April 9, 2012 by Gail
I’m in a food coma which is competing with delirium from too many hours with my eyes open. I will let the (Instagram) photos speak for themselves so I can drift into dreamland.
The photos were taken at Ding Tai Fung in Markham. These dumplings were worth driving 71kms roundtrip for.
Posted in cameraphone, Food + Drink, Friends | 5 Comments
March 26, 2012 by Gail
here goes ...
Would I ever turn down an offer of homemade tortilla? Absolutely not! Especially from a native Spaniard, offering to cook it for me. If I could, I would drink sangria and eat tapas every single day.
I really miss my neighbourhood La Bodega in Vancouver! (*music warning–don’t click unless you’re ready for Spanish guitar through your speakers*) I used to eat there often. I don’t understand how a city the size of Toronto doesn’t have more Spanish restaurants. Or Cuban restaurants, for that matter. I have yet to find an equivalent to Havana on Commercial Drive. I’ve only ever eaten at two Spanish restaurants here, on the Danforth and in Kensington Market. The prices made me gasp. Why is it so much more expensive?
Anyway, the only thing to do is to make the food you want at home, which is entirely possible. However, this first attempt at tortilla was thwarted by a sudden heat swing that was too far to the hot side…
a watched pan never heats up fast enough ...
... so then you turn up the heat and it burns!
“This is the worst tortilla I’ve ever made,” he said. Nevermind, not a total loss — it was all eaten in the end. We will try again later.
We had a Food Inspector at the table, too:
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March 25, 2012 by Gail
huevos divorciados
The house speciality: 2 sunny eggs on a corn tortilla with spicy green & red salsa, re-fried black beans with side guacamole, ancho jam, toasted baguette with homefries.
As of June I’ve been a local to Easy Restaurant for five years, and I’ve never stepped foot in it! Why is this a big deal? Because a) brunch is my favourite meal, and b) I walk by this restaurant nearly every day on the way home from The Firm. Whenever someone suggests brunch, I always head further afield.
Well, it looks like I’ve made up for lost time, it took me two whole hours to get through my “divorced eggs” and conversation. The spicy salsa and ancho jam hit the Sunday spot. I’ll be back, Easy!
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March 18, 2012 by Gail
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
It was a great weekend mix of everything, including aviation, photography, comedy, food, and friends. If you have a chance to see Danny Bhoy live, DO IT! He’s hilarious!
Happy St. Patty's Day!
Danny Bhoy @ Hamilton Place
foggy Hamilton
I <3 mango pudding
tentacle art @ dim sum
Posted in Aviation, cameraphone, Entertainment, Food + Drink | 2 Comments
March 4, 2012 by Gail
This month’s One-of-a-Kind-Dinner was themed “The Count of Monte Cristo”, which brings to mind one thing for me: swashbuckling pirates. But this isn’t “Pirates of the Caribbean” the movie, this is a 19th century adventure novel by Alexander Dumas, and it is Chef Clint Rampold’s favourite book, he says.
We were not without swashbuckling pirates, of course.
From Wikipedia:
The story takes place in France, Italy, islands in the Mediterranean and the Levant during the historical events of 1815–1838 (from just before the Hundred Days through to the reign of Louis-Philippe of France). The historical setting is a fundamental element of the book. An adventure story primarily concerned with themes of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy and forgiveness, it focuses on a man who is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes from jail, acquires a fortune and sets about getting revenge on those responsible for his imprisonment. However, his plans have devastating consequences for the innocent as well as the guilty.
Creating a multi-course dinner around the storyline of “The Count of Monte Cristo” is a rather tall culinary order, but Clint rose to the challenge. Here’s the menu:
And, the plates in all their glory. (I will add the course descriptions once I get the list.)
Amuse-Bouche: Haydee, a Turkish Rose
Soup: Isle of Monte Cristo
Appetizer: Napoleon's Letter
Main: Betrayal in Marseilles
Imprisoned In The Chateau D'If
The One-of-a-Kind-Dinners are known for more than originality, they are a celebration of the arts, including dance, theatre, and music.
Maria Z
Maria Z
Sasha Z
Equus Q
Andrew Lopatin
This is by no means all the pictures of the evening — check out the photo album as a full-screen slideshow or click through to view the smaller slideshow autoplay below:
Posted in events, Food + Drink, Image Legacy, Linkage | | 3 Comments
February 28, 2012 by Gail
Map: World Food Statistics
Part of the Food for 9 Billion project
This map of World Food Statistics compiled by the Center For Investigative Reporting, the U.S.’s oldest non-profit investigative news organization, is the most fascinating set of visually-presented data I’ve seen in recent memory. You can compile this information yourself as the sources are all publicly available, but this javascript map does the work for you in a simple way, allowing you to compare countries with a mouse hover rather than scrolling through tables of data. Roll over any country for a snapshot of its food situation. Compare countries by using the drop-down menu.
As you can see by the screencap of Canada’s stats, it includes other data such as water resources (ours is HUGE) and CO2 emissions. We are among the top 10 emitters of greenhouse gases per capita.
Another interesting statistic to compare is percent of income spent on food. The USA spends a relatively small percentage of income on food (6.4%, less than any other country on this map), yet three-quarters of Americans are overweight, one-third are obese, and 8% have diabetes. There is obviously something very wrong with not making food a priority, especially because it affects health directly.
I love statistics, but even if the mere idea of stats puts you to sleep, the information provided in this map may surprise you. Check it out.
Posted in Culture + Society, Food + Drink, Linkage, Politics + Economy, Unabashed Geekiness | No Comments
February 15, 2012 by Gail
Netsu Ramen (heat level 2 out of 3)
Another day, another food photo, but more importantly, spicy food. This winter has been unseasonably mild, but spicy soups still hit the spot in February. I guarantee you will warm up after a bowl of spicy ramen!
This is the first ramen noodle house I’ve been to in Toronto, and I wasn’t sure about the heat level. (I used to frequent Kintaro Ramen on Denman in Vancouver. Loved that place!) With a choice of mild, medium, and hot (or 1-3 on the menu), I chose medium and I’m glad I did, because anything hotter and my head would be on fire. It was already on fire with medium heat, but at least I could feel my tongue afterwards.
There are three locations, but we went to the one at 138 Dundas West, near the coach terminal.
Before heading to Kenzo, a bunch of us met up at the World’s Biggest Bookstore, where I shot some photos of the side of the building while waiting for the others.
On the way to the bookstore I took this shot north of Queen and the courthouse, making a mental note to do a shoot here when it’s quieter, like on a weekend, and I can bring some lighting and my DSLR. I’ll also need a second person to watch for traffic!
parking garage off Bay Street
Posted in cameraphone, Food + Drink | 1 Comment
February 13, 2012 by Gail
Korean Grill House
I’m in a food coma at the moment. After that photo, are you surprised?
On really short (2 hours?) notice I rounded up some people to join me at Korean Grill House (Queen Street location) and we ate our weight in meat. We grilled everything ourselves — everything being at least eight different sorts of animals/fish. It’s one of those self-grill places with a burner in the middle, and if it looks familiar that’s because I’ve taken photos here before, but it’s been years since the last time.
August 30, 2009
January 10, 2009
September 30, 2008
September 28, 2008 and more pics from that evening
And there are more I’m sure, that’s just what I was able to find from posts I’ve tagged properly.
We ordered two huge rounds of meat plates and Korean appetizer dishes between four of us, with a grill replacement in between. I had no idea they even switched out the grills — that was Austin’s idea. How many times have I been here and I never even thought of asking!
Ordinarily I don’t order all-you-can-eat anything (Indian is the occasional exception) because it makes it too easy to overeat and waste food, but I nearly always get all-you-can-eat barbecue at Korean Grill House. However, I have to be in the mood for eating that much meat, and I have to be with people who really enjoy eating meat — and a lot of it! Quantity puts off most women, and the vegetarians wouldn’t make it past the door. This means an outing to Korean Grill House is optimal if accompanied by a bunch of hungry meat-loving guys. (Eating with women who are really self-conscious when they eat in public drives me bananas. Are you going to eat or what?)
I told the guys to bring their appetites. The all-you-can-eat barbecue menu items include: pork, beef, chicken, beef ribs, ox tongue, ox liver, salmon, squid, fish fillet, and we upgraded to include lamb and shrimp.
Three hours later, we all rolled away from the table. I don’t think we’ll need to eat for another 24 hours!
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February 12, 2012 by Gail
The Chef's improvised laksa
Call me shameless, but I totally played the sick card today for homemade curry soup. Do you know Tom Ka Gai soup? It’s my favourite soup ever — this Thai dish is my go-to meal when I’ve got a cold. It’s spicy enough to break through the congestion barrier, opens up the sinuses, cuts through to your taste buds, and it packs a lot of protein (chicken and mushrooms) and vegetables. It tastes fan-bloody-tastic and yes, it can bring you back from the dead.
In other words, I was willing to play the sick card and hit up The Chef for this soup. I haven’t been out of the house since Friday, and this cold had worked its way up into my eyes, which were swollen and tearing up so badly I was debating whether I was presentable enough to go out in public and get takeout Tom Ka Gai. I also wondered if the local Thai restaurants would make their Tom Ka Gai spicy enough. As for cooking, it was also a question of ingredients — a good Tom Ka Gai has lots of kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, and galangal. Sheesh, a rather tall order for even a cosmopolitan Toronto neighbourhood in February. On a Sunday. In Vancouver this is easy — the best Thai takeaways were near my house, but here?
The Chef made a shopping list, started the chicken stock on the stove, and headed out to Roncy to see what he could find from the Chinese-run produce stands. He returned a short time later, unable to round up any kaffir, lemongrass, or galangal, but he managed to gather enough supplies in the neighbourhood to make an improvised laksa that totally hit the spot.
Man, did it ever. The curried chicken, mushrooms, and chilis with limes in noodles was exactly what I needed. Three cheers for guys who can cook!
Posted in cameraphone, Food + Drink | 1 Comment
February 9, 2012 by Gail
dumplings, goulash, et al
Continuing my streak of food-centric posts, I present to you an impromptu dinner at a well-established Polish restaurant in my neighbourhood, Café Polonez. I’ve eaten here once before but I think I just had a bowl of goulash and a side order of dumplings, not mains like this. The plate in front of me is in the ‘hot sandwich’ section of the menu, but it might as well have been a main. Whoa. My fellow diner could only eat a quarter of her plate and took the rest home for lunch tomorrow, with enough to share.
Those beer mugs are something, aren’t they? I got Alison to put her hand in for reference. I’d be tempted to sneak one home except I live around here. I’ll only consider it if I’m abroad! (Have you seen my cupboard? That’s how I got my Kölsch and Banks’s Bitter glasses.)
now THAT'S a glass
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Copyright © 2012 Gail Edwin-Fielding
