VivreManger

I too make a similar recipe -- in fact did it last week, though I hadn't known that Bittman made it too. I know MB is committed to recipes with standard supermarket ingredients so this suggestion is not completely kosher, but I make this dish with Chinese -- not Middle Eastern -- sesame paste. It is darker and saltier than Sahadi and similar pastes.

The real question is what you want to do with your bagel. Eaten on its own, with little or no adornment the best Montreal bagel is certainly tastier than the H&H bafel, the NYC product I know best. On the other hand the NY bagel may very well be superior when its major task is to act as a delivery system for smoked salmon, onion, tomato, chive cheese, capers, etc. I prefer to bake my H&H bagel for about 5 minutes in a 350-400 toaster oven so the crust is hard and the doughy interior is soft and steamy. Cutting into the sucker, yields a puff of doughy steam which is very pleasant. The contrast between the soft yielding interior and the crusty dough outside is delightful. The butter or cream cheese slightly melts on contact and the cool salmon and onions/tomato create another combination of cool and warm for the palate.

Just got back. Verdura was booked when we wanted it so we passed on the restaurant scene. We strolled up and down Lenox Church St. restaurant row, checking out the menus and the ambiance. Zinc Bistrot does have a bit of attitude, though the bar scene seemed warm enough. The hostess has a slightly cool Czech-like accent to go along with her willowy-model-like manner. Lucia seemed to be doing the liveliest business, though Church Street Cafe has gotten the best recommendations. The crab cakes were about $24. I think it also had the highest prices. Their osso bucco cracked the $32 barrier, hardly a bargain for basically an inelegant cut of meat and bone, however much it has come into demand. In the end we decided to drive home and eat there. (We also managed to visit our friend's art show). We did check out some High Lawn products, as well as the Berkshire Mountain Bakery in Housatonic, and Bev's an ice cream place in Lenox. I am afraid that Herrel's is better. High Lawn Farm sells its butter, salted and unsalted in one pound plastic tubs. Will try it later tonight. It also makes an aged raw milk blue, Berkshire Blue, which is licensed from the original English Berkshire producer. Picked up a very ripe and aromatic 3/4 pound slice from Guido's in Pittsfield. Unfortunately by the time we got to the bakery, they had run out of some of what we wanted, though I had called earlier in the day to reserve a few loaves. We bought one ciabatta, one flax seed whole wheat, one baguette, one sesame loaf, one cherry pecan loaf, and one tomato potato onion pizza. The baguette was undistinguished. The pizza was fab. Good junks of roasted potatoes, grilled onions, and tomato slices, with lightly sprinkled rosemary. This is a very focaccia like pizza and far superior to the Boston-baked Iggy's variation on that theme. Still have to try the other items. BTW The Corning-Revere-Courelle store in the outlet shopping mall near Lee has a sale on their FrenchWhite line and a few other items. The small microwave-oven safe casseroles are less than two dollars each.

As do the big Canadian chains.

Carswell The issue Carswell raises about the Mirror poll is one that has often troubled me about this forum, in general. The fact that it is in English does reduce the pool of Montrealers who might participate. What affect does that have on the nature of the comments and the breadth of the culinary experience? As far as I know there is no Francophone site that is comparable, anywhere. I have checked out French based sites, but they are weak by comparison to the range of comments this site can gather. Ideally I wish the forum would be bi-lingual, with Francophonie welcomed. I can think of any number of ways to develop that, but I realize many others would feel excluded from the exchange. To be sure many who already post here are not Anglos, but expecting them to post in English may diminish their participation and discourages others from joining.

I have been reviewing the recent posts here and elsewhere on restaurants in Lenox-Lee-Stockbridge- Gt. Barrington and I have come up with a few ideas for tomorrow night. I would be grateful for any comments. Bombay Grill at the Best Western Black Swan Inn in Lee has gotten the most consistently positive comments. Apparently it is run by the owners of Chola in NYC. Verdure on Railroad St. in Gt. Barrington for decent Italian. Wheatleigh and Blantyre are out of our price range. Elizabeth's in Pittsfield, MA is too far. I don't think it worth going to Bizen in Gt. Barrington for Japanese, unless someone says it is really unusual. The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge may do a decent clam chowder and turkey, but I can get that closer to Boston. I have read very mixed responses on Church Street Cafe, which describes itself as an "American bistro"; Bistro Zinc (also on Church Street); and Cafe Lucia, an Italian trattoria. From Ketchup to Caviar in Lee sounds too bizarre for words -- any further thoughts out there? Two purveyors definitely worth a visit by all accounts are: High Lawn Farm herd of registered Jerseys produces and distributes its own milk, cream and butter. The farm buildings all suggest medieval France – fanciful Norman revival. Where precisely is it? The other is Berkshire Mountain Bakery (Monument Mills, Bldg. 2, P.O. Box 785, Housatonic, MA 01236, 413-274-3412). Mass Pike to LEE, Rt 7 south then to Rt 183

Thanks for posting the info. As far as you could tell, it does not seem that any eGulleteers were quoted, but that may be impossible to verify. For the record, on Wednesday I was interviewed for a story on a completely different topic. The story ran on the news service of a national newspaper chain of some 50 papers on Thursday, quoting me among others. This morning the national correspondence had the courtesy to send me the story via email. I thanked them for their courtesy. I would hope that other papers would follow that practice.

Last time I ate pizza in NH, I hit the Spot since it was the place I used to go when a good friend lived next door to it, about thirty years ago. I was disappointed. the crust was more burnt than I enjoy and the sauce was dull. I know sauce is not necessarily the strength of these pizzas, but... After these reports when I hit NH on my next trip, this coming fall, it will be Sally's for my appetizer -- to take the edge off -- and Consiglio's for dinner. I have the number already plugged into my cell-phone so I can order it from the road -- just hit the redial button a few times. Thanks Flajoe for all the nostalgia and advice.

With regard to one detail, Montreal smoked meat is made from a whole brisket. However I believe that what has been called plate is the same as the Yiddish word "deckel" which I believe is the very well-marbeled crown-like portion on the top of the whole brisket. Thus, if I am correct, Montreal smoked meat uses both the flat somewhat stringy and tougher part of the brisket along with the fattier -- marbeled rather than strands of fat -- plate or deckel portion. A few weeks ago in Montreal I had both flat smoked meat brisket (from Schwartz's and Snowdon Del) and smoket meat brisket deckel portion from the Main. As for the court boullion question, as some of you may remember, I have advocated that technique for preparing smoked meat at home. The boullion I prepare contains a variety of the spices found in the original dry rub, along with whatever catches my fancy at the moment. I suggest the court boullion variation might be included along with the other options -- steaming etc. -- that have been considered.

Many thanks for your comments. I hope you give us an updated report. Since I was missed the dinner menu, what you say there will be particularly appreciated.

With all the hipe and Grimes' positive spin on it in the Sunday NYT, I thought it worth tuning in. What a bore! Its saving grace is that it put me to sleep earlier than anytime in the past week. True confession: I loathe reality TV.

melkor Posted on Jul 19 2003, 10:35 AM These pictures are almost enough to make me run off to California and get a slice, abandoning the smoked-meat tables of Montreal and and the pastrami pots of New York. But I do want to clarify one detail, Melkor. Did you buy a raw brisket, suitable for making corned beef or a brisket that had already been corned as you literally wrote? In other words is this from scratch or did you improve upon an already processed product?

Do you mean the hunkar begendi, that is braised lamb with eggplant puree? As a mezze at lunch, it is served off the bone. Perhaps at dinner it is served as an entire shank -- the dinner portion is much more expensive so that would make sense. The Zaytiniya version adds cheese to the eggplant, which is not traditional. Eggplant puree is made by first grilling whole eggplants with their skins on on a charcoal grill. When the skin is charred remove it from the fire and let it cool until you can peel the skin and remove any burn parts. Then mash the eggplant until it forms a smooth paste. When so prepared, slowly add olive oil to creat an emulsion between the two ingredients, similar to the egg and oil in mayonnaise. Add pressed garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. Any good recipe for braised lamb could be used. The Middle Eastern spicing would traditionally include lemon juice and thyme, but this preparation should be to your personal taste. A sprinkling of chopped parsely at the end should ready this dish for plating.

Since this last exchange, a month ago I visited the d'Oc with my daughter and finally have gotten around to posting this review: A Ricard to start. Sides of roasted tomato and pomme frites, while my daughter and I waited for our DC friend to free himself from the Hill. Although the tomatoes had been praised by Tom Sietsema, we were disappointed. They were sprinkled with scallions rather than garlic which while properly colored for Christmas -- six months off -- did not please the palate. The French fries were okay, but nothing spectacular. When we were three, we started to order the rest of our meal. I had the crab-lobster Vietnamese cigar roll. Anything properly fried with a dipping sauce tastes good for the first few bites. The dish at $9 a pop barely lasted for more than a few. I am sure there was some seafood inside it, but I was not overwhelmed with the taste of the sea. The other two starters were better. I did not taste my friends' cold cantalope soup, but it looked and smelled good. He was very pleased with it -- a good dish for a hot humid Washington evening. My daughter liked her blue cheese, walnut, and apple salad. It was a well-balanced combination of sweet, creamy, and crunchy tastes and textures, the most successful of what she ordered. I know it is not the season, but I had not had a cassoulet in awhile and I thought this grizzeled French chef could do it justice. For reasons best known to Washington chefs and their customers, Bistro d'Oc is not the only Washington restaurant to offer it in the summer. I noticed it on the menu of au Pied de Cochon -- I think that was the name -- in the heart of Georgetown on the corner of Wisconsin and M. Perhaps the unsuccessful green scallions and red tomatoes should have warned me that neither Christmas nor Santa come in June, certainly not this close to Virginia. I should have waited until then for my cassoulet. It was one of the dullest versions I have ever had. Three bare pieces of meat alone marred the legumious consistency, a small piece of sausage, one chunk of lamb, and a very tired confit de canard which must have been on duty since last Christmas. As for the others, the salmon looked good, but was dry. The white bean soup -- same beans as the cassoulet -- was cool and thick, but not terribly tasty. The sorbet and peach melba were cool and edible -- not much could be done to harm them. At the next table, a group of eager interns were digging into their steak frites. Perhaps that would have been a better choice. The restaurant is convenient to the Hill, across from the Ford Theatre, and certainly is a worthy place for a drink and a quick appetizer, but don't count on it for a great meal.

A question has arisen in the Montreal/Quebec forum about the provenance of game in France. Carswell has alerted us to the fact that in France, as opposed to North America, restaurants and shops are allowed to sell wild hunted game as well as farm-raised. I understand that much of the game available in France now comes form Eastern Europe, particularly Poland. Is that true and is this Polish game wild or farmed? All that said, I would still assume that restaurants specializing in game such as au Petit Marguery would still offer the highest quality, namely hunted meat. Any information to be added to the discussion? For the original dissussion see, http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...=0entry332462

The Holt-Renfrew connection gives added cachet to the Auberge. I knew that restaurant and shop-sold game in the US must be farm-raised, but I was not aware that a similar restriction applies in Canada. This now gives me an even greater incentive to raid my cousin's freezer next time I get there. As for French game, it is my understanding that most of what is sold in France today comes from Eastern Europe, particularly Poland. I don't know if this means wild or farm-raised. Still I would suspect that au Petit Marguery -- at least in the past -- would get the best of whatever is available. Whether that prevails under the new ownership remains ot be seen. I will post this question in the French forum as well.

I had an exchange with Rick Brooks about his request. Politely he expressed sorry that I felt the way I did and I suggested the following, which I think might be a useful policy in handling all such journalistic inquiries, particularly from the WSJ: If you do indeed feel sorry, there are three simple steps you can take: 1) Inform your superiors that their on-line fee policy is obstructing reporting. 2) Promise to post on eGullet and on any other web-site that helped you, a free version of your story with an expression of gratitude for the help rendered, and an apology of the practical difficulty of responding to each offer of help individually. 3) Inform your cheesey colleague, whose name I have forgotten, a woman named perhaps McKenna, that her previous lack of courtesy made your work more difficult. Thanks

I am swearing off helping Wall Street Journal reporters on their food stories and urge others to do the same. Quite apart from the war-mongering reactionary policies of their editorial page, the last time a WSJ reporter contacted eGullet for help with a story, her response was indifferent, selfish, and lacking in elementary courtesy. You may remember an urgent reporter's appeal for help on a raw milk cheese story. I responded as did many others. I suggested that she contact Robert Brown, one of our most vociferous resident cheese devotees. I also called her attention to other postings on the matter. She never responded to me. As far as I know she never pursued the contacts. When the story did appear, she did not have the courtesy to provide a link for eGullet. Since the Wall Street Journal, in shocking contrast to almost every major newspaper, charges, I believe, for on-line access, even if she had provided the link, we would have had to pay for the privilege of reading something we helped write. Of course I realize that the WSJ reporter's behavior is typical of the journalist's code of ethics: the 4 Fs, find 'em, feel, 'em, F 'em, forget 'em. Once they have gotten what they want, they never have the elementary courtesy to follow up the matter, even when they promise to do so. I have had a similar experience with a Fox reporter who interviewed me on a completely different story, promising to let me know when the story ran, but never bothering to do so. So tell Rick Brooks/phidippides29 or whatever he is calling himself to go stuff it. At the very least he should be informed that until the Wall Street Journal allows free access to its on-line edition, he should not bother to expect on-line users to help him write it.

When you are in a traveling mood, you should get yourself to Montreal to sample the croissants at Duc de Lorraine, Patisserie Francaise, 5002 Cote des Neiges Rd., (near Queen Mary) (514) 731-4128, 514-731-8081, www.ducdelorraine.com They are among the best in the world. Crust golden brown, buttery start and finish, light flaky dough. Can't remember the price, but I believe it was less than what you are paying up in Napa -- even without the exchange differential. Their brioche is rich and flavorful enough to be a day's meal in itself. You should also sample their very rummy, moist baba au rhum, if your sweet tooth is so inclined.

With the new plans proposed for Montreal's down-town parking lots, perhaps the site will be turned into a shelter for the homeless or low-cost housing for the needy, how droll a thought!

This was the day of rest from gastronautical travels. The day before we had clocked over 140 miles of country driving. Today we installed the dock, swam, and ate lunch at Auberge Hatley. For those curious, please refer to the previous days for a brief background to this report and some hints at the cast of characters. The Auberge, 325 chemin Virgin is set a few hundred yards above the shore line in North Hatley, commanding a majestic view of Lake Massawippi below. The building itself is a Victorian fancy, a well-preserved and maintained example of a style scattered about the area, a bit of Anne of Green Gables. Apart from its scale, it would not have been out of place among the painted ladies of San Francisco. The gardens are superbly tended, a lovely site alone worth a look-see. In fact while we were there our cousin's dentist appeared just to show a visitor the attractive house and grounds. After lunch cousin Monique spent time investigating the flora and fauna to learn what she might add to her own garden. The shores of Lake Massawippi had attracted a lot of American wealth towards the end of the 19th century, when the Canadian dollar and land prices were low, building lavish summer cottages in the hills above. While that influx has receded, their architectural remains still dot the hillsides. There are two places for eating at the inn: The less formal lunch (and I presume breakfast) spot set on a porch just above the garden-surrounded swimming pool. The formal dining room, decorated in yellows and other pastels, which commands the same stunning view of the Lake. The formal dining area expects jackets for the gentlemen. Its air conditioning is set so low, that a winter coat would not be out of place. Lunch is à la carte. Dinner is table d'hote. We were five adults for lunch. The kids stayed at home, recovering from the gastrotourism of the day before. For starters we ordered the velouté of yellow tomatoes and cumin with red tomato sorbet and the rabbit confit ravioli with carrots, asparagus, and aioli. For mains we had the bavette of red deer with haricots verts and frites, the cod, and the thin-crusted red and yellow tomato pie. For desserts we had the selection of sorbets and ice cream: vanilla frozen yogurt, verbena sorbet, basil sorbet, and a fourth that escapes my memory, one apricot clafouti with a florentine topping, and the strawberry demi-cuit coulis (so-called soup) with verbena sorbet. To drink, a Trimbach Pinot Blanc 2000 and a 2001 C'est le Printemp, Crozes Hermitage. Dishes were freely shared and so I tasted at least a bit of everything ordered. In addition to the beauty of the natural and cultivated setting, the table linens and furnishings are well-coordinated with the colors of the garden. Similar attention extends to the plating. Each dish is served in a bowl or plate distinctive to its form, shape, consistency, and color. The most spectacular was the cold tomato soup which was produced in a fluted bowl, more like a wide-mouthed vase from William-Sonomoa, than anything you would normally put a spoon into. The rich orange-yellow and tomato red colors were beautifully highlighted in this vessel. The colors reminded me of the lavish orange, yellow, saffron, and red of Indian textiles and Buddhist monk robes. The soup is a subtle combination of taste, color, and consistency. The cumin was not overwhelming, but blended in with the fruit. The sorbet was not liquidized but had chunks of red tomato. The rabbit confit ravioli were good, but less spectacular. Having sampled similar dishes later on the trip, I have decided that subtle tastes don't do well in normal sized ravioli. The quantity of filling is too small to overcome the enveloping pasta. The solution is either to pack an incredible wallop of taste in a small package or increase the overall size of the ravioli itself. The latter technique can work well. I have yet to taste the unusual ravioli that succeeds with pleasing explosions of flavor in a small package -- cheese/mushroom/spinach work well, but duck and rabbit get overwhelmed. I love confit and rabbit, but here they were buried in semolina. The vegetables and the aioli sauce surrounding the ravioli were fresh, of excellent quality and prepared al dente so their essential tastes came through beautifully. Here again a lovely plate highlighted the shape and color of the dish. The best of the mains was the tomato pie. The dish looked and tasted more like a proper French apple tart than an Italian pizza. Each tomato slice overlapped and was interleaved with the next in the classic pastry manner. The pastry itself was softer and richer than that used in a fruit tart, but it resembled it more than pizza dough. Eating the tomato tart after tomato soup might seem like gilding the lily, but the contrast between cool and warm tomatoes worked well and none of us who tasted both in succession felt we had too much of a good thing. The garden of the early summer had entered our palate. A dish like this reminds us that a tomato is a fruit. Moinique ordered the cod and loved every bite of it. Yet she is hospitable enough a cousin to spare a few bites for the rest of us and I am a polite enough guest at her house and host for the lunch not to tell her what I thought of it. Working in the land of the bean and the cod, my attitude toward the fish is similar to early 20th century New England fishermen who threw the lobsters back into the sea as trash. Even now it is so common in Massachusetts that I cannot get excited about it. Because of the difference in quotas and waters, it must be rarer in Canada. She said that it is hard to get cod, harder to get good cod, and even harder to get perfectly cooked cod. For her, the cod at Auberge Hatley got high marks on all accounts -- and she was still raving about it two weeks later. The bavette of cerf, or red deer steak, disappointed me, though the plating again was ingenious and appealing. Part of it was my mistake in ordering medium rare instead of my normal rare. The steak, not too thick to begin with, came out closer to medium. It was tender and tasty. The frites and beans were excellent. The sauce, a red wine reduction, pleasant, but the dish lacked the imagination and care evident in the tomatoes. I am also on a mission to see if I can find game as well prepared as what I ate at au Petite Marguery in Paris. Nothing yet has matched it. The other problem, as I had been forewarned by Doug, a friend at the table, is that red deer is farm-raised not local wild meat. Curiously the French ("cerf") fails to distinguish between the two. The English "red", at least helps the well-informed. Farm-raised as it was, it lacked the gaminess I enjoy in real game. Next time I am going to have to get Monique to let me defrost one of the deer steaks in her freezer, hunted by her son's bow and arrow on her own land. The desserts varied. Most intriguing were the selection of sorbets: verbena, basil, vanilla yogurt, and a fourth, missing from memory. They were smooth and delicious. Verbena I have known only as a soap and basil I have yet to have as a pudding. It was nice to learn that the soap is edible and that basil does not require lemon grass or tomatoes -- though the thought of a plate of tomato and basil sorbet is appealing. It would have been a fit ending to the all-tomato dinner we had begun. Everyone was delighted by the verbena and basil sorbets which Doug graciously shared. A clafouti is basically a baked fruit pancake -- a quick, easy, and elegant way to enjoy the summer's fruit. Here the serving is individually baked and covered with a thin florentine biscuit, so one doesn't quite know what is hiding underneath. The greatest appeal of the coulis (or soup in the English menu) of half-cooked strawberries was that it gave us all another shot at the verbena sorbet. Cool fruit soups are a great delight in the summer and the strawberries could have used a bit more attention, perhaps a liqueur or fruit essence to intensify the taste. It was not easy finding many wines under $50 -- we still have to send our kids to college. The Trimbach Pinot Blanc 2000 at $30 (about $22.50 US) was a relative bargain. The price in the States is around $10 or $11 retail -- I don't know the SAQ price. The 2001 C'est le Printemp, Crozes Hermitage at $50 topped our budget, but we all did enjoy it as well. The service was gentle, agreeable, and solicitous and we don't mind pouring our own wine, at least not at lunch. Robert and Lilian Gagnon sold the inn last year to a group of Swiss investors, if I am not mistaken. It is now a Relais Gourmand and by all accounts has not lost a bit with the new owners. One reason might be that the long-time chef, Alain Labrie, remains in charge of the kitchen. The dinner menu, available on-line at their web-site which I have misplaced but easily Googled, looks quite appealing, but for this visit lunch must suffice. Their other coordinates are: Phone: (819) 842-2451, Fax: (819) 842-2907, E-mail auberge.hatley@northhatley.com By the way, one of the attractions for some of us overlooking the pool was the parade of hotel guests, striding up and down the steps, clad in what previous generations might have called night gowns and undergarments. With legs three meters high, they had stepped out of Vogue to attend a wedding -- conveyed by humvees -- someplace in the neighborhood. Unfortunately we were not invited. If Dave McMillan is looking for more staff at Rosalie's, he might try to recruit them. From high to low cuisine. Doug did tell me that the best poutine in the neighborhood is to be found at a snack bar across from Baron's Market on the Main St. in Hatley. Thanks to eGulleteer RozRapp for her many helpful suggestions about the Auberge Hatley. We were all glad we went.

By the way, Maggie, we stopped just outside of Three Rivers in recognition of your ancestral home -- not quite, but a nice gesture.

Further details on Pinnacle Ice cider: Their other website is simply: www.icecider.com In Quebec their products are to be found at Marche des saveurs du Quebec at the Jean-Talon Market in Montreal Terroir d'Emile, Longeuil Marche Affieur Corbeau, Dollard des Ormeaux Les Comptoirs du Terroir, Marche du Vieux Port, Quebec IGA Daignault, Cowansville I did encourage a visit, but at the height of the winter they close their shop. It is normally open from May to December. For special orders, contact Frederic Boucher, 514-594-9928, fred@icecider.com

This was the first day devoted to gastrotourism. I had three goals. Two out of three was more than the other three could take. As a result it was also the day in which the wife threatened a divorce -- almost -- and the kids planned their escape from the monastery to the orphanage. It began easily enough as cousin Monique watered the garden with help from her guests and we all together decided whether the dock at the shack on Lake Massawippi would go up today or tomorrow. Dock delayed, the way was clear for my plan. The first goal was the abbey of St. Benoît du Lac, Austin Village, about an easy country driving hour away, on the other side of Lake Memphremagog. My appetite had been whetted by Leslie Chesterman's article on the Quebec cheese trail, http://www.globeandmail.com/special/food/wtrav3.html The Abbey tries to walk a fine line between the commerce that supports it and the spirit that justifies it. The web-site, www.st-benoit-du-lac.com, is devoted to the spiritual vocation, though phone numbers and email addresses are provided to contact its cheese and cider operations as well as its store. As a result the site -- at least as of now -- contains no detailed information about what the Abbey produces and sells. Entering the compound, I saw no sign of its subterranean commercial enterprise. Spotting the families crossing the parking lot, toting bags of cheese and cider, gave the clue to what to find and where to look. The main building at the parking lot's edge buries the store, while housing in its cool corridors a visual history of the Abbey and Order and the chapel of the community. A sign requesting modest dress made us wonder if tank tops would be banned, but no one seemed to be troubled. Significantly that sign was more prominent than any indication that lucre was lurking below. The store lives in the basement, occupying much of this level, a large open space, enough to display several dozen products -- food, books, and souvenirs -- from the abbey itself, from other Quebec monasteries, as well as other sources. The store closes during morning mass so it is wise to call beforehand. Although not available on the web-site there are brochures describing their main products: cheese and cider. They make 14 different cheeses. Unfortunately the most interesting were not in stock. They also produce at least five different ciders, other apple products, and maple candies, sugar and syrup as well. Cheeses are cow, sheep, and goat. None are described as raw-milk. Also disappointing was the absence of a tasting room. So we had to buy blind. Two cheeses missing from their stocks were the Chanoine Bleu de Brebis, a three-month aged blue cheese, and Chèvre Noit, a 9 to 10 month aged Goat Blue. We did buy and try the Mont St. Benôit, a very mild, young Swiss-like cheese, l'Archange, quite mild for a firm goat cheese, the Bleu Bénédictin, a three-month aged blue, pleasant tasting, but nothing distinguished, the Ricotta de Chévre, which we bought out of curiosity, and the Bleu Ermite, the first produced by the abbey when they opened their cheese dairy in 1943. Each of these five cheeses were good enough, but not terribly exciting, certainly nowhere near as good as the raw milk cheeses we discovered later in our travels. However we did buy pound cryovac packages of each of the available blues -- Bénédictin and Ermite -- and will give them another taste to see if the initial judgment stands. Saint-Benoît started its business and established its reputation decades ago when Kraft cheeses dominated the Canadian market. By that standard, they were superb. Over the past five to ten years, new cheesemakers have arisen, combining raw milk, long-standing artisanal traditions and commercial savvy. In this new climate, Saint- Benoît cannot maintain a cutting gastronomic edge, if that has ever been its goal. We also tried some of their ciders, the dry and semi sweet. By comparison to what we drank later, the drinks were not that interesting. In terms of what is widely available, I prefer Cidre du Minot, which is to be sure, a tad sweeter than even the Saint-Benoît semi-sweet. The apple juice and maple candy were good -- we should have gotten more. However, the apple sauce has too much sugar. One other treat we have yet to try, a carmel chocolate sauce from a Cistercian monastery in Oka, Quebec. It boasts 35% cream, along with sugar, corn syrup, and glucose. The chocolate is only fifth in the list of ingredients so I expect a sugar high way before the cocoa chemicals kick in. There is an uneasy contradiction at Saint-Benoît between commercial necessities and Benedictine seclusion, discipline, and rigor. It seems that both could still be maintained. Much of the abbey's operations are secluded from public access, fair enough. But a more customer friendly approach would offer tastings. However I suspect that the Monastery has built up such a reputation over the years that it has very little need to sell itself. In the short run, this probably makes good business sense, but given the explosion of Quebec artisanal gastronomy, it is not clear that Saint-Benoît can maintain such indifference indefinitely. At this point in our journey the adolescent bellies were bustling with hunger enzymes. Tried to calm them with maple candy, chevre, and apple juice, but that was not enough. That salle de degustation I proposed would have helped, but instead all I heard from the oldest was: "Its the first day of our vacation and you made us go to a monastery -- oh my God!" Now the search for immediately edible food began in earnest. We had passed a number of acceptable spots on the road from Magog, but we were now pointed west to ice cider country and I was not turning back. Fortunately after another twenty minutes, we discovered Gigi and Mimi in Bolton Center. This resto/snack-bar is located at the intersection of 245 and Chemin Nicolas Austin (the road to Austin) which at this point changes its name to Baker Pond Mountain as it heads to Bolton Glen and Knowlton. Coming on the Austin Road it is on the left, south-east corner of the intersection. The women who run it have owned for about four or five years and are not sure they want to continue the hard work of keeping the place in business. We had one chef's salad which was excellent, fresh (non-iceberg) lettuces, red and yellow bell peppers. The other orders were a chicken sandwich, made with real shredded chicken that they said they had cooked themselves and a grilled cheese sandwich. The only disappointment was the caesar salad. It was covered with shredded mozarella. I saw the locals ordering the special of the day, roastbeef and various sides -- it looked edible. They try to make as much as possible from scratch. My mission that day was to get to the Domaine Pinnacle in Frelighsburg, not a great distance for crows, but on back bumpy country roads more than the troops could stomach. The drive was pleasant. The views beautiful, gentle slopping hills and vales, farms, well-tended gardens and cute vacation homes -- in season this is ski country -- plenty of live-stock to keep the 12-year old mooing. However when we finally got to the Domaine, a mini-rebellion was at hand. A bit of sweet cider might have calmed everyone, but all they were offering was the real stuff: Ice Cider and Apertif Cider. Pinnacle Ice Cider is supposed to be among the best. Judging by the two other brands subsequently sampled, I would agree -- but more yet remains to try. Served chilled, it has the full body of a sweet sauterne or Beaumes de Venise muscat, coupled with an intense apple flavor. This cider requires the hard winter of Quebec -- or for that matter northern New England -- to freeze the apples on the tree and press them so that their sugary juice is concentrated. Ciders of all sorts have been made for centuries, but it is only within the last decade or so that a systematic attempt has been made in Quebec to develop this and other specialized products. Pinnacle Estates, a small family owned and run operation, only established in 2000, has aspirations to establish an international market for its product. During my visit, Charles Crawford, who owns the Estates with his wife, was in France attending a wine show. Jennifer Smith, who manages the store, described his efforts to export to the States, a tiresome task because of the US constitution and the legacy of the Volstead Act. In addition to the 2001 Ice Cider, the only other product on offer, was the 2000 Apertif Cider, 15% alcohol rather than 10%, a fortified wine with a much stronger calvados-like after taste. We got a baker's dozen combining the two, for less than the normal retail price. Unfortunately some of the even more refined ciders described on their website were not available for sale -- http://www.domainepinnacle.com/icecider/e/home.html, but more products are being introduced so keep watching that site. They also sell preserves and coulis -- we got wild grape and highbush cranberry, as well as some honeys -- buckwheat, blueberry, and cream -- from local purveyors. I had hoped to get to Girondine, a producer and purveyor of duck, duck foie gras, quail, geese, guinea hen, rabbit, eggs, and various related charcuterie nearby whom Crawford had recommended to me earlier, but they were closed. And even if they were not, I could not afford to lose my family. From their website the foods had been very tempting: À La Girondine, website, www.netc.net/lagironde, 104, route 237 Sud, Frelighsburg (Québec) J0J 1C0 Téléphone: (450) 298-5206 Télécopieur: (450) 298-5216, cell 514-501-4974 email, lagirondine@netc.net Both shops are within a few minutes of the Vermont border, and within an hour's drive of Burlington, so any who are heading there for skiing would be wise to arrange a visit. The Pinnacle Estates comprise rolling apple orchards surrounding a gracious headquarters office-store that, according to local tradition housed escaping slaves moving north on the underground railroad in the nineteenth century and booze moving south for bootlegging in the twentieth. On a clear day the view extends as far south as Smuggler's Notch and across to Lake Champlain. With local foie gras off the agenda, we headed back home to Hatley as quickly as possible. The drives around the three lakes, Brome, Memphremagog, and Massawippi, did sooth the spirits and infuse the air with fresh blue waters. However just before getting back we did manage a pit stop at the local gourmet shop in Ayer's Cliff, G. O. Houde, at the junction of 143 & 208, just across from the band-stand. I somehow spotted a delicious game, pistachio, and green apple terrine, some duck rillettes, and foie gras to accompany our Ice Cider which we chilled as soon as we got home. Though not as close to the terroir of Freligsburgh as Girondine, this Charlesbourg charcuterie did well in a pinch.

Since most of the cans are stamped Alaska, at the very least it was probably packed there. As for where the salmon actually came from and whether it is wild or farmed, I can't say. To begin to answer that question, we would have to know whether or not they farm salmon in Alaska. If they do, then farmed salmon probably ends up in the can, but if they don't farm it there, the chances that the canned is wild, increase. For what it is worth only one of the cans specificied that the salmon was wild. The others avoided the issue. In the States, around 4 July the local Massachusetts markets stock Alaska King salmon, which I have always assume is wild. At other times, it -- and other northwest varieties -- is only available at Whole Food Markets and then only occasionally. The difference between the two is significant and certainly worth the price. The wild not only has more flavor, it also reveals much more variation from fish to fish.