From Paris to Copenhagen: July 2013

Red currant season

Red currants are an important part of summer in Denmark. You will find them in most gardens and can easily find them at local farm sales or U-pick places. We use them for drinks, jams, sorbets, in salads and in an all time classic red currant jelly.

This year we tried a slightly more modern version of the jelly and made a Red currant chutney

- you should try it as an accompaniment to your meat dishes or just as an appetizer on some bread or crackers.

RED CURRANT CHUTNEY RECIPE

Red currant 300 g
Sugar 75 g
Red onion 2
15 whole fennel seeds
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 red deseeded chili
Some fresh tarragon

Caramelize sugar in a saucepan until it is light brown add finely chopped red onion and salt and stir the onions in the sugar before you add the rest of the ingredients in the pan. Let it simmer for 20-30 minutes, let it cool and add the finely chopped tarragon in the chutney.

Enjoy !

Blueberry love

What a great way to spend a summer afternoon : choosing your favorite organic blueberries with your family.

We did this in Quebec, Canada, in the beautiful region called Eastern Townships (Cantons de l'Est). This region is definitely one of the nicest regions of Quebec and it bursts of local food producers, wineries and fruiteries.

We chose an organic U-pick fruitery farm specialized in blueberries and raspberries near Frelighsburg called LA FERME DU RUISSEAU FLEURI. The owners are very nice people and they have a lot of different sorts of blueberries to choose from - all very tastety.

Their prices are more than reasonable and the kids get all the berries they pick for free.

Yummi!!!

Danish music festival · Musik i Lejet

MUSIK I LEJET (meaning music in the (fisher) village) is a three-day music festival that takes place in Tisvildeleje, thes favorite summer city of people from Copenhagen right by the beach. This year the festival takes place from Thursday 18 July to Saturday 20 July.

MUSIK I LEJET is a non-profit festival, created and run by volunteers. It started in 2009 as a tribute to Tisvildeleje and to the younger music scene. The program offers a wide selection of rock, pop, folk, electronic, disco, hip hop.

This year the festival has many interesting mostly Danish names - MARIE KEY // VINNIE WHO // DEN SORTE SKOLE // CTM // INDIANS // SCHULTZ AND FOREVER // TRAVELLING TRIBES

If you wanna camp near the festival a large camping area is reserved for festival guests at the local holiday resort Sankt Helene, where you can also rent small cottages.

Go explore the MUSIK I LEJET program (in Danish) and keep it in mind for next year - the festival is unfortunately completely sold out this year.

Photos credit : Niels Kondo · Maria Laub · Indians

Lebanese Cuisine meets Urban Coolness in Copenhagen

The Lebanese restaurant MANZEL (means home in Arabic) opened in the end of June in the center of Copenhagen in Rosenborggade 18, 1174 Copenhagen K - close to the Rosenborg castle and the garden Kongens have (the Kings garden).

We had to try it as we are both fans of the Lebanese cuisine. The style at MANZEL is 'cozy dining' - cozy atmosphere that reflects the warmth and homely feeling that occurs when you as a guest walk in the door to this restaurant.

MANZEL is Copenhagen's first luxury Lebanese restaurant, but although ambitions are high, there are no compromise with the Lebanese mindset and culture where dishes are shared between guests and the traditional boundary between appetizers and main dishes is nonexistant.

MANZEL's cuisine has its roots in the culinary traditions of Lebanon, where spices are essential and traditions and historic recipes are cherished, while all dishes have a contemporary feel and look.

You can start out with a cocktail in the beautiful courtyard.

Enjoy !

Photos · MANZEL

Soldes

Last Wednesday was a big day in Paris and the rest of France. The first day of the big national summer sale (les soldes) that runs from the end of June till the end of July. This year from Wednesday June 26 to July 30. The dates of the summer sale and the winter sale in January (from the 2nd Wednesday of January) are fixed by the French government.

The city is pretty packed this time a year with sale hunters and happy tourists, so it is always a good idea to plan where you wanna go, what you wanna buy on sale and try to select some of the less crowded places.

We went to MERCI on Friday and they already had 40% and 50% on most items. The shop was crowded as always, but it wasn't too bad as the standard tourist doesn't find his or her way to the 3rd arrondissement. On Saturday we went to BONTON - they already had their deuxieme démarque (second markdown) - 10% extra off and most items were at 40% or 50%. They still had plenty of nice things and the store on rue de grennelle was not too busy. We passed by a PETIT BATEAU even though it had a lot of people, but their sales are really good. Most of their items are on sale and you can get their classic nightwear and underwear at very good prices. Their women collection is also getting better, so check that out too if you plan to go to one of their shops.

We dared go to THE CONRAN SHOP. Too many people and the items on sale were mostly things for the garden or the beach. We found some really nice crafted bowls with beautiful colors and patterns. They were not on sale, but affordable - and the best thing - you support a good cause buying these bowls as they are crafted by South African women living with HIV and AIDS. You can read more about the project at the WOLA NANI web site.

Next to CONRAN is the classic Parisian department store - our personal favorite - LE BON MARCHÉ - their sale is pretty good too, you can find ISABEL MARANT, FORTE FORTE, ROSE ANNA and other nice brands on sale here.

All the shops we wrote about in this post have online sales too, so if you are not in Paris you can shop from your home.

Bon courage pour les soldes !