After being reasonably under-whelmed by the architecture in Berlin, arriving in Copenhagen in the snow was like waking up in a black and white Christmas film.

Liz was feeling a little off so she fell into a deep fairytale-like slumber and didn’t arise until the next day. Meanwhile, I wandered through white-flecked streets in a happy daze, eating hot, sugar-coated almonds and looking up at the twinkling trees and beautiful buildings covered in a thick coat of Christmas lights, catching snow flakes in my eyes and have to blink them into liquid.

 

Eventually it was time for my gig so I taxied my way to the famous Vega in my new Danish leg warmers protecting my, until now, bare ankles from the crisp air.

I was playing at a club night called Club Mini Vega at a small, seated venue in the corner of the Vega building. The crowd was intense. The audience of 130-odd listened so hard I could hear my breath between lines, laughed at my jokes about Germans and then bought all of my remaining CDs when I mentioned jokingly that I was sick of carrying them. I also picked up some great Danish recipes, had my first experience of eating fresh lychees and they had some decent single malts at the bar. The next day I declared it my favourite gig of the tour to a now recovered and slightly disappointed Liz.

I was so pleased to hear Swedish on the train the next day. I strained my ears to hear more, repeating the sing-songy sentences in my head. We were on the way to Malmo to meet with my friend Tim Taylor – a kiwi studying sustainability in the south of Sweden, who had also organised a couple of gigs for me to give me an excuse to visit for a whole weekend. I spent the weekend in his cold flat with his warm flatmates, playing weird shows to noisy students and being thoroughly entertained by the flamboyant cooking of Tim’s French flatmate. I spoke Swedish with anyone that would let me – it turned out this was a lovely group of gay Finns who gave me language lessons at the bar and dancing lessons on the dance floor. With most gigs finished, we then went North to visit my Swedish family – the parents of an ex boyfriend that I’ve stayed in touch with. We spent 3 days in their care – a welcome relief after almost 2 months on the road. It was three days of superb home cooking, warm Christmas grogg (like Swedish mulled wine) and the warm womb of kindness. It was hard to leave.

 

We found ourselves in Stockholm next. Using the short days (pitch black by 3pm!) to explore the old town, drink coffee in underground cafes and revel in the beauty of Swedish Christmas madness. We drank Belgium beer in an English pub in Chinatown in Stockholm. I watched an Irish band play Feliz Navidad in Gamla Stan. We walked through the ancient streets overlooking the dimly lit archipelago, boat lights floating through mist. Saw miles of uneven rooftops above multicoloured houses and magnificent castles on each highest point.

After a hellish 8 hour journey from Stockholm to London (which should have been 2 hours), I got up after a short sleep to meet Krista – a food blogger (www.kristainlondon.typepad.com) who lives in London and had planned a culinary adventure for us. We started at the amazing food markets in Borough, hovering over tables spread with breads, hummus, smoked and marinated blocks of tofu, chutneys, cheeses, spices, pestos and just about any other food you can imagine. I drank some hot apple juice with cinnamon, which tasted like liquid apple pie. We walked through clouds of mulled wine steam, past Christmas carollers and vegetable stalls with 15 or so varieties of mushroom. We went for breakfast at a fantastic café with long tables down the centre scattered with retro toasters and bowls of communal bread. I ordered dairy-free free-range scrambled eggs with olive oil soaked watercress and didn’t get any raised eyebrows. Onwards to Paul Young chocolate shop where I was unable to finish my cup of melted chocolate spiced with ginger and sichuan pepper. I tasted amazing but who can drink an entire cup of melted chocolate - especially when there are some vintage clothing stores nearby that require both hands to properly search through!

We rode in the top front seats of a double decker bus to Soho where we headed for Yauatcha Japanese restaurant and sweet shop to look at their intricately designed sushi-like desserts and brightly-coloured macaroon selection.

By then it was time for wine so Krista took me to Fernandez And Wells to sample some wine and watch a cheese wheel melted and scraped onto potatoes to make raclette plates for our fellow bar sitters. Our final stop off was Hummus Bros – a restaurant dedicated to hummus. We ordered our hummus bowl with balsamic mushrooms and dug in with both hands – a technique described by the placemats as “The Fork Commandments” technique.

The final gig of The Cookbook Tour Europe was that night. The Soho venue was called The Spice of Life and was a basement bar with tables and classically unimaginative British décor. The crowd were lovely and incredibly tolerant of my long-winded stories about the tour and my enjoyment of being able to speak English from the stage and be understood. I played two of my new songs and loved being able to say things like “I wrote this in my hotel in Euro Disney Village.”

 

After the gig, my friend Rocky and I followed a mad Finn in blue leather to a metal bar filled with excess eyeliner, fishnets and piercings, where we drank bourbon and banged heads to Guns n Roses. Eventually we found ourselves at a small house party singing folk songs and eating guacamole from a saucepan with members of several folk and punk bands and a member of the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain.

My top 10 restaurants from The Cookbook Tour Europe 2008: 

1.) Saf, London, UK

2.) La Victoire Supreme Du Ceur, Paris, France

3.) Cantinetta Teatini, Rimini, Italy

4.) Tayyabs, London, UK

5.) Alle due Corti, Lecce, Italy

6.) Sampurna, Amsterdam, Netherlands

7.) La Fourmi Ailee, Paris, France

8.) Bolhoed, Amsterdam, Netherlands

9.) Osteria dei Catari, Alba, Italy

10.) Hummus Bros. London, UK

My new favourite music: 

Fabrizio De Andre

Paris combo

Da Silva

Camille

Onra

Holly Williams

Fionn Regan

Okkervil River

Emily Jane White

Kid Bombardos

 

Thanks for everyone involved in making this tour possible! Especially Wammo Williams, NZmusician.co.nz, chart, creative NZ and Liz Smith. Hope to see you all in the New Year. Please keep an eye on my myspace page for upcoming gigs where I’ll be playing some new songs written on tour.

 

If you would like to read more detailed adventures from The Cookbook Tour Europe and are interested in the recipes from the tour, keep an eye out for the book – due out 2009.

 

If you would like to get updates about what I’m doing, become a fan on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Flip-Grater/25475427098

 

Or email: maiden@maidenrecords.co.nz with subject line ‘sign me up’

 

Merry Christmas and thanks so much for reading, writing and supporting!