SALMON TERIYAKI

SALMON TERIYAKI

Teriyaki sauce is a traditional Japanese sauce that became popular in Western cultures, long before sushi became the ambasador of Japanese cuisine! If you are like me it is something you have often ordered in restaurants or bought in Japanese food stores, but never taken the time to make yourself. Which is silly really, as after this weekend I realised what an easy recipe it is to make.

All you need are equal parts of sugar, soy sauce, mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine) and sake. These four ingredients are mixed together, boiled  and reduced to create a thick sweet sauce for coating meat and fish. The word Teri refers to the lacquered sheen or luster given by the sauce and the word yaki the cooking method of grilling/broilling. After so many years of using the word Teriyaki it’s nice to know what it really means!

My brother has just returned to Holland after a three month internship in Canada, and so this is the next recipe in the Dutch Series, of easy recipes that don’t require an oven! If you prefer to eat chicken or beef instead of salmon, this recipe can easily be adapted, especially after reading about the recent Fraser River Sockeye salmon issues in Western Canada!

EL OLIVIO Restaurant, Deia

LA RESIDENCIA HOTEL – El Olivio

***Restaurant Recommendation***

I am physically back from my honeymoon, but I fear my heart & soul are still sitting on the sunny balcony of our room at La Residencia, a lovely hotel in Mallorca’s hillside village – Deia.

The trip from start to finish was perfect, lovely accommodation, impeccable service, breath taking views, the sea, lush hills and a little stone village. Then there was relaxing by the pool, a day at the spa, yoga classes, various day trips to local towns & cities including Palma – a general return to earth after the bussling busy weeks leading up to the wedding.

However as this is a food blog, and for those of you who have been reading along – there may be the occasional story, a trip down memory lane or a brief wander off the beaten track…. however I always find my way back to the essential – my stomach. And I tell you nothing was to prepare me for the pièce de résistance of culinary delights that was awaiting us on this island at the El Olivio RESTAURANT….

LEMON ROSEMARY COD

LEMON ROSEMARY COD

First and most important a very happy NEW YEAR to you all. This post have been a long time coming, but between Christmas, my brother visiting and the wedding planning – every spare minute of the day has been occupied.

Therefore as a tribute to 2008 I am posting a version of one of the dishes we made for New Years Eve dinner. The original version can be found in ELLE à Table N°55, which calls for scallops (aka coquille saint-jacques in French).

Oddly enough cod has never really appealed to me – the problem stems from the name, which I find rather unappealing. However the fish monger in Geneva changed all this by offering me ‘cabillaud‘, which naturally sounded lovely and so I agreed and went off home with a nicely wrapped package. Only to find out that what was inside was non other than cod… There was no turning back. And the result I have to say was wonderful! Let me know what you think.