wattacetti

Greetings, My indirect shopping continues as (non-drinking) friends will be off to New Zealand next month for holidays. So, I have an opportunity to take advantage of their goodwill, 1.5 L per person exemption, and long ropy arms to acquire a few bottles of New Zealand's up-and-coming Pinot Noirs. Apart from a recent WS article saying "Central Otago", information and Canadian supply are both somewhat slim . I currently have or have access to the following Pinot production: Ata Rangi Felton Road Highfield Isabelle Estate Kim Crawford Koura Bay Pegasus Bay Peregrine So, I invite your suggestions on other interesting Pinot Noir producers that I should ask them to watch out for. Thank you in advance.

I have a Black & Decker. Apart from toasting the odd slice of vollkonbrodt, I primarily use it as a warming oven to let meats rest after cooking.

Greetings Vancouverites, I will be in Vancouver next week and will be spending an evening cooking for friends. I have knives in tow and will be concentrating on the Granville Island Market for ingredients since there's very little time after the day's meetings to spend hunting ingredients. I've already got the following shops to visit: Oyama - charcuterie and cheese (+ sausages to take home) Longliner - seafood Stock Market - fond The key question for me is: What are the other "in season and must have" ingredients (land mammals, vegetables, crustaceans etc) currently available in Vancouver that I'm obviously not aware of given that I live in Quebec. I'd also like to know if the following are available since I'd be looking to these as fallbacks: - onglet - moulard duck magrets - yucca - wild mushrooms - pea shoots - are fresh favas (gourganes) available? I don't have a set menu in mind since I want to use the best of what's available at the market. So far, I'm leaning towards two appetizers, main and cheese (since I suck at desserts, I'd probably roast and flambé a pineapple or just buy something). Your assistance, observations and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'll post on what I eventually find and what I wind up poisoning them with.

True, but it doesn't help when one lives in Canada. Anyway, two Knox Alexander identified/reserved thanks to everyone here.

Marc Vezina makes a pretty good one at La Gaudriole; it's a confit style.

It's always been a Fairmont since Fairmont was spun out of CP by Tellier several years back. Have been to the Voyageur several times over the last year for hypothetical discussions; apart from individuals smoking poor-quality cigars, it was acceptable for a hotel bar with a reasonable selection of wine and spirits. Can't tell you anything useful about the Beaver Club since it's been over a decade since I've had a meal there. Your Fairmont connection however may be useful in ensuring that it does become a (positive) memorable experience.

Wow, first reply in less than 3 minutes. Thanks to you both.

Greetings, I have an opportunity to take advantage of the goodwill of a couple of co-workers who will be attending a meeting in San Francisco later this month. My question is, are there SFO retail outlets carrying Jim Clendenen's Au Bon Climat Pinot Noirs? Knox Alexander and Isabelle Morgan are the preferences, but any ABC would be okay. Thanks in advance.

The Art of Peruvian Cuisine's website has the following recipe for ocopa and huancaina.

A Granton edge is supposed to minimize sticking to the blade. Can't tell you anything about sharpening one because none of mine have Granton edges, but you could always post a question in the knife maintenance/sharpening Q&A.

I haven't really paid attention to the local publications, but Daniel Picard has written a few, and there are the books by Laurent Godbout (bookstores) and Marc de Canck (available at La Chronique). The latter two don't quite fit your criteria when it comes to no seafood and light on meats though. A trip to a big Renaud-Bray might be worthwhile.

It kind of depends on what you like. I liked and have purchased Artesa's Chardonnays and Gewurtztraminer (late harvest), and have a couple of Cabs (reserve and non-reserve) kicking around. Had an "oh well" moment when I tasted their Pinot Noirs.

Lemons, oranges and grapefruit (yah yah, they're easy). Also did pineapple once but not for an individual serving.

In retrospect, if they were really *good* friends, they would have used "allergic to eggs" woman to beat him senseless. That or give him one hell of a wedgie to make him stop.

Apart from this being a prime example of why our mothers keep telling us to wear nice underpants, I'm quite sure the observers appreciated your smile. Let's see… I hosted one dinner where a physician invitee and the auditor split about 3 bottles between them and wound up imitating octopi with my female guests, so my evening became an exercise in reassigning seating, with a healthy dose of creative groveling the day afterwards to the latter group. For ex-Canadian venues, there was the fun time in Brussels where a study nurse tells me she's a vegan and allergic to fish and shellfish after we arrive at a seafood place (I still have the letter of complaint sent to the department). Or the dinner in London where a physician and the US Project Team Lead got into a fistfight over what was considered an appropriate physical exam and medical follow-up. There was also the (mandatory) Christmas luncheon when I was working contract. I was an invitee (with my mandatory antlers) but there was a small cluster of us at the table devising ways to exit unobtrusively as the agency owner, his wife and his mistress did body shots with taramosalata and other pikilia tidbits.

Someone is going to come after me with a pitchfork for writing this, but you can think of a Cornish Pasty as a kind of calzone originating in Cornwall (UK). Paella over an open fire sounds good; I saw something on a guy in Spain who does this (and with a fistful of saffron to boot).

Cornish pasties, calzone, pain bagnat

YWG is the home of DA Neils Kitchenware (on Berry Street), which is the only Canadian retailer I know of that carries Kershaw Shun knives. So, if you're hooked on Japanese blades and don't want MAC and Globals, there aren't that many places to go.

I go to YWG for the knives, but the montage is providing alternatives to the in-room dining I normally do. Keep it coming.

And if you don't want to use a Web-based solution, there's stuff like Cellar!, which is based on Access but without the need to have to program the database yourself. Supports barcodes, tracks auction stuff and does have online tasting notes with other Cellar! users.

Pozole?

I have seen fresh baby corn cobs stiff in husk in a Taiwanese market, so yes, the stuff does exist outside of a can or jar.

My list sounds like everyone else's: Common stuff includes Brunswick sardines, Clover Leaf (Wild Pacific) Sockeye, bamboo shoots, palm hearts, baby corn, and Campbell Chunky for all-nighters. Canned tomatoes also make it into the pantry in winter. I also have tins of eel (Japan and Taiwan) and lamprey (Bordeaux).

What exactly is the budget to work with and what facilities do you have for prep? I was thinking some type of an extensible stew or a spit-roasted beast.

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.