ExpatC

Berlin is not really a real impressive restaurant town, although there are some little gems around if you are familiar enough with the city, but I am surprised that no one has mentioned KaDeWe , the 6th floor. I have been in Berlin many times and really the fun thing, food-wise, to do IMO is go there. Plan your day around lunch and go there. Keep dinner light. Berlin seems to have a pipline to some good fresh fish and seafood (not all of it by the way. The Lobster I had last month there was frozen, ugh.) and all that seafood is sold at KaDeWe. It is actually a great business model. (Paul Bocuse actually had an outlet up there until just recently. And, shock of shocks, that was where I had the frozen lobster. NZ not Canadian). The Paris bakery Lenotre has a little cafe on the 6th floor also. They had the single best simple chocolate torte that I have ever had, it is called L'Etoile if anyone goes up there. I have been to Berlin twice in the last month and recently had an oyster orgy at KaDeWe. One little cafe on the 6th had oysters from 6 different European areas. Way interesting but as usual the ones from Brittany were the best . For restaurants, per se, the only places we return to are this little Chinese place called Good Friends and right next door is a little Japanese/Korean sushi and yaki bar (great crispy chicken-skin yaki. One is enough but very intersting to try) You can find them near to the corner of Bliebtreustrasse and Kant Strasse. About one block off Kuferstendamm right in the center of W. Berlin.

How about more in the Thai style also. Try Shrimp balls and coat them with panko or bread crumbs, fry themtill they are crispy and golden and drop them in soup,

This is not a supplier in Montreal but it will work. This is a firm in Berlin that I use. You can e-mail this guy, Mehmet, he is the manager of International accounts. Then my guess is that he can send them to you via FedEx or DHL: myasar@frischeparadies.de The firm is Lindenberg, a great international firm throughout central europe. It may actually end up a tiny bit cheaper than the average firm in North America. Their cost for getting them is probably a bit lower and then you just need to pay the shipping costs. Bargain with him.

I hope I don't sound completely out of it here. I have resisted foams for a long time but I recently had an idea and I want to make a pineapple-chili foam for fish. I don't wnt the flavors to beat up on the flavor of the fish so a foam might just make all the difference. my question here is this. I have bought the canisters and whipits, so to speak, but I would like to read a good solid study of the technique. Is there a thread here that covers this or is there a site that might cover the basics pretty well that anyone could recommend?

I agree that the recipe for challah in Baking with Julia is perfect. It is 100% the best challah recipe I have tried. 2 years ago I did it for a special group on Rosh Hashannah and everyone including the bakers loved it so much it is now in the with the breads that we serve in the restaurant. I seed it with a mix of fennel, anise, poppy, sesame and sea salt. Also we slice it very thin and toast it for the terrine of foie gras. great stuff.

For fruit powders the technique is very simple and, unfortunately for the NEW "Chemistry Cuisine", can be done real easily with dry heat. If you work in a place with a plate warmer table just dry your fruit there and grind it in a clean spice grinder then run it through a tea strainer. i would suggest starting with Orange Zest. It will get you a sexy result for the first time. Peel the zest with a veg peeler, no pith, lay it on parchment or a silpat in a single layer, leave it for a day or night in your plate warmer (if you are at home try a very low oven over night). When it is completely dehydrated grind/seive. Sometimes I blanch/shock the zest (this is necessary with limes for a good color). If you use beet juice in anything, just juice the beets and dry the pulp in the same way. Ginger makes a great aromatic powder also. Carrots are possible too but flavorless. And store the aromatic powders in an airtight container or all the scent will disappear. I am not sure if that was what you were asking. For the tapioco maltodextrin technique most straight fruits would not have the fat requisite for the chemical reaction, I think.

i had a craving for chiken with dumplings this summer. I live in Europe and invited friends over who had never had anything like this. It was great, it reminded me of how easy it is to throw bisquits together all the time, and we all got very fat in a month. Something to think about when revisiting all these carbs and creams, but, it was the best idea I had had in months!