LukyJess

Good morning Everyone, Hope all is well! I will be picking up all orders from Montreal shops (chocolat-chocolat, DR, etc.) today or at the latest Tuesday morning. Please send me a note at jess7luky@gmail.com to let me know exactly what you've ordered so that I can ensure nothing's missing. Thank you and I very much look forward to meeting you all in a couple weeks! Jess

So so so jealous you got to enjoy the panettone! Thank you Alleguede for bringing me one hope you are all having a wonderful time!

Just wanted to say how exciting this is all going to be!

Love this photo of you Kerry!

Hi Patrickamory, I found that the mantis shrimp taste like enhanced shrimp... almost like a mini lobster or langoustine (Norway lobster?) but more delicate... very tasty... The fishermen fish all sorts of crustaceans; they can tell apart different species of mantis shrimp by their corresponding colouring and patterns on the shells, also shapes, etc. I am not 100% sure what species these were, as my cantonese is non-existent. I will find out and get back to you!

Hi Smithy, We ate using hands and chopsticks... they do provide nutcracker-like type of pliers to break the shells. You can see the handles of the pliers on the right side on the photo with the lobster. The mantis shrimp have softer shells so scissors are provided.

Thank you for posting the link, I didn't realize it wasn't working!

Ok so to finish up this post: We went to dinner at the Hung Kee restaurant, where you get to pick what you want to eat out of the tanks. We must have ordered 12 courses but here are some highlights: Chicken feet were tried... Crab with Scallions and Ginger: Noodles with fresh Lobster: Neat little snails cooked in a broth: Barbecued duck: The mantis shrimp... TAMED! and headed towards my tummy:They're honestly pretty ugly once cooked, looking like giant grasshoppers or insects of the like, but they are the best tasting shrimp-like creatures I've ever tried! After dinner we went for a little stroll on the boardwalk where I creeped up to a family eating oysters bigger than I ever seen, they must have been at least 12 inches long and 4 wide... I was in awe: And that is all I have for Sai Kung! Hope you enjoy! Posting all this on here has been reviving memories and I so wish I was back exploring more of China... and the food, gosh the food in Hong Kong and China... so good!

This is a trip I took with my good friend, Jenny, and her family. They were going to Hong Kong for their cousin's wedding and took me along so I could explore. On my last day, they graciously invited me to join their family friends' summer hideout near Sai Kung... a floating fishing village. The little homes have just the bare necessities but the kitchen is the most important section. While enjoying the sunday afternoon basking in the sun, I was offered to fish and we prepared hooks with shrimp as bait. Needless to say I didn't catch anything exciting... I did get to pull out the blue crab trap! Towards the end of the day, we took the boat back to shore and headed toward the town of Sai Kung, a fisherman village. The village has an awesome boardwalk comprising many seafood restaurant that display their menu in large tanks. Close-up on the cuttlefish: Mantis Shrimp (the nice ones): Mantis Shrimp (the mean ones - they are kept in plastic bottles because they are said to be so aggressive the fisherman don't want them to destroy (yes ... "destroy") one another or break their enclosure: (Here's a comedic account of why the mantis shrimp is so fascinating: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp) This is a HUGE crab... his body alone was bigger than a football I am sure. I would not like to come face to face with one of these guys snorkelling... This post is too long so I will continue in the next.

Hi Smithy, The conch are extracted live; a rock hammer is used to pierce a hole at the tip of the shell to alleviate the internal pressure/suction. Then the animal is pulled out from the front... (it was sad to watch, as it was wiggling his little eyestalks...) The animals inedible bits are then cut off. The verge is apparently an important part to eat raw, to promote human virility. Then the remainder of the animal is beaten with a meat tenderizer to form a paste that is fried or used to make into dumplings etc.

Here is the account of my girls' weekend trip to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras. As soon as we landed in New Orleans and checked in our hotel, we jetted out to find food... so hungry! Thankfully, our hotel was at a prime location, just by two of the most renown oyster joints in the city: Acme Oyster House ( Felix's restaurant (http://www.felixs.com). Although we did eat at both, we only took photos at Acme: For oyster too, we recommend sitting at the Bourbon House oyster bar: But we did try a breakfast po' boy at Stanley's, also renown for brunch (http://www.stanleyrestaurant.com''>http://www.stanleyrestaurant.com'>http://www.stanleyrestaurant.com). As a musical city, jazz is very much present absolutely everywhere! The Irving Mayfield Playhouse is a great little lounge to share a charcuterie platter with wine or just a glass of bourbon, and just enjoy a 'smooth' evening. We found some recipes posted in a street of the French Quarter that we have not yet tried. And we quickly learned that besides oysters, crawfish is a food in New Orleans cuisine, prepared in many different ways.

Here I will start a thread where I will share the wonderful food I have had the opportunity to try through my travels in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Most recently, I have traveled to Europe and documented the beautiful meals I enjoyed on the following eG thread: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/151070-chocdoc-goes-to-france/ Specifically, the meals I had in Paris and Barcelona were shared with Kerry, who handled the eG reporting. I added my photos from Lisbon as I traveled there on my own, afterwards. Before this trip, Rodney and I went on vacation with a couple of friends to Providenciales, island of Turks and Caicos. Here are the food highlights... We rented a little condo-villa so that we could make our own meals and have all sorts of freedom (http://www.atlanticbeachfrontvillas.com/magnolia-villa.asp). Most of our meals consisted of local seafood. Our kitchen tools were very limited, but we did have a barbecue, which was awesome to say the least! Our friend went off to find coconut to make pina coladas. One of several dinners on the beach. We went to Da Conch Shack for lunch... where we saw conch fishing and preparation, a local specialty. Dates growing in the trees. On our last night, we decided to get lobsters and make an epic dinner before return to reality. Note the color of the lobsters in the first photo - they are not yet cooked and yet so colourful! Our very resourceful friend has since decided that for our next trip together, we will not only cooking our own meals, we will also be hunting it... this is bound to get very interesting and we may just end up starving...

If you do go, find the gentleman featured in the striped shirt in my photos. His name is Judge (I am not sure how to spell it, but it sounds like this). He is the owner of Spirit Tree, which is now run by his daughter and son-in-law. He is a wonderful man, with lots of history to count, from descriptions of the buildings' unique architecture to the family's decision to undertake the craft of cider making. We learned a ton from him, as he sat to enjoy some cider while we were trying ours and snacking on the daily specials.

Just over three weeks ago, Kerry Beal and I set out on an European food adventure (http://forums.egullet.org/topic/151070-chocdoc-goes-to-france/page-1). Kerry recommended that I continue posting my food-related experiences here on eGullet, so here goes! My friend, Taylor, and I have decided a few weeks ago that we would start taking weekly hikes for two reasons, as an healthy initiative and also to discover beautiful Ontario landscapes. Taylor and I started our hiking project with Webster's Fall near Hamilton, ON (http://www.gowaterfalling.com/waterfalls/webster.shtml). As our 6 hour hike ended, we were starved and decided to stop in Hamilton for a snack before heading home. This turned into dinner at the Bread Bar (http://breadbar.ca/home). At the time, we did not take any photos of our dinner, but we were very pleased with the wonderful pizza dinner we shared: the daily special Loaded Fries (poutine concept, but served with roasted chicken breast with ranch sauce and asiago and scallions that particular evening... yummmmm!!!) as appetizer, followed by the unconventional yet very delicious Bee Sting Pizza. This past weekend, we set out to find the Cheltenham Badlands (http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/trails/view/cheltenham-hills). During our hike, we stumbled out of the woods, onto Creditview Rd and found the Spirit Tree Cidery (http://www.spirittreecider.com/), which also hides a cute little pub and bakery with wood oven. Long flight of ciders for tasting! Spinach-leek-goat cheese perogies with yogurt. Deepfried apple slices with honey yogurt.

Made it back to Paris, my flight was only delayed from the strike, not cancelled thankfully! So yesterday late afternoon/evening, I went to the Mercado da Ribeira "TimeOut" (http://www.timeout.com/city-guides/time-out-mercado-da-ribeira-lisbon/). This place is pretty neat, it not only comprises food producers but also "snapshot" restaurants by famous Portuguese chefs. I had dinner at Alexander Silva's (https://www.zomato.com/grande-lisboa/food-corner-chef-alexandre-silva-cais-do-sodr%C3%A9-lisboa); Risoto com Vieiras, with a glass of Quinta dos Termos Fonte Cal. For dessert I bought what I thought were chocolates from Santini (http://www.santini.pt/). Turns out these were filled with sorbet! After dinner I took the Ascensor da Bica to then walk through Bairro Alto and Chiado, back to Baixa. I went looking for the almond pastries and I think what I posted earlier was not it. I posted little tartelets called Lamegos - here's another versio by Casa Suica (http://www.casasuica.pt/). Then I came across the Queijadas da Sintra, which would appear to fit better the crustless description; from Pastelaria Ferrari (https://www.zomato.com/grande-lisboa/pastelaria-ferrari-baixa-lisboa). After walking around a bit more and purchasing mother's days gift for my mom and mom-in-law, I decided to call it a night. Since I did not post my breakfast at the hotel, here it is from this morning, including the passion fruit juice. That is all I have to report for now, as I am back in Paris, preparing to come back home to Canada.

Kerry - how do you like the pain d'epices? We usually have it in the afternoon with black tea. Also, could you please describe a little more the pastry for which you would like me to find a recipe? I think I found what you want... but I am not 100% sure. Is it something like this? These ones are fancier than most version in regular bakeries but they are essentially an almond cake of some sort baked in the same shape as the custard tarts, without a real defined crust. I can certainly start a new thread "Tales from my travels"... I hope it will interest you all. I will most likely start it when I get home because internet access is proving a little finicky at this hotel.

Today's meals are a lot lighter... I feel like my fitness has greatly increased in terms of walking, but I feel like I have been taking in more calories than burning them. Breakfast was very similar to that in France, with the exception of the passion fruit juice I drank instead of orange juice: it was very very very sour in taste! I set off to Belem where I tried the world famous Pasteis de Belem along with traditional Pasteis Bacalhau (cod croquette). Fondant sculpture. Beautiful tea urn. For lack of patience (I didn't want to wait forever in the line up to have coffee at the café, I ended up going to Starbucks (I can't believe I am writing this... I am almost ashamed, but the addiction was greater than my will). I was positively surprised to find their coffee to be very different than that of north America and quite decent actually! It still doesn't beat traditional European coffee. The other photos I wanted to share were more about the environment: Kerry - here are escalators that move with the spacing of the stairs, a different take on Paris' uphill escalators... Lemon trees ripe with fruit. Just like in Barcelona, orange and olive trees everywhere. I also saw a gipsy picking oranges from the trees, so I guess that answers our question about how come the bottom of the trees are fruitless compared to the tops (I also suspect the city cleans up too). All of Lisbon is hills and a vast majority of the roads and sidewalks are paved in small cobblestones. I can only imagine having to talk through all this in high heels!

Hi Kerry, As per your recommendations, I am continuing this food journey - its last chapter: Lisbon. Glad to see you made it home ok! I arrived this morning and went straight to my hotel, a three-star (very cheap price-wise) hotel - they provided me with a two-bedroom brand new suite with an awesome shower and a fantastic looking buffet (have not yet tried it). This further reinforces my concerns on the hotel star-rating system in Europe... but I am not complaining at all about this hotel! Anyway, I walked from the hotel (near Lisbao Central Park) to Placa do Comercio, through Baixa: Then after a fair bit of Rossio, Braixa, I had lunch at Populi (http://www.populi.pt/), where I had bread served with olive oil, garlic butter and black olive tapenade. I had the Arroz de polvo malandrinho com aromas de canela e coentros as my main. In the afternoon I went on to explore Mouraria, Santa Cruz and Alfama. I stopped at Maria Catita for dinner (http://www.mariacatita.pt/). To the disapproving look of the waiters, I made my dinner of appetizers: marinated olives, bread right out of the oven served with garlic butter, a soft goat cheese, what I believe may be Iberico-type of ham (Presunto porco preto 24 meses de cura... that the waitress referred to as Spanish ham), with a glass of white Chamine. \ I also had the appetizer mussels served traditionally (name escapes me). For dessert, I tried the traditional bean cake, Pudim do Feijao dos Frades do Covento da Horta. Have a good evening! Jess

Hi there! We are interested in this workshop but we were wondering what will the agenda include? Thank you so much