Family, friends and business colleagues have always been amazed by the contents of our luggage when we return from local or foreign trips. I once ran into a professional acquaintance of mine at the Singapore airport (she transiting from Kazakhstan or somewhere equally unusual) and me on the the way home from Melbourne. She grinned on seeing me at the departure gate, and immediately said “your reputation precedes you, open up your hand carry for inspection…” and she was amazed by food items within. So while others may have the latest electronics or gadgets, fancy watches or jewelry, perfume, clothing, etc., we are almost certainly likely as a family or individually to be carrying food or ingredients… Such was the case when Mrs. MM recently arrived from a trip to the U.S. and her last stop was to visit with friends and family for just three days in San Francisco. I love San Francisco, but the last time we visited as a family was nearly 9 years ago, and I was anxious to hear how Mrs. MM found the city this time around…

At my request, she managed to visit the Ferry Building Marketplace, and loved it. She immediately emailed that we would all three (MM, Mrs. MM and The Teen) have to return soon on a family trip. I knew it – San Francisco food stores, kitchen stores, markets, restaurants, etc. make it my absolutely MUST visit U.S. city soon. Throw in a side trip to Napa and it is a dream foodie escape. So first out of Mrs. MM’s luggage was a small loaf of sourdough bread from Boudin Bakery in the photo up top. Baked for 5 minutes in a hot oven to crisp it up, it will go perfectly with this nice selection of Californian and French cheeses, including a triple cream goat cheese, another triple cream, a blue cheese, parmesan and an organic cheese. It seems a bit frivolous to haul this kind of stuff across oceans in one’s luggage, particularly since the pleasure is so fleeting… But that is precisely why we consider ourselves so fortunate to be able to indulge like this every so often. I’d like to think of this as market research… I loved the postcard that came with the bread that gave clear instructions how to heat it and best prepare and enjoy it, a great idea for packaging and instructions for a Zubuchon… :)

San Francisco Treats (Part II), here.

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