[Making Stuff You Don't Like]

Do you, whether as home cooks or PCs often prepare things for others that you yourself don't care for? How do you deal with the fact that you should taste the components of the dish (or the final product) when you're not crazy about the flavor?

Well, I'll make stuff at the request of some people for say, special occassions but that's about it. Gallo pinto, stuff with raisins in it, that sort of thing.

For the most part, I'll taste (in tiny tiny quantities) as I cook to adjust seasoning but I won't eat it.

Aside: I like walnuts, but prefer when they're not cooked into something.

[Sparkling Shiraz]

I see Wattacetti is from Calgary.

Actually I'm in the Big Croissant (Montreal) but I buy virtually all of my interesting wine in Calgary (those darn Albertans with their low personal tax rates and deregulated provincial liquor system ).

Richmond Hill Wines I know well (good source of Kiwi and Tasmanian Pinot Noir). Ditto Kensington, Metrovino and J. Webb.

I'm surprised you mentioned Baby Duck as well since that was the first thing that came to mind when I was shown the Elderton sparkling Shiraz. However, the first glass was all I needed to convince myself it wasn't. I'll see about tracking down the E&E sparkler; I've got a couple of their still Shiraz and am curious about a side-by-side comparison.

[aside: I still get a little twinge over Baby Duck and its shelfmate Cold Duck - big plastic stopppers and that awful cherry cough syrup color ]

[Sparkling Shiraz]

Confession time: I'm a sparkling shiraz virgin. And I haven't enjoyed 98% of the shirazes I've tasted. But I've come into possession of a bottle of Hardys non-vintage and it prompts some questions, to wit:

I've been drinking Elderton NV (about $50 Cdn from Calgary, not available in Quebec). The folks at Kensington have been suggesting that it be served about 16-18ºC, but I've also chilled it and watched the stuff evolve as it comes up to room temperature.

Definitely sweet, and quite noticeably so if you drink it alongside Elderton's Command Shiraz, but it's a decided improvement over the Asti's that several people have been using to poison me. My Bordelais pals think it's a freakish conversation piece, though they did continue to drink it.

Food? Good question - I've never paired it with anything.

[APDC's foie gras burgers]

Andreas Viestad presented a recipe for a foie gras cheeseburger in his cookbook "Kitchen of Light" (it's also demo'd in the accompanying cooking show). He sears the foie gras first, then buries the pieces into a mince composed of pork, venison and grouse.

You can take a look at the recipe here

[Asian Markets]

Thanks for the skinny, SB. There's also a KPh in Brossard and maybe a third in Outer Rosemont (Marché Kim Phat, though I've never been there).

There are two in Brossard (maybe more); you want the one that's further west along Taschereau, and not the one behind the Panama bus station. All of them are slightly different in that their stock caters more to their respective populations.

[Airline Food: The Topic]

Cathay Pacific is way better than any other carrier I've ever flown.

Really? I was on a CX flight about 2 years ago and it was not very different than Air Canada. Of the Asian carriers, I'd say that Singapore Airlines and EVA both have CX beat on both meals and service.

[Airline Food: The Topic]

Your opinion on which airline you have flown that serves excellent meals?

Or simply horrible meals?

Better on flights which are national or international?

Let's see… I've flown Air Canada, Lufthansa, EVA, United, and American in the last calendar year.

Forget the US carriers: apart from absolving responsibility for you if something goes wrong, United's idea of a meal from Chicago to San Diego was half a banana. American had drinks.

Air Canada's international service is better than domestic in both business class and economy, and Pacific routes are better than the Atlantic crossing. I've had a very nice duck, shrimp with thai noodles, and filet mignon. Fish seems to be consistently problematic. For domestic, meals are served on longer-haul flights (e.g. Montreal to Vancouver), with the best ones recently being the Calgary-Toronto run (a surprisingly good cold beef salad). Several flights have sandwiches or Swiss Chalet for purchase, though those seem to be mostly the runs to Newfoundland, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Lufthansa code-shares with Air Canada across the Atlantic, and it seems to only do charcuterie within Europe (beer and wine as part of breakfast still doesn't work for me).

EVA: economy-plus and business class are great. Mix of International and Taiwanese cuisine (depending on meal), and quite tasty. They're also quite liberal with the Midori.

[Osoyoos Larose]

If it was available locally I would probably buy 3 bottles. I to try again right now and the other two to "bury away" for a few years.

What's "locally" for you? If you are in Alberta (or travel to Calgary), it is available via Kensington Wine Market ($38.99 + GST), though their supply is limited.

By the way, it's a good inaugural vintage. I've had a quick taste of a bottle that had been opened for at least several hours - typical Merlot/Cab bouquet though I found it a bit light. Picked off two bottles just to see how it will do over time, so we'll have to see just how well it does do in the coming years.

[Your friends are under the weather]

Hmm… a little Zocor with that meal?

In the times when I've played the supporting role, I have thought about what that person (or the family) might have wanted, to the point where I have prepared complete meals.

As for single items, I've made chawan mushi, a Taiwanese chicken soup (four ingredient: chicken, ginger, sesame oil, sake - popular for its mellowing effect), crab and corn soup, boeuf bourguignon, that seafood bread recipe that Jacques Pépin has demonstrated, poached pears, tuna tataki and frittatas. The soups are the most popular.

[Photoblog: my lunch in Chinatown]

...about 8 kinds of ramen. 

Is it me, or is that something like five different flavors of Nong Shim cup ramen that you're building a little fort with?

I couldn't make out the ones on the very right, but boy, do I remember this stuff when hammering out that thesis.

Been a while since I've been to China Village. I've been doing most of my shopping at the Kim Phat on the South Shore (more Taiwanese and Japanese brands).

Shoot - I've been making pot-au-peu for dinner and now I have a hankering for some duck noodles.

[Snow crabs]

Thanks for all the replies. The snow crab will apparently be simple, as in steamed, with no garnish and no sauces. Boiled potato as accompanyment (if it weren't for the presence of the crab, I would have thought Irish meal).

Anyway, I wound up sending the Montée du Tonnerre (it's Louis Michel) and the Burrowing Owl Pinot (must protect supply of Cloudy Bay). Should have an interesting comment or two in the coming days.

[Snow crabs]

Snow crabs.

I've been asked to pick a wine to serve at a dinner where snow crabs will be the centre of attention. Problem is, I don't know how the things are going to be prepared, and the only adjective I've been given is "simply" (what, boiled with lemon garnish?).

I'm prepared to sacrifice any of the following, though the Cloudy Bay would really hurt, since availability in Canada is spotty at best.

Burrowing Owl Pinot Gris 2002

Kim Crawford Pinot Gris 2003

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2002

Dr. Thanisch Kabinett Riesling 2001

Chablis premier cru Montée du Tonnerre 2000

Am currently leaning towards the Riesling and the Chablis, though I suppose the Crawford PG could do as well. Comments or does everyone throw up their hands?

[Memorable Montreal restaurants from the past]

Rene Varaud in the old Les Terraces complex (before it became the Eaton Centre). I still remember the maitre d'hotel drooling as he explained the tasting menu.

[South African Wines]

La Motte Millennium La Motte.

[Grill Your Own Steak Restaurants]

You want me to pay how much for a steak and then you want me to cook it myself?

This seems to be a new disturbing trend...steak houses where you grill your own steaks.

I just have this vision of Dan Ackroyd pimping Mel's Char Palace on Saturday Night Live: "You select your cow. You stun it, you cut it, you charbroil it. Over 3000 stunned!"

But seriously, I'm not thrilled with this particular trend. Bulgogi and shabu-shabu places are quite different than steak houses since they're communal meal experiences, with most of the savings coming from not having to do all that prep work yourself. Can't see why people would want to pony up to a grill-your-own.

[40 Ouest]

Yikes!  Will you be doing a review soon?

I believe Lesley's review came out some time ago and the column's no longer available on the Gazette's website.

Has anyone gone in the last 3-4 weeks? Upcoming social function and they've voted for this place, so I'd like to see if there's been an improvement or change.

[Worst meal at someone's home - Part 1]

But can any Jell-O nightmare story beat my grandmother's Chicken Salad Jell-O?  Boiled chicken, canned chicken broth, plain gelatin, and celery--set in a jello mold--with a generous dollop  of Miracle Whip on top?  A more foul substance has never passed my lips (I had to try "just one bite").

Edited because "foul" and "foal" are very different words.

My grade school used to serve this for lunch a couple of times a month.

They were also the same crew that gave you peanut butter and jelly and bologna and mayo. Well, one half of each, but the two halves were squashed together so the border had all four ingredients mixed together. I always skipped sandwich day.

[Soto]

Without going into detail, the Kaizen crew will not see another penny of my hard earned money (at least not for take-out). If you don't know why, ask anyone who has tried take-out there.

I know exactly what you're talking about. Neither of the Kaizens are my first pick, but when you're asked to go along on one of those "not mandatory but highly recommended" outings there's sometimes not a whole lot of options except to lock in that smile and keep nodding.

[Soto]

Apart from potentially saving a couple of Japanese restaurants, is having the group behind the Kaizen take over Soto necessarily a good thing?

I've never had a good experience with dinners at Soto either (multiple attempts in the St-Laurent and Old Montreal locations) but dinners at both the Kaizen and the Tre House were uneven and could sometimes be described as "wacky".

[Jamón Ibérico D.O.]

I heard a rumor that Iberico ham would soon be available for export.  Anyone know when and who in the U.S. might carry it?

Tienda.com is taking pre-orders for Ibérico for the 2005 delivery; all you need is a $200 USD deposit and another 4-600 (or so) come delivery time depending on whether you want boneless or bone-in.

They already sell Serrano from hams from pigs slaughtered in Denmark. Of course I can't get in on any of this action since the HPFB won't let any into Canada.

[How Long and How Big ?]

I feel for Russ as I continue to run both air conditioners day and night while awaiting the eventual delivery of the Transtherm Ermitage (my rented cellar space is getting full).

I've dabbled with collecting on and off for the past three years but got serious about it over the past year once I got access to Alberta's deregulated wine/liquor industry. Currently sitting at about 80 bottles (all being held - stuff for immediate consumption gets bought pretty much right before it's consumed), with about half being Bordeaux; most of the rest is Burgogne, Australian and Chilean with one or two interesting labels from the US and Spain.

I do have one bottle of wine produced in mainland China and one made locally from Seyval grapes: both received as gifts and both kept in view as warnings (yeah! you try them).

[Worst meal at someone's home - Part 1]

Nothing will quite match that presented by Katherine, but there used to be one post-doc back in grad school who used to routinely poison us at lab potlucks. The one standout was the bright lemony-yellow potato salad she made for our lab supervisor's inaugural barbecue: big chunks of unwashed raw potato, big chunks of unwashed uncored apple and big chunks of unpeeled Spanish onion (with the rootlets), all smothered in yellow-tinted Miracle Whip.

I had already suffered the misfortune of tasting one of her cookies (and slipping on another left on a flight of stairs), so I knew what to expect when that masterpiece was unveiled (our new tech didn't).

My supervisor doesn't fare that well either. Apart from managing to make a brisk fire with the oil-marinated chicken, his wife managed to use a carrot salad to rehydrate raisins.

Fortunately for me, the lab and I have parted ways, so now all we do is work at avoiding dinner with the our raisin-mad friend (raisins in the beef rolls, raisins in the chicken, raisins in the tomato sauce, raisins in the ravioli, raisins in the lasagna, etc etc ).