gus_tatory

on the topic of 'Unexplained Snacks of America', who dreamt up the butter-flavoured pretzel? that is just rude. and yet i had a few and they were, uhh, edible. my favourite American snack food? beef jerky, but with as few ingredients as possible, and well-made.

so interesting that, literally, halfway around the world from you, in Nova Scotia, there are also huge spring strawberry pickings (well, more like June ...) are there varieties of wild garlic/onions, mushrooms, or asparagus found in Japan in the spring?

i know what you mean. i like both green tea and yerba mate a lot. recently, i bought green tea blended with lemongrass, and yerba mate blended with something else (i can't remember). neither of them are as good as the plain teas themselves...

i just PM'd VivreManger to confirm my attendance, and i think i may have to eat nothing but Evian and soda crackers all week to train for this. that is soo cool that we have a video crew! the coolest would be if we could make some .avi or .mpeg video files for eGullet about the 'tastings'...

eat2much pretty much explains it. 'depanneur' is just the Quebec word for 'corner store' or 'convenience store'. like a 7-11, but with much more local flavour. it is also true that depanneurs can only sell, umm, crappy wine, since the government through the Societe D'Alcools de Quebec (SAQ website) sells the rest.

docsconz: this should be a eG Culinary Institute class on making maple products. i live in Quebec (home of the maple ) and i don't think i could do a better job explaining/illustrating than you have. thanks. and on that note, i think there's some maple syrup, possibly in cahoots with vanilla ice cream, calling my name in the kitchen... edit to fix: substandard spelling.

i think it was fair enough, considering he basically said "this is the best of the worst" before the article. you have to ask yourself though, does The Gazette's target audience even *buy* depanneur wine? i have to agree with you, mcmillan: the only use i have for a bottle of "Si Si Si" (Chilean depanneur red wine) is to add a litre of orange juice to it, and make sangria.

ok, *this* McCain's golden fries ad is the worst ad ever: (wife and nother-in-law in living room, talking about how you should try the fries 'naked', i.e., with just salt. hubby emerges from shower, wearing a towel. he stands behind counter, and m-i-l is convinced he's nude.) Husband: "Hey honey, is that a new shampoo we're using? Because it smells like... (notices Mother-in-Law) Oh hey, Mean Jean, didn't see you there." (mother-in-law flees apartment in terror, husband makes doofus look at wife, they eat Mccain's golden crisp french fries.) this is for real, unfortunately, and only available in english Canada.

along the lines of what FistFullaRoux said, i make yellow/green split pea soup and Indian-spiced lentil soup (dahl) in my slow-cooker. it's the perfect vessel for these preps.

yes, in Canada corndogs are called "Pogos", after a brand name of the leading manufacturer. fifi: you may be delighted/alarmed to learn that there's a National Corndog Day, March 20th...

thanks for the post and pictures, docsconz! i was thinking i should start a maple thread on the Montreal board... Q: in New York State do they have what we call here "Cabane a Sucre" (Sugar Shack) parties, where all the food is drenched in maple syrup? a typical Quebec menu would be: sausages/ham/bacon in maple syrup, baked beans ditto, "oreilles de crisse" (fried pork rinds) ditto, "grandperes" (steamed dumplings) ditto, and then, as you say, the reduced syrup poured on snow and eaten as taffy... do you guys in NY state have those dinners, and what do you serve there?

you could start here: Google search of "new york ethnic grocer". good luck!

Kim WB: hope your ankle is better... it's always hard to know, when going to a favourite place, or an old-standby, if you just hit them on a bad evening, or if, as you say, they're coasting and ready to fall. do you suppose if you wrote the management a kind letter, outlining your experience above, it might help them get their proverbial sh*t together?

i have to be a traditionalist here: plus, i don't even *know* what they do to an avocado to make it 'powder'. guacamole, IMHO, is: ripe avocadoes, lemon juice, minced shallots/onions/green onions/tomatoes (any mix of the above), chili flakes, coriander leaf and/or seed, Tabasco (green or red), and from here it's open to personal prefs... an ounce of silver tequila, chipotle peppers, toasted corn tortilla crumbs... i have never tasted that brand (Herr's) dip, so maybe it's really good. but the ingredients list you provided was a little, uh, overwhelming.

of course not, Jinmyo! but i didn't see any agedashi tofu on that list...

that sounds good SobaAddict70. i have somewhat atypical "comfort" foods like kosher dill pickles, pretzels, rare sliced roast beef and prosciutto from the deli, baguette. but also canned seafood chowder, taramosalata, toasted rye bread... i could go on

for me, no coffee: tea. plain green tea, like three cups of it, with about 1/2 tsp of vanilla-sugar per cup. if it's food, it's a banana. i don't eat much in the mornings. except for the occasional bacon 'n' eggs thing on the weekend...

they just had this on the ctv news, and i turned to my boyfriend and said, "what year is it in Ontario? 1965?" it's true; way overdue...

i've had crispy spinach where it's as you describe, paper-thin and potato-chip like. mmm... i just wondered (perhaps i should conduct a test-kitchen) whether dusting it with rice flour might help? the spinach prep you describe with the sesame and chilis sounds great.

bergerka: loving your blog. question on the topic of food that influences one's singing voice: do you find that dairy foods mess with your voice?

jo-mel: thanks for the info. crispy spinach is a delight. have you ever seen it done with a light dusting of, say, rice flour? do you think it might help? thanks.

i've had "rhums arranges" by a friend who actually went to L'ile de la Reunion. it was very sweet, aromatic, and very potent. the funniest thing though is the French pronunciation of "punch" = "pawnssh".

here's their phone no. if you want to find out: Tel. : (514) 276-0414

i will never enjoy the taste of tarragon. it smells like a cleaning product to me.

ok, i just learned how to make an Amazon-commission eGullet link, through Rachel Perlow and Fat Guy _here_ , so i'd like to recommend this book: American Gourmet, by the Sterns. it covers a period of American cooking history with wit and research. FG: it would make good background reading, if you don't already know this book.