an array of sweet and savoury snacks. We grabbed a bottle of homebrew for 20Kuna (about £2) and a couple of plastic glasses to wash down the succulent squid kebabs and(more) charcoaled fish. Bliss.

Seaside India

Sticking on the theme of al fresco dining, India remains one of the most consistently reliable places to find excellent food by the sea. Some of my favourites were in Goa...

In my opinion, good dhal is light, yet filling, spicy and creamy, perfect with fluffy chapati or rice. And this was no exception. The sun was setting in Arambol and it was, therefore, beer a'clock. Cue a cold, crisp beer and a steaming bowl of dhal to accompany the sounds of seabirds images of fishermen returning from their day out at sea. It was a pinkish, soft sunset where the clouds hung to the horizon; it was a good half hour until the hues of gold and red broke through and I was able to make a real toast to the closing of another fantastic day.

I love cooking, and I especially love cooking curries, so being in India was the perfect opportunity to try new dishes and really get to learn about the varity of flavours and how to combine them in new and interesting ways. This meal was shared with a few people I met during the day whilst walking the coastal path and reminded me of the many nights spent frequenting restaurants on Manchester's Curry Mile in Rusholme. I was never convinced by the combination of chicken and prawn, but this was exceptional. Lessons from this meal: lemon and coriander = yum; a drizzle of coconut milk is often enough; when combining more than one meat / fish it is far better to let the flavours and textures speak for themselves through slow cooking in a dry dish than being lost in an overly wet sauce.

More charcoaled taste sensations, straight from the fisherman's basket! I spent much of this meal thinking back to the experiences in Essaouira in Morocco of wandering along the harbour trying to decide where to purchase lunch. You simply point at the fish which winks at your taste buds and decide how you'd prefer it to be served (generally charcoaled with a squeeze of lemon and a tear of crusty bread). It was this style of fish shopping which confirmed that octopus is tasty, and can be much more soft than stringy: it really is in the cooking, and if they are cooked less than two hours after being fished then you really would have to be a numpty to get it wrong. Given that there is a distinct shortage of numpty fish chefs living in any coastal place I've visited on my travels, of the hundreds of al fresco meals I've had in my time, fish by the sea will always be top of the wish list.

Just hearing that word...

Gumbo. Seafood gumbo.

Simply one of the most delicious, mouth watering and utterly memorable meals I have ever, ever had the fortune to eat.

Sitting at the docks of English Harbour, Antigua. The Carribean: the fish should be good, right? Of course... But this good? Giant tiger prawns which oozed fresh, sweet juices; mussels the size of my fist (ok, so I'm exaggerating, but there was a gasp of surprise from every member of my family each time I pulled one from the shell!); tender hand dived scallops; flaky john dory; fresh tomato and herbs...

This meal is still discussed today as we reminicse over meals (and holidays) gone by. And every time it does the food envy creeps in, for I was the only one to see the word 'Gumbo' and know that any meal with such a rhythmical name was destined to be one for memory bank.

Fishy Seychelles

With so many of the world's best travel destinations (totally my opinion as a self confessed desert junkie!) being by the sea, it is no surprise that many of the best experiences on my travels involve eating fresh fish; charcoaled until crispy, succulent seafood gumbo, towering bowls of perfect mussels. It's been a fish heavy week for dinners at home and it got me thinking about those meals which stood out as being heaven sent from the ocean...

Above: welcome to the Seychelles. The lovely Sophie (fellow Egyptian) accompanied me for a week before I started leading advemture travel tours out there, island hopping from one beautiful spot to the next. A firm favourite spot was on the capital island, Mahe. Every night, local suppliers set up stalls on the long stretch of road running parallel with the beach; the crispy plantain chips were a favourite of the kids on my tours, whereas the mums and dads routinely went back for more of the whole fish. And you'd be silly not to - flaky flesh tumbled onto the plate with a single push of a plastic fork and melted in the mouth, time and time again. Then, washed down with the traditional coconut cocktail.

Salty beach air, crashing waves on the shore, songs of the seychelles as background noise... pretty good spot for another al fresco dining experience.

In honour of travel bud...

This one is for you Kate on your first day in Quito... Memories of pizza and Bud watching the sun go down at North Rim Grand Canyon.

There can surely be few spots more satisfying to munch on lukewarm pizza and an even warmer beer than this. We'd done a fair few miles that day: headed into Arizona via Lake Powell and a personal favourite spot, Horseshoe Canyon, then took a visit to the consistently mesmerising Antelope Canyon before driving up and over plateaus and ridges to the forested North Rim. Page, AZ is home to a large Safeway Supermarket where I did a significant amount of shopping in my days as a tour leader buying supplies for the 14 passengers I was camping and hiking with, but Page today become the place to grab a good pizza which we sat on the back seat of the convertible (usually reserved for Kate's bag and a box of beer!) and drove half way across the state to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon before it was cracked open.

We chased the sunset through golden forested hues and caught glimpses of the spectacle which awaited us then, on arrival at the car park, flew out of the car and leapt (beer in one hand, pizza in other) towards the canyon rim. A few deft steps upwards to perch on a rock and we were set. Slightly soggy dough, a gentle fizz in the beer. Cheers.

ps: saw a mountain lion on the journey home. Oh yes!