Torquing Two Reliable Standbys
February 12, 2008
What you see above, a smackdown of inspirations drawn from chicken-and-rice soup and tom yum goong (but with some distinct departures from either), has reintroduced me to the easy pleasures of poached chicken. What alchemy could be simpler? In this case, it’s bringing galangal, lime zest and a seeded, sliced habanero to a boil in a few cups of water, lowering it to a bare simmer, slipping in a cut of uncooked chicken and covering it all. When the pot’s uncovered after a few minutes have passed, it reveals a lovely, fragrant broth and chicken that’s evenly flavored and juicy, even if you use historically dry boneless, skinless breast meat.
Montreal 3: Sushi at Sho-dan
November 11, 2007
This is my second to last Montreal posting, but probably my favourite in terms of pure photo genius. Little digital camera with no manual settings and Windows Photo Editor, I kneel before thee! Let no one say you need a fancy camera and tripod and magic lighting to take good pictures of food.
Like so many of us, of course, I love Sushi. Being poor and sometimes a bit lazy to do it myself, I don’t eat it that often. Of course, articles like this don’t make me feel any better about that, or that my best efforts in home-made sushi could ever live up to the label ‘good’ or even ‘decent’. No, I will never wake up at 3 a.m. to bribe fishmongers for the perfect piece of tuna - but I will be consistently disappointed by eating mediocre sushi at affordable establishments! Oh yes, I will.
Montreal 2: Pierogies and Dim Sum
November 6, 2007
So after sampling some borscht at St. Viateur on Northern St. Laurent, my appetite had awoken but not bedded down. So I knew there was only one place to go - The Main. This restaurant was my standby during my previous life in Montreal: an old Jewish deli with Quebecois flare, it has an extensive menu of sandwiches - including tongue and smoked meat - as well as poutine, matzo ball soup, vareniki (pierogies), blintzes, cheesecake and full-sour dill pickles. They also have unbelievable hamburgers; throughout university, going to the Main for a mozzaburger, dill pickle and Diet Coke was the perfect hangover remedy.
Montreal post 1: Bagels and Borscht
October 30, 2007
I’m back in Canada again. Don’t ask, it’ll just make you sad. And strangely - instead of being in Toronto with my family, I’m in Montreal (a city I lived in for five years … five years ago) having a mini-vacation. Again, don’t ask - suffice to say, in two days I’m heading to Toronto to take care of some sad family affairs.
But for now, I’m making lemonade with lemons, visiting old friends and old eating favourites, and it’s interesting to hunt down my previous tried and true eating experiences on a cold, 5-year-old trail. This seems to have affected bar selection most, but I had a few nasty surprises when I tried to track down that old hole-in-the-wall eating place only to find it closed. Fortunately, there appear to be some institutions that continue to stand the test of time.
Staffordshire Oatcakes
October 18, 2007
Sometimes I labour under the impression that because I’m living in the UK, I shouldn’t be living my exclusively urban lifestyle - jamming myself into tubes, attending free festivals in parks, exploring art-house theatres and perusing most major gallery exhibitions in the city. No no, I should instead be ruggedly walking through highland fields in wellingtons, with a troupe of dogs following me as I look stunningly rugged in a mackintosh. Actually, I imagine myself not so different from the Queen - in, well, The Queen - when she saw the buck and urged it to run away.
Shakshuka
September 18, 2007
I love that almost all cultures have their convenience foods, the foods that hungry students, flurried mothers, lonely clerks and old married couples can all make with pantry and refrigerator staples. Kimchi chigae and thayir sadham, avgolemono and chilaquiles—all of these sprang from their respective cultures’ bulwark ingredients.
Convenience foods don’t present a challenge to put together, but they aren’t necessarily dishes that are swiftly made: some of the very best ones I know bubble for close to an hour before they’re just right. Shakshuka, one of my favorite discoveries, falls into that camp.
I first discovered shakshuka last year, when I lived in South Korea. There, every morning before walking to work, I made myself a cup of bori-cha — barley tea — and read The New York Times online. Wednesday mornings were my favorite, for obvious reasons. One Wednesday, I read an article about the entrance of Israeli street foods into restaurant menus, and stopped at a picture glowing arrestingly with red, yellow, and white. I had it for breakfast Thursday.
She Eats Seafood by the Seashore
September 2, 2007
Oh man, oh man, oh man, dear readers. I’m beat. This city is possibly killing me slowly. Or at least my life these days is feeling a little bit like a death by 1000 cuts.
As most of us know, city living can be hard. We pride ourselves on being able to roll with the punches, dodge the urban land mines and come out on top: surviving and having fun in the dog-eat-dog worlds that are London, or New York, or wherever for that matter.
But these days, the city is wearing me down, my friends. Each Friday, I roll myself home feeling like I’ve just finished round 20 of a heavy-weight title match with Mike Tyson (Boxing metaphors in a food blog?? Times must be desperate). I hibernate and seclude myself most of Saturday and Sunday, and prepare myself for more black eyes and bruised kidneys on Monday. Its been tough. The weather has been bad, I’ve been working too much, my family is far away, my friends are moving away — and well, isn’t that enough?
Ah, but last Saturday the sun came out and I decided to go to Brighton, a seaside resort about an hour outside London. It was a long weekend, the temperature was above 17 degrees and just going beyond the city limits lifted my spirits both literally and figuratively.
A Proper Elucidation
August 26, 2007
A Proper Breakfast
Sourdough rolls filled with Valrhona chocolate, from the Levain Bakery.
Mango tea from Harrod’s.
Oranges from Fairway.
A Proper Lunch
Cilantro-lime hummus*.
Tzatziki*.
Stravecchio from Fairway.
Peppers from the Greenmarket.
Farmstand blueberries.
A Proper Dinner 
Brown rice.
Rasam*.
Chayote-red pepper curry*.
*Recipes after the jump.
