Foodie Rich European Tour - Part 1

January 31, 2018 by Foodie Rich

What’s the worst thing about Christmas? it’s obvious; when it’s over. Taking the decorations down is so depressing. After two or three weeks, all that tinsel and those fairy lights become part of the house. The lounge just looks so bare. And what about those poor Christmas trees? Just slung out in to the cold without any care or compassion. Only a few weeks previous, buying that tree was such an occasion. Unknown to that once loved festive centre piece, the warmth and affection it had enjoyed over the past few weeks would come to an abrupt end. Gosh, hark at me getting all emotional over a bloody tree! Am I the only one who feels slight melancholy at the sight of a discarded Christmas tree on the street? Yep, early January I such a depressing time. That’s why Lou and I have our own way of battling this; we go on Holiday. Those regulars to Leigh-on-sea.com may remember last year we jetted off half way round the world to visit Aussie friends; the year before that we were in India. So, whilst most others were dragging themselves back to work, Lou and I were sunning it up and sipping cocktails by the pool. I can thoroughly recommend it, a holiday straight after Christmas is perfect. This year was no different, we had a trip booked, but not to a hot exotic destination; oh no, this year Lou and I are going on a European gastronomic tour.

Whilst perched at the bar in the Mayflower, and armed with just an iPhone, we booked all our flights and accommodation. How times have changed eh! Only a few years ago we would’ve endured hours in a high street travel agent organising this. So, where are we going? Amsterdam, Rome, Naples, Berlin then back to Amsterdam and home. And all from Southend airport! As I said, this was a gastronomic tour. I wanted to hunt down local delicacies, swig their beer and quaff their wine. Yeah, I know most of these destinations are steeped in history, but for me it was all about the food. If you wanna learn about architecture and history look it up on National Geographic or something! This is all about our travels and the food along the way! To write this in one blog entry would be too much, it would represent a volume of War & Peace. I’m sure You’d probably switch off half way through; and I do commend you by the way for not switching off just yet; I have yet to even mention a mere morsel of food. I’ve just waffled on about my weird emotions over dead trees (is that just me??). So, I’m gonna split this in to two more ‘bite size’ pieces.

We started the trip at Southend Airport. I spoke about our wonderful local airport a few times last year, it’s great. With the opening of Bourgee its just got better! Easy Jet food is pretty crap, so, a nibble at the Bourgee bar was welcomed! Bang Bang Chicken, Truffled Popcorn and a mini platter of mixed charcuterie were all pretty good! Oh, and you can’t get on a flight without having a bevvie or two, it’s the law. So, a bottle of champers hit the spot. Amsterdam; we’ve been here before, and I’ve previously told the story. So, I’m not gonna waffle on too much about the place. All I would say is, if you haven’t been, why the hell not? A 35 minute flight from Southend gets you to one of the largest travelling hubs in Europe. The train station is in the Airport, and for just €6 you’ll get straight in to the thick of this beautiful city. Yes, you can smoke weed till your hearts content, or get involved in the red-light district if that’s your thing; but not me. This city is beer central! Around every corner you’ll find bars serving up some fine and unusual brews. Trust me, there’s far more to Dutch beer than Heineken. If you wanna learn all about Hollands biggest export be my guest. Just head on down to the Heineken experience, but that aint for me. Why do I want to waste my valuable time learning how boring old piss water is brewed? Nope, if like me your in to more interesting beers, head to bars such as Café Gollem, Arendnest or the Beer Temple; you’ll have a far better time!

But what about the food? Herring and smoked eel all the way my friends! This is street food Amsterdam style. All over the Dam are herring stands. Amongst other seafood, they serve up lightly cured herring and smoked eel. The herring is topped with chopped onion and pickle, and the smoked eel just naked. No trip to the Dam is complete without my daily herring and eel. If seafood isn’t your thang and you’d rather stuff your face with sweet treats, Stroopwafel will satisfy! Sweet syrupy caramel sandwiched between a light thin waffle what’s not to like! The prepacked Stroopwafel stocked in nearly every shop are good, but for a taste of the real thing hit up Albert Cuyp market. This huge market sells all sorts, but look out for the street vendors knocking up fresh Stroopwafel. Here you can get one straight off the griddle, piping hot with syrup oozing from within. You will get messy eating this but it’s well worth it. Yes, there’s fine dining in the Dam, and I will explain more in part 2, but the ultimate late night food here has got to be FEBO. A self-service shop with vending machines, there’s no human interaction, perfect at 2am when you’re not making too much sense. For just a few euros you can fill your face with Dutch snacks. Most are deep fried and incredibly bad for you but isn’t that what you want after a night on the booze!

After my fill of dirty food and fine beer, it was time to head off to Rome! Well what can I say, I call myself a foodie; but this may shock you; I’ve never been to Italy! Not sure why, we’ve just never managed to this food passionate country. So, a visit was long overdue. Yeah, we did all the touristy things, had a walk past the Trevi Fountain, snapped a quick selfie outside the Pantheon, and gazed in awe at the Colosseum, but you don’t wanna know about that do you, lets talk food.



There’s one thing I had to eat in Rome, it’s something they’ve been making for centuries, and a real local delicacy. Glorious Porchetta! Porchetta is made from pig. Anything made from pig is just darn tasty. Basically, it’s a piglet (yeah, a cute little baby pig!) which has been boned, seasoned with garlic and all sorts of herbs, then roasted. Now come on, who doesn’t like roast pork, and crispy cracking! So, the mission was on, we needed to hunt down some of this fine swine. First stop, a little beer bar I’d heard good things about called ‘Beer & Salt’. These guys serve nothing but Italian craft beer, meat and cheese; bloody perfect! With a bottle of local IPA in hand, Lou and I chowed down on a whole load of local cheeses and meat. The cheese, varying in texture and age, was served with honey, what a great combo! The meat? As you’d expect we had salamis and stuff, but, the crowning glory was the Porchetta. Served warm, it was succulent and quite simply a triumph. I had to physically wrestle Lou to the floor as we fought over the last morsel. Yep, everything I’d read about Porchetta was true, I couldn’t get enough of this Roman classic. I’d also heard about a place, somewhere famed for serving the best Porchetta in Rome; Er Buchetto. Lou and I marched up there one afternoon to see if all the hype was true. Well, this place certainly looked the part. A teeny weeny old skool shop, with a huge Porchetta in the window to tempt passers by. We both had the classic, a Porchetta roll. Yes, it was good, it was porky and served with wonderful crackling, BUT was it the best? I’m not sure? My Roman friends may not agree, but, for me, the Porchetta at Beer & Salt was better.



My favourite dish so far and could be the dish of the trip was a simple pasta dish in Maccheroni. A restaurant heaving with locals (always a good sign) Lou enjoyed a plate of linguine with pesto which was bloody good. But, my simple dish of spaghetti, drowned in peppery olive oil with chilli and garlic, was, well, just soooooo good. I was speechless. Three ingredients and perfectly cooked spaghetti, that’s it. As simple as you like, but boy oh boy, perfect on all levels.



I’ve eaten in many a Michelin starred restaurant, and jolly nice they were too, but the food and atmosphere in Maccheroni trumps fine dining in my opinion. Simple pasta, a bottle of local red, sat in a rustic restaurant packed with loud and very animated Italians, it gave me goose bumps; yes; I’ve finally landed in Italy. I could’ve spent all afternoon there just sipping wine and watching the comings and goings of this classically Italian trattoria. We had so much more to look forward to though; there’s gonna be Pizza in Naples, Wurst of all shapes and sizes in Berlin, and fine dining back in Amsterdam, yes that’s right fine dining! So, chaps, be sure to check out LOS.com next week for part 2 of the Foodie Rich European tour.