carswell

You mean from the island, right? It's pretty rare stuff and pricey to boot. Have never seen it on sale in Montreal. Sweet Maria's in Oakland (they ship to Montreal) has carried green beans in the past but refused to stock last year's crop due to quality issues. The Island of St. Helena Coffee Company (I believe they're the one and only grower) now has a transactional website.

Last weekend, the only stall I found selling yellow corn was on the west side of the second allée (counting from the west) about 100 feet from the north (Fromagerie Hamel) end. Staffed by a middle-aged Québécoise who said the corn came from St-Marc-sur-Richelieu. I bought a half dozen ears and made them into one of my late summer favourites, chilled purée of corn soup (nothing but corn, water and a half a bay leaf) drizzled with truffle oil and garnished with chives (chervil and a basil chiffonade are worthy alternatives). Sorry to say that the soup was so sweet it would have been better as dessert. Next time, I'll try to find some Silver Queen for the soup and will save the yellow ears for grilling. BTW, Chez Louis and Chez Nino both had lobster mushrooms. Black fig season is upon us. Havre aux glace's new melon-lime sorbet is delicious if subtile. And La Dépense has a wide variety of rices, flours, condiments, etc., including a decent selection of Indian staples like papadoms, pickles and chutneys. The place just gets better and better.

My fishmonger insists that smoked lox is not an oxymoron. Wikipedia agrees, as does Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition): "salmon which has been cured in brine and sometimes smoked".

Here's a basic recipe. You can add or substitute other vegetables (like turnips and leeks), meats (like bacon) and herbs/spices (like clove, nutmeg, oregano) if you like. Some cooks suggest not adding the meat until halfway through the cooking, claiming the salt toughens the peas; I've not found this to be a problem. Pick over, rinse and drain 500 g yellow split peas. Finely chop 1 medium onion, 1 or 2 carrots and 1 branch celery including the leaves. Place a ham bone with some meat attached (substitute 200 g meaty salt pork, diced) in a soup pot. Add the peas and vegetables, 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon dried savoury and 2.5 litres water. Bring to a boil and simmer slowly for 2 hours, adding more water if necessary. Remove the ham bone; pick off the meat and shread any large chunks. Return the meat to the pot. Cover and simmer until the peas are tender. Season with salt and pepper. If desired, purée all or part of the soup before serving.

I've done both. That first time, though, I chopped the truffle and put much of it in the brouillade. The rest went into a vinaigrette as per Rossini's famous recipe. The trimmings went into a small container of olive oil (the best way of ensuring that your truffle oil isn't "nature identical"). By the way, the only downside of brouillade is it's appearance. One trick is to spoon it into emptied, cleaned and air-dried eggshells (the bottom 2/3), place them in egg cups and garnish with a paper-thin slice of truffle and some chives. Minimum of overnight. I usually leave the fungus with the eggs two or three days and up to five. To some extent, it depends on the truffle; Himalayan truffles can easily last a week and since they're more about odour than flavour, it makes sense to leave them with the eggs longer.

The once I tried it with the dilled new potatoes, I was underwhelmed with the results. What flavourings and vegetables have you used? Certainly it can in something like potatoes, which cook for 20 minutes or so. And my impression is that boiled green beans require a less salty vinaigrette than steamed beans do. But I haven't done any side-by-side testing. Looks like an opportunity here. How about we and anyone else who's game do a virtual test kitchen?

Thanks for mentioning that. It's one of my pet peeves. Earlier rant here. Following a tip from Julia Child, I sometimes rest the salmon on a bed of spruce or juniper branches when curing. (Don't try this if you're using skinless salmon. Then again, authentic gravlax isn't made with skinless salmon.) I've never seen it done in Sweden, however. Last summer, friends served a delicious first course of ahi tuna cured gravlax style with a kind of deconstructed salade niçoise. If you're interested, I might be able to finagle the recipe from them. Another friend cures salmon in gin and then uses it to make new-age sushi appetizers. The main role of the weight is to press liquid out of the fish, not to press flavourings in.

Far be it from me to discourage experimentation. But I doubt piercing is either necessary or advisable. Not necessary? Here's a story. The first time I truffled eggs (as described above), I decided to make brouillade (eggs scrambled with truffle). After breaking the eggs into a mixing bowl, I turned away to get a fork to beat them with. When I turned back, I encountered such a strong blast of truffle that I said to myself, "Damn, I left the truffle out on the counter." Except I hadn't. The truffle aroma came from the eggs alone. Not advisable? Eggshells are already porous. And wouldn't piercing the egg break the membrame and introduce the possibility of bacterial contamination?

While I often steam vegetables, I find there's at least one situation where boiling gives better results: when the cooking stage is the best time for the vegetable to be salted or flavoured with another ingredient. For example, new potatoes cooked in their jackets taste better when they are "deep" salted by being boiled in salted water; salting them afterwards doesn't produce the same results. And when making those potatoes to go with fish, I often flavour the cooking water with a sprig or two of fresh dill, which you can't do when steaming. I also prefer boiling for vegetables to be used in a salad (e.g. green beans vinaigrette); again, I think it's a question of deep salting. That said, in most other situations, steaming gives superior results. In fact, it's the way I usually cook potatoes for mashing, since salt and flavouring agents can be easily be added after they're cooked.

Because they're not the same thing? Smoked meat is made by dry-curing brisket with a spice rub that probably includes coriander, pepper, paprika, garlic and salt, after which it is smoked. Corned beef is made by brining brisket, flank or plate in heavily salted (and sometimes sugared) water, after which it is simmered for several hours in fresh water. Smoked meat and cabbage probably wouldn't hack it here and certainly not in New England.

Chez Louis at the Jean-Talon market has the widest selection of mushrooms in town. Nextdoor at Chez Nino, the selection is somewhat smaller but the prices often better. Piedmont truffles come from Italy, not France. Chez Louis carries both types — black in the summer and white in the fall — as well as French truffles in the early winter and Oregon truffles in the late spring/early summer. Can't help you with the knife sharpening as I sharpen my own. Didn't someone here recommend a place on Papineau near Parc Lafontaine a while ago?

MaeveH spills the beans in her column in this week's Hour: Mocha mojo. First time I've seen a naked portafilter referred to as crotchless, he says, crossing his legs. (The link will work until next Thursday, the 25th, after which time you'll have to pull up the article from the archives.)

Haven't had Picard's confit shank at APDC but his version at Club des Pins — the first in the city? — was mighty fine. That said, the best lamb shank I've run across (also a confit) is at Le P'tit Plateau. Once when talking about duck confit, Chef Loivel, not a braggart by nature, mentioned in passing that after many attempts he'd finally nailed the confit lamb shank. And by golly he did. Tailor made for a cold January night and a rich Gigondas or zinfandel.

Ambience is another factor. Toqué!'s leaves me cold: pompous, soulless décor; impersonal service. While the orange walls don't do anything for me, La Chronique's space is warm and intimate and the service friendly and just enthusiastic enough; the place doesn't give itself airs.

To get at the nut, you'll have to crack the shells (try pliers if your regular nutcrakcer doesn't hack it) and then soak the nuts in hot water to free the skins. Shell them shortly before you plan to use them; once shelled, they perish quickly. I've had my eye on this recipe with the fall in mind. There's also a Japanese custard dish famously made with the nut. (In fact, you might consider posting your query on the Japan forum.) They're also nice grilled or roasted, the only way I've prepared them. Pickled, they are great as a garnish for a "ginkgotini," especially when sake replaces the vermouth.

See also this General Food Topics thread from earlier this year: Injecting food? Recipes where surgical needles are used!

Fondre (literally, to melt) here means to cook the potatoes in fat in a covered pan with no added liquid. Traditionally the potatoes are peeled and trimmed into ovoids and cooked in butter. The technique can be used for other vegetables, like carrots.

According to their website, the SAQ doesn't carry any Columbian products at present. And the only ones the LCBO carries are a couple of rums, no aguardiente. You could always try seeing if it's available on a private import basis. You'll have better luck with cachaça: Cachaça Canna Schnaps eau-de-vie aromatisée (if the link doesn't work, go to saq.com and type the product code in the search box: 10232770).

They're seasonal (the packaging reads "4 seasons, 4 fruits"): cranberry orange for winter, cranberry rhubarb for spring, cranberry strawberry for summer and cranberry blueberry for fall (go figure). Of course, it's just a marketing gimmick. First, they can't be using fresh fruit. Second, they're probably looking to cash in on the purported health benefits of cranberries (they prevent urinary tract infections, night blindness, cancer and the heartbreak of psoriasis, you know). In any case, you'll usually find only one of the four on sale at a given time. All are good, though the cranberry rhubarb is very mild and not particularly rhubarby and the cranberry strawberry just tastes like zingy strawberry. (Wonder why they or some other enterprising yogurt manufacturer isn't marketing the obvious strawberry rhubarb). Cranberry blueberry is neat because both flavours remain distinguishable.

Most commercial lard is partially hydrogenated; it's why it can be formed into bricks and will hold that shape at room temperature. Am pretty sure the figures jinmyo quotes are for non-hydrogenated artisanal lard, which is almost always sold in tubs. Much commercial lard also contains BHT and other preservatives to extend shelf life. Portuguese and hispanic butchers and grocery stores often have the good stuff. I use it mainly in pastries and Mexican food. It's also the best fat for sautéing pork and maybe even lamb.

I put the whole truffle and the eggs in a mason jar, seal the jar tightly and stick it in the fridge. I leave it there for at least three days and up to a week, opening it every day to let the humidity escape and to inhale that smell and remind myself of the treat to come.

I've sometimes seen whole peas in health food and bulk food stores. It may be my imagination, but I've always considered whole peas as more likely to produce flatulence. I should also have mentioned that some cooks advocate sautéing the veggies in butter at the start, while others suggest adding them raw part way through the cooking. Modern day cooks are also known to add bay leaf and homeopathic doses of sweet spices like clove and nutmeg; not sure how authentic that would be, however. The Swedish families that served me the soup always brought out a wooden rack with an assortment of mustards from which to choose. Slotts senap was all we got at the school cafeteria, though. Definitely. And one I never acquired. Förlåt! At least I got it right in the pastries thread. (The proper translation in English would be Shrove Tuesday buns, though there are probably a lot of anglos who have no idea that Shrove Tuesday = mardi gras.) As I recall, the Swedes I hung with (none of them religious in the slightest) used fettisdagsbullar and semlor interchangeably. Whoa! Are you saying that pea soup is supposed to be mushy? ← Well, the peas do break down a bit, thickening the soup. The baking soda also helps tenderize them.

Liberty/Liberté. United Statesians regularly ask Montrealers to bring tubs of Liberty cream cheese (the only cream cheese worthy of being schmeared on a St-Viateur bagel) with them when they visit. And going by comments on the Montreal, Quebec and Eastern Canada forum and the Chowhound Montreal board, the dessert yogurt line (apple pie; cranberry orange; cranberry rhubarb; cranberry strawberry; cranberry blueberry; coconut; fig, date and raisin; orange marzipan; etc.) has developed a States-side cult following.

Well, I offer the following data point: for a short while there was an Iranian bakery in the Côte-des-Neiges that made only bread. Chrisser is right about Akhavan, the Iranian supermarket. Unfortunately it's nowhere near the Jean-Talon Market. Here's a list of other Iranian groceries, some of which may sell pastries. Again, none are near the JTM. Koohe Noor 2550 Lapiniere (450) 676-9550 Marché Norouz 5700 Sherbrooke West (514) 807-8747 Marché Rose 1406 St-Laurent Boulevard (514) 849-2111 Marché St-Laurent 5780 Sherbrooke West (514) 369-3474 Zam Zam 6260 Sherbrooke West (514) 488-8383 An Iranian acquaintance once mentioned "Le Monde," a pastry shop she thought was on Côte-St-Luc Road, but I don't find anything of that name in that hood. Iranian restos: Byblos Cafe 1499 Laurier East (514) 523-9396 Cheminee Restaurant 5876 Upper Lachine (514) 481-0123 La Maison 59 6556 Sherbrooke West (514) 483-6555 La Maison de Kebab 820 Atwater (Metro Lionel-Groulx) (514) 933-0933, 933-7726 Quartier Perse Restaurant 4241 Decarie Boulevard (Metro Villa-Maria) (514) 488-6367 5899 Sherbrooke West (514) 482-0009 Tehran Restaurant 5065 de Maisonneuve West (Metro Vendome) (514) 488-0400 Yekta Bistro 5893 Sherbrooke West (514) 485-7077 Lastly, Nocochi, located downtown in the shadow of Concordia University, offers a wide variety of New Age sweets, many of them Persian in inspiration. Here's our own MaeveH's review. As for the city's Greek and Middle Eastern pastries (along with Italian and Portuguese), you'll find our most extended discussion to date here.

Like sf&m, I associate whole yellow pea soup with Sweden (though we usually followed it up with fättisdagsbullar, Mardi gras buns filled with almond paste and served with whipped cream or warm milk). Am pretty sure that all the versions I've eaten in Quebec have been made with split peas. However, a couple of seniors I've asked (one of them in her 80s) confirm that whole peas are authentic. The recipe varies from cook to cook, of course, but is very much along the lines of the one sf&m posted. One of the main differences is the herbs; in my experience, the best Quebec versions use savoury. Some recipes call for no aromatic vegetables other than onion; others involve carrots, turnips and/or leeks (plus celery and/or garlic in some contemporary recipes). The meat is usually ham (typically from a ham bone) though salt pork and bacon can take its place. The meat and vegetables are finely minced; the effect in the soup is confetti-like. As far as I know, the Quebec soup is never eaten with mustard. If the above is not enough to go on, say the word and I'll post translations of a couple of recipes when I can find a minute.