achiu

^ You meant Kits right? For a moment, I thought there was competition for Ajisai in Kerrisdale.

I was terribly proud of the pasta. It's something I've always wanted to make but never had the courage (or the pasta machine) to do. I think a past mahine will find its way into our kitchen soon. A. ← Warning. This course will make you spend more money by convincing you that you need yet more kitchen gadgets. So far, I have bought a new chef's knife because the one I have cannot be comfortably held with the pinch grip. I am contemplating on getting a smoker because of Daddy-A and the Tuesday evening student who attended a Monday class with a plate full of barbeque short ribs and pulled pork. I am probably going to pick up a pasta machine so I can make my own stuffed pastas, etc. I am glad it's just not me... Alex

Yup, asked Chef Tony in class today. Overworked dough = tough pastry. I think the problem was that our dough was too wet and we kept adding flour and working it to dry it out. Alex

I have to admit I ate my tart when I got home that night and found the crust to be a bit tough as well so I don't think it was because you waited 2 days before eating it. I was meaning to ask Chef Tony about it tonight Alex

I've dined at Charlie Trotter's restaurant in Chicago and while the food was impeccably prepared and presented, I only had one dish which provided a "wow" factor and that was a chilled cucumber soup with crab. The flavors in the rest of the meal just didn't do it for me and the rasberries in the desert were way too tart. I've had meals at Lumiere which I thought were better. Tru on the other hand impressed the heck out of me for both presentation and taste. Alex

Are you our resident brown-noser? ← Nope. He is actually the resident brown noser at work

English name for Yuk Ting Heen is The Jade Seafood Restaurant 8511 Alexandra Rd, Richmond. They do have excellent dim sum. Alex

My friend had that and it was also very good but the lemon tart was a standout for me. I guess it boils down to if you are craving chocolate or lemon... Alex

Try the lemon tart, too. You'd dig it the most. ←

It's probably my fault for starting Wes on this duck fat thing ever since I mentioned that a certain Vancouver restaurant was using this as a secret ingredient in their mashed potatoes. Probably doesn't help that he and his GF made a roast duck recently and has lots of duck fat kicking around at home... Alex

I like Tapioca Express in Richmond. You can get the mini pearls like sago. I find the regular pearls to filling and prefer grass jelly. There is also LG on 41st and Granville that is pretty good. Alex

I think that's the difference between how Asian cooking use garlic and how most other Western cooking use garlic. With wok cooking and stir frys, you want to fry up the aromatics and infuse the flavour into the oil for cooking. In Italian or French cooking, the garlic is infused into the sauce or soup while it is gently simmering away. One of my biggest revelations last night was how you should never cook food in a violent boil because it tended to homogenize flavours. Anyways, this is my first post here but I've been lurking for some time. It was good to meet some of you yesterday. Alex