Mountain food, Swedish food, holiday food

Finally back from my long break. The holiday is mainly about spending time with family. But we also get to eat lots of good food, reminisce lost tastes and discover new delights.

In Singapore, it's more about gorging ourselves with as much local delicacies as possible without suffering from indigestion. Managed laksa, nasi lemak, dou hua (sweet beancurd), steamboat at home, xiaolongbao, bak chor mee, to name a few. Also grabbed 2 new cookbooks about local desserts and claypot dishes.

Over in France, Rémi's mom cooked a lot of mountain food in Meribel, an alpine ski village where we spent one week. Like the Tartiflette, a specialty of the Savoie region. To make it, boil potatoes, peel and slice, top with crispy bacon and generous blocks of the Reblochon cheese and bake. It was yummy. Other hearty meals include cassoulet, a casserole containing meat (eg pork sausages, duck and mutton) and white haricot beans, wild boar stew and more.

In Sweden, the Semla (above) is a must-have at Swedish cafes. A wheat bun stuffed with almond paste and whipped cream, it is traditionally eaten before fasting in Lent starts. They are available in bakeries and shops between Christmas and Easter.

Then, there's the lingonberry, that is eaten with almost everything, from toast, syrup to meatballs. I managed to try this Swedish bak-zhang (meat dumpling), like a potato meatball accompanied with lingonberry. Not bad.