Lunch in the Town (oops, I mean) City of Tainan

I was blessed to have the wonderful opportunity to make and have lunch with Grace (everyone must know Grace by now) and her family last Sunday in Tainan.
One thing is certain...cram school teachers especially head  teachers work long hours from Monday to Saturday and with 2 year old twins she has a full schedule.  So when I invited myself for lunch Grace did not hesitate spending her off day cooking with me.

                                              

Another Train ride...Hell I don't mind!

She told me she wanted to learn how to make pasta, and of course being a master, that request suit me just fine. So with elegant flavours milling around in my head I had to turn to her for help in sourcing some of the ingredients.

First and of utmost importance was a decent cheese. Blue or Brie! And of course cream...fresh home made pasta with a white sauce base will simply not do.

Grace managed to source both cheeses through a friend...I had a mouthwatering somersault moment!!

And I stand by the saying: It's not who you are but who you know!!!
She also gave me both cheeses at no expense, and I would like to thank her once again for such a huge gift!

Beautiful Cheeeeeeeese:-)

I on the other hand was able to find cream from my favourite speciality baking store in Gangshan.

Good old cream.

So with all the difficult ingredients found I shopped around for the rest of the ingredients for a simply delectable Gracefully made pasta of Chicken, oyster mushroom and fresh green grapes served in a rich creamy Brie sauce.

Rolling...Rolling...Rolling with the pasta.

Very relaxed;-)

The end result!

Furthermore Grace's husband...man of few words, made us squid served cold with a simple flavoured sauce of  of soy and brown sugar with loads of garlic and a subtle hint of ginger balanced to perfection...delicious.

I also had my first serving of clams in a ginger and spring onion broth...and after my heavy hand at salt...simply moreish.

Tainan squid...I presume...

Salty, simply yummy!

Fresh?! Clams...OF COURSE

 The twins enjoying their first Italian pasta!

For dessert I made ice cream from scratch and after begging Grace for flavours she told me she liked white chocolate and hubby likes dark chocolate.

So I made a white and dark chocolate ice cream with dark and white chocolate chips served with a cookie crumble. With no decent Swiss or Belgium chocolate in Taiwan I even managed to impress myself with dessert.

Dessert.

After a late lunch we went for a stroll at the Cultural park, which was a hub of activity. Live music, dancing and children snake boarding. We walked through a art exhibition with loads of naked paintings, and I bought my first book abroad +The Great Gatsby during my first visit to a Taiwan department store. 

I had a awesome day in Tainan, a BIG thank you to Grace her family and her "leg hugging" dog Chocolate.

Greetings from a Italian (for the moment) East

Mariza

xxx