shelora

When your friends can't believe you came back from Mexico with 10 kilos of sea salt. Man, it is so good.

I bought some recently in Victoria. The brand is AGOSTINO RECCA from Italy. (www.agostinorecca.com) A 239 gr. jar little boquerones in vegetable oil, vineger and salt. I'm sure you should be able to get them through one of your Italian food purveyors. I saw them recently on a restaurant menu in Olympia, Washington, served on wonderful bread with good olive oil and coarse salt. Oh, so good. Shelora

Heading to Seattle, first weekend of February. Want to try Lola's, since we missed it last trip. Are there any other new restaurants that must be on our list this trip?? We are staying in Belltown, without a car, so the suburbs are out this time. We only have two nights and really only one day, what restaurants should take priority? Thanks, Shelora

Holy jumping, Theo b!!!! Your post almost makes me want to go back to Puerto Vallarta, so I can get the heck out and go down Punta Mita way. Fab! I'm saving that post. Thanks!

Well said Stovetop. I am personally fascinated and intrigued by people's food memories and how a restaurant's history enters into it - it's like part of one's extended family.

Teotitlan del Valle, about 30 minutes outside of Oaxaca City, is home to exquisite weavers and a must on every tourist's itinerary. It is also home to the rather famous Tlamanalli restaurant, where the Mendoza sisters reign with their food representing this village. Now, visitors can learn first hand about the distinct foods from this village by attending a cooking class at Casa Cerro Sagrada that is perched above the village proper. For only $65. USD., the class, which includes transportation to and from Teotitlan, begins with a quick tour of the morning market. Quick is the operative word here as the market is over in a matter of two hours or so. This market is where you will be introduced to the some of the more unique offerings of the village. Toasted and ground black bean powder to make soups, also a black bean paste that is aromatic with avacado leaves, hand ground to a paste on the stone metate - still very much a mainstay of the Zapotec kitchen here and precursor to the blender. We pick up some warm blandas made from yellow corn, much bigger than a tortilla. We pick up a treat in the form of pan de cazuela - a chocolate and raisin stuffed bun brought in from neighbouring Tlacalula. Armed with ingredients we are driven to the top of the mountain to Casa Cerro, a 12 room guest house. The garden is filled with hoja santa, wild tomatoes the size of an 'o', mint, avacadoes and passion fruit vines. The classes are taught by resident cook, Reyna Mendoza who regularly teaches visiting classes from all over the U.S. Today the menu is a tamal de Mole Negro, a mole enchilada, a salsa de chile pasilla de Oaxaca (a smoked chile from the region), a salad of nopales, tomatoes and avacado and for dessert a banana ice cream. We dine overlooking Teotitlan and the surrounding hills toasting the event with shots of the smooth house mezcal. During the class we learn many cooking tips; excess heat from soaked chiles can be eliminated or reduced by discading the soaking water and rinsing the chiles in hot water. And the very helpful hint when straining a sauce of a chile mixture, you can stop struggling with trying to extract every last bit by throwing the remainders back in the blender since you are blending in batches. (I hope that made sense). The salsa preparation was fascinating as the chilies were "cooked" in the hot ashes - very distinct here. The chiles were buried in the ash until they puffed up and changed colour,tops cut off and seeds removed. Some of the ash is left in (and no, you cannot taste the ash). There were only five of us in the class this day, but Casa Cerro can accommodate up to 25 and a minimum of four. So perhaps you can gather some friends together and check it out. The classes are held every first and third Friday of every month but during Christmas they were being held every second day. Check their web for more info or fire off your enquiries to info@casasagrada.com and their web is www.casasagrada.com Missing Mexico, Shelora

May I suggest a visit to Sayulita, 30 minutes north of P.V. There is a lovely place to stay called Los Delfines overlooking the beach in yes, a charming fishing village. There are two restos there, Restaurant El Costeno and Don Pedros. Fresh fish cannot be beat. Also, Sundays on this coast, offer the specialty, Birria - don't miss it, we did and are very sorry. Have a wonderful vacation, Shelora

"bringing on a team of crack judges" I look forward to the issue, but I'm intrigued by these "crack" judges you've hired?

I can get equally jazzed about B.C. cuisine as I can about what the Aussie's are doing. Their food magazines are totally inspiring and Donna Hay's approach to cooking for home cooks is simple, healthy, tasty and right on the mark. There is no reason why our wine and food industry can't compete with what is going on down under. We just have to keep at it. Keep perfecting and refining. There is such a buzz in the Vancouver food scene these days. It's quite exciting. s

"I think the word sole was in the name, Contented Sole? " The Contented Sole was the short lived sister restaurant to the Amorous Oyster on Oak St. I used to wait tables there. (Good grief! I must remember to look at my birth certificate. Am I really that old?!) The Contented Sole was located where Bishops is on 4th Avenue. And he has been there a long long time. Sometimes a doomed location just needs the right combination, don't you think? Shelora

"I think the word sole was in the name, Contented Sole? " The Contented Sole was the short lived sister restaurant to the Amorous Oyster on Oak St. ( I used to wait tables there). The Contented Sole was located where Bishops is on 4th Avenue. And he has been there a long long time. Shelora

If you can ever get over to Victoria, we have a mobile knife, professional kitchenware and knife sharpening unit that services all the restaurants in town. The owner/driver/sharpener Dwight O. Joinson will also come to your home or hotel. He carries Wustof, Trident, Global and other pro knives at very discounted prices compared to regular retail outlets. Its like an ice cream truck for grown ups and chefs live for the moment he pulls up, so they can take a bit of break and shop for the latest, while their restaurants knives are getting sharpened. Last time I had my knives sharpened - in our apartments parking lot - he had the latest in kitchen clogs and some new Aussie designed stuff. Check it out next time you are in town. Credit cards and debit accepted. Or send him an email, he may even ship to Vancouver. Knifex - call for an appointment, 310-9000, or 250-744-0606 email. dojoinson@knifex.com shelora

If you are using a slow cooker, I would use tough cuts of beef like stewing beef or brisket. And yes, 2lbs of avacado leaves must be a typo, I would say two avacado leaves or sprig. Unless, you are laying down the beef on top on the leaves and then pit cooking them or wrapping them in foil and baking. And no, they are not toxic. There are two types of avacado and the kind used in Mexican cuisine are not, I repeat, are not toxic. Sorry the latin names of the two types have escaped me at the moment. s

I'm with Bernaise, Mr. Shelora and I are definitely bar perchers. It's much more interesting. If the bar is full or none available, we like to mix up the side by side with the face to face. It all depends on the size of the table, views, comfy seats or banquette, etc. s

Thanks for the great information, which I should have researched myself. Those buns look a lot like the Sally buns which we have over in Victoria. Anyone out there had one of those for comparisons sake? s

Thanks, Dad. Now I know how to pronounce kolachy. But, where does the word come from? Is it made up or what? Enquiring minds with nothing better to do want to know. S

I want to know how you pronounce kolachy. Is it Ukranian for stuffed bun? And if Peppyre is stuck in the hospital, why is there no one offering to deliver kolachys (kolachies) to her bedside? Shelora, shivering her timbers on Vancouver Island.

It is held only on Sundays, set menu, really cheap, in someone's backyard. Another place as well, for dinners. Email me when the weather is warm and you're coming to town, I may be able to set you up. Gotta go, have a feeling I'm being watched! s

There are quite a few underground dining experiences to be had in Victoria. One is a breakfast joint, outdoors, but closed for the winter. S

When the Macaroni Grill first opened its doors in Victoria, it surprisingly offered osso buco on their menu. It was dynamite and was the only reason to go there for alot of us over on the island. Sadly, it has disappeared (the dish not the restaurant), from their menu. At present, we in Victoria are being slowly and effectively snowed in. Osso buco in another couple of hours would be welcome comfort indeed. I have made the osso buco from the Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian cookbook to great success. Mmmmm, now that visions of osso buco dance in my head, I may to face the elements and stock up on provisions. How far will you go for veal shanks? Shelora

Your writing style is always so entertaining, K.T. Great descriptions and sounded like a fun adventure. By the by, it's chile relleno or plural, chilies or chiles rellenos. My favourite dish. Cheers, Shelora

Just got back from Mexico and Mexico City, where we spent our last five days. Tried to do as much eating as possible, but many places where closed either early or for the holidays. In particular Izote, where i really wanted to go. Although disappointed, was redeemed with great food and service experiences at El Bajio - those huazontle rellenos and the carnitas are unreal. Carmen's daughter, a pastry chef, is making the desserts, had a beautiful cheese cake with a jamaica (hibiscus flower) sauce, to die for. Fonda El Refugio, absolutely fab, classic cuisine and great service. Bar Opera, wrap yourselves into one of those red velvet booths and enjoy the ambience, food , music and drinks. Casa Lamm - very chic with their new renovation and great for breakfast, although a little too much on the cream sauce. But great coffee and morning sun. Casa de los Azulejos ( Sanborns) - yes, indeed. My favourite Sanborns. Have taken to the coffee shop side where older eccentrics tend to hang. Love it. Cafe la Habana - as a coffee addict, I would throughly recommend this 1950's throw back that roasts on site and has the most incredible Italian coffee machines with super fast baristas pulling shots like nobody's business. Buy coffee beans in three roasts for home - they make your hotel room and luggage smell divine. The cafe boasts a visit from Fidel Castro in his pre-revolution stage. And evening strolls in the Zocalo in the historic centro, I can never resist the corn on the cob that gets a little toasting on the grill, slathered with chile, salt and lime juice. Do go in the cathedral in the zocalo. Finally the scaffolding has been removed. We strolled in on New Year's day, the ancient organ was playing that added to the magnificence of each and every shrine and you can now take tours of the bell tower. More coffee haunts for me are also the Cafe La Blanca on Cinco de Mayo and Isabel la Catholica. I have a thing for the older gentleman waiters in bow ties. They have so much style and grace. This is my first day back and I miss it already. There is one negative note. I would definitely NOT recommend going to Los Girasoles. I have gone there every year since they've been open and will not ever go again. Had very bad service, food was sub standard and we were treated very poorly. You know the kind of service where the wait staff and management are vastly superior, the customer is always wrong and you are being charged ridiculous prices. Basically the vibe was hurry up and get out. The wine prices are great here though, but the white wine came to the table with a layer of ice all over it. We wanted to try a tempranillo we had been looking for, but the plato fuerte arrived before we had finished our appetizers. They were ripped out from under us, I could go on, but it is too painful. I wanted to gently voice my concerns to that dweeb of a captain they have working there. Although I get by in my rudimentary Spanish I wanted to speak to him in English, which I have done in the past and he to me. All of a sudden he could no longer speak English and claimed he could never speak English. It makes me shudder to think of it. Super creapy experience, one of which I have never had in my 14 years of traveling to Mexico. So please pass on the experience of Los Girasoles. There are so many other great places to go in that incredible city. Shelora

I am also resurrecting this post because our arrival in D.F., the beauty of its street food came flooding back to me with a simple stroll into the zocolo in the centro historico. The diversity of the street food in front of the cathedral varies during the day. I will be posting again on the subject, on my return to D.F. over new years. The evening in question, I found a few vendors cooking up fresh blue corn huaraches, spread with beans and cheese. The wood fired mobile carts cooking up camote and bananas, served up with sweetened condensed milk - the bananas are my all time favourite, such a smokey flavour from the wood fire. Then there is the curious vendor who makes the tiniest pancakes, suitable for a doll's house. And of course, the elote sellers, boiled corn slathered with mayo, cheese and chile. The morning vendors are different and one sticks out in my mind from a past trip. She was set up in front of the subway entrance with a shopping cart. She had numerous boxed cereals tied on to the cart. You could take your pick, which was poured into a styrofoam cup, milk poured on and a plastic spoon added to consume your breakfast. I just loved the convenience of that. Hasta pronto, Shelora

Yes, Esperanza, I mistakenly wrote Acelgas instead of verdolagas. The salad at the restaurant was indeed purslane (verdolagas) and indeed makes a refreshing salad. Cheers, Shelora

Since I am currently in Oaxaca, I thought I would resurrect this post. I wanted to let everyone know about the organic market that takes place Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at El Pochote. El Pochote is located on Garcia Vigil, 700 block. This fairly new market has the very best of what the Oaxaca organic growers have to offer. While still small - I counted ten vendors this morning - it is very strong. Vendors of note are Arbol de la Vida, a 6 acre organic farm run by Valerie Nadeau. One acre of the farm is dedicated to lettuces that supply many of the areas restaurants and can be delivered weekly to your home in Oaxaca. Today I picked up the last of the snow peas, New Zealand spinach and a purple kohlrabi. Carnes Orgnaica y Caseras, Estilo Artesania, is run by Simon Waldherr, who is making an exotic range of sausages from beef, pork and criollo turkey. The turkey and ground nuts is hugely popular, as is a Turkish style borrego (sheep) and the daily special today was Rabbit sausage perfumed with juniper. Home delivery is also available and the sausages run between 12 to 15 pesos each. Next up is the Ricardi farm that produce the most tasty organic goat milk yogurt and two cheeses, queso de cabra which is a queso fresco - one plain and one with garlic and herbs. The other is a requeson, which kind of like a ricotta cheese. It was sweet and delicate and not at all "goaty". The Ricardi family also make cajeta and cajeta candy. Other offerings at the market are organic honey, coffee, mescal, bee pollen and natural cotton clothing. There was even a demonstration of solar powered cooking. The complete unit of two silver coloured cardboard panels and special double lined pot was offered at $450. pesos. The dish cooking for demo purposes was an organic potato, onion and oregano stew and was almost done when we showed up at 12 noon. _________________ Dropping off a gift for a friend at Restaurant Casa Olivo, we discovered the chef owner Javier Olivo Cantero, making his own Jamon Serrano. Being sorely deprived on serrano ham in B.C., Canada, we simply had to sit down and order some. He showed us the fridge where three enormous piernas were in various stages of curing. A plate of thinly sliced jamon was presented on toasted bread that had been spread with an olive oil and tomato mixture. The sweet fruity aroma of the freshly shaved ham was intoxicating, the flavour sublime. We ordered another 1/4 kilo sliced for a party that evening and I am still dreaming of it days later. Casa Olivo is on 5 de May 407 and specializes in Spanish cuisine. Portions are hardy and I also recommend the half duck, deboned and braised in a sauce of olives, tomatoes, sweetpeppers, potatoes and onions. Enough for two people at $175. peso. Will post again soon for the next installment. Feliz Navidad, Shelora