The Joy of Simplicity

Usually I don’t write my posts in English. But this time I’d like to share my thoughts with two colleagues of mine, Florence from Paris and Laura from Lago di Como. They both inspired me to write this post when we met in Brussels last week. On our walk back to the hotel late at night we were chatting about simple dishes, the smell of good olive oil, where to buy the best cheese in the world (FRANCE!!), the one thousand variations of German bread and how happy high-quality products can make you.

I enjoyed this walk and talk so much as it was exactly what this blog is about: Food can build bridges and can help turn strangers into friends.

Let me share Florence and Laura’s favourite simple dishes with you.

Carpaccio of Coeur de Boeuf tomatoes

Ingredients:

One big coeur de boeuf tomato per person

Green Olive Oil

Guérande Salt

Basil leaves

How to do it:

Cut the tomatoes in very thin slices and place them on a plate, followed by thin slices of the beef carpaccio. Drizzle one or two spoons of the olive oil over the slices (Florence recommends L’Olivier oil which is delicious). Give a pinch of salt over each plate and cover with some chopped basil leaves – done!

You can add some French cheese if you like. Florence recommends Basque goat cheese (fromage de brebis basque) which is – in her words – unforgettable.

Doesn’t that sound like dead and in heaven? Now read about Laura’s mouth watering Italian dish:

Pasta Cacio e Pepe

Cook 100gr pasta per person (Bucatini spaghetti if available)

Mix grounded black pepper corns and Pecorino Romano cheese in a seperate bowl

Add a high quality extra virgin olive oil to the mixture

Add a teaspoon of the pasta water as well

Now transfer the al dente cooked pasta to the bowl, mix everything and say: Buon appetito!

How could a German ever compete with the French or the Italian cuisine? No chance! But the one thing we have and that everyone around the world loves is German bread. My blog’s name is not a coincidence 😉

So all I need to be happy is a thick slice of fresh grey bread (rye, sour dough… no need to list all the variations of wonderful bread), a good measure of real butter, some slices of sun riped tomato and some chopped chives on top of it. But you can add anything on top of fresh bread or even enjoy it without any spread. After long journeys abroad this is the best dish to feel back home again.

Share your simple dish with Laura, Florence and me. We’re quite curious about it.

Fotos Tomato and Pecorino: Wikipedia

Join the Conversation

  1. Wow, both dishes sounds absolutely faboulos. I’ll definitly try them. I’m a fan of simple dished with high quality products. For me food is something very important, I’d always spend more money in a supermarkt than a drugstore. 😉

    And it’s true what they say about German bread. Everytime I’m off on holidays I start missing our bread I’d say right away. It’s funny because I talked about this with a friend yesterday as I’m flying to Thailand mid November and I’m already looking forward to arriving back home and buying a loaf of Hofpfister’s Schwabenlaib. 😉

    1. Your plans for Thailand sound wonderful. I’m sure there will be a lot of good food around 😉 However, even though I love exotic spices and dishes, don’t we all come back to German bread at the end of the day 😀

  2. YUM! That sounds delish!! My favorite topping on crusty baguette bread? Sliced fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and a slice of mozzarella cheese on top, broiled to gooey, toasty perfection. Heaven.

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