Day 67: Gluten Free Beer

Nickel Brook Gluten Free Taste - yikes... yikes yikes yikes... now that is a kick in the groin. Real bitter - one that bites and lingers and just stays on all parts of your mouth. A pure sort of bitter. Maybe it is pure hops. I can see from the ingredient list that there is no malt or barley or wheat in it. Interesting. There is a distinct lacking of depth to the flavour, but what's neat is that you are kind of deconstructing the flavour of beer by isolating the taste of hops. Interesting. But a kick in the groin nonetheless.

On gluten-free beers:

Gluten-free beer is beer made from ingredients that do not contain glycoproteins (gluten). Gluten can be found in many common cereal grains including barley and wheat. Of gluten-free products, beer is seen as the most difficult to produce in a commercially acceptable version. However, gluten-free beer is becoming increasingly available, and there is now a range of ales and lagers to choose from.

Still, while pleased with how the brew turned out, brewmaster Peter Romano admits it's not the first thing he reaches for in the fridge. “I think we did a pretty good job, but you're never going to be able to capture that malt flavour without using malt. I enjoy it, but there are other beers I enjoy more — I'm not going to lie to you.”

Day 63: Wagyu Beef

So we now have contestant #3 on this short list of the quintessential food (recall contestant #1 was Iberian Ham de Bellota, and contestant #2 was Foie Gras)

Look at that. Is that your typical piece of beef? Yes, my friends, get ready to bow to the Wagyu cow -and yes, those white streaks absolutely are the marbling of fat! Isn't that the most absolutely intensely, beautiful, wonderful piece of meat you'll ever see? Well, probably not. In Japan, they rate beef marbling on a scale of 1 to 12. According to the butcher, he gave me an 8 or 9. To put this into perspective, the top cuts here in Canadian groceries are 5-6. Only this week, they found a supplier in Australia who get them this incredible cut. the price is surprisingly not too bad at $40/pound, or $88/kg. For those of you who don't shop, ground beef might go for about $4-6/pound, a nice steak (Filet Mignon, New York etc.) might be in the $15-$20 range . So in comparison, $40/lb is not bad. An 8 oz portion of this is therefore $20, which is affordable for many households on a special occasions basis. And keep in mind that in Japan, Kobe (Wagyu beef, but from the capital of Kobe province) beef often runs for $300 per pound.

I just seared it (naked - no seasonings) on a thick bottomed pan, although the cast iron would be more ideal. Nonetheless, ended up with a great sear on both sides, and a wonderfully rare inside (almost blue, actually, unintentionally). Waited for 5 minutes, then thinly sliced. Right before serving, I threw on some sea salt.

The smell is fatty, almost resembling - wait for it - foie gras. That was the biggest, and most pleasant, surprise. The texture is soft, and the little nuggets of salt explode in your mouth when they hit. The taste is exceptionally meaty, and the caramelizing on the edges give it that final crunch. And you have to wonder why life is that good to you. What have you done in a past life to deserve this, because certainly there's nothing in this life that made you deserving.

On Wagyu Beef:

Wagyu beef refers to cuts of beef from the black Tajima-ushi breed of Wagyū cattle. If raised according to strict tradition in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, it is called Kobe beef. If it is cross-bred with Angus cattle, it is called "Kobe-style" beef. What is pictured above was "Kobe Style".

Farms in America and Britain have attempted to replicate the Kobe traditions, providing their Wagyū herds with beer. U.S meat producers claim that any differences between their less expensive "Kobe-style" beef and true Kobe beef are largely cosmetic. The cattle are fed American and/or British grass and grain, which is different from the more expensive Japanese feed. Cuts of American "Kobe-style" beef tend to have darker meat and a bolder flavor.

The meat is generally considered to be a delicacy, renowned for its flavour, tenderness, and fatty, well-marbled texture. Wagyu beef can be prepared as steak, sukiyaki, shabu shabu, sashimi, teppanyaki and more. The beef is also eaten raw by people in Japan as in the form of sushi.

The Wagyu cattle that produce this highly-prized meat were introduced into Japan in the second century as work animals, used in rice cultivation. As beef consumption became more prominent in society, farmers began hiring workers to massage the animals' backsides to improve meat quality. The mountainous topography of the islands of Japan resulted in small regions of isolated breeding, yielding herds that developed and maintained qualities in their meat that differ significantly from all other breeds of cattle. Herd isolation and distinctive feeding techniques, which resulted from the limited land availability, have led to distinguishing features that make the meat both superior in marbling and in the ratios of unsaturated versus saturated fats.

Japan has tracked genetic lines of Wagyu cattle for more than 30 years and have developed a grading system that's precise where eating quality is concerned; that system includes evaluation for meat color, fat color, marbling scores from 1-12, and meat texture. In the United States, all fed beef is graded by the USDA into 3 categories... Select, Choice, and Prime. Prime is ~5-6 on a the Japanese marbling scale.

Day 62: White Truffle Oil

I put white truffle truffle oil on just about anything. One of my favourite things is to put it on eggs, but I put it into pastas, into ground beef - I once put it into my cereal and regretted that day for the next 2 hours. It's a great substitute for truffles during the off season (although they are in season now, so no excuses), and also if you don't have the money to spend on truffles on your eggs.

The bottle in the foreground has the ingredient "white truffle flavour" in the ingredient list, and the shorter bottle in the background actually has white truffle oil slices inside of it. Yum. The flavoured oil actually had a stronger truffle flavour to it, I thought. The other one was weaker. They both cost around the same (~$17) although I did get the bottle with sliced truffles inside of it from Homesense on discount, and from what I gather, oil with sliced truffles usually costs a bit more.

I actually especially love putting it onto fresh field mushrooms.

Chef Gordon Ramsay has described white truffle oil as "one of the most pungent, ridiculous ingredients ever known to chef." But fortunately, I feel a lot of tv chefs like to make comments that sounds good, but really make no sense. For instance, like how everyone cooks with extra virgin olive oil, and claims that it tastes better, even in its cooked form! So while Ramsay may have the money to buy real truffles, I doubt many of his customers do, and so I would think they would benefit from this compromise.

On Truffle Oil: Truffle oil is a modern culinary ingredient, used to impart the flavor and aroma of truffles to a dish. Most truffle oils are not made from actual truffles, but are a synthetic product that combines a thioether (2,4-dithiapentane), one of numerous organic aromas or odorants found in real truffles, with an olive oil or grapeseed oil base. As with pure olive oils, these range from clear to cloudy, and yellow to green. A few more expensive oils are alleged to be made from truffles or the by-products of truffle harvesting and production, though the flavor of truffles is difficult to capture in an oil.

Truffle oil is commonly used to make "truffle fries," which feature french fries cooked in truffle oil, parmesan cheese, pepper, and sometimes other ingredients. Some pasta dishes and whipped dishes such as mashed potatoes or deviled eggs incorporate truffle oil.

Truffle oil, available in all seasons and steady in price, is popular with chefs (and diners) because it is significantly less expensive than actual truffles, while possessing some of the same flavors and aroma. The emergence and growth of truffle oil has led to an increase in the availability of foods claiming to be made with or flavored with truffles, in an era when the price of truffles has pushed them out of reach for most diners. "Their one-dimensional flavor is also changing common understanding of how a truffle should taste," Daniel Patterson complained in a New York Times article.

Day 61: Soft-shelled clams

World famous Maritime clams. Do you love clams? I do. I love them manila clams, razor clams, savoury clams, cherry clams. All of them very different. All of them taste best when they're in season. All of them need to be prepared well well. And these soft-shelled clams are beautiful fried.

I usually like the smaller ones because they are softer in texture and sweeter in flavour. These ones, pictured, are from the Hilton Garden Inn hotel right outside the Halifax International Airport, and it's a regular stop over the last few years when we go back to Nova Scotia - and I go straight for the clams. I don't know what it is about it there, but they do clams SO well. Maybe they source the small ones? Maybe they have a secret recipe? But it comes out tasting so sweet, and the batter is perfect... not too bready, not too salty, not too hard. Rather it's all still super nice and moist when you eat them. Nothing worse than perfectly good seafood that gets overly salted, then frozen for years, then mummified in bread crumbs, then refrozen, then deep fried and sold to you at an overpriced family restaurant for $20 a plate (including a leaf of kale, just to make it authentic!)

On Soft-shelled clams

Soft-shell clams, scientific name Mya arenaria, popularly called "steamers", "softshells", "longnecks", "piss clams", "Ipswich clams", or "Essex clams" are a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Myidae.

These clams live buried in the mud on tidal mudflats. They are well-known as a food item on the coast of New England in the Western Atlantic Ocean, however the range extends much farther north to Canada and south to the Southern states. They are also found in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, for example in the UK, as well as in the North Sea's Wadden Sea (where they are the dominant large clam).

Soft-shell clams are edible and can be enjoyed in a variety of dishes. Before cooking, it is generally recommended that clams be stored in saltwater for a few days to facilitate the expulsion of sand from their digestive tracts. Some recommend that cornmeal be added to the water to give the clams something to filter from it.

Soft-shell clams can be eaten steamed, fried, or in clam chowder. "Steamers" (steamed soft-shell clams) are an integral part of the New England clam bake, where they are served steamed whole in the shell, then pulled from the shell at the table and dipped, first in the clam broth in which they were cooked, to rinse away sand, and then in melted butter.

Day 60: Coconut Water

So the new age stuff (e.g. Zico) is heavily packaged and likely very healthy and sugar-free. But no contest, iit is just not as good as this stuff, which probably has some added preservatives, definitely added sugar, and those awesome chunks of coconut pulp that pop in your mouth. It's not as clear in colour, it's a little bit cloudy. And this stuff doesn't cost, what, $3 for a little tetra pack. This is about half a litre and costs ~$1.25 at T&T. I got this one from a convenience store.

I used to love this kind of Coconut Water as a kid. On weekends, when we'd go to Halifax, my parents would stop at an Asian grocery store, and pick up a few of these, frozen, because there just wasn't even demand in Halifax to keep it in the fridge, because it would go bad. As it melted, I would slowly suck out all of the juice.

The flavour is kinda caramelly, you get a nuttiness from the cocoNUT, and when you are really thirsty, there is almost no better way thing to have than fridge-cold coconut water - the unhealthy kind.

On Coconut Water: (from wikipedia)

Coconut water is the clear liquid inside young coconuts (fruits of the coconut palm). As the fruit matures, the coconut water is gradually replaced by the coconut meat and air. A very young coconut has very little meat; the meat that it has is very tender, almost a gel. Coconut water has long been a popular drink in the tropics, especially in Southeast Asia, Pacific Islands, Africa, and the Caribbean, where it is available fresh, canned, or bottled.

Coconuts for drinking are carefully packaged and sold in many places. These are typically Asian coconuts whose outer green husk has been removed, and the remainder wrapped in plastic. Throughout the tropics they can be found sold by street vendors, often cut in front of customers to ensure the coconut water's freshness. Coconut water can also be found in ordinary cans, tetra paks, or plastic bottles (sometimes with coconut pulp or coconut jelly included). It is also being marketed as a natural sports drink because of its high potassium and mineral content.

Day 59: Raclette Cheese

Fall is here, and winter is approaching. So I decided to try out an old favourite of mine. Raclette is the perfect melting cheese. As I don't own a fondue set, or a raclette grill, I just take a ramekin and stick it in the oven beside whatever else I am cooking, and wait til it gets nice and bubbly. The ramekin keeps the heat so it stays warm long-ish, and I just take a knife and slather it on whatever you want.

The smell is a little bit strong at first, so be prepared (I'd be lying if I said it didn't at first remind me of feet). But if you can get over that, you get a nuttiness, you get a texture that is firm enough to perfectly yield to the tooth. You get raclette.

When I lived in France, this would be a special dish that we would eat in mid-afternoon, pre-dinner, and when guests arrive. We also had our own raclette grill that would keep it all nice and hot and bubbly until you were ready. Here in Canada, it's very affordable (a snack-size wedge will run you ~$5), and you can prepare it in the oven or even on a pan and then literally scrape it with a butter knife onto a toasted baguette, onto root vegetables, or if you are really hungry and short on time, just Melba toast or Paris toast.

On Raclette:

Raclette is both a type of cheese and a Swiss and French dish based on heating the cheese and scraping ("racler") off the melted part.Raclette is a semi-firm, cow's milk cheese - most commonly used for melting.

Raclette is also a dish indigenous to parts of Switzerland and the Savoy region of France. The Raclette cheese round is heated, either in front of a fire or by a special machine, then scraped onto diners' plates; the term raclette derives from the French word racler, meaning "to scrape". Traditionally, it is accompanied by small firm potatoes (Bintje, Charlotte or Raclette varieties), gherkins, pickled onions, and dried meat, such as jambon cru/cuit and viande des Grisons.

In the Swiss canton of Valais, raclette is typically served with tea or other warm beverages. Another popular option is to serve raclette with white wine, such as the traditional Savoy wine or Fendant, but Riesling and Pinot Gris are also common. Raclette was mentioned in medieval writings as a particularly nutritious meal consumed by peasants in mountainous Switzerland and France (Savoy region). Traditionally, the Swiss cow herders used to take the cheese with them when they were moving cows to or from the pastures up in the mountains. In the evenings around the campfire, they would place the cheese next to the fire and, when it had reached the perfect softness, scrape it on top of some bread.

A modern way of serving raclette involves an electric table-top grill with small pans, known as coupelles, to heat slices of raclette cheese in. Generally the grill is surmounted by a hot plate or griddle. The cheese is brought to the table sliced, accompanied by platters of boiled or steamed potatoes, other vegetables and charcuterie. These are then mixed with potatoes and topped with cheese in the small, wedge-shaped coupelles that are placed under the grill to melt and brown the cheese. Alternatively, slices of cheese may be melted and simply poured over food on the plate. The accent in raclette dining is on relaxed and sociable eating and drinking, the meal often running to several hours.

Day 58: Chanterelles Mushrooms

I believe that Chanterelles have been in season for a few months already, and will continue to be in season for a few months more, but until then, they really are an amazing mushroom. A nice firm texture, and slightly fleshy. The flavour is earthy and sweet, and holds its own against even stronger flavours, even against cheese, poultry, or fish.

I like them simply pan fried, with butter, thyme, and pepper. But if you're feeling exciting, add some white truffle oil and/or mirin.

On Chanterelles:

Chanterelles are common in northern parts of Europe and North America, including Mexico, in Asia including the Himalayas, and in Africa including Zambia. hough records of chanterelles being eaten date back to the 1500s, they first gained widespread recognition as a culinary delicacy with the spreading influence of French cuisine in the 1700s, where they began appearing in palace kitchens. For many years, they remained notable for being served at the tables of nobility. Nowadays, the usage of chanterelles in the kitchen is common throughout Europe and North America. In 1836, the Swedish mycologist Elias Fries considered the chanterelle "as one of the most important and best edible mushrooms."

Chanterelles as a group are generally described as being rich in flavor, with a distinctive taste and aroma difficult to characterize. Some species have a fruity odor, others a more woody, earthy fragrance, and others still can even be considered spicy. The golden chanterelle is perhaps the most sought-after and flavorful chanterelle, and many chefs consider it on the same short list of gourmet fungi as truffles and morels. It therefore tends to command a high price in both restaurants and specialty stores.