Irish shellfish feast

First time to try Cocktail oysters by Garry Harty, raised in tumbling baskets in the sea. So cute, meat filled small shells perfect for a small mouthful. Oyster is sweet, as usual, and a good balance of creaminess and crunch. 

Surf clams quickly cooked in butter, spring onion and cherry tomatoes. Clams are meaty and the broth left is like a bisque. 

Finally Connemara shrimps cooked in a little ginger, rice wine and water, very sweet firm meat. 

Glass air fryer

Air fryer has been very popular for a few years, I have used it in a friend’s house, to know how fast it works. However the bulky size, made of plastic and such an ugly design stop me from acquiring this kitchen gadget. 

A few days ago in a department store, saw this new version of air fryer, small, with a detachable top grill  and bottom glass cookware. It is well designed, a great improvement from the previous models that I need to bring it home. 

Since then I have been using it in every meal, to test its abilities! Potato chips, rostis and fish cakes brushed with oil turned crispy in 20 minutes. Runner beans and purple carrots shaken with oil turned soft in 12 minutes. Cheese nut bitter melon gratin browned in 10 minutes. A lot faster than in the big oven and very good for cooking small portions.

Herb salts

Another thing I learned from Georgia is they use a lot of herbs in cooking, the market sells big bunches of fresh herbs. They also turn fresh herbs into salt, sometimes a single herb or a mixture of herbs. I bought one called Svaneti salt, originated from the west highland area, using mountain mix herbs. The colour of these herb salts are so vivid. 

I googled to check how to make it and is easy, another way to store fresh herbs, other than turning into pesto. 

1 portions of fresh herbs, as dry as possible, 1 portion of salt. 
Use a powerful blender to grind into a fine paste, spread on baking paper. Bake at 40˚C for an hour or two, flipping and pressing at intervals to get a very fine supper dry powder. 

I made 4 types of herb salts now (Thai basil, Vietnamese coriander, purple perilla, mild chilli pepper), to sprinkle on any dishes, the flavour of herb is not strong, but so pretty.

Veg dishes inspired by Georgia cuisine

After days of impressive spreads of veg dishes with bright colours in Georgia, I have to try to reinvent some. Of course my tomatoes are not as red and as full flavour, but the rolled spinach beet with tahini, mustard and yogurt sauce is nice. 

 

 

Lake tour

Even though cold, but at least no wind, the lake is mirror calm. Jump on the boat to gently make a tour of part of the lake. 

Reflection is so pretty. Just sad to see algae bloom is serious, suspected to be caused by too much farm nitrates being leaked into water ways. 

 

 

Mature bitter melon

Come back from holiday to find some bitter melons turning yellow. On opening, the white pith and seed part turned to bright red jelly wrapped brown seeds. The red is so intense, mildly sweet, and the change so dramatic, unlike anything I have seen in other gourd families.

Also the flesh is softer and less bitter, much better to use as pickle. 

2025年9月22日 觀人觀己

和初相識的人見面吃頓飯，不難；出門同住同遊，一直只是家人和相熟朋友的玩意，極愉快；和十位三唔識七的人遊格魯吉亞共同生活八天，是人生首次經驗。

這團共有十二位人客，當中只有三對男女，唯有我倆是夫妻，一對是忘年交，另一對是好好朋友。其餘六位，包括祖母孫女，和四位獨自出門的女士。常跟團的朋友說，女多男少是慣常情況，女性較為包容又好出門，男士似乎較多要求，不喜跟團。

那對祖母和孫女，好生可愛，時常擁抱，如風大祖母覺得冷，那約十八歲gap year 休學一年的女孩，會攬著祖母為她擋風；那次行山上教堂，祖母乘車上山，臨行前大力擁抱孫女，團友說她會回來的，祖母笑說這是個會take risk 的人，得提她千萬小心。

祖母是俄羅斯人，工程師出身，慘笑說蘇聯解體後工程師太多，失業，要改行教英文維生。兒子到英國工作結婚留下，她在58歲時移居倫敦，是個有學識有經歷的人。參觀史太林博物館後，好奇問她對這個人感覺如何，她微笑然後轉臉向地下恨恨吐一大啖口水，作回應。

那女孩長髮五官甜美身段修長，天天都是普通T恤粗布褲，完全沒有打扮，異常樸素，似是在渾沌少年階段，口齒伶俐，用心聽常發問，容易交談，遇到這等有教養的年輕人，即時覺得世界有希望。

欣賞的亦有歷史知識廣博的團友，是個業餘研究歷史的人，問關於歷史的大都可以即時有文有理地回應，包括年份名字，好生欣賞那求知態度，和最令我羨慕的記憶能力。

英國公司辦的旅遊團，人客以英國人為主，在那國度長大的人，都很有small talk 的能力，一坐下就能打開話匣子，亦可以自己嘰哩瓜啦地說大堆事情。

幾天後才醒悟，不是要別人提問，才可以講自己常做的事情，可以早早主動放開懷抱吐露風聲，令人容易明白眼前人，找話題也輕鬆好多。

另外，向導遊的提問，一個在傳統觀念下長大的年輕男士，尤其關乎行程安排，或對他的講解有不同意見，有的人表達得婉轉溫文，有的心直口快，見到導遊的反應，就知道要努力壓下心急的個性。

日日同枱吃飯乘車，好多交流機會，見到不同的處事方法，談吐見識，這種種與人相處的機緣，走出 comfort zone，是旅遊增廣見聞這大前提的附加得益，小組團將會是將來去山旮旯地方的選擇。

Georgia tour - eating 7/7

One of the enjoyable part of this tour is to appreciate delicious Georgian cuisine, still undiscovered in the world market.

Outside Tbilisi all lunches were served in family homes in the village. Huge spread of various seasonal vegetables, fresh herbs and all seasoned differently and tasty.

It is the only place outside Asia, that I have eaten, everyday, every meal, so many beautifully presented and flavourful vegetables dishes.

 

There are many different styles of freshly baked flat bread with different fillings, my favourites are the beef and spinach with cheese. Giant boiled dumplings with meat, mushrooms or cheese filling are delicious too, just need to ‘waste’ the top half of the dough as they are always too thick to worth filling the stomach.

 

 

Various meat dishes are nice too but less outstanding than veg and carbohydrates dishes.

Went to see Dezerter market 2km from Tbilisi . It is an upstair wholesale market of fruit and veg, with small stores outside and around.

Impressive range of dried fruits, red berries and plums; huge bunches of various herbs; pickled veg including whole head of garlic and whole eggplant, plus other regular vegetables.

The best restaurants we have tried in Tbilisi are Salobie Bia, Modani Gastro Station and პროლოგი • 1709