carswell

Hope I've got this straight. Unfortunately, my butcher didn't have a hindquarter ready to carve up, so we made do with a printout of the CFIA charts I linked to earlier. Referring to the illustration for 5.3.1 Rump, the araignée comes from the top front of the shaded area, the area between the pelvis and the sacrum/tail. It's a ball of muscle located on the inside, i.e. closer to the tail bone; on the outside is the fausse araignée. Writing this, I realize I'm not clear whether each hindquarter has an araignée or there's only one between them. (For what it's worth, an online glossary identifies the muscle as obturatorius internus; I've not been able to determine the accuracy of that claim.) French butchers call the cut a 'spider" because of an associated bundle of nerves that resembles an arachnid. Like the onglet (hanger steak), the araignée is sometimes referred to as a butcher's cut, as butchers would set it aside for themselves or the occasional knowing customer. As often as not, however, these cuts would end up being ground or even used for dog food. It's a different story these days, and the law of supply and demand means they can no longer be considered budget cuts. Will continue looking for a more detailed explanation and a diagram. The more I search, however, the more I'm convinced some university ought to establish a chair of comparative butchery.

Am a bit vague on this but I believe it's one of the smaller muscles that make up the round or rump. A similar and nearby cut would be the pear-shaped muscle called, logically enough, the poire. Unlikely that there's a common American or British term for it. I'll be dropping by my (French) butcher's shop this afternoon and will see if he can elucidate. In the meantime, for a cross section of the round, check out the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's Meat Cuts Manual – Beef.

Native to Africa, guinea fowl have long been domesticated in France. Impressive plumage but a rather nasty temperament. They usually weigh in at 2-2.5 lbs. dressed. Their flesh is denser and drier than chicken's and the flavour more savoury, closer to pheasant. That said, I find North American guinea hens less tasty than their French counterparts. Like duck, the meat marries well with fruit. Whole birds can be roasted (often barded or larded to avoid dryness) or braised. The breast meat can be sautéed. The legs are used for confit or braised. A few favourite preps: roasted with potatoes (Robuchon); stuffed with bacon, black olives, thyme, shallots and the liver and roasted (Wells); braised with fresh green figs ('tis the season); braised with mint, lemon and crème fraîche; legs braised with cabbage and bacon; and legs braised with sauerkraut. If you'd like the recipes for any of these, PM me.

It's not filtered for one thing and is simmered for another. Also, the beans are ground extremely fine, finer even than espresso. A hand mill is traditional but electric blade-type grinders will do the job. Sugar and flavourings (e.g. cardamom) are added at the same time as the ground coffee. The coffee is brewed in and served from an ibrik. The actual brewing procedure is simple.

Hmm. The recipe doesn't make it clear that the top pan of the double boiler should sit over, not in, the water in the bottom pan. And you won't catch me using vanilla extract in crème brûlée: only vanilla beans will do (unless I'm flavouring it with lemon verbena, star anise or some such, of course).

They have a website: www.horseridgecellars.com.

It depends on how fresh they are. I find that, stored optimally (in the fridge in a loosely closed paper bag), the ones I pick myself keep for up to a week after harvesting, though they start looking a bit dog-eared after a couple of days. Most "fresh" chanterellles I encouter in the store look like they're already three or four days post harvest, so I use them up immediately.

Low-fat crème brûlée misses the point. And I'd be wary of heating a gelatin-based dessert. Instead, compensate by cutting the fat on preceeding courses and making smaller portions. A scant half-cup ramekin's worth isn't going bust your diet, let alone kill you. Some people say that propane torches leave an off taste. I've not noticed it myself. In any case, lacking a torch, I find a broiler works fine (pace, foodcontrol). Just preheat the broiler 10 or 15 minutes, keep the custards cold until the last minute and, if you're really worried, put them in an ice-water bath just before running them under the heat. Two crème brûlée tips: - If you bake your custard (as opposed to preparing it on the stovetop), remove it from the oven as soon as it sets (the centre will still be jiggly). - The sugar you use for the topping makes a big difference in the final product. I've had best results with turbinado sugar. If you use brown sugar, spread it out and let it air-dry for a few hours before topping the custards.

There's something about the combination of chanterelles, starch, cream and parmesan that pushes all my buttons. Potato and chanterelle gratin. Fettucine with chanterelles. Chanterelle risotto. Yum. They also make a great side to sautéed seafood, especially shrimp, lobster and scallops, and sliced seared tuna. Either sauté the chanterelles in duck fat or butter with shallot or garlic and fresh thyme leaves and toss with chopped parsley. Or roast chanterelles alone or in combination with other mushrooms in a covered dish with a garlic clove or two, some chopped onion or shallot, a branch of fresh thyme, a splash of white wine and a drizzle of olive oil.

Agree about duck, especially wild. In fact, most any game bird will do the trick. Given the right prep (e.g. spice rubbed and grilled or marinated in soy, white wine, oil, ginger and honey and broiled), domestic quail would work too. To my palate, chicken plus shiraz does not compute. If pork is a white meat in your books, you might also consider BBQ ribs. Other possibilities: upmarket pizza, sausages, cassoulet, veal goulash, couscous, satay. Shiraz also pairs with strongly flavoured hard cheeses like aged farmhouse cheddar.

1 kilogram bananas = 2.2 lbs 0.05 litre lemon gin = 50 ml = 0.21 US cup = scant 1/4 US cup 500 grams jelly sugar = 1.1 lbs lemon gin = In North America at least, this is gin that's been flavoured with lemon peel/oil/etc. Seagram's makes one. jelly sugar = Not sure but I suspect this is just fine granulated white sugar.

Garrigue isn't quite the same thing as underbrush. Miriam-Webster Online defines underbrush as: Le Petit Robert defines garrigue as: In other words, garrigue isn't undergrowth and is region specific. The predominant odour is sun-baked earth with a resiny whiff of the plants that grow wild on it, especially herbs like rosemary and thyme.

Years ago the Quebec liquor board carried Royal Maharashtra's Marquise de Pompadour, a tasty non-vintage sparkler made from grapes grown southeast of Bombay. Full-bodied, yeasty/toasty, even a bit oxydized (in a good way, like aged Champagne). Worked well enough with mildly spiced Indian fare, especially seafood.

Just called the Signature store to see if they could put aside a couple of bottles of the Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc for me. All ten cases were sold within minutes of opening. All the Lalas too. Kraazy.

It's a rather prosaic translation of the French term sous-bois, defined as either the plants in a forest that grow under the trees or the part of the forest where such plants grow. IMHO, a more evocative rendering is "forest floor." Either way, it's used more often to describe a wine's bouquet than its taste. Think wet leaves, humus, downed trees, ferns, moss, etc.

A favourite preparation of mine is to put raspberries in individual ramekins, top with Grand Marnier zabaglione and run ramekins under the broiler until the zabaglione begins to brown in spots. A classic: fill tart or tartelette shells with pastry cream, cover the cream with perfect whole raspberries stem side down, dust with powdered sugar. Raspberry coulis, raspberry syrup, raspberry vinegar.

This just in. On Thursday, September 2, the Signature stores in Montreal and Quebec City will be selling two Cloudy Bay wines as part of their Guigal Lala event (go figure). As only miniscule quantities of the Lalas have been received, sales will be on a line-up, take-a-number and hope-for-the-best basis. The announcement makes it sound like the Cloudy Bay wines won't be sold the same way. The prices? More than reasonable for the Cloudy Bay, more than ridiculous for the Lalas. Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc 2001, Osoyoos Larose, $35 Chardonnay 2001, Cloudy Bay, $33 Sauvignon Blanc 2002, Cloudy Bay, $24.75 Côte-Rôtie 2000, La Mouline, Guigal, $349 Côte-Rôtie 2000, La Turque, Guigal, $349 Côte-Rôtie 2000, La Landonne, Guigal, $349 edit: By the way, the line-up begins at 6 a.m. See you there... not!

Winemakers seek to dry up SAQ's control, an article by Jeff Heinrich in today's Gazette provides some background on the SAQ's move and details the wine and cidermakers' inspired riposte. As the article will be available online for only a few days, here's the gist and a few quotes. Earlier this summer, the SAQ stopped supermarkets from selling local wine and cidermakers' products because the markets' mark-up was smaller than the SAQ's. In response, the producers and market owners "want to break the monopoly of the Société des alcools du Québec and create a free-market distribution system for Quebec-made beverages with more than seven-per-cent alcohol content." Their tactic? To invoke the 1864 Temperance Act of the United Province of Canada and petition municipal councils to draft by-laws prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages by the SAQ in their territories. The councils in Longueuil, Magog, Sherbrooke and Verdun were petitioned yesterday; petitions will be filed in Coaticook, Gatineau, La Pocatière and Quebec City next week. Only 30 signatures are required to force a municipal council to draft a by-law and hold a referendum within 60 days. Alternatively, a council can "take the less expensive option and pass it themselves." [The Temperance Act is a federal law so, barring some loophole, Quebec will be unable to pass legislation voiding it.]

Great pics, sf&m! Don't see myself in them (whew!) but our paths may have crossed, as I was at the market on the 14th shopping for a birthday dinner. Remember thinking how nicely the carrots at Chez Louis were arranged. What camera are you using? Did you try to get a shot of the main allée (the one that runs from, say, Hamel to, say, Chez Leopoldo (or whatever the shop just west of Chez Nino is called)? The biggest challenge trying to depict JTM is capturing the scale of the place on a summer weekend and I always figured an allée shot would do it, though the lighting would be tricky and you'd probably need to perch on a ladder. Anyway, thanks for going to the trouble of taking and posting the photos. It'll be heartwarming if bittersweet to look at them in February.

The Indian Epicure, Classic Recipes from North India by Meera Taneja (Mills & Boon Ltd, no copyright listed, ISBN 0 263 06403 4). Can't vouch for the accuracy of the back cover blub ("this comprehensive and authorative collection of Punjabi recipes") but have had good success with the mostly home-style recipes. No hand-holding and, a short lexicon aside, little concession to non-Indians, so probably not a good book for absolute beginners. It appears to be out of print but perhaps you could find a used or remaindered copy.

Yes, it's the beef. But it's also the cut, the cooking method and the garnish. T-bones, grilled rare, garnished only with a drizzle of EVOO (typically Tuscan in its austerity; elsewhere, it'd be a green herb or red tomato sauce): where else but Florence? edit: clarity

The former owners of Le Club des Pins used to do this; perhaps the new owners would consider it. The space handles 50 or so quite comfortably.

There's a rather humorous and revealing thread about the CDV over on the Wine Lovers' Discussion Group. The bottom line: it's a scam. Any effect it may have you can duplicate with a clean copper penny.

One of the best things about Marcella Hazan's The Classic Italian Cookbook is the menu suggestions at the end of each recipe, which were dropped from the conflated new edition, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (for space reasons, one assumes). Here's what she suggests for steak grilled the Florentine way: By the way, her recipe for la fiorentina calls for pressing cracked peppercorns into the meat before grilling and includes the admonition "a fiorentina should be very rare." Not surprisingly there's no mention of rosemary or parmesan; actually this thread is the first time I've heard of the latter. edit: Hazan doesn't mention lemon, either. Are parmesan and lemon as garnishes a North American thing?

When dealing with ASG, you might want to bear in mind this sad story recently posted on the Chowhound Montreal board. Doesn't Chez L'Épicier have a party room? No details of it on their website but I'm pretty sure they do.