carswell

A thread last summer offered some ideas. See Lemon Verbena, Help from all the gardeners. I've since made my best-guess version of Jongleux's sauce (dandy with halibut cheeks) and used the herb to perfume egg custards (I bet it'd make an awesome custard-based ice cream, too).

The tenderest octopus I ever ate had been run repeatedly through the wringer from an old-fashioned washing machine.

Château Margaux is putting part of its 2002 Pavillon Rouge, its second wine, under screwcaps. And Villa Maria is abandonning cork altogether as of the 2004 vintage ("Villa Maria has had to inform distributors in some markets—who in the past had ordered cork closures—that it is screwcaps or nothing. France was one of those markets."). See Margaux's Pavillon goes under screwcap.

Bed-ridden and with an appetite only for virtual food, I spent much of the weekend dipping into It Must Have Been Something I Ate, the (in my case) ironically titled second volume of Jeffrey's Steingarten's food essays from Vogue. The essay "Is Paris Learning?" included the following passage, which brought the Cocagne thread to mind: Under this classification, Cocagne sounds like it would straddle the second and third categories, in which case bistro orgueilleux doesn't seem so far-fetched. edit: typos

Unless my memory's playing tricks on me, all the bottles of Cloudy Bay I've had in the last ten years or so have been purchased at the LCBO. Ditto NZ reds. Yet the SAQ currently lists 40+ mostly low-end wines from Mendoza (Argentina). It's ludicrous.

André Lurton has just released screwcapped lots of 2003 Bordeaux blanc from chateaus Couhins-Lurton, Bonnet and La Louvière (the last two are tasty SAQ regulars), and Canada is listed as one of the destinations. Also, Burgundy winemaker Patrice Rion is reportedly gearing up to begin screwcapping at least some of his wines. See First Screw Caps Appear in Bordeaux. The tide is turning, folks. edit: fix botched edit

What is it with the SAQ and New Zealand? Here we have a country that is arguably the most dynamic wine producer of the day. That consistently delivers a wide range of delicious, affordable, drinker-friendly wines. That is stylistically as close to Europe as it is to the New World. That is geared for the export market. That has at least one big name known to every wine lover and wannabe wine lover. And that has generated the kind of excitement that leads otherwise sane men to write that drinking a certain sauvignon blanc is like strapping yourself to Elle McPherson and bungee-jumping into a bottomless vat of cat pee and gooseberry leaves. In other words, here we have a winner however you care to look at it, and our booze board currently stocks a grand total of five New Zealand wines out of its current offer of 5,600+ wines. That's three chards and two, count 'em, two sauvignon blancs. No Cloudy Bay (I don't think it's been seen on the SAQ's shelves since the early '90s), none of the boutique sauvignon blancs that have set wine lovers' hearts aflutter in the US and Europe, no rieslings, no bubblies, no pinot noirs, in fact, not a single friggin' red. How can this be? For an inkling of what we're missing out on, read Thor Iverson's monumental and nicely illustrated recounting of his recent wine-centred trip to both islands (I've linked to the last post in the series as it's the only one that contains hyperlinks to all the other posts). And don't forget Sue Courtney's useful New Zealand Wine of the Week site.

gnatharobed's right. It's been around for a while. Also, it doesn't look like it's been redecorated since it opened. Word on the street notwithstanding, you're better off thinking of it not as a sushi joint but as a Japanese family restaurant. In other words, the sushi are OK if ho-hum but where the restaurant shines is in the home-style cooked dishes, many of which will be found not on the menu per se but on a photocopied insert of daily specials. Also, they put together a nice bento box for lunch. Service is friendly, prices are low and a lot of the customers are Japanese (always a good sign, what?). edit: spelling of gnatharobed's name (whatever does it mean? deborah tang's mirror image?)

English-language dictionaries are notorious for not "getting" espresso. See alt.coffee for some great rants on the standard definition of espresso as coffee brewed with steam (as any geek will tell you, milk is steamed and espresso is brewed with hot but not boiling water). Although better than most, the latest Miriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition, © 2003) still misses the mark, defining espresso as "1 : coffee brewed by forcing steam or hot water through finely ground darkly roasted coffee beans 2 : a cup of espresso". (While the reference to steam can be written off as a nod to espresso's roots and/or cheap modern-day espresso machines that use a thermoblock instead of a pump, it has never been carved in stone that the beans used for espresso must be darkly roasted.) However — and here's the point — MWCD11 finally gets the etymology right: "[it (caffè) espresso, prob. lit., coffee made on the spot at the customer's request] (1945)". edit: BTW, the 1945 refers to the earliest recorded use in English, not Italian. edit: clarity

Thanks for the skinny, SB. There's also a KPh in Brossard and maybe a third in Outer Rosemont (Marché Kim Phat, though I've never been there). See Kim Phat on Canada411.

Muy interesante. It appears there are at least three amd maybe four types of La Chinata smoked paprika: sweet, bittersweet, bittersweet mildly picante and hot. See Smoked paprikas from Ethnic Foods Online and Viva Spain's paprika page. The agridulce is the one I've always seen called for in recipes.

Boris, you're right, and the peas are wonderfully sweet, tender and bursting with flavour this year (pea plants like cool moist weather). Today's lunch was a salad of fresh spinach, barely cooked peas and French goat milk feta dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. Yum. ID, Milos's almond-stuffed olives are addictive, aren't they? Another recent olive find of mine was at Milano: large, firm, preternaturally green olives with a mild, almost buttery taste that sends olive-lovers into ecstasy and has even managed to make believers out of olive-haters. Don't know what they're called but they're at the bulk olive counter. Not expensive, either. Poutine, yep, it's La Chinata, though the label says bittersweet, not sweet. Amazing the price difference. Would never have thought of looking at Maître Boucher; neither Gourmet Laurier nor Les petits plaisirs d'Andéra has it. Still haven't opened my tin. I've got a leg o' lamb recipe where it's a major ingredient of the rub and a NYT recipe for razor clams and hominy with a pimenton and sherry vinegar butter sauce and I've heard of spinkling it on cod before roasting and on potatoes while sautéeing. How do you use it?

Welcome, cokie! Don't have any advice to give — when I've visited Charlevoix and the Gaspé, it's been to hike, climb or cross-country ski and I've always camped or stayed in refuges — but your query provides me with the opportunity to post a question that a friend just asked me and whose answer you may find useful too: Would you know of a combo hotel with supper at Tadoussac? I was given the name of a farm for family vacations near Tadoussac that is very reasonable. Have you heard of the Ferme 5 Étoiles at Sacré-Coeur?

According to their website (click and scroll), it's "De Chaunac avec macération pelliculaire très courte 12 à 24 heures, " in other words, De Chaunac grapes that are crushed and allowed to macerate briefly on their skins. The probable reason why the maceration is short is that De Chaunac is one of the very few teinturier, or red fleshed, grapes. Most red and black grapes have dark skins and whitish flesh, which is why, by minimizing the time the juice spends in contact with the skins, you can use them to make white wines (think blanc de noirs champagne or, shudder, white zinfandel). But even with no skin contact, a wine made from De Chaunac will be pink. BTW1, cabernet franc can make more than simple rosés for quaffing. As far as I know, the Chinon praised above is 100% cabernet franc. BTW2, when you're ready to tell us about your wine-making venture, we'll be all ears. <nudge, nudge>

Besides the moulard duck legs mentioned elsewhere, I saw several interesting products on yesterday's tour of Atwater Market. Fruiterie Atwater had meyer lemons ($1.35 apiece!), tiny key limes and salicorne. La Fromagerie du Marché Atwater is selling delicious niçoise-style olives in bulk; now, if only I can find a convenient and affordable source for picholines and nyons olives. And Les Douceurs du Marché had something I've been wanting to try for ages: Pimentón de la Vera, the smoked bittersweet paprika from Spain ($7.99 for a 4.5-oz./125-g tin). Earlier in the week, I found another long sought-after product at Exofruits, the Côte-des-Neiges green grocer: Fura Austrian roasted pumpkin seed oil for $13.99 (ouch) a 250-ml bottle.

From a food-shopping standpoint, local eGulleters have pretty much got the city covered. Yet no one can be everywhere all the time. And while sightings of newly arrived or unusual products have occasionally been mentioned on this board (ID's snow crabs and Beaucher's meyer lemons, for example), it's been in a haphazard fashion. So, how about we keep our eyes peeled when we're out and about and report our discoveries here?

You mean C-d-R white, right? But, yeah, I said exactly that when I first tasted the Pradeaux: the best comparison wasn't a Tavel but a top white Chateauneuf-du-Pape or even a Burgundy. An SAQ clerk told me that the Bandols didn't sell well because they were around $10 more than your average rosé. I can appreciate that but it's also a question of marketing: they should be presented not as quaffers but as serious gastronomic wines. As such, they're not overpriced at all. While it's not in the same league as many $15-20 rosés, I find it stands heads and shoulders above the others in its price range. Pic St-Loup has a micro-climate. It's cooler than most of the rest of the Languedoc. I'm sure that helped in a hot year like 2003. Thanks for the tip. I've only drunk their whites. Exactly. Which is why I'd been avoiding local rosés... Dunno. Don't recall that happening last year. Will ask.

Well, I finally found a cryovaced tray of four moulard duck legs at Atwater Market's Boucherie Viau. They come from Élèvages Périgord, go for $11.98 a kilo and weigh an average 340 g apiece. No one was selling Mariposa Farm legs, which the farm's Suzanne Lavoie says is not unusual, as they don't deliver every week. Ms. Lavoie also reccomended Périgord's legs and said that you're often best asking not for moulard duck legs but cuisses de carnard gavé (legs from force-fed ducks, i.e. ducks raised for foie gras, moulards being the preferred variety).

What's the story on this, skunkbunny? Do you know why?

Am I the only one who finds SAQ's rosé offerings mediocre, especially in the last couple of years? It's like they've bought into the myth that pink wine is only for guzzling. Things were better a while back, when they sold some serious rosés, in particular the pinks from two Bandol chateaus, Pradeaux and Pibarnon, elegant and complex wines able to age for five or more years (actually the Pradeaux was far better the following summer; I kick myself for not buying a case). But ever since, it's mostly unmemorable, even insipid, stuff. Why no Bandols (Tempier!) or better Provence rosés (Domaine de la Modorée, anyone)? Why no rosato di nebbiolo (the perfect wine for vitello tonnato, the perfect summer dish)? Why no Coudoulet-de-Beaucastel? Why no Cerdon de Bugey, a refreshing, slightly sweet, pale red sparkler from the Savoie? Why no Billecart-Salmon NV, one of the best rosé champagnes and far from the most expensive? Anyway, we're working our way through some of the more appealing pinkies from this year's batch. Here are our picks to date: - Côtes du Rhône 2003, Guigal ($20.45). Balanced, relatively complex. Fruit and alcohol (11%) kept in check. One of the best. - Chinon 2003, René Couly ($19.70). Soft, subtle, elegant. Lovely with cold poached salmon. - Coteaux du Languedoc 2003, L'Hortus, Rosé de saignée ($16.90). Fruit-forward but not heavy. A crowd-pleaser. - Coteaux du Languedoc 2003, Pic-Saint-Loup, Château Lancyre ($15.10). Fruity, lively, dry. Good picnic/barbecue wine. - Côtes de Provence 2003, Rosaline ($15.05). Dry and herb-scented with a dusty finish. Good enough: - Vin gris de cigare 2003, Bonny Doon ($16.10). The fruit's ramped up in 2003. A bit too sweet: the first glass was enjoyable, the second glass less so. Worked best alongside a slightly sweet swiss chard, pinenut and golden raisin pie. Love the twist cap! - Côtes-du-Ventoux 2003, La Vielle Ferme ($12.50). Excellent QPR. - Côtes-du-Frontonnais 2002, Château Bellevue La Forêt ($14.80). Aromatic, fruity, balanced, enjoyable if a bit simple. Made from negrette grapes. Avoid: - Tavel 2003, Domaine du Viel Aven ($20.05). Blowsy, heavy and hot: your typical Tavel. Next up: - Tavel 2003, Château d'Aqueria ($22.40). Hey, I'm an optimist. - Costières de Nîmes 2003, Fleurs d'Églantine, Château Morgues du Grès ($15.50). Assuming I can score a bottle, that is. The 2002 was excellent. Unfortunately the 2003 is available only in case lots on a private import basis from Rézin (www.rezin.com). A couple of red wine heads-up: - Côteaux du Languedoc 2000, L'infidèle, Mas Cal Demoura ($25.65). Made by the father (IIRC) of the owner of Mas du Daumas Gassac. Structured, complex, balanced, savoury. There's obviously some syrah in the mix. - Tercius 2000, Portugal. My WAG is that name refers to the three grapes that go into the wine: trincadeira preta, tinta roriz and touriga nacional. No great depth but plenty of delicious plummy fruit. Sold out in many stores; check www.saq.com for availability.

True, they've been amazingly nimble in this area, though it has to be said that they had lots of models to emulate (or not, as the case may be). Anyway, besides the convenience for city dwellers, the service must be a real boon to people in remote areas. Please do!

The top dim sum places are all in Chinatown: Kam Fung (St-Urbain and René-Lévesque), Furama (east side of Clark just south of René-Lévesque; 2nd floor), Ruby Rouge (west side of Clark, half a block south of La Gauchetière; 2nd floor) and Tong Por (La Gauchètire and St-Dominique, one block west of St-Laurent; 2nd floor). There's a cluster of good if chaotic food stores on both sides of St-Laurent north and south of La Gauchtière. If you're willing to trek north of the mountain, the mother store of the Kim Phat chain (3588 Goyer, a half block west of Plaza Côte-des-Neiges; 514 737-2383) is probably the closest Montreal has to a pan-Asian grocery store. See also the thread Montreal Area Ethinic Markets.

SAQrilegious, SAQrosanct, SAQed-out or SAQcharine — whatever your feelings toward the Société des alcools du Québec, we're stuck with it. Here's the place to share your news, blues, coups, ooze and roose about the booze board we love to hate. To get the ball rolling, a tip: There's an in-branch sale from June 30 to July 4 (something tells me it's not to celebrate Canada Day). Ten percent off the sticker price on all wines retailing for $20 and up. No minimum purchase.

My condolences, ID. Your guess may be right, however. I know for a fact he's very popular with the Lake Memphramagog mansion set, who love to have him cook up a storm in their all-equipped, restaurant-worthy country kitchens.

You mean you can call at, say, 10 p.m. and have a chilled six pack at your door by half-past? Can you have beer delivered on Sundays? Ontarians have to buy beer from a beer store, right? Are there beer stores everywhere, even in small towns? I'm up on the LBCO but, as you can see, not so clear on Ontario beer. -carswell (letting the Bud comment slide and about to console himself by popping the top on a hoppy St-Ambroise extra pale ale)