deep fried ice cream and ice coffe

On Saturday the dog days started, so before work i met up with my friend Christophe in an air conditioned sandwich bar in Chinatown to have my favorite banh mi ;Vietnamese sandwich with chopped chilies. It was so hot we each had two ice coffees to make sure we would be well awake to work a long hot shift at the restaurant and I tried for the first time deep fried ice cream. I had been curious about it for a long time now. it was good, fried in a crepe and topped with maple syrup it was only 3 dollars. Chris said if we had this at the restaurant we could sell it for 8.

foie gras au torchon

This is foie gras au torchon with an apple and cranberry chutney and nut bread croutons topped with sel de guérande.

So what have you been up to this week end?

Well, as it was the Canadian Grand Prix this week end, I worked many double shifts this week in the hottest conditions in a long time we had lobster from les Iles-de-la-Madeleine on the menu served with mushrom raviolis and lobster stock "monté au beurre".

beef jerky

Today I started my second salted cured ham after building a piece of ikea furniture. Almost all european countries have their own version of a salt cured ham but here in america it is not so common. I am only aware of one small producer in les iles-de-la-madeleine. While working in England at a famous jazz club, I cured meats in the soho basement for the selection of British meat board because we found ourselves sometimes short due to the scarcity and availability of British charcuterie and sometimes I had to resolve to this problem by using french meats. I used to go to Bourough market to buy Cumberland speck from Silfield Farm witch was delicious but they were not allowed to sell me the whole ham because of special European safety laws that specified that the ham had to be cut in two to make sure the inside was good, so i would cure duck breasts and pieces of beef fillets to make soho bresaola and Westminster duck prosciutto seasoned with Montreal steak spice that my sister would send me in the post. In exchange I would send here rare breed pork English bacon, wild boar prosciutto and dry cured Herdwick lamb from farmer Sharp. While waiting for the ham to dry, I made a little batch of beef jerky for my next fishing trip.

the second ham

This is the second ham, it is called piano seminterrato. It will be cured in a basement in St- Leonard. After being washed with cognac, it will spend four weeks curing in salt in a maple box and then hung to dry for three to six months.

naan bread and curry

Being to lazy to trek in the rain to little Dacca, my girlfriend and I decided to make naan bread and curry ourselves. Molly who is a talented bread master had no problem following carefully manjula's directions. Yogurt is the key ingredient in naan bread. I made the curry and coriander shrimp as i remembered it from my london days on the curry mile... late nights on brick lane eating firery prawns madras at the preem balti house drinking tall bottles of kingfisher. The habs lost and i feel asleep watching snl.

el mercat de la boqueria

Le mercat de la Boqueria à Barcelone est un de mes endroits préférés. Ici je me sens comme Antony Bourdain dans son livre A Cook's Tour. Je déambule les allés du marché avec mon manteau de cuir en fumant des cigarettes fortuna à 2.55 euros le paquet. Ici il y a de tout. Je n'ai jamais vu une telle abondance, une telle variété et une tellle symbiose de couleurs... Des jambons secs à n'en plus finir et de tout les prix, du fromage de toutes les formes, des têtes d'agneau, des lièvres avec leur fourrure, des fruits multicolores, des millions de jujubes, des noix de macadames, des saucissons, des minis cochons de lait entiers... Au centre du mercat se trouvent les poissons: les crevettes et les langoustes sont encores vivantes, il y a des centaines de sardines, des couteaux comme ceux des îles-de-la-madeleine, d'énormes cabillauds, des lottes entières avec la tête... Je m'arrètes dans un petit comptoir pour essayer quelques specialités locales. Ici les gens boivent de l'expresso avec du J&B (scotch) à neuf heures du matin. Je n'hésite pas une seconde avant d'en commnander un pour moi. Je mange de la pieuvre pour déjeûner, this is the life, puis des croquetas, une tortilla de patata, puis une brochette de boeuf avec un petit verress de vin rouge froid et plusieurs mini verre de bière. Tout cela à un prix dérisoire. je reviendrai ici tout les jours de mon séjour. Barcelone est une ville remplie d'art, Picasso, Dali, et surtout Gaudi flottent à travers le paysage. Plusieurs quartiers aux rues étroites ou il fait sombre malgré le soleil. Les gens suspendent leurs vêtement sur leurs balcons et on peut respirer l'odeur de la lessive. je vous en racontrerai plus....je dois pour l'instant me trouver une bodega pour passé la soirée.... à suivre.... mateo

Curing meats in the basement.

Prosciutto is without a doubt one of Italy's most gastronomical specialties. This ham is produced in the hills that surround the beautiful city of Parma, nestled in the deep valleys of Emilia-Romagna. It is the soft climate of this region that gives the prosciutto it's unique flavor. When the ham is hung to dry, the soft breeze blows threw the olive and pine trees and also it is flavored by the nearby Parmesan that is also drying in the region. This impregnates the ham with special aromas and flavors. That is why the taste of prosciutto is unparalleled anywhere else. That is why only hams that have dry cured in Parma and have been submitted to strict quality controls from the European union can be authorized to be called prosciutto and wear it's special seal.