By Laia Zieger from Gastronomistas

If you've visited to Brussels, you're sure to have noticed that chocolate is a serious matter here. It is one of the city's emblems that has also earned it world fame in the dessert sector. But, with so many choices, where should you go to try the best chocolate in Brussels? Around the Place du Grand Sablon and its surrounding areas is where there is the greatest concentration of really high-standard chocolate shops. They are all rivals in the exclusivity and quality of their raw materials, in speciality and creativity. One of the most visible signs of chocolate power in Brussels is that the establishments that make this confectionery close late at night and open every day of the year. There's no rest for the sweet-toothed.

• Patrick Roger (Place du Grand Sablon, 43). Ultra-luxurious, this shop is a real gallery of art dedicated to chocolate. The chocolate artist and flavour sculptor - as Roger introduces himself - expresses all of his mastery in impressive and enormous cocoa figures that are displayed at the premises and are only for aesthetic purposes. But let's not forget what's important: they are distinguished by delicious and very fine chocolates, that seem simple but hide extraordinary complexity: they combine up to 14 different products to obtain a unique flavour.
A special mention for the little plain chocolate squares with lime and basil ganache. Speechless.

•Wittamer(Place du Grand Sablon, 6, 12, 13). Four generations of the same family have devoted themselves to making delicious traditional chocolates and cakes, but also to innovating and adapting to new trends. They make their almost 100 different chocolates (some with seasonal ingredients or inspired by current events) with cocoa ‘grands crus’. El Pavé de Bruxelles (plain chocolate filled with Brazilian-style praline and caramel), registered as the firm's own recipe, is their most famous chocolate. But the most daring idea, without a doubt, is their bar covered in fried grasshoppers sprinkled with gold...

•Maison Pierre Marcolini. (Rue des Minimes, 1). Rather than a chocolate shop, it is a cocoa jeweller's shop. The hundreds of different chocolates they make are on display behind glass. To make his products, the Master Marcolini brings the most delicious raw materials from the five continents.
There are also limited editions for celebrating special events and current affairs.

•Neuhaus.(Rue Lebeau 79). The history of this brand is very curious. Jean Neuhaus settles in Brussels in 1857 and, with his brother, opens a chemist on the prestigious Galerie de la Reine. To disguise the taste of the medicines, he decides to cover them with a layer of chocolate. It's not known for sure how, but one day he substitutes the drugs with fresh cream and so creates the first filled chocolate, which he calls praline, and which is one century old this year. It is an immediate success and this recipe spreads as a chocolate classic in cake shops all over the world.

• A little further from the Place du Grand Sablon, we find Zaabär (Chaussée de Charleroi, 125), which defines itself as a chocolate and spice shop. In fact, its name is inspired by the Arabic word bazaar - a market where you can find numerous condiments. The speciality of this firm are chocolate bars flavoured with spices (the plain chocolate ones with cinnamon, Guérande salt or Szechuan pepper are incredible). The point that differentiates Zaabär is that it organises chocolate-making workshops (there are ones for learning to make truffles, cakes…). Ideal for groups and families visiting Brussels, or simply foodies searching for new experiences.

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¡Kalinka, Kalinka, Kalinka moyá! Can't get Tetri´s song out of your head? Easy..., the same thing happens to us as well. We have just landed in Moscow and we are going to eat a lot! Going out in Moscow and try some restaurants can be an amazing and enriching experience where you will discover both the delicious flavors of Russian cuisine and customs of the Russians, which may seem a little peculiar.

The dishes of Russian cuisine are usually quite caloric, due to the harsh winters where greater caloric intake is needed. The Russians give much importance to the ritual of food and like to make life around the stove.

A typical meal starts with a Russian zakuski (appetizers) that can be salads, and small plates of pickled fish like pod Seliódka shuboi (herring coat) or a pirogi (dumplings) meat with vegetables, and always accompanied by a good shots of vodka.

As is typical starter soups, both hot and cold in winter and summer. Russian soups are very strong and more than a starter for us are almost a full meal, since all carry vegetables, meat, chicken, fish ... The most popular are the borsch, made of beets, cabbage, potato and meat; and solianka, made of meat or fish, with an acidic due to the lemmon they put on it. Another soup is shi made ​​of cabbage and Uja, made of fish.

Main courses can be stroganoff meat, shasliki (a typical meat kebabs from Caucasus), golubtsi (cabbage leaves stuffed with meat) or the dish we liked the most: pelmeni (a kind of Russian ravioli filled with meat, potato or vegetable)

Many dishes can be served with smetana, a sour cream sauce flavored particular that we loved. The most popular drink in Russia, in spite of the general though, it's not the vodka but the tea. For dessert, along with tea, you can taste some delicious blini (pancakes) or marlenka cake, something like a strudel.

My-My

At Mu-Mu restaurants they serve typical Russian food. It is a self-service restaurant with tiny portions, so it is ideal to try different dishes. They are very popular among Muscovites and it is well priced.

Jachapuri,10 Bolshoi Gnezdnikovsky per.

It is a nice and central Georgian food restaurant. The food is very good and it is not too expensive. Totally recommended.

Pushkin Cafe, Tverskoy bulvar, 26A

It is considered the best restaurant in Moscow. It is a nice vintage place, very well preserved where can you can taste high level dishes of the Russian cuisine. Good service and medium-high but reasonable price.

A couple of features to consider when venturing out for lunch or dinner in Moscow: dinner can be served until the minute they close the place, but they will not wait until you finish the meal, so if you do not want to have to swallow all in five minutes, we recommend not arrive too late. Russians do not like you to pay them with coins, so if you're planning to spend those last loose rubles at a dinner, do better buying souvenirs in Red Square, or you will receive disapproving look from the waiter.

Приятного аппетита!!

By Nadia Polo

solianka by Шнапс | stroganoff by Pittaya Sroilong | zakuski by Timothy Post | pelmeni by Bernd Hutschenreuther

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Some areas of the Mallorcan coast have been hit by the touristic boom, the one that has sown it merciless with large buildings and beachfront resorts. Luckily, others have been carefully conserved and have protected the environment.

This is the case of the Serra de Tramuntana, one of the most beautiful and emblematic landscapes of Mallorca, located northwest of the island. Of its relief the peaks over 1,000 meters stand out -like the majestic Puig Major, the highest peak of the Balearic Islands with 1447 meters- and the different landscapes that you will discover traveling the road that runs through it and running from Andratx to Pollença going by some of the most beautiful villages of the island as Bañalbufar, Estellencs, Deià, Pollença, Lluc, Fornalutx or Valldemossa.

An excellent area for practice hiking, caving and canyoning with spectacular views through valleys, cliffs and gorges.

Sóller

The town of Sóller offers various attractions: it concentrates a large number of modernist buildings such as the Banc de Sóller or the Can Brunera mansion -that now houses a museum-, the old church of San Bartolomé and a picturesque harbor with two beaches.

In addition, it is said that the ensaimadas from Soller are the best, with the garrovetes del papa, its typical sweet, or the oranges used to prepare juice and ice-creams. You can find these local products and traditional crafts in "Es Mercat" which is held every Saturday.

One of the fun trips you can do from Sóller is to take the Sóller train that connects the town with Palma de Mallorca. A trip to the past in their wooden wagons and with the rattling of a line that opened in 1912 and runs between the beautiful landscapes of the Tramuntana mountains and fields full of almond, olive and carob trees.

Fornalutx

Just above the village of Sóller there is Fornalutx, chosen as one of the "most beautiful in Spain" a couple of times. Their houses are finely restored and perfectly ordered despite the uneven, the flowers on the balconies, the cobbled streets and ancient tradition of painted tiles-present in many of the houses- make it a dream place.

Walkers have here many interesting routes ranging from Sóller to Fornalutx, like the one leading to Mirador de Ses Barques or the Cami de Sa Figuera.

Sa Calobra and other beaches and coves

In the same mountain range of tramuntana there is Sa Calobra, a cove created at the mouth of the River Torrent de Pareis where the sea, forest and cliffs converge in a natural setting of stunning beauty.

The access is complicated because you must go through 800 sinuous curves along 4 kilometers, including the convoluted 360 degrees curve known as the Nus de la Corbata (tie knot).

From Sa Calobra you can reach to the Torrent de Pareis Creek, where they celebrate each year the "Concert in Sa Calobra" every first Sunday of July. The canyon walls exert natural amphitheater, creating a unique and unrivaled sound.

Throughout the area you can find pristine beaches like Cala d'Egos in Andratx, Es Port des Canonge in Banyalbufar, the Cala de Valldemossa or Llucalcari in Deià, and although sometimes you have to walk a few miles down steep rocks or drive on narrow roads with impossible curves, it is worth the effort, to be rewarded at the end with a wonderful beach less frequented by tourists.

The Sanctuary of Lluc

The origin of its name comes from lucus, meaning "sacred forest". Here is the Virgen de Lluc "La Moreneta", patron saint of Mallorca; a small, dark-skinned virgin, that, according to the legend, found a shepherd in the mountains. The virgin was reluctant to leave the place and that is why a small chapel was built and with time, it became this beautiful sanctuary.

There are are some bars and restaurants around the architectural complex.

Picture Sa Calobra by Hugin | picture Sóller by jpm2112 | picture Serra Tramuntana by Carlos Delgado

A place well worth discovering! Check out our flights here.

If any product is sought after in the culinary world it is the truffle. Some humble fried eggs can be transformed into a veritable delicacy by simply adding thin sections of this aromatic fungus. One of the most coveted varieties is the white truffle found around the Piedmontese town of Alba. Also known under its scientific name, tuber magnatum pico, it is regarded as the “Mozart of fungi” or “white diamond” ofhaute cuisine.In addition to its exquisite taste, truffles are also noted for being one of the most expensive products on the market. When it comes to prices, they can even unseat another gastronomic gem – saffron. In many instances, the price of truffles can be in the €3,000 to €6,000 price range. The record was set by a Hong Kong buyer who in 2010 paid a whopping €90,000 for a truffle!

The main reason for white truffle fetching such high prices is that it is in short supply and difficult to extract. It is found some ten to fifteen centimetres under the ground, where the humidity and freshness conditions are ideal for its growth. Care has to be taken to avoid damaging or breaking the truffle when extracting it, a task requiring some skill and delicateness. Formerly, pigs were used for this purpose, a function now performed by dogs, which also happen to be less likely to consume their find. The truffle-hunting season is limited to autumn and the procedure usually takes place at night, when the sniffer dogs rely heavily on their sense of smell.

Apart from the leading chefs, the host of white truffle enthusiasts includes such celebrities as Alfred Hitchcock, Francis Ford Coppola, Gérard Depardieu, Alain Delon, Penélope Cruz and Oprah Winfrey. One of its outstanding properties is that it does not require cooking, while its scent is highly volatile.

The Great White Truffle Fair

The International Alba White Truffle Fair is held each year in October and November, a grand event which unfolds around this prized natural delicacy but also features tributes to other culinary marvels in the area. The Alba White Truffle Auction is the crowning moment of the fair. Held in the Hall of Masks at Grinzane Castle, is attracts a worldwide following. Incidentally, the auction also involves a good cause, as part of the proceedings are donated to charity.

The fair programme also includes the so-called White Truffle Market where visitors can enjoy themselves by examining, touching and smelling these gastronomic delicacies, all endowed with the relevant quality certifications and displayed amid strict security. Of the many activities hosted is the Alba Truffle Show, which includes debates between prestigious chefs and live cooking sessions at which secrets are revealed regarding ways of getting the most out of the truffle.

However, the limelight is not exclusive to the tuber magnatum pico at this fair, as areas are also dedicated to the region’s gastronomy. The Truffle Market stalls display local produce, notably cheese, sausage, meat, homemade pastries and egg-based pasta. Wines, too, are very much in evidence, including Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero, Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Barbera, Favorita, Arneis and Moscato.

Fancy discovering this world of taste and aroma? Check out your flight here.

Text by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Photos by Blue moon in her eyes