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Zurich Blogging

Taming the wanderlust through a plate of fresh & light food prepared at home

tuna in coconut crust

A little guide on how to mentally travel by creating your individual culinary experience at home!

We, travellers and foodies, are all facing a tuff reality: It got more complicated to travel after Covid19 time. But hey, why don’t we use this opportunity to challenge our creativity by spending more valuable time at home? Let’s experiment more in the kitchen and bring to our tables joyful culinary moments we collected on our travels. This little personal guide shall inspire you to create cosy travel moments at home!

Choose your favourite corner at home and decorate it with herbs & flowers that remind you of your holiday!

The spot that makes my mind wander most at home is my balcony! I decorated it with fresh herbs like basil and Moroccan mint and some lovely lavender! When it comes to spoiling myself with food I start with using special pottery to arrange my dishes! My latest shopping was at Coop where I found the perfect turquoise blue plates that remind me of Bali or Greece!

Create a playlist with all of your favourite songs collected!

Here you can find mine! I put together songs I listen to during my long flights or just while relaxing at the beach. Once back home I play it while I stand in the kitchen preparing my holiday delicacies!

Spoil your palate with a recipe that reminds you of a memorable food & travel experience

A recipe I really love is the Tuna in Coconut crust with edamame. It brings me somewhere between Greece and Israel!

Ingredients for the tuna:

  • A piece of fresh tuna, about 150- 200 grams
  • 1 tablespoon grated coconut
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 200 grams of edamame

Preparation steps tuna:

Mix the olive oil and soy sauce, put the tuna in the soy sauce, and wet it from both sides. Use another bowl, mix the sesame oil with the coconut flakes. Now put the tuna in the coconut mixture and after pan fry it for 2 min each side. Take the tuna from the pan and cut it into slices. Optional: put some lemon juice or extra virgin olive oil on the top of the tuna slices.

For the edamame:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pods in it (previously washed in clear water) for about 5 to 6 minutes at medium heat. You can defrost precooked but still frozen edamame in this way, which reduces the cooking time for them by about 2 minutes. Then pour them into a sieve and let them cool down a little before serving. Sprinkle with some sea salt.

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Travel

Volunteering in a cozy Spanish village

Yes, it is possible to travel with little money or even stay for free in an absolute tranquil and cozy ambient

Ever heard about a little village in Catalonia, not fare from Barcelona, called La Nou de Gaia? The village has 555 hearty, creative souls that take much care about their village life. The family I volunteered are 4 of these. They made my stay unforgettable. I had the chance to live in their cozy house by joining the workaway volunteering program. I spent a wonderful time of my life. The family and especially the little kids inspired me everyday and fed my mind with new ideas I am now working on back home in Zurich.

Feeling like visiting friends

Staying with the family felt like staying at home of some good friends for me. I had the opportunity to cook and play with the kids and take care of their house and discover great nature close by. Here in La Nou de Gaia the idea came up to offer kids cooking classes. We had two classes and they were so much fun. Read more on the kids food events in the section events.
I can recommend to everybody to do a workaway program. It will leave you memorable moments of joy and prepare you for other things in life you will need one day. Love life!
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EuropeTravel

Waterlove: back to sealife in Greece

Sailing boosts me with energy. It opens horizons and gives me mental freedom

How easy is it to find a sailing boat without reservation?

After all of my city exploration in Asia I knew my next journey would be on a boat.
How easy is it to find a sailing boat? Very easy of course. You need positive will, fantasy and good communication skills.
I created an account on www.crewseekers.net after a few emails and a bit of research the right boat found me.
Naguib from Egypt hosted me 10 days. We were 5 people on board, the skipper, his girlfriend a friend of Naguib and an other guy from crewseeker.
The boat was a IMX 40, a racer named baraka! Looking back to my experience I have to say, that I appreciated much the time spend on that boat, it’s a school of life. Of course my main reason to be there was sailing.

I love following the wind

I love colorful sunsets, everyone seems different and particular. Cooking on board is challenging but great fun, too. You learn to mix everything that you find in your board fridge!
On such a small space you get to know people very fast, I enjoyed the great talks and philosophizing about life and made experiences.
Once in a while you also get to dance on deck or listening to someone playing the guitar.
The highlight of the morning is waking up with the sunrise and jumping into the fresh water to get awake.
Isn’t this sounding dreamful?

Some easy recipes to cook on board:

  • avocado bread
  • fresh fruit salad
  • greek salad
  • nuts as snacks in between to give you power
  • risotto
  • spaghetti à la empty the fridge

plus: dine out and explore the fresh seafood of the area!

Sailing in Greece

Greece is an astonishing destination for sailing. You are surrounded by islands with turquoise clear waters, memorable bays to anchor, lovely local people and excellent fresh seafood.
We sailed around Rhodes up to Cos, this is all around the Aegean sea. What I absolutely recommend are the Cyclades Islands and the Ionian Islands, too. Plan at least 2 weeks!
Thank you baraka and team for the safe journey!
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