Friday, April 10, 2020

DESSERT MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER!


Desserts area the fairy tales of the kitchen, a happily ever after.... 
Top 5 popular sweets eaten in various parts of the world 
PAKHLAVA IN SHEKI, AZERBAIJAN
Pakhlava has some distinctions in diverse regions grounded on the materials and baking methods. Sheki is one of the most ancient cities in Azerbaijan and extremely popular for its sweets. This sweet is shaped like a diamond (symbolizing fire) pastry made of rice flour, tastes sweet and spicy and is moistened with butter and generously soaked in syrup. A layer is rolled out from the pastry with thickness of minimum 2 mm, put into baking tray, oiled and extravagantly filled with a filling of nuts. This procedure is continued, until about 10 layers are achieved, some even make 14. The nuts that beautify the top of each piece represent the star that illuminates up the commencement of a new life.
CHOCOLATES IN BROC, SWITZERLAND
With outstanding quality of raw material procured from numerous parts of the world, chocolates here are distinct owing to their thoroughness and exquisiteness. Just a few minutes by train, outside of Gruyere, is Broc; Maison Cailler, the only milk chocolate factory of Cailler-Nestle in the world which seems like a fantasy wonderland. The voyage over the factory depicts the record of the finding of the cocoa beans and finally, discovery of Cailler chocolate. The crusade paints a picture of cocoa beans which has been categorised inversely in diverse eras. You can see how the good quality of milk from the La Gruyere region is used in the chocolate. Each chocolate is prepared with devotion and exactitude to pass the difficult test of perfection. Did I mention that the tour, with plenty of chocolate tasting, is free?
KOUIGAMANN IN SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
There’s nothing quite like the ecstasy of biting into a sweet savoury Kouigamann as a breakfast treat or a late night snack with a cup of coffee. It is a sort of cake, made with copious amount of butter, so much so that the dough is puffed up by its cooking that it looks more like a pastry. In fact it’s similar to a croissant – though additional buttery and sugary one. It is known to originate from the Brittany region of France but Kouign Amann Day became an official day in 2015, submitted by San Francisco bakery b. patisserie. The best ones to have are at the Bloom Chocolate Salon inside Dandelion factory on 16th Street.
STICKY DATE PUDDING IN DUBAI, UAE
Dubai loves its dates and these the soft and sticky ones have the power to make any dessert slightly more comforting. For a sweet date treat with Morrocan flair, try the one at Shangri-La’s coffee shop, sticky date pudding – a warm sponge with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Bateel Cafe is equally famed for its dates and the pudding. And a place you definitely cannot miss eating this gooey middle eastern delight is at Ayamna at Atlantis The Palm, hands down No 1 in Dubai.
MANGO STICKY RICE IN BANGKOK, THAILAND
This humble sweet savoury combination of coconut flavoured sweet sticky rice with ripe yellow mangoes is the most popular in Thailand. This is best eaten warm and is frequently completed with a trickle of sweet coconut cream and topped with a smidgeon of roasted sesame seeds or mung beans. This can be found from various street food stalls to most old-style Thai restaurants and even as part of the high end magnificent Sunday brunches offered by some of Bangkok’s top hotels. Saffron at the Banyan Tree being one of the favourites.

My story first published in ET Travel