242 replies to this topic

[carswell]

Good question, oceanfish. And I don't have an answer, other than I know it's an ingredient in some Italian bitter wines and spirits. I've never grown it and only noticed it today because the leaves were attractive and unusual. At first I thought it might be fenugrek, which I'd just bought seeds for (have been using the dired leaves in Indian cooking and want to try the fresh). Resource: Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages site has a typcially informative rue page. Also, consider posting a query on the Cooking or General Food forum; there are bound to be eGulleters who know.

[skunkbunny]

3 questions:

1) quebec smoked mackrel?
2) blue shelled eggs (I could dye them myself, but why not let God do the work) ?
3) eggs with intensly yellow yolks (free range I would guess) ?

The smoked mackrel I had recently at O 'Thym on Maisonneuve and it was spectacular, very buttery with a beautiful texture. Havn't asked around for any of these, thought I'd give the master sourcers on the eG board first crack. :)

[sf&m]

I have seen the smoked mackerel at the Gaspesie store at JTM. Have NOT tasted them though.
They were fillets and encrusted with pepper(?!), so questionable from a Swedish standpoint. I have purchased whole smoked mackerel at Loblaws of all places - ok, but not anything to write home about. It would be interesting to taste the O'Thyme verision to see if its anywere near Scandinavian quality. Frankly, over many years I have yet to find a North American source that rivals Scandinavian Smoked fish. It's either influenced by British or Continental Jewish tastes, both of course inferior.

I would also like to know where I can get the very best quality eggs. I got a flat last Sunday from the old guy at JTM that also sells honey and wraps the flats in newspaper. They were good.

[skunkbunny]

I am an absolute sucker for cured fish. The O'Thym version was, I reckon, cold smoked. It had quite a high proportion of fat, which added to the buttery mouthfeel. No pepper crust in evidence.
Why does pepper crusting make them questionable from a swedish standpoint, too overpowering?
I am still looking for Boquerones anchovies.
BTW , good call on the blood orange sorbet at JTM.. was delicious.. whoever called that one.

Edited by skunkbunny, 26 April 2005 - 03:37 PM.

[sf&m]

Re: pepper on smoked mackerel..... just trying to be tounge in cheek there, since I have not tried it :). I will. But traditionally, you would not find that in Swedish Smoked mackerel that uses large fat fish caught on a line and then smoked in Juniper and Alder smoke, to a golden brown. The fish are smoked whole. Belly cleaned but with head on. And yes a buttery mouthfeel - oh, my! When I go back there I can eat a whole mackerel in day. So O'Thym's should be worth a try.

Also, just fried myself a passel of the ol' guys eggs and checked the color. Yolks are bright neon yellow and have a rich smooth taste. Recommended.

And another new taste at Havre aux glace - cassis - intense! That blood orange does raise the bar, for sure. We're going to have to start a Havre aux Glace reporting thread not to miss anything they put out.

[carswell]

Spent a wet afternoon prowling around the Jean-Talon Market and environs. Although the winter enclosure is gone, the place is a construction zone. Only a few stands were selling produce today but the allées should be humming by the weekend.

sf&m's right: Havre aux glaces's cassis sherbet is profound, intense and, like all their other products, just sweet enough. The guy behind the counter mentioned that the red currants come from North Hatley and claimed that, in large part due to agricultural practices used, they are superior to European fruit. He also insisted I try the sherbet with some vanilla ice cream; the combination is indeed a winner.

Lunch, by the way, was at Le Petit Alep, where I hadn't been in a while. High quality ingredients, great flavours, efficient service and adept handling of two youngsters. Recommended.

On the way home, I stopped by Boucher Alkahair, corner of Jean-Talon and Henri-Julien (a half block north of the new extension) to check out their tagnes, which I'd noticed in the window last weekend. Am now the owner of an unglazed 12" rifi tagine, which set me back $35 taxes included. (The 12" rifi on sale at tagines.com runs US$40 plus US$6 shipping.) Alkahair also has glazed and partiallly glazed cooking and serving tagines in various sizes (the rifi only in 12"), but this is the first unglazed tagine I've seen in the city.

Edited by carswell, 27 April 2005 - 09:44 PM.

[ItalianFoodJunkie]

I am an absolute sucker for cured fish. The O'Thym version was, I reckon, cold smoked. It had quite a high proportion of fat, which added to the buttery mouthfeel. No pepper crust in evidence.
Why does pepper crusting make them questionable from a swedish standpoint, too overpowering?
I am still looking for Boquerones anchovies.
BTW , good call on the blood orange sorbet at JTM.. was delicious.. whoever called that one.

Hey, If you're a sucker for preserved fish, in my opinion the ultimate delicacy is the Italian "Stocco Fisso" . It is Air Dried Herring or in some cases Cod from Norway, (worked in Italy.)

The air drying cases the flavoures of the fish to become more concentrated. It is served as a spread on toast (cracker) with a drop of olive oil, preferably less perfumy.
It has a similar textured to boiled baccala' (salted cod salad) but has little or no salt, preserving much more the taste of the fish. I don't know where you can buy it. The only place I have eaten it in Canada, was Latini, but Moreno, doesn't give information on his pushers very easily.

[carswell]

Hey, If you're a sucker for preserved fish, in my opinion the ultimate delicacy is the Italian "Stocco Fisso" . It is Air Dried Herring or in some cases Cod from Norway, (worked in Italy.)

While I'm only an Italian food lover, not an authority (and as I recently complained on the Italy board, there's no Larousse gastronomico we can check), my impression is that stoccafisso is always air-dried unsalted cod. See here for example. Are you sure about the herring? If so, it must be some kind of new wave stoccafisso.

[ItalianFoodJunkie]

Hey, If you're a sucker for preserved fish, in my opinion the ultimate delicacy is the Italian "Stocco Fisso" . It is Air Dried Herring or in some cases Cod from Norway, (worked in Italy.)

While I'm only an Italian food lover, not an authority (and as I recently complained on the Italy board, there's no Larousse gastronomico we can check), my impression is that stoccafisso is always air-dried unsalted cod. See here for example. Are you sure about the herring? If so, it must be some kind of new wave stoccafisso.

I was quite confident with the fact that stoccafisso is most commonly herring and least commonly cod fish, but after your comment i took a deeper look and it seems cod is as common as herring. unfortunately i couldn t find an English website explaining this, but here is one in Italian that explains the different ways herring and cod are air dried and smoked in Norway.

http://www.stellafoo.../info/conf.html

[carswell]

I was quite confident with the fact that stoccafisso is most commonly herring and least commonly cod fish, but after your comment i took a deeper look and it seems cod is as common as herring. unfortunately i couldn t find an English website explaining this, but here is one in Italian that explains the different ways herring and cod are air dried and smoked in Norway.

http://www.stellafoo.../info/conf.html

Thanks for the link, IFJ. After hauling out my Collins-Sansoni and plodding through half the page, I noticed there's a link at the top to an English-language version...

http://www.stellafoods.com/e/set.html

As I read it, the site indicates that stoccafissa is only cod (which, by the way, jibes with what Norweigans mean by stokkfisk):

The first products of this series certainly were the most problematic, namely cod (Gadus Morhua for the Stella line) in its two typical Norwegian preservation formats: salted and dried (stockfish).

The herring seems to be a separate product.

Whole Norwegian herring is another product in this line. The arrival at our factory of a suitable size of this fish allows us, after the usual quality control, to create vacuum packages of each single whole fish, therefore often containing the excellent eggs. Herring is supplied either natural or smoked, in such a way as not to alter in the least the original flavour of this tasty fish.

Have to admit this is the first time I've ever heard of herring in connection with Italian food. Any ideas about how Italians use it?

[ItalianFoodJunkie]

I was quite confident with the fact that stoccafisso is most commonly herring and least commonly cod fish, but after your comment i took a deeper look and it seems cod is as common as herring. unfortunately i couldn t find an English website explaining this, but here is one in Italian that explains the different ways herring and cod are air dried and smoked in Norway.

http://www.stellafoo.../info/conf.html

Thanks for the link, IFJ. After hauling out my Collins-Sansoni and plodding through half the page, I noticed there's a link at the top to an English-language version...

http://www.stellafoods.com/e/set.html

As I read it, the site indicates that stoccafissa is only cod (which, by the way, jibes with what Norweigans mean by stokkfisk):

The first products of this series certainly were the most problematic, namely cod (Gadus Morhua for the Stella line) in its two typical Norwegian preservation formats: salted and dried (stockfish).

The herring seems to be a separate product.

Whole Norwegian herring is another product in this line. The arrival at our factory of a suitable size of this fish allows us, after the usual quality control, to create vacuum packages of each single whole fish, therefore often containing the excellent eggs. Herring is supplied either natural or smoked, in such a way as not to alter in the least the original flavour of this tasty fish.

Have to admit this is the first time I've ever heard of herring in connection with Italian food. Any ideas about how Italians use it?

The first time I ate stoccafisso was in Calabria, boiled, cooled and served on a cracker with mint, parsley (very little) olive oil

THe link you showed me earler mentionned stoccafisso alla ligure, which means ligurian style, meaning olives and pine nuts.

i have had it baked and fried with chilli oil as well, but i find stoccafisso is the best on a cracker with olive oil, and nothing else.

When I ate stoccafisso in montreal, it was served to me on a toast with olive oil, and was herring stoccafisso.... but i am starting to have doubts about whether it was really herring.

When it comes to salted cod i have tonnes of recipies.

My favorite, with salt dried black olives( Calabria), orange zests, pine nuts and fresh chillies baked in the oven.

Or shredded in a tomato sauce (NO ONIONS!) with basil, parsley and the non perfumy type of olive oil (like the greek or calabria, molise.)

I think i am gonna eat now~!!!!

[ItalianFoodJunkie]

I was quite confident with the fact that stoccafisso is most commonly herring and least commonly cod fish, but after your comment i took a deeper look and it seems cod is as common as herring. unfortunately i couldn t find an English website explaining this, but here is one in Italian that explains the different ways herring and cod are air dried and smoked in Norway.

http://www.stellafoo.../info/conf.html

Thanks for the link, IFJ. After hauling out my Collins-Sansoni and plodding through half the page, I noticed there's a link at the top to an English-language version...

http://www.stellafoods.com/e/set.html

As I read it, the site indicates that stoccafissa is only cod (which, by the way, jibes with what Norweigans mean by stokkfisk):

The first products of this series certainly were the most problematic, namely cod (Gadus Morhua for the Stella line) in its two typical Norwegian preservation formats: salted and dried (stockfish).

The herring seems to be a separate product.

Whole Norwegian herring is another product in this line. The arrival at our factory of a suitable size of this fish allows us, after the usual quality control, to create vacuum packages of each single whole fish, therefore often containing the excellent eggs. Herring is supplied either natural or smoked, in such a way as not to alter in the least the original flavour of this tasty fish.

Have to admit this is the first time I've ever heard of herring in connection with Italian food. Any ideas about how Italians use it?

Sorry i noticed now that you were inquiring about herring and not stoccafisso.

Herring I hae never seen in Italy , except in the super market in the section where the sell smoked salmon, you may sometimes find norwegian smoked herring.

In Tirrenian you will find a lot of family memebers of cod (Merlluzzo) my favourites being rosamarina and merluzzetti. Rosamarina is a school of baby whiting, fried in egg batter, or preserved in chillies and olive oil. i believe merluzzetti are whiting in english, we eat them fried, like greeks and andalucians.

[docsconz]

I was back at the Jean Talon Market yesterday after a year and a half. I am amazed at the changes. I didn't have enough time to do a thorough inspection or really check prices, but it seemed to have great selection and quality. I did manage to taste the blood orange sorbet. It was excellent. I wish I was in a position to bring some back with me.

[poutine]

What a refreshing change for JT with the whole "indoor" market all open-air (despite the weekend rain). Much different atmosphere with all the facades open, very bright & much more spacious. Also nice to see the fresh herb plants & tomato plants on display. Noticed fiddleheads & thin young asparagus in various establishments. And how smart for several vendors to still be offering tire a l'erable; saw quite a few people (mostly kids) lining up for their maple sugar fix. Spring has definitely sprung at JTM.

[Mr. Fagioli]

Tire is now over, unless it's hiding in an obscure corner somewhere.

My latest JTM rave is the traiteur/fast food joint with the sandwiches, burgers, soups, and selection of daily dishes (I forget the name; it's the big place just south of the Charlevoix veal & lamb people). The lunch you get for $10 or less is really quite wonderful for the price. In most towns, there's be a golden arches or equivalent in that spot, so I feel very lucky. The carré de porc was quite nice yesterday.

There are some hydroponic sweet peppers being sold in one of the allées. $3 for two reds and a yellow, bagged together. The samples I tried sent me straight to my wallet. Very sweet and flavourful. (What happened to the days when "hydroponic" invariably meant "pretty but bland"? It's a good thing they're over.)

Also noted: Capitol and Shamrock now have their outdoor grills and fryers, respectively, in operation. Capitol has boosted the number of tables, and Shamrock also seems to be providing more seating.

Edited by Mr. Fagioli, 08 May 2005 - 08:36 AM.

[carswell]

Just in from the JTM. A zoo it was, not that I'm complaining. Tons of bedding plants and many flowers made for fragrant strolling up and down the allées. A few sightings:
- Meyer lemon trees, about 5½ feet tall, with golf ball-size, lime-green fruit. $99 at the nursery outlet just north of L'Olivier.
- Huge rosemary bushes, the size of a tumbleweed, at one of the herb retailers more or less facing Havre aux glaces. Didn't ask the price.
- Première Moisson now sells pasta. I picked up a plastic tray of three-cheese ravioli. Will report when I get around to eating it.
- Chez Louis has what they're calling wild asparagus, imported from Europe. Looks like a pale green stalk of wheat on steroids. If I heard correctly (and going by the way the face of the lady who asked the price blanched, I did), a small bunch — a side dish for two people — costs $24.99. They also had big fresh summer truffles from Oregon at slightly over $1K a kilo or approximately $70 the fungus. I passed but did get the cashier to open the container to let me smell. Sigh.
- Havre aux glaces has implemented crowd control measures: a U-shaped one-way line. Sorry to report that they refuse to mix flavours in half-litre containers. If you want cassis-vanilla swirl, you buy a half litre of cassis and a half litre of vanilla. Not sure I understand the reasoning here. The matcha tea ice cream is as intense as their other products; am not sure that's such a good thing, however.

edit: Forgot to mention that Aqua Mare, the fish store at the north end of the new extension, has bags of addictive Calbee Shrimp Flavored Chips. About the size and shape of Cheetos, the chips are baked and so relatively low in fat. Wasabi powder gives them a sinus-clearing bite with the shrimp flavour just peeking though. $1.99 per 95 gram bag

Edited by carswell, 16 May 2005 - 08:54 AM.

[carswell]

My latest JTM rave is the traiteur/fast food joint with the sandwiches, burgers, soups, and selection of daily dishes (I forget the name; it's the big place just south of the Charlevoix veal & lamb people). The lunch you get for $10 or less is really quite wonderful for the price. In most towns, there's be a golden arches or equivalent in that spot, so I feel very lucky. The carré de porc was quite nice yesterday.

Boucherie Traiteur Prince Noir
Marché Jean-Talon
7070 Henri-Julien
(514) 906-1110

[carswell]

And now for something completely different...

At ExoFruits on Saturday, Mexican jumping beans. Four active beans, a little smaller than peaberry coffee beans, in a small transparent pastic box for $1.99. No idea as to the shelf life of these things, so don't make a detour without calling first: (514) 738-1384.

[Vinfidel]

Does anyone know where I can get goat from? I want to make curried goat.

[carswell]

Does anyone know where I can get goat from? I want to make curried goat.

I get my neighbourhood butcher to special-order it for me. He needs a week's notice: Boucherie de Paris (5216 Gatineau, 514 731-6615).

Several butchers at Jean-Talon and Atwater markets will also special-order it and may even stock it from time to time. Try Boucherie du Maché (south side of JTM, 514 270-7732), Capitol (ditto, 514 276-1345) and Le Prince Noir (east side of JTM, 514 906-1110). In her column in last week's Hour, MaeveH mentions that there's now a Latin American butcher on the north side of the JTM, Boucherie-carniceria Mundial, but doesn't provide contact info. That'd probably be a good bet, as would the two branches of the pan-Latin American Supermarché Andes (436 Bélanger corner St-Denis, 514 277-4130; and 4387 St-Laurent, 514 848-1078). There are also some Jamaican butchers on Victoria north and south of Van Horne and in Westmount/NDG; perhaps someone more knowledgeable will chime in with details.

[Vinfidel]

You are awesome! I will call them to order my goat. I was advised to go to the butcher on Onatrio a little east of St. Laurent but their premises are filthy! Thanks for the choices, I will check them out this week.

[chopper]

Volailles et Gibiers de Fernando 116, rue Roy Montréal Tél. (514) 843-6652)

[carswell]

Volailles et Gibiers de Fernando 116, rue Roy Montréal Tél. (514) 843-6652)

Yes! They always slip my mind. And I still haven't gotten around to trying their confit. Anyway, chances are good they'll have goat or kid on hand.

[ademello]

You are awesome! I will call them to order my goat. I was advised to go to the butcher on Onatrio a little east of St. Laurent but their premises are filthy! Thanks for the choices, I will check them out this week.

That is a certified Halal (Muslim standard, similar to Glatt Kosher) Pakistani butcher. You may think it looks filthy but I guarantee that their meat is some of the tastiest in the city. They also have great samosas for pennies apiece.

There is another Halal butcher (this one is Iranian) on St. Laurent a little north of St. Catherine. They can get you goat or even mutton, which is really hard to find, and can be prepared in the ceremonial style typical for Eid, where the lamb or goat is cleaned and salted and seasoned, ready for spit-roasting whole.

Edited by ademello, 20 June 2005 - 11:24 AM.

[MaeveH]

Hey Ademello, are you sure that Iranian joint is still open on St Laurent? I tried to keep an eye out for it when I whizzed by on my bike while doing the Main roundup, but didn't see it. Please let us know! I thought they were pretty great. Called Marche Rose, or something like that...

Edited by MaeveH, 25 June 2005 - 04:25 PM.

[ademello]

Hey Admello, are you sure that Iranian joint is still open on St Laurent? I tried to keep an eye out for it when I whizzed by on my bike while doing the Main roundup, but didn't see it. Please let us know! I thought they were pretty great. Called Marche Rose, or something like that...

Good timing Maeve - I spent the day yesterday doing a walking tour of the city from the Old Port to the Plateau and back home down St. Denis st. I was amazed at how run down that area of the city is. Unfortunately, the place seems closed now. I wasn't aware that they were seeing hard times, but that entire area is a wasteland now.

[MaeveH]

Ah, thanks for confirming. Too bad. It's an odd area that waxes and wanes (but ble bon riz forever remains -- is that place actually any good? but I digress from the thread...)

[-sheila mooney]

Ah, thanks for confirming. Too bad. It's an odd area that waxes and wanes (but ble bon riz forever remains -- is that place actually any good? but I digress from the thread...)

just ate at bon ble riz (third time) -- food's good but the cutlery is, well, not clean. and the vodka martinis are the smallest on record.

[skunkbunny]

- Chez Louis has what they're calling wild asparagus, imported from Europe. Looks like a pale green stalk of wheat on steroids. If I heard correctly (and going by the way the face of the lady who asked the price blanched, I did), a small bunch — a side dish for two people — costs $24.99.

A bit late on this one... It isn't wild asparagus, it's a type of grass, remember reading a slightly vitriolic french article to this effect. Not bad though, but not worth the price and misleading name tag.

[chantal]

Hi Everybody, Hope you're all having a great summer and enjoying the abundance of produce!!! I live on the south shore so JTM and Atwater are not exactly a hop, skip, and jump, so I was wondering if anyone can tell me if I'll get sour cherries there. Don't get me wrong, I love bings, raniers, queen Anne's but I am looking for sour cherries. Anybody seen 'em? Thanks in advance!