B&B March 2008
Bits and Bites March 2008
A stand for cheese on seafood pasta – a funny article that digs into this old controversy. I never agreed with the rule anyway even if I rarely put cheese on my pasta. Sometimes it goes, sometimes not, so I go on a case by case basis, and if someone wants to put cheese on their pasta, let them. But like they say, ‘When in Rome ..’ If I was in Italy or in the company of a chef who felt that the best way to appreciate his/her food was sans fromage, I would listen. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/magazine/30food-t.html?ex=1364616000&en=6eff2a1b6911d702&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss
The dirty dozen – top 12 foods to eat organic
http://green.msn.com/galleries/photos/photos.aspx?gid=164
More reason to avoid farmed salmon, especially from Chile
Iron chef Montreal, Monday April 14th at the Queue de Cheval
A charity event for Nourrir un enfant. Tickets range from 350 to 1000$, 514-390-0090
Chefs involved : Marino Tavaress, Richard Bastien, Olivier de Montigny, Lindsay Petit, Jérome Lefil, Chuck Hughes, John Zoumis, Fred Morin
Judges : Patrick Huard, Ginette Reno, Maire-Josée Taillefer, Jonas, Annie Villeneuve
Cooking beaver, raccoon and squirrel – looking back to some old recipes from Gourmet archives :
http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/menus/2008/01/varmints
Leave my bacon alone! Just feed the pigs better, ie. Allow them to eat a more natural diet. I’m leary of the food industry fortifying everything with Omega 3’s even if they are so good for us. As M.Pollan reminds us in his In Defence of food, it is important to remember that nutritionism is a most imperfect science, and has been most misleading in the past, in effect screwing up the way we eat. Like Joe Schwartz says, adding DHA to pork doesn’t make it fish. Whole foods are more complex and better for us than nutrients, the ‘greater than the sum of its parts’ phenomenon. So keep the fish oil out of my bacon I say, I’d rather get my Omegas from my fish, from my leafy greens and from animals that graze on leafy greens. But it seems that others may want bacon with benefits..
Bacon with Benefits : http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080319.wlomega19/BNStory/lifeFoodWine/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080319.wlomega19
Pacific wild salmon season maybe cancelled
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/12/MNSLVHTM5.DTL
Mushrooms offer low cal nutrition and flavour - Good news for us
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/main/5623902.html
The Potato famine, the reason we have a St-Paddy’s parade, the story behind it and other repercussions on world trade economies - fascinating stuff.
The Fungus that conquered Europe http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/opinion/17reader.html?ex=1363406400&en=adc85a65affdc0d1&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss
Cold water does not boil faster than hot water –duh? Someone told me this once, and I thought they were whacked; it went against everything I ever learnt in my many years of science. I was equally skeptical about the reverse effect, and this discussion animated many kitchen ‘in between rush’ moments over the years. Reading up on it then, I found out that hot water can freeze faster than cold in certain conditions, but in a normal kitchen scenario, this isn’t the rule.
My latest discoveries in Quebec cheese :
Terre Promise , a Suisse style cheese from Fromagerie « Du Champ à la meule » by Martin Guilbeault, north of Joliette (already known for his other cheeses Le Victor et Berthold, Le Laracam, Le Fêtard)..
La Brise des Vignerons, a raw cow’s milk artisanal Brie style cheese from Farnham (Fromagerie des Cantons)
Cheddar des petits vieux, an aged raw milk Cheddar from Lac St-Jean
L’Alfred, a firm, washed rind raw cow’s milk cheese from La Station in Compton. It has a honeyed taste, nutty too, mild but super complex in taste – I LOVE this cheese. I discovered it at a tasting where it was paired with coffee(!) and have had it many times since, wow.
Le Bleu d’Élizabeth, a Roquefort type blue from St-Elizabeth de Warwick (Fromagerie le Presbytère), a Quebec blue for afficianados looking for more blue than the other Quebec blues typically offer.
Le Grand 2, a raw goat and cow’s milk firm washed rind from near Quebec City (Fromagerie Les Grondines)
The Baluchon Reserve (Fromagerie F.X. Pichet), organic raw cow’s milk (washed rind, semi-firm) from St-Anne de la Pérade, an aged version of the classic Baluchon, making it more complex, and more nutty than the fruity..
Other local goodies to get to know :
Le fou de la Gaspesie : a store selling everything from the Gaspésie
1253 rue Beaubien E , 514-656-1593
Products from La Terre Sativa, Terre de cultures in St Alban 418-268-4499, terrasativalobetrotter.net.. Organic herbs, plants and tisanes and their derivatives. I love their flavoured salt (and I generally hate flavoured salts) probably because it’s heavy on the anise scented herbs (lovage, dill, tarragon etc)..
Cochon tout rond at Marché Jean Talon (4ieme allée) : Artisanal charcuterie (or salaison) using all parts of the pig, no nitrites and less salt than most commercial charcuterie, this is the labour of love of a chef Patrick Mathey, and a cheesemaker Vincent Lalonde from Fromagerie Pied de vent fame in the Magdalen Islands. The star is their dry ham (proscuitto), I also like their lonzo (cured and dried loin) and the chorizo.
Les Serres Stéphande Bertrand in Mirabel – I came across these beautiful, and surprisingly tasty off season tomatoes the other day, better than everything else on the market and certainly better than no tomatoes at all.
Maple eau de vie La Gelinotte, true maple taste in a liqeur for those who like something sweet to sip. I mainly like to cook with it, available at most SAQ’s.
Big news in Vancouver : Daniel Boulud coming to town to revamp Lumière and Feenies
Chefs as waiters : Featuring Momofuku in NewYork and Montreal’ Kitchen Gallerie, a new concept for a certain type of chef, and a certain type of client, which also allows the kitchen to get a fair piece of the pie..
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/dining/12waiter.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&ref=dining&oref=slogin
Another interview with Michael Pollan, the ever fascinating common sense authority on the story behind our food, http://gremolata.com/michaelpollan.htm
While on the subject of Michael Pollan, I strongly urge you to read his latest book, In Defence of Food, the follow up to His Omnivore’s Dilemna. It is a wake up call on crisis that is the Western diet and a cry for us to eat real food, revealing where we went wrong and the misguided notion of nutritionsim as the basis of our food culture.
Bacon chocolate chip cookies I do believe that just about everything is better with bacon, although I must say this is a bit over the top; I dare you.. http://neverbashfulwithbutter.blogspot.com/2007/12/experiments-in-deliciousness-bacon.html
In denial over MSG : the truth in a New York times article
Yes, MSG, the Secret Behind the Savor http://soupnancy.squarespace.com/yes-msg-the-secret-behind-the/
An all coriander restaurant http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,26058,23317469-5014090,00.html
Top food trends this spring http://gremolata.com/danastoptrends.htm#trends
A newly discovered blog I love for seriously curious chefs
Ideas in food : http://ideasinfood.typepad.com/
Maple gone wild: A menu inspired by the sugar shack tradition at Les Jardins Sauvages the first weekend in April, 55$ BYOW Friday and Saturday night, Sunday lunch. Call 450-588-5125 or goto www.jardinssauvages.com
The menu in English to download: http://soupnancy.squarespace.com/menus/
In May, it will be lamb and suckling pig on the menu and of course, the first of François' pickings - stay tuned..
Thanks to fellow bloggers who have shown me some love :
Looks like I have a new fan in Chef Jonathan Strand http://cheffyboy.vox.com/library/post/higici-part-doux.html
Another blog I have discovered because they had me on their ‘crush list’ - meet Shuna Fish Lydon, a pastry chef in SanFran : http://eggbeater.typepad.com/
Chatter on Chowhound about female chefs : http://www.chowhound.com/topics/491775
Nancy Hinton
2 Comments
Reader Comments (2)
natalie
On Jan 23, 2008 2:44 AM, Shuna Lydon <shunafish.l@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Natalie,
Thank you so much for sending me this link. I haven't had time to read it but it looks intriguing indeed. will you take dissenting opinions?
I have added your journal to my links-- in a special place.
yours, in whites,
shuna fish lydon
e g g b e a t e r
cooking, baking & nifty photos
http://eggbeater.typepad.com/shuna/
><((((º>
On Jan 16, 2008, at 9:46 AM, Natalie wrote:
as a reader of both of you, I thought this post might interest you as both of you are professionals in the bus.
http://soupnancy.squarespace.com/blog-journalessays/2007/11/2/hot-and-cold.html
Natalie Sztern