Passing Through Lisbon

We head to Lisbon to join a Windstar cruise, that will take us around the Spanish coast, with stops at a few cities: Cádiz, Málaga, Almeria, Cartagena, Valencia, and Palma de Mallorca, ending up and heading home from Barcelona.  This appeals to us as a great way see places that we would never normally reach and to note interesting spots for future return visits and longer stays.

But, first, a day in Lisbon.  We arrive at Lisbon's Humberto Delgado Airport after midnight and discover that one of us should have gone to the taxi line while the rest waited for baggage.  There are a lot of cabs and a lot of people arriving at this hour, the line is about an hour long.  But, we finally get our cab, make it to our hotel, and settle in for the [short] night's sleep.  Even arriving in the middle of the night, the people at the Fontecruz Lisboa are gracious and welcoming.  The hotel is a new boutique Marriott property with a prime location on Avenida Liberade in the city center, a short walk to the sites.  

We head out in the morning and walk to the harbor, where we come into the great Praça do Comércio (Commerce Square) public square featuring a 1775 statue of King José I and a fantastic view down the Tagus River of the Ponte de 25 Avril 2 km (1.2 mile) suspension bridge. 

 Praça do Comércio

 Ponte de 25 Avril bridge

 King José I, symbolically crushing snakes in his path

From the public square, it's a steep walk up winding streets to São Jorge Castle,  a Moorish castle overlooking Lisbon and the river.  Streetcars and small carts wind their way up the hill, but we walk to experience the city and see what we can find. 

Up the steep, winding streets to the castle

We could ride a cart up to the castle through the crowded streets

 Approaching the castle

We pay our admission fee, enter the grounds of the castle and climb up the steps to see the expansive view from the top.  And, we find a truly civilized touch, another cart inside the castle selling glasses of wine to enjoy with the view.

 Stepping up into the castle

 For the view!

 With a glass of wine

We wander through the castle for an hour or two, then start to think snack.  Just outside the castle walls, a small café offers sangria and a sandwich.  Perfect!  We sit outside and a band plays across the courtyard.  Meanwhile, I spill our drinks carrying them out on a tray, but the café nicely replaces them for us (carrying them out to us themselves this time).

 A stop for sangria and a sandwich outside the castle

 Band packing up across the square

After lunch, we wander back down the hill back to the Praça do Comércio, where the fountains are going strong.

 Fountains at work

We then hop on a trolley for the 8 km. (5 miles, 25 minutes on the trolley) trip along the water to the Torre de Belém (Belém Tower).  This fortified tower is a UNESCO World Heritage site and was built in the early 16th century to serve as part of Lisbon's defense infrastructure at the mouth of the Tagus River.

Torre de Belém in the distance

Nearby, the fifty meter (164 ft) high Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries), shaped like a ship's prow, marks the passage of many Portuguese explorers, including Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus (on his way back to Spain after reaching the Americas).

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Padrão dos Descobrimentos

But, most importantly, and not to be missed, several blocks away is the Casa Pastéis de Belém bakery, where they have been creating the original Pastel de Nata pastry since 1837.  These Portuguese custard tarts, with rich egg custard in a crisp pastry, are made by hand every day and sprinkled with cinnamon.  The line to sit in the café or to buy take away in the bakery stretches down the sidewalk.  We elect to sit in the café and have our pastry with a bottle of Portuguese wine.

 The line outside

Pastel de Nata and wine inside

After our Pastel de Nata, we wander back toward our hotel.  In our one day in Lisbon, we've had a taste of the city and truly like it.  We have to come back in the future for a longer visit.

The next day, we sail away

Duck with Wild Mushrooms

We've previously prepared duck ragus using duck legs, now its time to use some other parts of the duck.  In the San Francisco/East Bay area, we get great duck parts at Berkeley Bowl, Barrons Meats and Poultry in the Alameda Marketplace, and the Golden Gate Meat Company in the San Francisco Ferry Building.

We have several favorite duck breast recipes, including Spice Rubbed with Grilled Peaches and Goat Cheese Salad, Seared with a Balsamic-Cherry Reduction, and Crispy with Glazed Carrots.  But, today, we're going with an old favorite, Sauteed with Wild Mushrooms from Bistro:  The Best of Casual French Cooking.

We head over the the Ferry Building (treating ourselves to a trip to San Francisco) for a thick, plump Muscovy duck breast (one is enough to feed the two of us).  I score the breast in a cross-hatch pattern, rub with salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat in an ovenproof sauté pan, skin side down.  After 2-3 minutes, when the duck breast is sizzling, I put the sauté pan into a 400º oven for around ten minutes.  Then, I turn turn the breast over and continue to cook in the oven for about five more minutes, after which I remove it from the pan and keep it warm.

Duck breast roasting in the oven

We head over the Nob Hill Foods in Alameda for mushroom (Far West Fungi at the San Francisco Ferry building is also great, but we forgot to stop there when we picked up the duck breast), looking for 1/2 pound each of chantarelle, oyster, and shitake.  However, whatever looks good at the store is best and this time we end up with oyster, portobello, and white button mushrooms.  We coarsely chop all the mushrooms, and using the same sauté pan (after pouring out the duck fat and replacing it with a pour of olive oil and 1/2 stick of butter), we sauté several chopped shallots and garlic and add the mushrooms, cooking a few minutes until they begin to soften.

Ingredients for the mushroom sauté

And, sautéing in the pan

And, by now, the kitchen smells really good!

After the mushrooms have softened, we add 1/3 cup of white wine, a cup of chicken stock (the recipe calls for veal stock, but we rarely have that around the house), bring it to a boil, then simmer for five minutes.

Back to the duck (this is a dish about duck), we slice the breasts, spoon the mushrooms onto warmed plates and arrange the duck breast slices on top.

Ready for slicing

The explosion of complementary tastes is incredible and we come back to this dish over and over.  Enjoy!

Bucatini all'Amatriciana (Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Pancetta)

Bucatini all'Amatriciana is named for the town of Amatrice, about 140 km (87 miles) northeast of Rome.  Amatrice has been inhabited since prehistoric times and has been part of the Kingdom of Naples, Florence, and now, part of Abruzzo.region which stretches from a little east of Rome to the Adriatic.

A quick Google brings up the comment that the region is famous for the Sugo all'Amatriciana pasta sauce, a key ingredient in our dinner today.

First, we spend a few hours making a basic tomato sauce.  If we check some of our regular recipe sources, Mario Batalli's Molto Italiano, Saveur, Bon Appetit, and the New York Times, we come up with very similar approaches.

In our large saucepan, we heat olive oil, then cook a diced onion and several thin-sliced garlic cloves until soft and starting to brown, about 10 minutes.  We then add several tablespoons of chopped fresh thyme and one-half a shredded carrot and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.  I crush two 28 ounce cans of San Marzano tomatoes by hand and add the crushed tomatoes and juice from the cans to the mixture, then simmer it all over low heat, stirring often, until the sauce is thick enough that the spoon leave a trail when I pull it through, often several hours (the recipes say 30 minutes, but I find it that it generally takes me 1.5-2 hours for the sauce to thicken properly).  I also use a potato masher to help break up the tomatoes as needed. When it reaches the thick consistency, I season to taste with salt and pepper.

Onions and Garlic sautéing, remaining sauce ingredients standing by

 Assembled tomato sauce simmering over low heat

Bucatini all'Amatriciana features a hollow, tubular pasta, bucatini, made of hard drum wheat flour and water.  It is claimed that the hollow inside of the pasta captures some of the sauce, but I've found that I make the sauce thick enough that it really doesn't get inside the pasta.  However, we still enjoy it tremendously, with it's substantial pasta taste.

 Bucatini

Bucatini all'Amatriciana is traditionally flavored with guanciale, cured pork jowl, which is, however, sometimes hard to find and pancetta is a good alternative.  I use a pound of pancetta, from Scalise Butcher shop inside Encinal Market, in one chunk.  I then cut off the fat and dice the remaining meat.  Traditional recipes call for the guanciale or pancetta to be thin sliced, but I prefer the small dice for a more substantial and crunchy flavor

In addition, I prepare 1/2 red onion cut into quarter moons, several cloves of garlic, and 1-2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper flakes.

Red onion/garlic/red pepper flakes and the diced pancetta

The pancetta, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes are combined in a sauté pan and cooked over low heat until the pancetta starts to get crispy and the onion has softened.  I drain the fat from the pan, add the tomato sauce, and simmer another 5-10 minutes.

 Pancetta in the front, sauce simmering in the back, pasta water warming on the right

 Tomato sauce added to the pancetta/onion/garlic mixture, pasta cooking

Bucatini cooks in the pasta pot for about 9-10 minutes (1-2 minutes short of al dente), then joins the sauce.  A few more minutes of simmering and stirring, and the meal is ready to serve, preferably in warmed pasta plates, with extra grated cheese (parmigian reggiano for us) on the side.

Buon Appetito!

Several of our favorite sources have variations of this recipe.  Our preferred version is Mario's Molto Italiano, but Saveur and Bon Appetit each have intriguing versions..

Although this meal takes a while to assemble, particularly the tomato sauce, the combined tastes are incredible and it's definitely worth the wait.  Also, the tomato sauce can be made in advance and refrigerated for a few days.

We usually only eat half of the pasta and sauce and put the rest in the refrigerator for another dinner later in the week.  We find that, a few days later, the tastes have matured and combined, yielding a truly great second meal.

A Trip to Lithuania Right in Alameda

Mamma Pappa Lithuania Restaurant and Tea House in Alameda, California (next to Oakland in the East Bay) calls itself the only Lithuanian restaurant on the West Coast, perhaps even west of Chicago.  My Lithuanian friends ask about it and my sister wants to go there whenever she's in town.  Well, she is, and Marla, and her husband, Al (Al of the Rubinoos and the birthday party at the Kensington Circus Pub) meet us at Mamma Pappa Lithuania for a great meal with family.

Alameda Magazine voted Mamma Pappa Lithuania the Best Comfort Food in 2014.  Lithuanian food focuses on meats, greens, and potatoes, drawing from the traditions of Baltic tribes who originally inhabited the region.  The cuisine shares much with its Northern European neighbors, including Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Germany, and Georgia.  The food is generally mild with potatoes (boiled, baked, or sauteed) and rye bread at every meal and several meats, most often pork, but often beef, lamb, and chicken.  Soups are popular, as are pancakes filled with either potatoes or meat.

Lithuania currently has about 2.9 million people and is one of the three Baltic states, surrounded by Latvia, Belarus, Poland, and Russia.  It was one of the first Soviet Republics to declare itself independent in 1990 and is now a member of the European Union (EU) and NATO.

But, we're talking about dining today, so we start by reminiscing about dinner at our Lithuanian grandmother's house when we were young.  We would make the 2 hour drive to DeKalb, Illinois every month or so and be fed as if our parent's had been starving us since we were last there.  The meal would usually feature three meat platters, pork, beef, and chicken, and two or three different potato dishes.  With a huge loaf of fresh rye bread.  I would eat until I couldn't hold any more, and, sometimes, even beyond that.

Today, we head over to Mamma Pappa Lithuania restaurant to bring back those memories and to have a great meal.  The restaurant is cozy and rustic, with heavy tables and chairs built from reclaimed wood, murals and pictures of Lithuanian sites on the walls, and owned and staffed with friendly people from the country.  We feel like we're entering an old tavern in Lithuania.

 Restaurant, with bakery alongside and beer garden in the back

 One of today's specials

We arrive at 6 in order to get right in.  Similar to many restaurants on Park Street in Alameda, Mamma Pappa Lithuania only takes reservations for large parties.  Thus, on Saturday night, arrive early or be prepared to wait on the sidewalk for a while.  However, the groups standing outside restaurants later in the evening all seem to be having a good time.

To start our Lithuanian meal, we share a minced pork pastry with garlic, chives and sour cream.  It turns out to be a great, flaky pastry, that pulls together the combination with a fantastic taste in our mouths..  The pastry disappears fast, perhaps we should have had one each!

For the main course, Al and I have the special, minced pork, breaded and lightly fried.  Laura has the stuffed cabbage rolls, filled with seasoned ground pork, rice, and a homemade sauce.  Marla chooses the potato pancakes with seasoned ground pork, lightly fried.  The minced pork special is served with boiled potatoes, cold slaw, and sour cream; the stuffed cabbage rolls, with boiled potatoes; and the potato pancakes, with sour cream.  Wow, truly great, tastes-like-grandma-used-to-make Lithuanian meals.

Today's minced pork special

 Stuffed cabbage roll and potato pancakes with meat

We share a bottle of cabernet sauvignon with the meal, complementing everything well.  Alternatively, we could have had one of the great Lithuanian beers or, as a non-alcoholic option, a natural Baltic amber teas.

Mamma Pappa has expanded recently to open a Lithuanian Bakery alongside the restaurant. with cookies, pies, pastries, and their famous honey cake.  In the restaurant, they do a lot in a small space, meet the kitchen crew in the closet-sided kitchen where they make all these great meals.

 The chefs

Although the deserts are tempting, particularly the incredible honey cake (also available in their bakery next door), just two blocks away is Tucker's Ice Cream, where they have been making and serving ice cream to Alameda since 1941.  We head down Park Street and get in line, thinking about which of the 34 flavors we're each going to have today.  Then, cone or cup?  Then, if cone, regular or waffle?  I go for a regular cone and mint ice cream with cookies.

Mint with cookies

Downtown Alameda is busy as people are still waiting outside the restaurants and we weave our way through the crowd, heading home, a 45 minute walk, just enough to let dinner (and ice cream) settle in.

Parks in Shenzhen

Shenzhen has a number of interesting theme parks:  Minsk World, an amusement park in a former Soviet Union Aircraft Carrier; OCT (Overseas Chinese Town) East, three theme parks with small towns based on various western and Asian themes, Splendid China Folk Village, with miniature versions of China's cultural treasures (Great Wall, Forbidden City, Imperial Palace); and Window of the World, 130 reproductions of some of the most famous tourist attractions in the world (Eiffel Tower, Acropolis, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Matterhorn, Buckingham Palace, ...)

All of these parks, except for Minsk World (aircraft carriers do better on water) are located along Shennan Boulevard, near the Window of the World and Qiaochang Metro Stations.

 Theme parks along Shennan Boulevard

I pass by them and get a few pictures as I walk down Shennan Boulevard, but I don't stop in this trip.

The next day, I walk through one of Shenzhen's many parks and the spring rain returns.  As the smart people hide under trees and in the park buildings, I get pictures in the rain.

 Park in the rain

 View of downtown from the park in the rain

When it rains in Shenzhen, it pours (note the stream of water flowing down the steps).  I get soaked and switch from my small folding umbrella to the large one the hotel provides, giving me a little more coverage and a little less drenching.

The clouds and rain also give a great view from planes coming in and I get some good pictures this trip.

 Sunset in the rain on the way to Shenzhen

It was a classic spring/summer flight from Shanghai to Shenzhen, meaning very late.  Some of my friends take the overnight train between the cities to avoid the storm delays in the airport, but I've generally been lucky.  At least, I've always arrived the same day.

This trip, things were looking good and we boarded the plane on time at Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport.  Then, there was an announcement I couldn't hear and everyone got off the plane.  I followed, sat back down in the boarding area and picked up my snack at the counter an hour later.  

 Waiting snack

The gate agents said, "Bad weather, don't know when/if we'll go."  But, I figured that Shenzhen Airlines wanted their plane back and, if there was any chance, we would go.  Another hour later, they wheeled the meal carts off the plane into the boarding area and fed us lunch.  Not a good sign.  An hour later, we all got back on the plane and it took off quickly.  But, as we got close to Shenzhen, we started flying in circles and the captain, after a few 360s, announced that more storms had moved back in and we were going to Guangzhou (128 km/80 miles away).  This was a big improvement over one adventure last year when my flight to Shenzhen diverted to Xiamen (615 km/380 miles away) and we were around number 50 in line for refueling.  This time, we landed in Guangzhou, pulled off into a deserted area and had our own fuel truck within an hour.  The storms in Shenzhen quickly moved on and we arrived at sunset, only 7 hours late, giving me the great pictures.

As an interesting note, when I buy my tickets on Shenzhen Airlines directly from their website (the tickets cost a lot less buying direct, generally around $95 for the 2.5 hour flight, although the purchase is in Chinese RMB), I spot a link on their homepage for Foreign Pilots Recruitment.  Clicking through, I see that flying for them is a pretty good deal:  great salary and benefits and they have over 100 foreign captains.  Too bad I'm not at a phase of my life that would let me look into that.

But, it's enough of Shenzhen and time to head home and plan the next adventure.