Lesley C

"Pied de cochon crazy cook curse boy" do you mean Martin Picard? Crazy cook curse boy? Please do explain.

Hi identifiler and Big Grga. Welcome to eGullet! I'd have to vote for Fandango as well. They're in a league of their own. And I really respect the way Ward Deal (Fandango's chef/owner) changes his menus and offers special menus for Mexican celebrations. It's interesting that no one has mentioned Casa deMateo. I stormed out of there a couple of times because the service was so bad. But I have, on occasion, had some OK food there. Notice I only said "OK" food.

Oh sorry, I keep thinking of Caroline Mccann-Biszak as an Ontario chef. I actually met her in New York when she was chef at the Quebec consulate. Great girl! My mistake.

And where are the Quebec chefs???

I've never been able to sit through this show. The camera angles are strange and they all keep saying their stuff is "great" and "perfect" or "just right." Uurgh... And they did a few pastry shows last week that were just awful! Couldn't they have gotten a few REAL pastry chefs in to do it right? Grrrr...

As a restaurant reviewer who started out as a chef, I can relate to many of these arguments. I would have little respect for a reviewer with no ties to the chef community and, as much for someone who hobnobs with chefs constantly. I came into this job with a dozen of chef acquaintances (I wouldn't call any of them friends), but I've had to review over 200 restaurants. I need these contacts to keep abreast of the scene, suppliers, and trends. Otherwise I'd just rely on eGullet for all my information. I often talk to chefs on the phone, which I feel maintains my anonymity. I have also started meeting a few whose restaurants have already been reviewed, with no foreseeable re-reviews down the line. Ultimately, some chef contact is necessary for me to be a better critic. I have to know what makes these guys (and girls) tick. Yet I would not attend a chef-filled event, show my face in print or ever appear on TV. When I see critics noticeably courting chefs or hanging out with them (and I see this often) , I have a hard time taking their reviews seriously. And when it comes to favouring "friends" in reviews, some of us have no problem distancing our work from our personal lives.

BAKING WITH JULIA and, for more advanced baking (if you can get your hands on it) Patisserie by the Roux Brothers.

I just heard from a pretty reliable source that Taste (Williams-Sonoma's magazine) is no longer.

I figured it was creme fraiche, but it seemed to light and too sour to fit that description.

Welcome platdujour , God list but you might be interested to know that both the Patisserie de Gascogne and Duc de Lorraine buy their bread from, I believe, Pain Dore.

Wow, sounds great. I just ordered a copy from Amazon (will have to wait for May though...). Happy to hear Tad didn't take too much of a ribbing at the office and has now graduated to espresso, or perhaps, in an effort to explore his feminine side, tisane.

The Premiere Moisson and Pain Dore baguettes are amazing, but really the best must be purchased in their stores. The ones I've been picking up at my local supermarket aren't too impressive. eat2much, I have been to Saratoga a few times but not recently. Is Mrs. London's a bakery?

I was just asked about Montreal boulangeries on the bagel thread so I thought we'd start a new topic. I have two favourite boulangeries: the Passe-Partout bakery in NDG at 3857 Boulevard Décarie and Le Fromentier at 1375 Laurier St. E. Any other favourites out there?

Hi quanneur and welcome. You're lucky, there's some terrific bread on the Plateau. My favourite boulangerie is Le Fromentier at 1375 Laurier St. E. They have superb bread, all made with organic, stone-ground flour. And the people are nice too. In the same space you'll find Le Maitre Corbeau cheese affineur and the Queue de Cochon for artisanal sausages and charcuterie (amazing cretons). Hmmm...think I'll start a new thread on this topic

All North American foie gras is duck, save for two goose farms in Quebec. I'm told geese are free range and they are all fed by hand. But the numbers are small (In France, less than a million geese are slaughtered annually for foie gras).

I have visited one of the foie gras suppliers here in Quebec who is -- make that "was" -- supposedly Trotter's supplier. The place is pristine and the farmer is a conscientious professional. But there's no missing the caged-in ducks at the end of the line ready for slaughter. Their heads stick out of the tops of the cages and you can clearly see them panting away and visibly suffering (that said, I do eat foie gras). Bux, there's no flocking to the feeders here; these animals can't move. Goose foie gras is a whole other story. I do, however, think it's a bit late for Mr. Trotter to have a sudden "crise de conscience" over this ingredient. His books are overflowing with foie gras recipes. There's no denying it's one of his signature ingredients (the man made foie gras ice cream the last time he was in Montreal). I think you could even go so far as to say he's partly responsible for foie gras' popularity in America. But considering the numbers (over 13 million ducks were slaughtered for foie gras in France last year), I admire his turnaround, no matter how late in the game.

I was disappointed in the store but the chocolates are quite nice. And I hated Constant. The place was dirty and the sales people were rude. Oh and the chocolates sucked.

I think Hevin is pretty hard to beat in the world of chocolate. Loufood, have you been to Chaudun?

I didn't see the burger on the lunch menu. Is it special order? I had lunch at Rosalie last week and had a terrific lentil and endive salad. The chicken curry though...no comment (I know I'll get in trouble for that remark) Tell me riboflavinjoe, what is the cream topping on the strawberry dessert?

Loufood, I don't understand a lot of your macaron recipe. You never mention "faire tomber l'appareil" which means overwork the mixture so that it loses its body, an essential step in making macarons. What does the line "Seal and work to fluid and shiny," refer to?

"ree-yet"

I believe cretons have more fat than rilettes. Cretons are usually sold in a terrine-type shape.

I think all these products have a use for certain ice creams and sorbets. KarenS, the places you mention are restaurants that would be serving the ice cream as a dessert or with a dessert. You wouldn't need pectin. But if you were working in a pastry shop with an ice cream department, you would. I remember working making ice cream (glace aux oeufs) and sorbet when we were mixing up at least 40 liters at a time. We'd mix the recipe, check the refractometer, adjust with either water or sugar, and churn it in a huge Italian machine. We did use stabilizer in the sorbets as well as "glucose atomise" (in dry form) or liquid glucose. These sorbets and ice creams were sold individually in 500 ml containers at the counter and made into bombes glacees and entremets glacees. Not only was their shelf life longer than that of a restaurant ice cream, the ice cream would have to make it back to the customer's home on a hot summer day.

Ellen, pictures would help.

I was reading through all the posts, and noticed you haven't had the chance to say much about Cooking for Mr. Latte. Can you give us a heads up on what to expect? Is it a compilation of the Food Diary, or have you added new chapters and recipes? Speaking of recipes...I've noticed your recipe style is quite straightforward. I was wondering if you're ever tempted to Nigella-them-up a bit? Or do you think recipes should stick to a more disciplined style? And lastly, how did your husband handle all the sudden exposure?