Day 49: Kasmiri Tea from Lahore Tikka

A light tea that was served at the table, with crushed pistachios and almonds added in, giving it a nice crunch as you drank it. A pinkish colour, and a yogurty flavour, and a hint of rose water and cardamom. Pretty awesome.

On Kashmiri tea (from ellenskitchen.com)

Kashmiris make two or three types of tea using special equipment, called a "samovar", and many say good kashmiri tea has to be made in a samovar.

One type of tea is called shi:r' cha:y or shirchai. This type is made with a slightly fermented tea such as an oolong. It is brewed with bicarbonate of soda, salt, whole milk, and cream (mala:y), spices and pistachios. It has a very pleasant pinkish or peachy color. Shi:r' cha:y also is a typically Kashmiri tea, but not every visitor likes it. Salt tea is served at evry breakfast and in the afternoon. It resembles the butter tea of Tibet. Kashmiri folk say the salt is refreshing in the heat; in Mongolia and Tibet, tea is salted to resist the cold!

Kashmiri tea is best enjoyed in a Kashmiri kho:s (cup): it used to be served in bronze Cups by Pandits or handleless porcelain Bowls, (K -'Chin Pyala'.) by Muslims.

Day 48: Mushroom Antipasto from Loblaw

You can find this antipasto in the self serve section, in the same stall as you find olives. It has the pickly sourness, the carrots and celery add nice textural contrast. A good mix of button, oyster, and shiitake mushrooms. Red peppers and add colour, and artichoke/onions and some flavours.

But all in all, the dish is fairly flavourless, and that is the result of over-pickling which is used to extend shelf-life, but comes at the expense of everything else.

Day 47: Macaroni and Cheese - Homemade

Mac and Cheese is one of my all-time favourite dishes. And the best way to do it (as you can probably anticipate), is to do it yourself. A bit of bechamel sauce, some bacon, freshly grated cheese, ground pepper and some hot chillies. If you're feeling good about yourself, add a breadcrumb mixture on top and brown it in the oven.

You get the creaminess of the bechamel, the smoky bacon taste, and the texture of it also. The macaroni are just the perfect vehicle to cling onto the sauce,and hold clumps of it inside it. Total comfort food.

Day 46: Swordfish Burger from St. Lawrence Market

If you like seafood, Buster's Cove at St. Lawrence Market is a great place to go, to get it done really fresh. They don't use top quality ingredients, that's for sure, but it's made right to order, and it pretty much goes straight from the grill/fryer/pan to your dish, and into your hands. The swordfish burger was nice. A nice grilled bread, but would have preferred it softer - I personally just like soft breads on sandwiches because it makes it easier to eat and makes the meat the focus of the dish. I put some of the coleslaw into it, which gave it a bit of crunch - just something I like to do. At $8.95, you can't expect a fantastic cut and you don't get a great cut, or a thick piece that permits a medium-rareish quality. Instead you get swordfish overcooked. But I can expect satisfying - with hot meat, fresh ingredients, and nicely grilled bun, this was damn satisfying.

Day 45: "Ice Pressed" Olive Oil from McEwan's

This is the private label brand (kind of like the "President's Choice" of McEwan's) of Olive Oil. I was lucky enough to meet the farmer and processor of the oil who was in store that day, and sampled it, and talked a bit about the process.

A really fresh, refreshing flavour, with that grassy, earthy flavour that is a bit of an acquired taste, especially if, like me, you're more used to lighter tasting olive oils. The bottle shown costs about $18. A doubly sized President's Choice bottle would cost around $8.

I've never bought into the whole hype about olive oils. I like a fresh olive oil - so I buy labels that look like they move a lot of volume. I don't sit and taste olive oil the way I do a wine. I put it on food to give it flavour, and freshen up the texture a little bit, but that's it. Or I cook with it. Plus, an expensive olive oil that sits on the shelf for a long time, exposed to light, and temperature changes, is not going to be worth what you pay for it. For cooking, I wouldn't usually use extra virgin (unlike what the foodtv chefs recommend), because it's a total waste of money.

So I like the olive oil, but it's a total ripoff at that price point.

About Ice Pressed Olive Oil:

According to the farmer, it keeps the olives at a temperature of below 5 degrees while processing, so that you maintain that fresh olive flavour. "Cold Pressed" olive oil, despite its names, apparently goes to tempertures of over 20 degrees while processing. According to the McEwan website: "Enjoy the intense, rich flavour of this early harvest olive oil. It’s ice pressed, unfiltered and has an acidity of just 0.1%. Not a cooking oil, this variety adds exceptional flavour to your favourite dishes after they have been prepared."

Day 44: Wheat beer from Dieu du Ciel

Brutal. The first taste is a bit soapy. The strong flavour sits on the center of the tongue. It has the citrus-note as it is a wheat ale, but it also has a cough-syrup "note". You also get that rose water flavour, which honestly tastes better on baklava than in beer.

The colour of pink just throws you off.

From the company website:

Rosée d’Hibiscus is a soft spoken wheat beer. The rose colour comes from the hibiscus flowers added during the brewing process. The aromas and flavour of this tropical flower are very prominent in the beer, giving it a slight acidity and a very agreeable fragrance. It is the perfect thirst quencher on a hot summer day.

This beer won a gold medal (fifth place amongst 10 gold medal winners) at the adjudicated "MBeer" contest during the Mondial de la Bière in Montréal in 2007, and a silver medal in the 2008 Popular Beer Contest during the Mondial de la Bière in Montréal.

Day 43: Plantain Chips (Chifle) from Golden Banana

This is one of the best quick snacks. It's not sweet (unlike banana chips), and has a hardcore crunch. I prefer when it's super thinly sliced (like "golden banana" brand). When it's too thick, it feels too filling. And goes awesome with light beers.

I buy them from the Toronto subway stops for $1.35 per bag.

On Chifle:

Chifle is a side dish, snack food, or finger food of Peru and Ecuador,[1] consisting of fried slices (chips or crisps) of green or ripe plantain.

It consists of fried slices or strips of either ripe or green plantains seasoned with salt to taste. In the region of Piura, chifle is traditionally fried in wood-burning stoves with wood of the algorrobo blanco (a species of mesquite tree), which gives chifle a special aroma and taste. Depending on the type of plantain (ripe or green) the flavor can be sweet or savory. Sometimes it is served with cancha serrana (pan-roasted maize) or shredded cecina (pork jerky).

Every tropical country where the plantain is in high consumption has its local version of this snack. It is known as chipilo in Bolivia; plataninas in Guatemala; mariquitas (English: lady bugs) in Cuba; in Puerto Rico platanutres.

Day 42: Tuna Poke

Where do you get the best poke in town when in Hawaii? The high end restaurant? The luau? After speaking to a few locals, my co-travelers discovered that the best place to get poke was at the grocery store. Yes, that's where the locals go. And if the locals go there, that's where the most product get moved. And that leads to freshness. Look how they sell it here, in trays, the same way we buy gelato! So many flavours, and the price is $8.99/lb. You can't even buy tuna for $8.99/lb. On the side they have raw marlin too, which I didn't get a chance to try. But avocado poke had a nice balance of textures, spicy poke was delicate enough not to ruin the tuna. The tuna, mind you, was very roughly cut and a little fibrous, but for $8.99/lb, and then served on hot rice. And sitting on the beach. Man, you can't beat that.

On Poke

Modern poke typically consists of cubed ʻahi (yellowfin tuna) sashimi marinated with sea salt, a small amount of soy sauce, inamona (roasted crushed candlenut), sesame oil, limu seaweed, and chopped chili pepper. Other variations' ingredients may include cured heʻe (octopus), other types of raw tuna, raw salmon and other kinds of sashimi, sliced or diced Maui onion, furikake, hot sauce (such as sambal olek), chopped ʻohiʻa (tomato), tobiko (flying fish roe), ogo or other types of seaweed, and garlic. The selection of condiments has been heavily influenced by Japanese and other Asian cuisines.

Native Hawaiians have always eaten poke. The traditional Hawaiian poke consists of fish that has been gutted, skinned, and deboned. It is sliced across the backbone as fillet, then served with traditional condiments such as sea salt, seaweed, and limu.

According the food historian Rachel Laudan, the present form of poke became popular around the 1970s. It used skinned, deboned, and filleted raw fish served with wasabi (Japanese green horseradish) and soy sauce. This form of poke is still common in the Hawaiian islands.

Day 41: Blue Agave Sweetener

Instead of sugar cane, why not harvest sugar from the same plant as tequila. What genius. And the flavour is... nice. A bit like maple syrup, but less sweet. Tequila? Unfortunately not even a hint.

On Blue Agave Sweetener:

Agave nectar (also called agave syrup) is a sweetener commercially produced in Mexico and South Africa from several species of agave, including the Blue Agave (Agave tequilana)

Agave nectar is 1.4 to 1.6 times sweeter than sugar. Agave nectar is often substituted for sugar or honey in recipes and used as a Vegan alternative to honey in cooking. Also, because it dissolves quickly, it can be used as a sweetener for cold beverages such as iced tea.

Agave nectars are sold in light, amber, dark, and raw varieties. Light agave nectar has a mild, almost neutral flavor, and is therefore sometimes used in delicate-tasting dishes and beverages. Amber agave nectar has a medium-intensity caramel flavor, and is therefore used in dishes and drinks with stronger flavors. Dark agave nectar has stronger caramel notes, and imparts a distinct flavor to dishes, such as some desserts, poultry, meat, and seafood dishes. Both amber and dark agave nectar are sometimes used "straight out of the bottle" as a topping for pancakes, waffles and French toast.

Day 40: McDonald's Local Hawaii Breakfast

Yes, McDonald's...

the local menu includes a platter with rice, portugues sausage, spam, and egg. And yes, Aloha brand soy sauce. Rice in Hawaii is surprisingly nice. Even at McDonald's, it's soft, slightly sweet, and slighlty sticky. Fried spam is particularly tasty when forked in the mouth with rice.

The best part was hearing ukulele music in the background. Few people realize how important music is to the enjoyment of food.

Day 39: Kona Coffee

Believe it or not, this is considered one of the most expensive coffees in the world.

This cup I was served was extra piping hot, and you could taste bitter chocolate in it. A balanced acidity, with hints of orange rind, and the depth of flavour you expect from a fresh roast. Would I pay a massive premium - is the most expensive coffee in the world? No. But when you buy it in Hawaii, you don't pay that premium. And it's still damn good for that reason.

On Kona Coffee:

Kona coffee is the market name for coffee (Coffea arabica) cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the North and South Kona Districts of the Big Island of Hawaii. It is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Only coffee from the Kona Districts can be described as "Kona". The weather of sunny mornings, cloud or rain in the afternoon, little wind and mild nights combined with porous, mineral rich volcanic soil, creates favorable coffee growing conditions. The loanword for coffee in the Hawaiian language is kope, pronounced [ˈkope].

Day 38: Maui Pineapples

The pineapple itself looks a bit smaller than the grocery store variety, but they are really sweet, like honey sweet and just packed with flavour. The juice is so thick, it's almost syrupy.

They seem to be less fibrous too than the usual kind, and are slightly chewier in texture. The colour is paler yellow than, say, the canned pineaples.

The awesome thing is that you can buy these right on the road, and you just stick the coins into a trusty box and take the pineapples.

Day 37: Shaved Ice from Ulalani (Maui)

My first shaved ice was on Oahu island. For me, the secret to a good shaved ice is the condensed milk which gives it a milky texture. So I found this place by visiting all the stores and seeing if they made the effort to put on condensed milk - otherwise you're just eating a slush puppie. The second secret is the ice, which has to be so soft, it feels like ice cream in your mouth. The third secret is copious amounts of syrup. I hate dilute flavoured ice. Just not good.

Ulalani's is all of that. And an amazing atmosphere underneath a beautiful tree where you can escape the heat. Lime flavour, mango, guava, and coconut are amazing.

See below for a sign outside the window as to why it is so good.

Day 36: Cholula Hot Sauca

Nice smoky flavour, but not spicy enough.

About Cholula Hot Sauce: Cholula hot sauce is a brand of chili-based hot sauce, manufactured in Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico, and licensed by Tequila Cuervo

Day 35: Taco from Baja Fresh

I just love eating with my hands. Not a huge fan of cold sandwiches (as very few chinese actually ever are), but eating a hot taco is amazing. Baja Express is, yes, a take out chain, but they cook that meat pretty fresh, they steam the bread in front of you. I love squishy guacamole, chewy wrap, the wet salsa and the tangy onions. The secret always is in the wrapper, especially when it's warm, which brings out the corn flavour. I asked them to add about 4 lemon slices, which I squeeze one slice per taco which makes it perfect.

On Baja Fresh:

Baja Fresh is a chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Newbury Park, California, in 1990 and headquartered in Cypress, California.The chain emphasizes fresh ingredients, and each restaurant features a self-serve salsa bar.

The chain operates 256 restaurants in 29 states,and in 2010 opened a store at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.