You Ate 1098 Meals in 2012

If you eat 3 meals a day, that means you ate 1098 meals in 2012. How many of those meals were memorable? Certainly not 1098, how about 500? 100? Could you name a dozen? Looking through photos helped us remember some of our most memorable meals (and snacks) of 2012. You won’t find anything resembling Epic Meal Time or shock value foods here, what you will find is simple, flavourful foods created by people (sometimes ourselves) who love cooking and eating.

1. Tagliatelle al Ragù in Santarcangelo di Romagna

Our Blogville host Nicholas took us to a local favourite to have the real deal.  Imagine noodles so light you just can’t get enough, and the sauce, meaty with lip-smacking fat coating your every taste bud. Such a great meal, Tim had to make his way into the kitchen to meet the cooks.

2. Piadina in Rimini

An Emilia-Romagna speciality is a flatbread sandwich, the piadina.  Unleavened bread is laden with the freshest ingredients. My number one pick is arugula, prosciutto and squaquerone (local cheese), simply divine.

 3. Corn Focaccia Pizza in Lucca

If you give us a chance to tell you about the best bakery in Italy, you can be certain we’ll tell you about the time we discovered the corn focaccia pizza.  Warm out of the oven, you could taste the corn and bits of sunflower seeds in the dough, with just the right amount of tomato sauce and the perfect amount of golden, bubbly cheese.  It just makes you want more.

4. Spaghettini with fresh tuna in Rimini

A dish made on request for Federico Fellini at the Grand Hotel Rimini, this spaghettini was cooked to perfection and complemented by tuna, tomatoes, olives and capers. We had it as a starter but it was so delicious I could have easily had it as a main course.

5. Fire Roasted Meats in Castelmuzio

I’m not a huge small migratory bird eater but when this platter of fire roasted birds, meats and bread was brought to the table of our Tuscan agriturismo I had to try it. The crispy, salty skin of the little birds was to die for, the delicate flavour of the meat and the olive oil soaked bread, begged the question, who needs vegetables?

6. Speciality Coffees in Budapest

There’s nothing quite like sitting in the sun gorging on a Ruszwurm speciality coffee. Using the little spoon to dig through the sauce (in this case caramel) and the whipped cream, and straight down to the espresso sitting at the bottom, I stirred it up into the chocolate milk and then used the straw to suck up the goodness.

7. Stuffed Hungarian Peppers in Budapest

This may be one of the simplest and tastiest dishes we’ve ever enjoyed.  These peppers are thin-skinned, their sweet flavour combined with the meat and tomato sauce, a match made in culinary heaven. Enjoy them at home.

8. BBQ Pork in Amsterdam

If you think it’s weird that we would go to Amsterdam and end up eating at a Chinese Food Restaurant twice in a row, you haven’t tasted the BBQ pork at Hoi Tin. The only word that can describe it is porkalicious!

9. Galette Ch’tiflette in Lille

A ch’ti as we found out is a name given to inhabitants of Nord-Pas-De-Calais.  A galette Ch’tiflette is a buckwheat crèpe filled with lardons, onions, potato, Maroilles (orange rind, strong smelling cheese), crème fraîche and topped with an egg. It tastes as good as you can imagine, deeelicious!

10. Creamed Chanterelles on Toast in Frankfurt

We whipped this up in our Frankfurt hotel room after buying a truckload of chanterelles at a local market. The high fat cream is a perfect conductor for the subtle flavour of the mushrooms. Quick and easy, the perfect snack to have with a cocktail.

11. Egg and Spaetzle in Vienna

My first meal in Vienna. Simple, with only two main ingredients but the eggs enhance the texture and flavour of the buttery noodles to perfection.  This could quickly become my favourite comfort food.

There were plenty of other memorable meals in 2012 like the crispy pork knuckle and mett in Cologne or the beef tartare in Brusasco but we had to narrow it down.

What were some of your favourite meals of 2012?