Markian

Chef Andres & those chefs out there who own any of the el Bulli series... Do you use many of the recipes/techniques represented? If so which ones? & How long has it taken you to sift through all the info in these massive tomes? I'm still "decoding" #3 which I've had for 3 years...i've had #2 for about a year and I'll probably get to it sometime in 2008 if I'm lucky. ;-)

I was a little hesitant at first, with the price tag and all....but I've had one bottle (open) for almost 2 years now,...You can sip it like a really fine ice wine! Absolutley amazing! And it really does taste great drizzled over vanilla ice cream and strawberries with cracked black pepper. My favorite so far besides sipping it straight is to reduce it slightly to thicken it and serve it with hot & cold foie gras, which I'm garnishing with cocoa nibs, spiced blueberries and bee balm poached peaches.

[Where's Ling when you need her? Any other Montreal residents out there? I would love to know! Born and bred Montrealer here....I've had foie in a few Montreal restaurants...Toque was the most interesting, with beets, black trumpets, green beans and truffle.

Heading up there myself for an early supper January 19th...French Laundry the day after...should be pretty sweet. I'll let you know. Cheers

Amazing stuff!!! I''ve been using their verjus for a few years which is indispensible right now to me....their wine vinegar is very versatile and I use it as I would balsamic...at the begining of the year I cook a lot of it down for a glaze which lasts half the season...I ordered on-line..only took about a week to get to me...I'm out in rural NB...I think it came from Sudbury or Niagara. Get some and keep Canadian cuisine going strong! Cheers! Markian

Thanks for the details....does this technique result in a crispy skin....what accompaniements would you serve with such a dish?

the wedding is august 27th...the pig is arriving 2 days before...could this be done in a large enough BBQ with a rotisserie?

We've got a 30 pound pig that we need to roast for a wedding sweets table....any helpful hints about how we should prepare it, roast it, glaze it, serve it....?

now we've really gone crazy with it...we're doing a "threesome" Roasted rack, miso marinated leg medallions, and a braised shoulder and chevre strudel with eggplant-carrot puree and Argan oil

right on...let me know when.....and bring down a few dozen....we're always looking for new local supplies

awesome....glad to hear that... we change portions of the menu on a daily basis according to what we can find...I actually sourced out a lamb producer from New Brunswick...no more new Zealand for us.....not that its not a quality product, but this other stuff is far superior...and it only comes from 2 hours away! we're coming up on berry season right now...are you guys heading out here anytime soon?

with all the beets and rhubarb he fed me, no room for desert...I'm more of a cheese man than dessert....when I'm in Halifax I'll look you up....I moght be down in the winter...I have a few friends that work @ the "Shoeshop" Come check out the Rossmount Inn in Saint Andrews.....we're doing some pretty wild stuff with organic @ local produce these days.

We ordered mostly vegetarian stuff....vegetable mayhem, and the Farmer's inspiration.....loaded with greens, fingerling potatoes, lentils, parsnips, radishes....I also had a small piece of foie gras and pork belly with a yuzu-licorice marshmallow, choy sum and sweet potato puree....I noticed that the plating was similar to Michel Bras, so i asked the owner if the chef (her husband) had ever heard of him...she comes back into the dining room and takes the sorbet back to the kitchen along with me, where I ate pretty much one of every vegetable they were cooking that night....As for Michel Bras...they had just visited France a few months ago! Sweeet!

Craziest ones this week @ work were foie gras - fwah gwah AND foy grass gnocchi - guh-na-chee

Try Les Chevres....they're open on Mondays....nice bread and the vegetables are out of this world!

Besides some good fried clams @ Ossie's Lunch and some insane vegetables @ Fid in Halifax......where can I get some good regional/seasonal food?

Check out Schwart'z for some crazy smoked brisket and black cherry cola. Toque! and les Chevres if you have no limit to your budget. L'express and Au Petit Extra for a cool bistro experience. Mr. Steer Burger for the Suzy Q's