Fast Food with some friends

Last Saturday, after My Friends of Sarv Academy Choir and me, enjoyed together a nice moment singing in a concert, we decided to go together to enjoy a nice meal. The place we chose: Hero Certified Burgers, in Yonge and Sheppard. 

Hero Certified Burger is a business with an interesting history. Their aim is to provide food made with natural ingredients. The beef used is raised without hormones or antibiotics. According

to their page, they have a lot of options Gluten Free and those who use Non GMO ingredients. In Yonge and Sheppard, Customers can be assisted by its owner Mr. Shawn.

  Hero Burgers offers Different kinds of Burgers, from Angus beef Burgers to those of Wild Alaska Salmon. Toppings can vary from fried egg, bacon, Portobello mushrooms and different kinds of cheese, from cheddar to Swiss cheese. For me was also a new experience to use their soft drink machine, where customers can choose from a wide range of soft drinks with just a few clicks to a screen.

Here are some of  the selections we had that night: 

This is my with my dinner, a Wild Alaska Salmon burger coming with Fried O-Rings 

My friend Elena who decided to eat a salad 

My Friend Pouya with his Cheese burger and a side of Poutine.

Two different kinds of Burgers, one with a side of Fried potatoes and the other with a side of Sweet potatoes. 

A signature Burger. 

Une Aventure Française!

A couple of days ago, I met my friends Eliana and Ghada, my “Team”, to have dinner in a restaurant that we found in Internet. I am not going to mention the name of that restaurant, but it was a very disappointing surprise to find out that the place we were looking for does not exist.

We decided to move on. At the end, we were very lucky. There was a French restaurant nearby. We took a look and we felt that it was a very cozy place with a real French flavor. My “Team” shares not only a passion for good food, but a passion for French language as well.  This was our opportunity to have a French Gathering.

The restaurant is Le Paradis;  we felt very comfortable in that place. I started with a petit plat: Calamars à la Méditerranéenne, a dish with a squid with a bean purée and Fresh salad.

Then we asked for a Tajine de légumes, a mixture of Couscous and slow cooked vegetables using north African spices. This dish shows a fusion of French and Moroccan cuisine.

Another dish with same fusion was Lamburger à la Marocaine, a Hamburger using Lamb meat and North African spices, with melted Emmenthal cheese and salad, accompanied with the classic French Fries (les frites).     

Then we had Crevettes et avocat, Shrimp with avocado salad.  

  

We finish our visit with the dessert. The choices: Tarte citron, Balthazar (A chocolate cake with almonds) and tarte du jour (cake of the day, that day was an almond cake). It was a great final for our visit.  

Desserts in Toronto

In Toronto, to hang out at cafes and patisseries while eating delicious desserts can be a very interesting experience. The multiculturalism of this city is one of the reasons for this. It is possible to find such diversity of desserts that no other place in the world would be able to match.   

When I want to buy some pastries, I have my own choices. Today, I am going to show some of them that may not be in the lists of my friends and readers. They were made inspired in places and cultures that are not famous for their sweets and pastries.

In Thornhill, Steels Ave W, we can find Chocolada, with a great variety of cakes and its selection of Eastern European and Russian pastries. My favourite is the Poppy seed Strudel, with a unique flavour, but still close to what I used to eat in family gatherings long time ago. This year, I decided to buy a Poppy Seed Strudel to celebrate my Birthday.   

Poppy Seed Strudel

Many people in Toronto know about the delicious and simple recipes of Uncle Tetsu’s. This Japanese bakery attracts a lot of people who want to taste its famous cheesecake. Last time I’ve visited its new cafe in Dundas St W, I had the opportunity to taste the Matcha Angel Hat, a creamy and light cheesecake that has a unique Matcha flavour. 

Matcha Angels Hat

In North York, we can find a unique Persian patisserie, the Red Rose Patisserie. This place is ideal to taste Persian desserts, drink tea and hang out with friends. A great Variety of Persian cookies and sweets can be found here. Ice Creams are also available.

Back, from left to right:,       شیرین گردویی     دانمارکی کنجدی(Danmarki)

Centre,  قلبی(Hearts), قطاب  (Qataab)

Front :  زبان  (Tongue) ,  برنجی زعفرانی  (Rice cookies with Saffron ), کشمشی    (Keshmeshi)

Toronto Ukrainian Festival

Last weekend, I went to the Toronto Ukrainian Festival, the largest Ukrainian festival in North America. It was a great time that I spent speaking in Ukrainian, watching some interesting art crafts, listening to Ukrainian music and tasting Ukrainian food.

Ukrainian food, although very similar to the food that we can find in Eastern Europe in general, it has its particular taste.

The most popular Ukrainian dish in Canada is the “Pierogi”. This dish is known as “Vareniky” (вареники) in Ukraine. These are the famous Ukrainian dumplings, usually filled with cheese, potato, cabbage and/ or pumpkin. Other fillings can be used, like meat or fruits. If not eaten when they are fresh, they can be fried. It is usually accompanied with onions, cabbage or Smetana (sour cream). Vareniky is considered the Ukrainian National dish.

 Varenyky (Вареники) with a Sausage (Ковбаса)

Another typical dish is what we know as “Cabbage Rolls”, in Ukrainian they are known as “Holubtsi” [ Ukr: “Голубці”, Russian: “Голубцы”, Polish: “Gołąbki”, Bulgarian: “Сарми”, Yiddish: “Holishkes” ]. In Ukraine, they are filled with Buckwheat grains, mixed with fried onions and Meat or Pork, but outside Ukraine its filling usually has rice. They are stewed in tomato sauce.

Cabbage Rolls (Голубці) and Deruny (Деруни)

Potato pancakes are also common. They are made with Potatoes, flour and eggs. They are fried and eat with Sour cream. In Ukraine they are known as “Deruny” [ Ukr: “Деруни”, Polish: “Placki”, Yiddish: “Latkes” ].

Another dish I had the opportunity to taste is “Patychky” (Патички), this is the Ukrainian meat on a stick. This is usually prepared with marinated veal or pork. They can be fried covered with bread crumbs and eggs.  

   Cabbage Rolls with Patychky

Turkish Food - Pide

Labour Day was an excellent opportunity to meet my friends Eliana and Ghada. The chosen place was Mustafa Restaurant; this cozy place specializes in Pide.

The word Pide comes from the Greek “Pita”. It is the famous flat bread baked in a stone oven. It comes with toppings that may be Cheese, lamb, sausages, etc. It is usually compared with the famous Pizza.    

We elected 2 kinds of Pide: “Kıymalı Kaşarlı” and “Karışık”. “Kıyma” means “Minced Meat”. When you see the word “Kıymalı” it means that this dish contains minced meat. “Kaşar” is a kind of sheep’s cheese usually related with “Kasseri“cheese or Mozzarella. It is very often used in Turkish cuisine. “Karışık” means “Mixed”, “Complex”, “Combined”.  The Pide we ate, had a Mix of ground beef, Sausages, Cheese, Onions.

Kıymalı Kaşarlı 

Karışık

Pide is one of the most popular dishes in Turkey when you want to hang out and have fun with some friends. It is simple, not expensive and ideal as fast food.

We also tried “İskender Kebap”, This dish has slices of lamb in tomato sauce, served over pide and yoghurt. It is typical in the Northwest of the country

İskender Kebap

We finish our day with some sweets. We all agreed about how excellent the food was. We really enjoyed our time in this place. 

With my Friends Ghada and Eliana.  

CNE: The Culinary Adventure

To visit the Canadian National Exhibition, it means to be prepared for new experiences, where new tastes and foods are part of the program.

As an Example, in earlier visits, I had the opportunity to taste the excellent products of Carmichael meats, including his exotic pepperettes and summer sausages (I had the opportunity to taste Kangaroo meat). There were other interesting products as well, but start mentioning would be too long.

In this visit, I started my adventure with Bug Bistro, in the food building. They specialize in insects, like crickets. In http://entomofarms.com/ there is more explanation about this culinary art using insects. I had the opportunity to eat “Tacos Grillos”, a delicious Tacos flavored with crickets and worms.

The use of a spicy sauce may hide a little bit its flavour, but I enjoyed the overall taste of tacos. They also sell some small packets of crickets that we can later use in our kitchens in other culinary creations. You can ask me later how it was.

Then I visited Farm to Fryer. I had the opportunity to taste Fried frog legs & cod tongue. Frog legs belong already to the list of typical dishes from cultures, that are not that far from ours, where we can include the South of the US and France. Eating them is almost like eating Chicken wings.  Pan fried Cod tongues is common in Newfoundland kitchen. They both come with tartar sauce. 

Food from Philippines!

On august 20^th and 21^st, Toronto had its largest Filipino Festival: Taste of Manila. This is a great opportunity to know more about Filipino culture and Food.

In an article in Bloomberg about Filipino food, This food is described as a fusion of Malaysian, Chinese and Spanish food. There are some Indian and American influences as well. Dishes can be from very simple to complex meals in preparation. Street food plays a very important role in the culture of this country. Skewered meat is typical and a known part of this food, but there is much more to know.

My first try was a tray of food containing a portion of Noodles, Chicken Adobo and Lechon Kawali. See the pictures below.

Adobo is one of the most popular dishes in Philippines. It´s origin seems to be in the indigenous style of preparing meat using vinegar and salt. The use of those ingredients is related with the local climate, where they were used to preserve the food. Chinese influence came with the soy sauce and then Spanish came with some species and olive oil. Today this is used to prepare chicken or pork. More can be read in this article in Asian Journal.

Lechon Kawali is a crispy pork belly deep-fried in a pan or a wok. It is usually seasoned and chopped in parts.  

Below, there is a picture of Pork Adobo, with Pork Tail. 

In a different place, I had the opportunity to taste other dishes like the Chicken Afritada. This is a dish that is cooked with potatoes, tomato sauce, and sometimes carrots are added. It is possible to find also with pork. See the picture.

Some weeks ago, I had the opportunity to taste Kare-kare, a stewed Oxtail where the main ingredient is peanut sauce.

Aviso importante para mis lectores que hablan Español:

If you speak Spanish and you had no exposition to Filipino food, your own language can give you some keywords about where to start. Some Filipino food use Spanish names and they can give you an idea about what it can contain. I had already mentioned “Adobo”, “Lechon” and “Afritada”. Here are some useful Spanish words used in food names:

Asado (Braised meat in Soy sauce and Brown sugar), Bistek (Beef Steak), Camaron rebosado (Deep fried shrimps), Escabeche (Marinated fried fish), embutido,  Hamonado (from the Spanish word for Ham), Lumpia (spring rolls), Callos, Menudo (both are stews of meat based in Tomato sauce), Paella, Longganisa (Pork sausage), Tocino,  empanada, Rosquillos, leche flan (custard)

Some other words:

English          Spanish        Tagalog

Spoon             Cuchara        Kutsara

Fork                Tenedor         Tinidor

Pepper           Pinienta        Paminta

Like                Gustar            Gusto

Sauteed        Guisado        Gisado

Whisky tasting

Last Saturday, I attended to a BBQ with the Esperanto Group of Toronto. Part of the program was a Whisky tasting. It was a great opportunity to learn about this Drink that is popular in North America and most of us do not think about this art. Here I write about some things I learned during my experience. 

The Whisky tasting started with Vodka, because vodka is like a blank sample in comparison with whisky, so its flavour does not have influence over our senses and our mouth gets used to the burn from Alcohol, and is is possible then to focus on the flavours of Whisky. 

In this picture, we can see the brands of whisky used in the same order they were tasted. 

1.- Bourbon Whiskey

It is made in the state of Kentucky in the USA and has at least 51% corn in its composition, but it has also barley and rye. It is made in a distillation column and always aged in a new charred oak barrel. It is sweet and the corn gives it its salty butter quality and granary toast to the nose. Part of the flavours come from the barrel. There is a touch of spice. It does not contain any additives.

 2.- Irish Whiskey

In this case we tasted Powers, that is made in Ireland from a mix of Malted and non malted barley that provides its special flavour with some notes of Pines. Part of the whiskey is made in a pot distiller in three steps, and part of it is made in a distillation column. It is aged in old barrels that were earlier used for Bourbon. To the palate it causes a smooth flavor of Coffee, chocolate and a dry spice and it reminds the smell of a Christmas cookie.

Some of the tools used in the tasting

3.- Blended Scotch Whisky

Most of Scotch Whiskies are blended. They are a mix of diverse distillations, and also a mix of Whisky from a pot distiller (100% malted Barley) and neutral spirit grain. The art of mixing consist of achieve with precision the same taste all the time, task that is very difficult due to the differences in the grains used, the aging processes, barrels where they were aged, etc. Malt Scotch whisky is distilled 2 times in a pot-distiller, and is aged in a bourbon barrel. Malted barley is dried with a fire from a peat that provides this particular peat flavour to the grain that is famous in scotch whiskies.

4.- Rye Whisky

Rye is possibly the most used grain in Whiskies. This is the cause of its spiciness. You can taste the rye as integral part of it. Even the origine of the rye is relevant to the final taste. Whisky can be made 100% from rye if it is distilled till the neutral spirit point, then the flavour disappears and it becomes difficult to spot which rye was used, even if the whisky is made 100% of Rye. Northern Harvest Rye it’s a new Canadian whisky that was awarded the Best Whisky in the World in 2016. It is a mix of different whiskies of different age from Crown Royal, and it is 90% rye. 

5.- Canadian Whisky:

Canadian Whisky is traditionally the most monotonous of the greatest whiskies, because it was originally designed for massive production to be finally used mixed with other drinks. But the art of whisky made its way to Canada, producing very popular brands for new Markets. Like bourbon, it is made mostly produced with Corn with malted barley and rye. Like other whiskies in the world it is aged in old bourbon barrels. But it is less sweet than bourbon and rye has a stronger part in its taste. You can find notes of sweet butter, vanilla and flowery flavours. 

6.- Singe Malt Scotch Whisky - Highland

Single malt Scotch whisky is made 100% malted barley, in one distillery. Traditionally we speak about different regions of Scotland, which have different styles, but in the last times this situation has complicated. We tasted Glenmorangie, which has strong notes of fruity flavour, and quite creamy to the palate.    

7.- Single malt Scotch Whisky - Islands

We tasted here Talisker, a whisky that comes from the Island of “Skye”. It has a flavour influenced by the sea and peat that influences during the distillation and aging in old bourbon barrels.  

Tibetan Food

Since I live in Toronto, I have the opportunity to taste different kinds of foods that I could not find in other parts of the world where I have been. An example of this kind of food is the Tibetan.

From a very remote part of the world, not known by many people, this food has its particularities. It comes from a very high mountainous region, where there is not availability of all kind of vegetables. Fish is also not very typical. Buddhist teachings exercise great social influence and samples of the tastes of India and China are present. Beef and chicken are very often used.

If you ask anyone, who has read about Tibet, about its food, the first food they may mention is “Tsampa”, a kind of cookies made with Barley flour, mixed with Tibetan tea. I read that they can also be mixed with Beer in their preparation.

In Toronto, people who have been exposed to Tibetan food may mention “Momos”, dumplings that are usually filled with beef, chicken or vegetables.   

But Tibetan food is much more.  There are many different kinds of soups, like “Phingsha”, a soup that has dried mushrooms, potatoes and beef with thin glass noodles.

“Thenthuk”,  Is another noodle soup. It has vegetables, beef or chicken and hand pulled short noodles. Some references state that this dish is especially typical in the region of Amdo, in the northeaster of Tibet, where there are a lot of green areas.

Tibetans also have their own sausages: “Gyurma”, Made with the blood of yak with barley and some spices.

Finally, a nice cup of Tibetan tea, “Bod ja” with its characteristic salty flavour, due to the use of butter instead of milk and a little bit of salt.

In Queens W there are some places where Tibetan food is available in Toronto. New sensations for people who know very little about this part of the world.