2012 February | Sybaritica

The above picture captures what has to be one of my least successful BBQ feasts…

The post I am currently working on involves a particular culinary process that will take some time to complete and, since I can’t finish writing until it is done, I have decided to take break from my usual sort of post and share a rather nasty experience with you. The incident in question took place over a year and a half-ago and, while I am able to take it somewhat lightly now, at the time it was one of the scariest episodes in my whole life … Read more

Publication Date: 2007 Publisher: Japan Publications Trading ISBN-10: 4889962263 ISBN-13: 978-4889962260

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This book is part of a set published as the ‘Quick and Easy’ series and all that I have come across so far have been pretty good. This one focuses on Dim Sum and light snacks that are largely Chinese in character but, in addition to the old-standby’s there are some novel and interesting dishes as well. Read more

~~1221 Boulevard René-Lévesque Ouest~~, Montreal – Website

MOVED TO: 1181 Rue del la Montagne

Date of Visit: January 5, 2012

I had long wanted to visit La Queue de Cheval ever since seeing their website and I have to say that my evening there was a memorable, if rather expensive experience. I have seen a number of reviews describing the place as over-priced for what you get but I really didn’t feel that way at all. I had a delicious and well-prepared meal with attentive service in very pleasant surroundings and, really, what more can you ask than that? Read more

In my recent ‘Foodstuffs’ post featuring Bitter Melon I did some tests of the three main methods for reducing the bitterness of the vegetable, all of which, readers will recall, produced only limited results. For my first experiment with the slices I had left over from those tests, I wanted to do something that was not only simple, but that left the melon still uncooked. The following basic salad is what I came up with… Read more

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Publisher:St. Martin’s Press; Publication Date:2000 ISBN-10: 0312246994 ISBN-13: 978-0312246990 …

Although this book does contain a good number of recipes, it is not a cookery book, as such; rather it is nice little introductory reference to many of the ingredients used in Chinese cuisine. At one time, I used to own two other books by the same author, Chinese Cookery Secrets and Chinese Cooking Made Easy, but both were so mediocre that I eventually gave them away during a cull of my library. This one, however, is a definite keeper. Read more

Bitter Melon will not be very familiar to most Canadians unless they happen to be of Chinese or Indian descent. I see it quite regularly in stores when I visit southern Canada but, up here in the far North, such things, when they make a rare appearance, most definitely fall under the category of the exotic. I first saw Bitter Melons in one of our two local stores about four months ago and I expected, as with many exotics, that it would make a brief appearance, never to be seen again. As it happens, though, they have been on the shelves four or five times now so I suppose that they must have sold relatively well. This is somewhat surprising actually, not just because we have such a small Asian community, but because Bitter Melon very much live up to their name and are *very* much an acquired taste. Read more

Ambience and Service

This is a fairly small Cantonese restaurant seating 76, which occupies the second floor of the building it occupies. With the exception of some rather plushly ornate curtains at the front windows, the place is a bit shabby and not terribly well maintained. The cashier counter area was very cluttered and untidy and there was a stack of empty beer boxes against a pillar in the dining room. It did not look to be cleaned with much frequency but I can’t say that it was noticeably dirty either. All in all, it actually seems like quite a cozy place, actually Read more

I wanted to do a dish to showcase salted black beans, which featured on a recent ‘Foodstuffs’ post, so I decided to whip up a batch of steamed pork ribs. I love steamed pork ribs done many different ways and I frequently order them in dim sum restaurants. They are particularly good with black beans and garlic and, while they can also be good with slivered ginger, in this case I used red chili. This is also quite a popular addition as it not only adds a spicy kick but a nice touch of color as well. Read more

The above dish uses the pork belly that I pre-cooked for an illustration in a recent ‘Foodstuffs’ post, and which was featured as the complement to my Tomatoes stir-fry eggs experiment a few days ago. The inspiration of this dish is quite obviously Chinese but it is intended as a breakfast dish and thus is kept very simple: Read more

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Squid are not easy to come by here on Baffin Island. About 5 months ago, one of our local stores had some boxes of whole squid and I bought some. In order to eke out the supply in fear of not seeing squid again for a long time I used them very sparingly and still have some left (although it really is high time I finished them off before they are no longer good). Anyway, just a few weeks ago, our other grocery store suddenly came up with a supply of SeaQuest Brand frozen Calamari rings at a pretty decent price. I bought eight bags… Read more