Natasha Noms...

50s housewife in disguise | zaftig epicurean | eating my way around the world “You can't just eat good food. You've got to talk about it, too. And you've got to talk about it to somebody who understands..." Kurt Vonnegut

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A post shared by Natasha Faria Noms (@natashanoms) on Aug 31, 2019 at 8:10pm PDT

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A post shared by Natasha Faria Noms (@natashanoms) on Aug 31, 2019 at 8:15pm PDT

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This is fabulous!

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I would LOVE to taste a Hydrox cookie!

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Some days I’m like, “yeah, going to eat cut out processed foods!” and other days I’m like “yum pop-tarts”. >3<

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Real life 😭

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South Africa's first doctorate for studies in biltong goes to Maxine Jones, who likes hers "moist and fatty". "Biltong isn't such a simple matter as we may think – there's science behind it," Jones told News24.

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Turnspit dogs ran in a wheel to keep the spit meat spinning.

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These intimate portraits invite the viewer to take a seat at the table.

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This really made my week! Click the headline for the full list!

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Click the headline for the full list!

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Now this is the kind of construction I would be into... Click the headline for the full story!

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Witness a regular kindergarten birthday party snack box. The cuteness is overwhelming!

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Genius marketing! That's how you get drunken Koreans to buy tangerines as a late night snack!

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We're heading on down to the Shake Shack! There is only one Shake Shack location in Seoul, and it is in the trendy Gangnam district! Naturally, American food with the appearance of exclusivity means that there are queues for days, even though the Shack has been open for a while. We gamely joined the queue of over 100 people, which moved surprisingly fast! About 45 minutes later we placed our order, which was on our table 20 minutes after that. Seating was more of an issue - I basically lurked menacingly near a couple who seemed almost done until they surrendered their seat. The double Shackburgers were great! The salad to meat to cheese ration was pretty excellent, with crispy bacon and fresh salad. The bun was a little over processed for my taste but this is American fast food. The fries...hmmm. Curly cut fries are great and so is the salty cheesy sauce they were served with, but I kind feel like just that sauce is not enough to call them cheesy fries. Fries with cheese sauce, sure, but there better be some actual cheese on my cheesy fries! The gingerbread cookie shake was rich and amazing - it was a seasonal offer and definitely the best option! We each had a burger and we shared the fries and shake - we were stuffed at the end. It was also a calorific catastrophe. #WorthIt!

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You know how sometimes you invent crazy places you want to visit? Ludicrously idea paradises where unicorns poop rainbow chocolate? You know it will never exist except for in your imagination, but somehow that's comforting enough. I feel that way about the Nutella cafe I found, except I wasn't experiencing some stress-induced escape fantasy hallucination. This really is a cafe that serves everything Nutella. Croissants, tarts, crepes, ice creams, waffles, parfaits...or just a straight 3kg jar for those of who know what we want. I had a mango Nutella parfait, while J had a Nutella crepe that was smothered with whipped cream, strewn with almonds, and lovingly doused in cocoa. The absolute mouthgasms. The delicate mango and thick Nutella combining in my parfait. The warm crepe surrendering to the cream, enveloping the Nutella. It was an outrageous experience. I will be back.

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Once again, I’m feeling tarty.

I’m not sure what it is about tiny foods. Tartlets, mini macarons, cupcakes, and mini muffins are all fair game. Is it the cute? The promise/lie of fewer calories? Or is it just that so many of them fit onto a display that I’m overwhelmed by the sheer number of baked goods?

Whatever it is, I saw a tartlet adorned with mini macarons, my mind went blank, and then I was at home with the seductive package.

Unfortunately, looks are deceiving. These are real macarons, with their own individual flavours, and were probably quite good before they were left to marinate in pastry cream.

The crust of the tartlet is delicious but the odd layer of sponge cake was dismaying, and the flavours didn’t quite gel. As far as I could tell, the green macaron was pistachio, the yellow was mango, the pink was strawberry, and the pastry cream had a subtle mango flavour, too.

Too many flavours and too much sweetness, as well as a general lack of purpose, means that this tartlet is best seen and not tasted.