Here's one food that may or may not get your seal of approval.
Seals -- the same lovable, clapping sea creatures that are a favorite zoo attraction and poster child for animal activism -- are being served for dinner by our neighbors to the north.
The New York Times reports a small number of fine dining institutions in Canada are incorporating seal meat into their menus.
Combine the unusual nature of the meat (the taste has been described anywhere from gamey to beefy to fishy) with the fact that the European Union recently banned imports of Canadian seal products, and suddenly the seal-serving restaurants have become both a target for hate mail and unforeseen hungry tourists.
One of the classic food and wine pairings is Roquefort and Sauternes (French blue cheese made from sheep's milk and sweet botrytis wine, respectively), so it's no wonder the Canadians created their own pairing of blue cheese and icewine. Now Chef Jason Parsons at Peller Estates Winery Restaurant in Niagara has taken the pairing one step further: infusing blue cheese with icewine.
Essentially, Parsons takes a 4-lb wheel of Canadian Blue Cheese, a Blue Benedictine made at the Benoit Monastery in Quebec, scoops out a shot glass-sized chunk of cheese from the center, and fills it with Riesling icewine. The icewine is absorbed by the cheese through the natural blue cheese veins. Over a period of six weeks, the cheese absorbs 2 bottles of icewine.
The cheese is smoother, but not sweeter, and because its sugar content is so high from the icewine, it makes a killer brulee. Unfortunately, Peller Estates isn't shipping to the U.S., but if you're a cheese fanatic and you find yourself across the border, it might be worth seeking out.
A weekly look at the draft selection at beer-friendly bars across the country (and this week, beyond).
It's been a couple weeks since I last dropped a "What's On Tap" post for inquisitive craft beer heads who can't travel across the entire country, so I figured I would have to go an extra mile to make it up to you. Hopefully using that extra mile to cross the U.S. border will do the trick as we take a look at the draft selection at Volo in Toronto, Ontario, Canada!
At the risk of offending some of our neighbors to the north, Toronto is probably Canada's most cosmopolitan city. One can only expect they have a few beer bars to back up such a reputation. Checking in at my old standbys -- BeerAdvocate and RateBeer -- a number of pubs got high marks. BeerBistro looks like it's worth a stop. And Smokeless Joe not only sounds like a healthy guy, he sounds like he has a healthy beer selection as well.
But both sites have Volo positioned at the very top of their lists. Seems like they way to go, right? Let's see what Volo has on tap...
Wines: Quinta Da Alorna Reserva 2006 Arinto/Chardonnay (Portugal), Domaines Mau Château Ducla 2005 (France), Gloria Colheita Seleccionada Tinto 2004 (Portugal), J. Lohr Los Osos 2006 Merlot (California), Pirramimma 2005 Petit Verdot (Australia)
When I think of my mom, two things usually don't come to mind: beer and Frank Zappa. Which made it odd earlier this week when I opened an email to find she had sent me the following quote: "You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer."
Now, I'm not a big Zappa fan and have never heard this quote. I'm guessing that puts me in Group A of two possible groups, with Group B consisting of huge Zappa fans who have heard this quote a million times. But the quote did get me thinking that there are a number of countries that I associate with one specific beer. Yes, I realize they have more than one beer, but every time I think of said country, one specific beer immediately pops into mind trumping all others.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying these are the best beers each country has to offer, or even a list of my favorite international beers, but for this week's Slashfood Ate beer edition, I present the 8 countries that through experience and marketing I most associate with one specific beer.
I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour until I run out. Please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.
I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour (until I run out), so please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.
Canadian officials have issued recalls on both sesame crackers and dip that were sold in Canada. The crackers were sold under various names, including Craquelins dores, Raw Golden Chips; Carque Pot, Raw Gourmet Chips, Dulse Vita, Sea Magic and Les Biscrus des Gamins, Raw Cookies (to be honest, I have no idea how many brands that is since I'm not familiar with any of the names). The crackers may contain salmonella.
Also recalled is Olivier Parmesan and Asiago Dip (the dip was also recalled in the U.S.). The company and health officials fear botulism.
"Oh my god! They want how much for that piece of chocolate?!?!"
I'm not sure how many of us have actually stood indignantly in a grocery store aisle screaming the above statement since a Hershey bar is usually under a dollar, but if you have, you might be justified.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the US Justice Department is looking into possible price fixing in the chocolate industry. The Justice Department's anti-trust division has contacted Mars (makers of M&Ms and, duh, Mars Bars), Nestle, and Cadbury. Representatives from both Mars and Nestle said they will cooperate with the investigation, though a Cadbury spokeswoman had no comment.
Damn! And I love those Cadbury Creme Eggs at Easter, too!
We told you recently (last week, maybe two weeks ago, all of these food recalls are becoming a blur) about a big beef recall in Canada involving Rancher's Beef. Now it looks like the beef was more widely distributed than earlier thought.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says that consumers should look out for several more Rancher's Beef products. It is suspected that the beef contains E. coli. The link above has a list of the products and the stores the beef was delivered. Here's our original notice on the beef recall.
People who attended the annual Brantville Picnic in New Brunswick might want to read this.
Several people who attended the community picnic have become sick, with upset stomachs, nausea, and vomiting. But another thing that is worrying officials is that some of the possibly contaminated food wasn't eaten at the event, it was packaged so people who attended the picnic and people who didn't attend the picnic could take it home with them and eat it later. So you might have some of the food at home right now and not know it (though I would hope you would have eaten it by now since the event was last weekend).
Obviously, if you have any of that food you should get rid of it immediately. Full details here.
Sortilège Maple Syrup and Whiskey Liqueur is 30% abv. / 60 proof and is made in Montreal, Canada from Canadian whiskey and maple syrup. The color is that of a very light maple syrup.
The aroma is a light but sharp whiskey, with overtones of maple, some dried fruit and spice cake notes, and very light hints of vanilla. It's a unusual aroma that isn't as much maple as I would have thought. As I warmed it up the dried fruit notes opened up and masked all the other scents, which was an improvement since I didn't really care for the aroma that much at first.
The taste is very light and medium sweet with a light, but syrupy body. There isn't much going on with the flavor. It has hints of whiskey under the very mild maple flavor. In the background there is some of that dried fruit and spice cake that I noticed in the aroma. This is a nice, mild liqueur that is different from most, but it doesn't wow me. It's nice to have when you want something different but I wouldn't have it on a regular basis. I would like it a lot more if it just had more of the whiskey and maple action going on.
Some genius has figured out that, like peanut butter and jelly and chocolate cake and milk, nothing goes together better than pizza and porn movies.
There's a new business in Winnipeg that not only delivers pizza, but they also deliver adult films! (And yes, let's all make as many jokes about "toppings" as we right now). You have to be of legal age, of course, and show an ID at the door. The movies are underneath the pizza in the box. But as Paul at archiseek.com points out, how secret can this be if the pizzas are delivered in cars that have giant neon signs that have a blonde on them and the word porn?
It's always a struggle for me at breakfast/brunch time. Do I go savory and get an omelet made with farm fresh eggs and stuffed with garden vegetables? Or do I go sweet and basically eat something akin to a dessert in the morning like fluffy pancakes (I mean the word "cake" is in the name) dripping with golden syrup? If I were faced with the image of a chocolate waffle from Daddy O's in Toronto, artfully topped with red ripe strawberries, made up with gorgeous puffs of whipped cream, and dripping with chocolate sauce, and served on a contrasting blue plate, it would be no contest.
After watching an episode of Chef at Home, I've been experimenting with chef Michael Smith's recipe for salmon and potato cakes. The Food Network Canada website has his recipe here, but it looks like they've jumbled a few of the steps around or perhaps left a step out. Step two reads, "Meanwhile heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat and when it's hot, add oil." Step three: "Using a potato masher, mash them together." Obviously something is amiss. At any rate, if you have salmon leftovers (not to be confused with these guys), this is a good way to use them up. Let's assume we're starting from scratch, however. Smith suggests pan-frying a salmon fillet, which I did the first time I made this recipe. The second time, I broiled it, which I think is more convenient and I didn't notice too much of a difference in the taste of the final product. So, either pan-fry or broil a skinless 1 pound salmon fillet until it's just cooked through and flakes easily. When I broiled the salmon, this took between 15 and 20 minutes.
When I think of my mom, two things usually don't come to mind: beer and Frank Zappa. Which made it odd earlier this week when I opened an email to find she had sent me the following quote: "You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer."
Here's a recall two-fer.
"Oh my god! They want how much for that piece of chocolate?!?!"
We told you recently (last week, maybe two weeks ago, all of these food recalls are becoming a blur) about a big beef recall in Canada involving Rancher's Beef. Now it looks like the beef was more widely distributed than earlier thought.
People who attended the annual Brantville Picnic in New Brunswick might want to read this.
Sortilège Maple Syrup and Whiskey Liqueur is 30% abv. / 60 proof and is made in Montreal, Canada from Canadian whiskey and maple syrup. The color is that of a very light maple syrup.
Some genius has figured out that, like peanut butter and jelly and chocolate cake and milk, nothing goes together better than pizza and porn movies.
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