Archive for June, 2008

Talk about a gourmet travel extravaganza. The whole time we have been away from Australia has been one gastronomic adventure after another.

One day trip Eric, his brother Tony and wife Anne and I took away from Florence was to nearby San Gimignano (about 1 hour by bus away) in the heart of the Chianti region. This is a beautiful hillside town within a medieval wall.

Whilst there we found a little ‘slow food’ restaurant tucked away in a back street far from the main piazzas.

From the outside you couldn’t really tell that within lay one of the most incredible gastronomic experiences of my life.

Ristorante Dorando proclaimed it provided “art in slow food”

From the moment we entered (in jeans and joggers no less) we were cared for by unobtrusive but highly attentive staff.

With four of us for lunch and after a quick discussion on the menu we all decided to experience something different…and to run through three courses!

My meal ran from Stuffed onion with sweet sauce, quail and truffles for appetiser, with secondi bringing in succulent lamb chops with almond and sage stuffing, stuffed artichoke and fennel and the piece de resistance, dessert was a creamy lemon cheese affair (in a zabligione style) surrounded by a fresh strawberry compote with aged balsamic vinegar topped with thin shreds of preserved and dried lemon zest. Purely heaven on a stick!

Other plates around the table included a canneloni served as a vertical bundle tied with the green of a spring onion with asparagus, a basket of delicate cod mousse and piquante tastes, pate foie gras with blueberries, pork fillet with pastry filled mushrooms presented 3 ways and a cheese board of 14 different cheeses presented with wines to match.

The tastes were individual and completely different but oh so complimentary. Each course was light but fulfilling …balanced in such a way that you were happily expectant for the next course. We all left the table pleasantly satiated but not uncomfortably full.

Eric felt our meals worthy of a Michelin star of two as he also placed his gastronomic experience as one of the best of his travels.

I know I will be talking of this meal for a long time!

Beauty Eurasia was a whole lot of fun. Held from June 12 to 15 2008 in Istanbul,we were there to support our wonderful Turkish distributor, Mustafa Sadikoglu and to help promote Moon Haven in this new market. This is the Moon Haven Turkey website.

Our soap logs and new body polishes were a hit. Our wall of soap was a big draw and people couldn’t help but pick up a log and smell.

We had a wonderful response with huge interest coming from Turkey itself as well as wide ranging enquiries from a large number of countries. From Russia, Moldovia, Germany and Italy to Moldovia, Bulgaria, Pallestine, Jordan and Israel we could have started a mini UN on the spot.

Hi from wonderful Turkey where the food is so very diverse and totally amazing.

It is the very beginning of summer and we have been treated to a gastronomic tour of Istanbul and the coastal town of Ayvalik.

From the most amazing organic fruits found at roadside stalls, bustling local markets and superb local breads (called simit) to the incredible cheeses and filo pastries – there is just some many taqste tempting delights that I am frightened to even glance at a set of scales.

Some of the many foody highlights of our Turkey trip include an absolutely indulgent eating extraqvaganza from our host’s mother – Nesrine’s -table for three days and nights. With home made/grown preserves, olives, artichokes, plums and dishes of beans, smoky grilled eggplant and sublime turkish coffee – Eric and I were in seventh heaven.

Then there was the dondurma or mastic gum aromatic goats milk icecream...absolutely delicious and quite different and the yoghurt and cheeses…the filo pastries and the tosts.

Of course there are the olives with Ayvalik being world famous for their quality oils and fruit. We were lucky enough to visit a local organic olive press and olive preserving plant where we watched the local ladies pile heaps of cured olives into large jars ready for filling with freshly pressed olive oil. These olives we so fresh and had a taste so different from those in Australia.

As well as the individual tastes of Turkey there are also the feasts to be had where plate after plate of individual delicacies are laid out before you and you with several hours of good conversation you somehow mange to nibble you way through most of them!

All in all Turkey has been a gastronomic and an eye opening adventure, and i know that we have only begun to scratch the surface.

Packing for a 6 week travel extravaganza is never easy…packing when it takes in 4 weeks of business, two weeks of vacation in three distinctly different countries is a challenge! From Turkey to Italy to Singapore it is going to be interesting!

I am lucky in that I have found the One Bag website,  This is one of the best travel light websites I found and their bundle diagram is excellent. This is how to actually wrap clothes in such a way as to minimise wrinkles. In the past I have rolled clothes and arrived at my destination with relatively wrinkle-free clothes…always important when you have wall to wall meetings.

Bundling involves wrapping clothes around a square core (a plastic bag filled with underwear and scarves) in a specific order to help minimise the actual creases and folds in clothes.  It is extremely effective and space efficient.

On my packing trial run,  soap and skin care products vastly outweighed my clothes!  Wonder where my priorities lay?

Of course for 6 weeks you need loads of soapy giveaways..so much nicer than a business card.