Malena loves candy. And travel. And both together. And thus, this site was born.
After arriving in Bariloche, I was largely without plan. All I knew was that I didn’t want to head into the wind anymore! I decided to spend a few days just relaxing, get a handle on the weather and wind direction and possible nice rides, and eventually start on the trip planning. (more…)
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I haven’t written much about the candy of Argentina yet. Candy bars, ice cream, and dulce de leche are all very popular here (mmm!) but probably the most common and distinctively Argentinean sweet is the alfajor. Alfajores are usually pretty simply constructed - a few cookies layered together with fillings of dulce de leche, jam, chocolate, peanut butter, etc. Often dipped in white or dark chocolate, sometimes covered in coconut shavings or powdered sugar, I find these at gas stations and sandwich shops everywhere. The one in the picture had two layers, one of chocolate and one of peanut butter. Yum, just the energy I needed! (more…)
As I near the end of my Southeast Asia bike trip, I’ve finally begun writing about the beginning of it. Eventually, I hope to be caught up… but for now I hope you enjoy these little stories from when I first got on a bike!
How can I describe those first few heady days of biking? I’m hopelessly naive about my timeframe, sunburnt, my knees, thighs, and BUM are endlessly sore, terrified to deviate from My Pumpy’s biking guide, and most importantly, excited again about travel. I’m happy to be off the bus, biking through rice paddies and past exquisitely decorated monasteries, while farmers, their faces protected from the sun with T-shirts functioning as masks, slowly overtake me on tractors. Where I go is entirely up to me. (more…)
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Well, returning to Thailand to meet my little brother reminded me of some of the delicious Thai treats I never really commented on here. Fortunately, because I’m biking I feel that not only is it ok for me to eat many delicious sweets - it’s actually healthy to consume lots of calories! That’s how it works, right? (more…)
Well, I’ve run across some really delicious candy over the last few months. I’ve also tasted some very strange sweets. I hope you enjoy this little candy sampler! (more…)
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My original trip plans did not include Vietnam. In fact, after speaking to people who visited there, I was even more confident in my decision to forsake it for more time in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. After all, Vietnam suffers from a bit of a reputation problem: overcharging, aggressive salespeople, harassing motobike drivers, and crazy, crowded roads made it far down on the list of my must-visit travel destinations. Almost no one seems to have loved it - rather, for backpackers and even other bikers, tolerating Vietnam seems to be the name of the game. I added the destination on a whim and didn’t expect much, but it seemed a shame to go all the way out here and not see it. Well, my confession: I LOVED Vietnam! (more…)
So I talk mostly about traditional candy here on this blog, for a variety of reasons. First of all, in most developing countries, the traditional candy is more interesting. Also, sweets like goat milk caramel or coconut milk jellies aren’t available everywhere, and sometimes reflect back in interesting ways on the country I’m visiting. Mass-produced stuff is almost always imported from overseas, and is generally pretty similar from country to country. I’m not sure reviews of Snickers bars and Skittles are what people are expecting from this website! However, while I haven’t written much about the candy aisles of grocery stores or gas stations (where most of the mass-produced candy is located) I’ve certainly spent a lot of time looking at it, thinking about it, and occasionally eating it! (more…)
This was a delicious gelatinous candy that I bought in the markets of Bangkok. I believe it is made of rice flour and coconut milk and had a sweet, pudding-like texture. The coconut flavor wasn’t strong, the texture was soft and squishy, and the candy was actually a bit bland. Still, it was strangely addictive, and I actually much preferred this candy to later, similar looking ones I found in Northern Thailand with much stronger tastes and textures. (more…)
Lebanon… once the “Paris of the Middle East” but more recently torn by religious and political tensions: my original trip plans didn’t include this small, French-influenced country. Then, I heard it was also the capital of Middle-Eastern sweet-making… and I thought it might be interesting to see how violence disrupts the candy industry. So, off to Lebanon I went! (more…)
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Rugelach (”creeping vine”): a traditional Yiddish pastry that I tried in Jerusalem on the recommendation of my tour guide. The popular bakery had rows and rows of these delicious, rich, chocolate filled croissant-like pastries. They’re a little more dense and oily than croissants (and I mean that in a very, very good way!) and were extremely tasty. I believe the dough had some cream cheese in it, which might explain the thicker density. I don’t have any links to purchase these, but I do have a link to a recipe: if you make it let me know how it turns out!
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