Day 52: Takoyaki at Markham Night Market

These guys really didn't know what they were doing and did a real disservice to the food. The texture was too creamy (probably undercooked), the octopus was chewy, the shape of it wasn't even round, the size was too small, there was no crispy outside, and there was a severe lacking of acidity in the flavour.

On Takoyaki:

Takoyaki (literally fried or grilled octopus) is a popular ball-shaped Japanese dumpling or more like a savory pancake made of batter and cooked in a special takoyaki pan. It is typically filled with diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion.

In modern days, it became common to be brushed with takoyaki sauce and mayonnaise, and topped with green laver (aonori) and katsuobushi (shavings of dried bonito). There are many variations to the takoyaki recipe. For example, ponzu i.e. soy sauce with dashi and citrus vinegar, goma-dare i.e. sesame-and-vinegar sauce or vinegared dashi.

It was first popularized in Osaka where a street vendor named Tomekichi Endo is credited with its invention in 1935 under the influence of Akashiyaki.

Day 52: Fanny Bay Oysters

Love these oysters and I got them from a food market where they were charging $10 for 8 pieces... shucked, with lemon and cocktail sauce, and including tax, so you're looking at around $8 before tax! And also consider that you have to ship these in by air freight from BC. So all in all, they weren't making a ton of profit per oyster, although they certainly CERTAINLY made it up in volume. I did a quick estimate on their sales based on the number of empty cases of oyster laying around, and I can tell you for a fact that made out pretty well today, and they probably did even better after I left, which was when the crowds really started pouring in. The truck was associated with Diana's Seafood, which is apparently an amazing location to buy your seafood.

Sometimes they say only buy oysters in months containing an "r" (e.g. FebRuaRy is good, and july is bad). I think this rule has more to do with safety, as the summer months don't have the letter "R". These oysters today was proof that that this letter "r" trick has nothing to do with flavour. They were completely filled with meat, the flavour was buttery and like a delicious tasting cucumber, with a soft and milky texture. It was cold on the tongue, it was fresh. A little tabasco on the side would have been nice.

Sometimes oysters will spawn and the meat will be about half the size as the one show above. But that was not at all the case with these puppies, eaten in July.

If I had to criticize these oysters (from this vendor), it is that there were little bits of shell in them which is the result of not washing the oyster after shucking them, especially if the shucker was having trouble opening them and had to pop them from the side rather than form the hinge of the oyster. Not washing them has the benefit of preserving the "nectar" which is where a ton of the flavour comes from, and also has the benefit of speed in processing, which is obvious. But you end up with little nuggets of shell every bite or so. These shell fragments also comes from the fact that some of the oysters were stacked (i.e. the shell of one oyster was touching the meat of another on my plate). This not only cause bits of shell, but it can be dangerous, because the bacteria (e.g. "vibrio") sits on the shell and this can cause sickness in some people. But look, I'm not sick, and these oysters so far as I could tell, were being professionally handled by the crew, so whatever - that's why you have lemon to kill off the bacteria, right?

On Fanny Bay Oysters:

Fanny Bay oysters are cultured near Comox just off of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. They develop their nice cup and thick shells, reaching market size in 18 to 24 months. Water from the Pacific Ocean flows directly through the Strait of Juan de Fuca then up the Strait of Georgia over the site, producing oysters that tend to be quite salty. Their flavor is sweet with an aftertaste similar to that of cucumber.

Day 51: Jamaican Roti Wrap from a Niagara foodtruck

I can't remember exactly where this foodtruck was, but it was near fallsview and I'm sure if you ask the locals, they will tell you. The lady made the filling for me right to order, so it was a hot filling. But it was lacking in salt, and hotness, as well as all those gorgeous Jamaican spices that she could have used, but dulled down. The roti (wrapper) was dry and doughy.

On roti wrap:

West Indian roti are primarily made from wheat flour, baking powder, salt, and water and cooked on a tava. Certain rotis are also made with butter. The wrap roti originated in southern Trinidad. It was first created in the mid 1940s by Sackina Karamath who later founded Hummingbird Roti Shop in San Fernando, Trinidad.

Day 50 (cont): Pulled Pork from "Kentucky Smokehouse"

This was at the same smokehouse at the Etobicoke Ribs Fest as the ribs in the previous post. The flavour was slightly fruity, like an apple sauce, and full of porky fat goodness. It was completely and utterly drenched in sauce, but not sticky - slightly gooey but when served piping hot, it works. It served lukewarm, I can imagine this being a dud.

A crappy pulled pork is the opposite of this, and comes down to improper storage of the good, or poorly executed temperature, or an overly sticky and sickly-sweet sauce.

Day 50: Ribs from "Kentucky Smokehouse"

A big smoky flavour with a crunchy crust and that gorgeous char flavour - and of course the all important quality of "falling off the bone good"

Certainly not all of the ribs at this festival were good, or even remotely worthy of being at a ribs fest. Some had that boiled flavour. Some claimed that "it's all in the sauce"... which was rubbish, especially when you tasted their ribs.

For me, a little bit of dryness on the skin is nice, because it gives it a texture. The sauce has to be balanced in acidity. And the sauce has to be plentiful too. Kentucky Ribs was by far the winner at the show. And the texture has to be perfect - soft but not mushy, fall off the bone, but still slightly fibrous. And of course, it's gotta be piping hot.