AndrewM

I'm going to disagree about the Raichlen books. I have Schlesinger's books and agree they're excellent. Raichlen's Barbecue Bible has a lot of information in it though, lots of techniques, and a huge number of recipes from around the world. I like the more international bent of the BBQ Bible when I feel like cooking something West Indian or whatever. Lots of marinade and rub recipes as well. I do find he usually uses too much salt for my taste. And it's more about grilling than smoking. I'd get books by both authors. You can't have just one BBQ book.

Weird, I saw the Barry Lazar book in stores around Xmas and the Chapters website says it was published in April 2003. I think it is the Flavourguy book though, as Carswell says, not the older and as far as I know out of print Guide to Ethnic Montreal.

You might want to check out Barry Lazar's Taste of Montreal, a book that purports to list (I haven't got it) sources for ethnic food in Montreal. It's cheap enough. The webpage says it's not yet published but it is. For Indian, there are places on Jean Talon west of Ave. du Parc that would fit the bill. Although I think this is where a Pakistani sweets seller was shot the other day. There are also Middle Eastern places, halal butchers in this neighbourhood. There's a good Thai grocery supply at the corner of Jean Talon and St. Denis called Thai something or something Thai (!) Across the street, a Vietnamese place. The place in La Cité that gus_tatory mentions also has some Chinese and Thai stuff. Atwater Market has Les Douceurs du Marché for ethnic goodies as well. Good thread!

Hi Marian and thanks for doing this Q&A. You mentioned in an earlier response about food writing that you thought it would be good if there were more stories about food quality, safety and production (I'm paraphrasing). There's been a lot of depressing news in the past little while, whether it's mad cow, PCBs in fish, now the bird flu. Then you have agri-business, whether it's battery chickens, the environmental impact of some fish farms, or factory pig farms - here in Canada, for instance, huge pig farms are posing a real problem in several communities. We haven't even brought up genetically modified food yet. Or the demise of the small farmer, being replaced by giant corporate food machines. While the organic and slow food movements have a bit more visibility in the past while, I suspect it's largely among foodies who want top quality and back-to-nature types, together still a tiny portion of the general population, which keeps growing and increasing the demand for cheap food of whatever quality. At times, it can also be difficult for the average consumer to separate fact from media scare. What do you see as the real problems in food safety and food production, and do you see things getting better (e.g., the growing popularity of CSAs and buying local ingredients, organic sections in some supermarkets), or getting worse?

I've made the Mock Porchetta with great success. Also a number of the salads...

Has anyone tried the Pam Anderson method for beef stew in the lastest issue of Fine Cooking in which the stew is cooked in a 450 degree oven for 1 hour 30 min? It goes against everything I've read and practised but I'm curious and will try it sometime. The diameter of the pot (no more than 11") and sealing it really well with tin foil over the stew and pot rim are apparently key. Re. tomato paste in a tube: Marlene, any place that specializes in Italian items is likely to have this. I find some have too much salt.

Made the alternative "Shan State style" larb from Hot Sour Salty Sweet tonight, the laab moo tai yai. This is the HSSS larb made with roasted garlic, lemongrass, chiles, roasted sesame seeds, galangal (didn't have any, substituted some ginger), coriander, mint, shallots, and stir-fried ground pork instead of poached. Achieved total larbosity. The 12-year-old had three helpings (I'd doubled the recipe). Pride ensued...

Carswell, Cheering you on in your search for the best confit. Have you tried that poultry place on Roy just east of St. Laurent? The name escapes me. Fernando or something? I believe they make confit. Will check the Quartiers Gourmands guide, which is where I think I saw the reference.

Mongo - thanks for doing this. Very educational and delicious looking!

Not a real answer for you: has anyone tried Boucherie France-Canada on Van Horne and de l'Epee? I haven't, but I noticed them listed in the Quartiers Gourmand guide and keep meaning to go try. The guide says they do more than 300 confits a week.

Has anyone tried 1,000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra? Any thoughts on this one?

Got this one unexpectedly for Xmas and am in the middle of it. A very good collection, fun and informative. Some of the pieces you'll have read already if you follow the food publications. Best title is surely "Travels with Captain Bacon."

A quick check of my book sources shows that French Provincial Cooking is in print with a new preface by Julia Child, and there are still some copies around through Amazon (and abebooks.com) of the handy collection Elizabeth David Classics, which consists of Mediterranean Food, French Country Cooking, and Summer Cooking together in one volume. Almost unbelievably, Amazon says that most of her books are actually still in print (for quite a while this was definitely not the case, and I'm not quite sure I do believe Amazon on this one). In Canada at least, I have seen French Provincial Cooking, Italian Food, and French Country Cooking in paperback from Penguin in a bookstore within the past week.

I wouldn't bother with Lester's. It's in the neighbourhood, so I'll go there on occasion when I need a smoked meat fix and don't want to travel. Not bad but really not in the same league as Schwartz's or the Main. Now, I do remember having a really good smoked meat from some place in the Atwater market. Can't remember the name as I rarely go to Atwater, usually Jean Talon. I've always meant to go back and see if that smoked meat was all a dream...

Ah, brilliant. And the oven's due for a self-clean.