Sponsored We go the opportunity to test this new coffee brewer from Philips with a so-called Boil & Brew system. The purchase value is NOK 999,-. You can win the Café Gourmet-machine by liking our Facebook page and sharing a picture on your Instagram profile of your special coffee moment. Use the hashtag #twofoodieseating to enter the competition. We choose the winner by the end of next week and Philips will ship the coffee machine directly to any destination in Norway. The winner, as well as the two runner ups, also get a Keep-Cup each for take-away on those busy mornings when you can't finish your cup at home. Anyone that has ever operated a coffee brewer will immediately understand how the new Philips machine works. Water goes in the top container, ground coffee and filter goes in the middle container. Power on, water boils, drip, drip, drip and the coffee is done. We normally brew our coffee by hand, using a V60 or Kalita, but we have to admit a coffee brewer is practical when you have big parties of 10-15 people. Even though this is a machine that does the job for you, there are still some important things to remember when brewing coffee. Rule number 1: Use good quality coffee High quality coffee is the most important ingredient to achieve a good brew. We recommend coffee from micro brewers like Supreme Roastworks, Tim Wendelboe or Solberg Hansen. If you don't live in Oslo with acceess to such places, check out kaffebox.no or kaffeposen.no. Good quality water would be the next point, but luckily we have awesome water straight from the tap here in Norway. Rule number 2: Buy whole beans and grind yourself Invest in a grinder. It won't cost you more than 500-600 kroner for a decent grinder. It really makes all the difference. Coffee needs to be fresh in order to taste good. Whole beans can last 3-4 weeks in an airtight container. Once grounded, though, the coffee quickly loses it's flavor and characteristics. Filter coffee calls for a medium coarse grind, usually the middle setting on the grinder. Rule number 3: Brewing temperature What is the correct temperature? There is no definite answer to this one. However, there seems to be somewhat of an agreement that it should be between 92 and 96 degrees. Certainly not boiling. Philips states that their new coffee brewer "heats the water to 93 degrees", which sounds about perfect. Then they add "or higher". This leaves us somewhat confused. When we tested the machine we noticed that the water is brought to a boil, then the machine seems to let it cool down slightly before it's further transported down the pipe to the filter container with coffee. Thus, we are not sure of which exact temperature the water had at contact with the coffee. A suggestions for improvement in the next model is to incorporate an adjustable thermometer settings for us coffee geeks. Rule number 4: Wet the filter Do as I say, not as I do! It was a late evening so I forgot to wet the filter in the trial round, and just noticed when I uploaded the pictures now. Why on earth wet the filter? Because it is made of paper, and paper has a taste. Paper does not taste good. By wetting the paper and rinsing in thoroughly, you remove some of that bad taste. Yes, it is getting down to geeky levels now. Just do it. Rule number 5: Keep it clean Clean coffee equipment ensures no foul taste of old coffee remnants. Philips new machine allow you to remove the filter container and of course the coffee pot in the bottom, and these parts are machine washable. That's good! If you could also remove the water container on the top, that would be ideal. This would give another benefit as well; water could be filled straight from the tap. We used our Kalita kettle to fill water. Just make sure you use something clean, and never use the coffee pot to fill water unless it has recently been washed. Final rule is unofficial, but important nontheless. Drink your coffee from awesome coffee cups! Like the ones we have from Kaffikaze. Or the Keep-Cups you can win in our competition!
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On of the new trends we see in Oslo is that the big malls are refurbishing and opening food courts in their lower floors. Paleet in Karl Johan did so earlier this autumn, as parts of modernizing their mall. Now Steen & Strøm in Nedre Slottsgate has done the same. While Paleet's attempt turned out to be more of a gathering of restaurants in one floor, Steen & Strøm has actually made a food court where you can shop around and grab a table where you feel like it. They have a total of twelve restaurants, food vendors and specialty stores at the moment, as well as a super market. Newspapers are already calling it Oslo's third food hall, following Mathallen at Vulkan and Maschmann's Matmarked at Skøyen. We went to test all of the places, to see if they could live up to the expectations. Hello Good PieHello Good Pie has offered their delicious sweet and savory pies at Mathallen for two years already. At Steen & Strøm they have made a beautiful new restaurant, that looks even prettier than the original. The huge glass menu on the wall with gold leaf writing is almost as inviting as the pies. Through the windows on the counter you can see the tempting pies at one end, and follow the baking process at the other end. Pork, beef and ratatouille are offered at 89/95 NOK if you just need a snack, and in a bigger size with condiments for 149 NOK to enjoy as dinner. Dessert pies with lemon meringue, chocolate and peanuts, apple crumble and pumpkin and caramel are 64/70 NOK. All in all we find this a good value for money place, especially considering the quality of the ingredients and the love that goes into making each and every one of them. Burrito ProjectBurrito Project immediately caught our attention on our first visit to the food court last week - before everything was opened as scheduled. They offered some samples of their slow cooked Josper grilled meat and it tasted really good. The concept reminds us of the high quality fast food chain Chipotle, which is found everywhere in North-America and has reached some major cities of Europe as well. Turns out this place is run by Oslo-based New Yorkers, so maybe that is where they got their inspiration. Burritos are filled with either rice or beans and then a choice of Josper grilled vegetables (NOK 83), chicken (NOK 95), pulled pork (NOK 118) or entrecôte (NOK 145). The remaining condiments are all included, except for guacamole which costs and additional NOK 23. Condiments include salad, pickled red onions, corn, cheese, different salsas and fresh coriander. You decide what to put on. The meat still tasted good, but not as good as the samples we got the other day. Could it be because they store the meat in open air and it had gone cold? The salsas were a little runny, and the girl serving us was rather cheap on the guacamole we paid NOK 23 extra for. We got maybe a tablespoon or so per burrito, and thus the flavor disappeared almost entirely. Overall it tasted quite good, though, and we will return to to test some more later. Mamma PizzaThis place, run by Italians, is the second location to open after getting a decent reputation at their main store in Dronningens gate just a few blocks east of Steen & Strøm. They offer pizza by the slice "Rome style" as well as traditional round pies with thin crust. We tested the oxtail ragu and tuna by the slice. The oxtail ragu was really good, just look how tempting it looks on the picture below. The tuna was not so good, but that was probably due to our preferences or being overshadowed by the much tastier ragu. SummerbirdSummerbird has had countless of pop-ups at Steen & Strøm recently. As such it was no surprise to see that they now opened their own store here. Gutta på Haugen has always been our go-to-place to get our Danish delights, but it is welcoming that Summerbird now have their own shop as well. Here you get amazing "flødeboller" with marzipan bottoms - we especially recommend the Christmas edition! Their chocolate coated almonds rolled in different flavors like lemon and chamomile or raspberry are highly addictive! Not to mention truffles filled with passion fruit caramel. Don't believe us? They are always generous on store samples, so go have a taste. If you want the Danish Christmas spirit to last all of December you should get their Advent Calendar just like we have. Everything is organic! All ingredients are of the highest quality. We have heard rumors that these crazy Danes went hunting for organic oranges in Italy. They found their perfect tasting orange, but the farm was not run organic. The farmer refused to facilitate for organic operation. Summerbird called him every Thursday for two years, and even went to visit him again several times. Until he gave up! Today he delivers the perfect oranges as they wished for, and he thanks them for convincing him to do it organic. Lakrids by Johan BülowJohan Bülow is "Lakridskongen". The young Danish entrepreneur that started to make liquorice in his home kitchen just a few years back, and now runs a highly successful company of more than 100 employees in over 20 countries. Just like Summerbird, this place is generous on samples, and they will gladly help you to discover your favorite. We don't really like liquorice as much, neither of us, but we have to admit - this is something else! Who knows, maybe next year we will have the Advent Calendar from Lakrids? Sebastien BrunoWe already know Sebastien Bruno from their flagship store in Frognerveien and the temptations that meets you as soon as you enter Mathallen at Vulkan. This is truly one of the best macaroon makers in town! Try the olive oil and basil flavored macaroon, or if you want something seasonal how about rhubarb with cinnamon or milk chocolate and mandarin? Do not miss the roasted and caramelized pistachios coated in chocolate either! A.C. Perch's ThehandelYet another Danish store! We know this as our favorite Copenhagen tea store, and now we are lucky to have one in Oslo too. They offer teas in every imaginable flavor and combination, and just look at how charming and welcoming the store is to visit. Olive TreeOlive Tree has a vast variety of olive oils offered in lovely, hand crafted and painted bottles. However, when it comes to olive oil the flavor is definitely more important than the design. Is this as good as the olive oils we usually get from Gutta på Haugen or Oliviers & Co? The samples we tasted did not convince us, but we will have to try more varieties another time. What's SoupApparently inspired by the Soup Nazi from the classic Seinfeld episode, What's Soup serves a selection of different soups and stews. On the menu at the moment is Dal - Indian lentil soup (NOK 89), cauliflower soup (NOK 89), chili con carne (NOK 109) and "pinnekjøtt"soup (NOK 109). We took no chances and followed the correct procedures: "As you walk in the place move immediately to your right, keep the line moving, hold out your money, speak your soup in a loud, clear voice, step to the left and receive. Do not to embellish on your order. No extraneous comments. No questions. No compliments." The soups were ok, especially the Dal tasted quite good. The "Pinnekjøtt"soup is a little boring. If you add that it is priced at NOK 109 and leaves you less than full even for lunch - it doesn't really work so well. Nothing here that screams of legend status as far as flavors are concerned. I guess we'll come back - one year. Jonathan SushiJonathan did not offer any samples or ways to test their menu without buying a full meal. As this was our last stop of the tour, we did not buy the sushi this day. Sorry Jonathan, no preview - no review.
We went to Gutta på Haugen with my dad to check for some Blue Congo potaoes for the decoration of our dish at Smalhans the next day. While browsing the store, we found an exciting looking new tea brand: Paromi Tea. They have loads of different flavors, at least over ten available at Gutta... I don't drink much tea during the year, but when the winter hits I need my warm tea, woolen socks and a blanket to crawl under while sipping it. We decided to go for the Yerba Mate: Paradise Mate because yerba mate is known to be "the drink of the gods" in South America. A very floral yerba mate with pineapple and papaya amongst other ingredients. Very smooth and not as fruity as most fruit teas taste. Paromi teas come in ready to brew bags, so all you need is to boil water and pour over it. We will definitely try some other flavors as well. We have our eyes on the hibiscus, "sleep with me" and "detox with me".
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June 2021
AuthorsI am Andrea, or as my friends call me, Jinx. I am a foodie living in Berlin, eating my way through life. Here are my recipes, cooking events, dining experiences and more... |