So this week just past I turned 42. Apparently 42 is not just the number after 41. It has “pop culture” significance. It is the angle of degrees at which a rainbow appears. The three best-selling music albums – Michael Jackson’s Thriller, AC/DC’s Back in Black and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon – last 42 minutes. Titanic was traveling at a speed equivalent to 42km/hour when it collided with an iceberg. The world’s first book printed with movable type is the Gutenberg Bible which has 42 lines per page. On page 42 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry discovers he’s a wizard. And of course….In…
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You Had Me at Halloumi
The thing about diets is that you tend to eat a lot of salad. A. LOT. I’m 6kgs down and staring down the barrel of a another half a lifetime of lettuce and accompanying low cal pals. But the good thing about lettuce is that you can load it up, and this is one of my favorite salads, created by the chefs at the Grand Hyatt Doha This salad is so simple, yet I can never recreate it. Rocket leaves, fig, bresciola, walnuts, a simple dressing and of course the hero – grilled halloumi. Although it is of rather disputed origin due to the mixed cultures in the Levant and…
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Basque (ing) in the Glory of Meatza
I’m on a diet. There are undiscovered tribes in Papua New Guinea that know this fact. I have been telling everyone about it. Even the guy who pumped my petrol the other day. “You are very glamorous madam, like a Bollywood star,” he said in response. That guy earned a BIG tip. I’ve already lost just over 5kgs in a couple of weeks thanks to tennis, kickboxing and the most un-relaxing yoga classes I have ever experienced, and being the impatient inner child I am, I want it to go faster. So, I quizzed my friend and diet buddy Brooke (check out her fab blog Babbling in the Desert) about…
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Guest Post – Be My Brebis
And so folks, we have our first ever guest post! And who better to write the inaugural one, than my friend and fellow blogger Nat. Check out Nat’s witty blog Bright Lights, Little City for more musings… Most people have to be dragged kicking and screaming to see their in-laws. But not me; mine are permanent residents in the south of France, which means that every visit is a thinly-disguised excuse to eat, drink…and then eat and drink some more. So when I mentioned to Rachel that I’d be spending a good chunk of my summer holiday with them, she saw the potential for both a guest post, and the…
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Click it, Post it, Eat it… Life on the Wedge in the Media
Taking photos has always been secondary to the words on my blog, so it was a great honor that the Doha-based Qatar Tribune included me in a story about food photography in Doha. Click it, post it, eat it
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For Feta or For Worse
My love of the salty goodness of feta is well documented on this blog and my waistline. So I was the happiest traveler in the sky recently when I had the chance to fly from Stockholm to Doha on the Qatar Airways Dreamliner and the menu featured this tasty little morsel. A moist piece of feta cheese, rolled on sesame seeds. For once also served at the right temperature, along with a tomato salsa. I am learning that feta, in some for or another, is made in countries around the world. It is simply a farmer’s cheese and I have tried varieties in Turkey, Central Europe and of course, the…
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Baby I was Bjorn This Way – Cheese, Meatballs and ABBA in Stockholm
I am going to be brutally honest. I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. The main reason I went to Stockholm was to visit Abba – The Museum (and visit friends NOT called Benny or Bjorn) and pay homage to the supergroup that had a significant impact on my childhood, and yes, my adulthood. Australia was the first country outside of Sweden to really embrace ABBA and all its campness. ‘Australia was the first country that took ABBA to heart and we never forgot about that. We always felt a lot of love from audiences there,’’ Bjorn Ulvaeus once said. I was not immune. I had their albums,…
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For a Gouda Time, Head to Amsterdam
I’m scratching my head. I’m a well traveled, adventurous woman. Why haven’t I been to Amsterdam before? This is a city that is tailor made for me – everywhere is walking distance, stunning art galleries, chilled vibe and more importantly, a cheese loving populace. My home for my quick visit was the seriously stylish Andaz Amsterdam, located on the edge of the funky Nine Streets area and frankly, one of the most fabulous hotels I have stayed in. The Netherlands is not known for its cuisine, but it is known for its cheese. Gouda to be more precise. Now I have been scornful of this cheese in the past, until…
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The Long Whey Round
I usually don’t buy the conception of “it’s not the destination, but the journey”. Given my short attention span and inability to sit still (I am what is called, fidgety) and aversion to walking long distances, I usually choose the shortest possible route. However, on my recent European sojourn, I deliberately took the slow boat/train/plane. This resulted in me being more frazzled that usual (I love traveling, hate the process) but I did manage to see four countries in 12 days – UK, The Netherlands, Sweden and finally Oman. If it appears this journey was chosen by randomly throwing darts at a map of the world, you would be close.…
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Best of the Brunch – Opal by Gordon Ramsay at St Regis Doha
I have written before about the concept of brunch in the Middle East – it’s an art form. Hotels compete for the most elaborate buffet, ladies buy new outfits, drivers are booked, mayhem is guaranteed. I love a good brunch – a chance to catch up with friends, gossip and yes, wear the occasional new frock. And this is the thing, buffets drive me crazy. Call me a drama queen, but I like to have my food brought to me. And the idea of dozens of people pawing the prawns before I get to them does make me a little uneasy. Opal by Gordon Ramsay is an outpost of the…