Slim W

It has been a couple good years for lobsters in Newfoundland. They have been numerous, by the amount of spawning females and undersized lobsters thrown back, I expect this to continue. Raymond's has been closed for a few years now and the "Jeremys" have left Merchant Tavern as well. So I guess it gives him more flexibility for these projects? Pictures are on Change Islands ( next to the more familiar Fogo Island). Catch the lobster in the morning and cooked the same evening.

2nd sector Toronto to Dubai on Emirates.. Started with the caviar with a 2014 Corton Charlemagne. Main course was lamb chop and braised lamb shoulder served with celeriac puree and root vegetables. Becoming Led Zeppelin was the video. But the highlight was a 2004 Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Very smooth and tasty, had a few glasses of that before I fell asleep.

1st of 2 sectors, St John's Newfoundland to Toronto on Porter. Croissant with cream cheese, a poultry product and rocket. Also a mango blueberry with cinnamon and lime dressing I think.

I've used these recipes for quite awhile. https://www.marionskitchen.com/homemade-thai-sweet-chilli-sauce/ https://www.marionskitchen.com/sweet-tangy-chilli-jam/ Not concerned about authenticity. They are easy to make and folks seem to enjoy them enough to ask for some or the recipe.

Ah the good old "cardboard pizza" ! As much as everyone made fun of it, no one turned it down prior to landing.

Well, it was upstairs on an A380. 😉

This was a nice surprise today.

It was actually quite meaty, but not the most flavorful. The salmon roe was the highlight.... The Dom is nice!!

Lobster Salad with salmon roe and tobiko. Dom Perignon Rosé 2008 on Emirates. Seeing if the wifi is stable enough to post a picture.

I have enjoyed 142F for 72hrs. It is still pink and the fat is nice.

Pizza. An IR gun ( that can read high temperatures) greatly improved my end results. Was it reading an accurate floor temperature? No idea, but it allowed me to get a range that worked and was repeatable. My gas range is very unpredictable, I try and use the Control Freak for most tasks, but I only have one. So I can get my carbon steel or cast iron to range that has worked well on the CF. Other than pizza use case, I could do without it, but I like having it.

Great idea!

Yes, it is a lovely wine! You could see the colour difference through the the green glass of the bottle side by side. The Vega Sicilia Unico was also wonderful. I tend to pick my food based on the wine. I look for well spiced and rarely take the big cuts of red meats. The beef short ribs are generally juicy enough versus steak or veal. The cheese plate is often nice, just needs to have time to warm up. Also nice to watch the tennis live.

The Emirates Flight Catering is quite the operation. Numerous videos about it with a quick search. The food in first is the same quality as business class, just more choices and nicer presentation. The real difference is the wine and spirit selection, some truly nice wines. Attached are the wines on a recent flight from Stockholm to Dubai. They frequently have 10+ yr old whites, which seems risky. I've had more than one corked bottle. Fortunately the next bottle opened was always good, the colour difference in each instance was striking.

For price reference, when I left Newfoundland mid June 2024 the price paid to the fishermen had dropped from $6.70CDN to $5.45CDN a pound (500gr appox). It was probably one of the most plentiful catches in years I've seen.