After gorging on the freshest cuts of halibut at Dongbu Live Fish, may I suggest grabbing dessert at Class 302? It’s a little cafe serving Taiwanese snacks and sweets, most notably shaved snow. Danny, my friend and Chinese food guru, introduced me to this spot a few weeks ago, and I’ve since been back twice. If Rowland Heights weren’t such a drive, Class 302 would certainly be a bi-weekly habit. The shaved snow is really wonderful, especially on scorching summer days like these.
Modeled after a traditional Taiwanese classroom, the ambiance here is strangely appealing. Diners eat at desk clusters, waitresses don school girl uniforms, and notebooks are tucked into little cubbies. The combination of kitsch, fun, and food attracts droves of Taiwanese teens and nostalgic elders. Who knew playing school offered such popular appeal? The model minority stereotype lives on…
Shaved snow is a very distant cousin of Hawaiian shaved ice. Its unique ribbon-like texture is achieved by freezing huge chunks of flavored water and milk, and then shaving it using a special machine. The resulting sheets of snow are gloriously creamy and dissolve ever so quickly on the tongue. It’s been years since I’ve tasted freshly fallen snow, but if memory serves me right, it tasted just like this (minus the infusions).
Continue reading ‘Class 302 – Rowland Heights’
I attempted to make my very first cheesecake today and this is what came out of the oven. At first it looked like some sort of souffle, but as it cooled down, it resembled caramelized flan. Sadly, I wasn’t trying to bake either of those desserts.
The recipe said it was “great for beginners.” Great! On the bright side of things, at least the spring form pan worked nicely.
What’s your most memorable culinary disaster? Let’s commiserate.
The Astronomer and I arrived at Cacao Sampaka planning to grab something quick and sweet for the merienda and then continue on with the rest of our day. Instead, we stayed for two hours luxuriating over divine chocolates and shopping for edible presents for our friends and families back home. We couldn’t pull ourselves away from this extraordinarily special shop.
Owned by Albert Adrià, former El Bulli pastry chef and brother of Ferran, Cacao Sampaka offers a full-on haute chocolate experience. One part cafe and another market, the store is a delight for the senses. I loved how unusual flavors like anchovy and hazelnut, black olive, and Modena vinegar shared shelf space with more traditional milk and dark chocolates. I also loved how white chocolate, which is oftentimes disregarded by cacao connoisseurs, was given the gourmet treatment.
Since it’s not wise to shop on an empty stomach, The Astronomer and I grabbed a table at the cafe. We began with two chocolates each—I chose the Parmasean cheese and black forest truffle varieties, while he went with thyme and cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Each piece of chocolate was boldly and distinctly flavored; there was no question that the quality was impeccable and the ingredients were top-notch.
My black forest truffle, which came from the “Gastronomic Innovations” collection, worked surprisingly well. The deep, earthy flavor of the truffle melded ideally with the dark chocolate. However, the same could not be said about the Parmesan cheese creation. It was weird, and not in a good way. The Astronomer didn’t endure any flops; both chocolates were exactly to his liking.
Continue reading ‘Cacao Sampaka – Madrid’
