Chili and green tea

So, it's January. And of course I'm to be found under my duvet. Sick. I am - however - trying to get rid of fever and sneezing by eating an obscene amount of chili and downing green tea by the litres. My dear colleague Camilla Nivaro wrote, that green tea can cure just about everything, so green tea: Consider this you exam!

I made my favourite thai chicken chili dish last night - and there's enough to feed my tonight as well. Ahh, joy!

You can make it yourself:
Heat oil in a wok and roast dried chili flakes and finely chopped fresh red chili (as hot as you need it). Then add black chili paste and thinly sliced chicken fillets. Fry for five minutes and then add tomato ketchup, fish sauce, a bit of sugar and more dried chili flakes. At the end, add thick slices of spring onion and caschew nuts. Eat with rice - on the side, to douse the chili's heat. You might want to call this dish go away mucus chicken chili...

Words of Food

I always read cook books on the toilet. It seems to be the best place for getting inspired and cooking up new ideas. So which books do I bring with me at the moment?

# Silver Spoon - more than 2.000 recipes from the Italian kitchen. It covers everything - there's even a chapter on wild boar.

# Pork & Sons - the most beautiful cook book. Pig is the only animal that counts here, and you'll need a lot of time to cook yourself through these pages. Especially the patés sounds delicious.

# Domestic Goddess - an all time favourite from Nigella Lawson. She got me baking when I thought I couldn't. Thanks!

# River Cafe Cook Book - not new, but so inviting. This is the place Jamie Oliver learned to make simple, italian inspired dishes - and it shows. Try the pressed chocolate cake. I serve it with whipped cream folded with lemon curd.

And here I am! Taste central!

First, this page is 100 percent inspired by Alejandra Ramos's genius blog (www.alwaysorderdessert.com). I discovered that I'm not the only one who loves food; shopping for it, cooking it, discussing it, reading about it and most importantly - eating it. How magical!

This blog is an extension of my kitchen - and of my ever expanding restaurant budget. Look forward to ups and downs of my own food experiments (and maybe some recipes thrown in) and nitty gritty detailed descriptions from dinners on the town. I promise to be honest, fun and appetizing (or not).

Welcome.