Croissant Crawl - King / Queen West

In the past couple of years, there has been an explosion of bakeries within a 15 min walk from my home. There is now a particular concentration of French and Italian bakeries. So on the first spring-like sunny Sunday morning, what better way to spend breakfast than a croissant crawl?

For the taste test, I picked 5 French bakeries in my neighbourhood to compare:

• Brioche Dorée
• Wagamama
• Delysée
• Clafouti
• Nadège Patisserie

Brioche Dorée ($2.10 / croissant)
I went in Brioche Dorée thinking I would not like it; I generally doubt the quality of baked goods from a chain store.

I was greeted by an airy casual space filled with baked goods, including bread, pastries, sandwiches, quiches and flans. This immediately made me happy.

The croissant was still slightly warm when I got it. It was flaky but well structured, with a crunch on the outside when I halved it. It had good amount of butter taste, and a slightly sweet buttery after-taste. My only complaint is that the layers are not even, with a large air pocket in the middle. Maybe the dough did not get rolled properly?

Brioche Dorée croissant - Warm, good crunch, mysterious air pocket in the middle.

Wagamama ($2.00 / croissant)

Wagamama has been my default go-to neighbourhood coffee shop since it opened almost 10 years ago. Their pumpkin muffin, apple crumble muffin, scones and croissant have been a staple in my breakfast.

Wagamama has a homey, relaxed decor. It is a perfect spot for a chill break to enjoy a croissant, a tea and read some newspaper the old fashioned way.

The croissant at Wagamama has a crunchy shell, and flaky layers with little air pockets evenly distributed throughout. The crust was sturdy enough that it held its shape even when I bit into it. There was a slight saltiness that helped to balance the sweet butter taste.

Wagamama croissant - Rich, even layers.

Delysée ($2.75 / croissant)

Delysée is a newcomer to the King West neighbourhood. Its minimal all-white decor gives it a touch of modern upscale French elegance, echoing the delicate macarons they are famous for.

Delysée's croissant almost fell apart when I picked it up from the plate. It was limp, like it got too much steam. Once I halved the croissant, I figured out why - The inside showed some uneven layering with large air pockets in between. The butter taste was more delicate on the palette.  It reminded me of sweet egg bread.

Delysée croissant - Flimsy, sweet.

Calfouti ($1.85 / croissant)

Clafouti has been a staple in the neighbourhood. It is very popular, and they often sell out of items before noon on the weekend. The decor is rustic, like a little French country shop. There are some tables for eat it, but I prefer to enjoy my Clafouti's baked goods sitting on a bench or at a picnic table in Trinity Bellwoods Park across the street.

The croissant is in a large circular shape, not the more common "bull's horn" shape.  The sweet buttery taste has a good salty balance. There was good crunch on the outer shell. The texture is more on the bready, dense side, a bit too chewy for what I want to get from a croissant. (It actually took some force to split it apart for the photo.) It was probably the most filling of all croissants of the day.

Clafouti croissant - Bready, chewy.

Nadège ($2.20 / croissant)

Nadège and Delysée have similar all-white modern decor. Maybe because it was more crowded at Nadèges when I arrived, it felt a bit more casual. Nadège also has the advantage of having its patio face a side street across from Trinity Bellwood Park for the soon-to-come sunny warm days.

The croissant at Nadèges had very thick "layers".  It felt like a number of layers got stuck together with large air pockets in between. The result was like eating a piece of unstructured chewy bread.  It was a disappointing end to the croissant crawl.

Nadège croissant - Uneven, thick layers.

Conclusion

Lucky for me (and unlucky for my waistline), my top croissant pick is just steps away from my home. The croissant at Wagamama has all the checkmarks in my croissant wish list. And being an independent bakery café with friendly owner and staff is a bonus.

Walking around a neighbourhood to taste croissant and people watch is a great way to enjoy a lazy Sunday morning.  I already have Croissant Crawl - Bayview / Mt Pleasant edition in the plan, and there are probably more other crawls to come.

Game for game?

As part of my birthday present from almost 3 months ago, I got a choice of a cooking class to attend.  I discover the wide range of cooking classes available in Toronto, ranging from the very affordable TDSB ones, to fairly technical skills oriented ones like the knife skills course offered by The Good Egg, to those with alterier motives such as the various cupid cooking classes.
Not wanting to commit to a series of classes or spending lots of money, I eventually landed on a cooking class at The Market Kitchen at St Lawrence Market that focused on game meat.

I have never been to The Market Kitchen prior. It is set up more as an event space with an open kitchen than a cooking class. It lacks some basic things like mirror over the range for students to see clearly how the cooking progresses, and multiple stations for hands on practice.  Rather than a cooking class, I would consider it more an interactive dinner with cooking demonstration.

The whole evening was quite enjoyable. Our chef was Andrew Chase. He was casual and friendly, although at times seemed a bit frazzled. To keep him organized was our host (whom I forgot to ask for her name), who was very thoughtful. Aside from ensuring the chef had everything he needed, she also made sure the students were able to see all the ingredients up close by walking the containers through the group, and plated several demo dishes for photo opps. The sous chef and kitchen staff are also impeccable, helping the chef with the preparation and serving the food to all students. There was a selection of coffee, sparkling water, and water available throughout the night.

What about the food itself? It is a rare experience to be able to try so many different game meat prepared in different styles. During the evening, we get to taste 6 differ game meat.
- Ostrich [sausage]
- Pheasant [sauage]
- Elk [sausage]
- Bison cheeks [stew] with spatzel
- Venison [meatloaf] with buttermilk mashed potatoes
- Camel [stir fry]

Chef Andrew was knowledgeable about techniques in cooking game, and also told interesting stories about the history of the cooking methods.

Most of the game meat is not too "gamey" in taste, but more like lean beef with a rich intense taste. (No, contrary to populat belief, not everything tastes like chicken.) My favourite is the bison cheek stew, with strong wine flavour resulting from the meat being marinated for 5 days. The texture of the bison cheek is not as soft as braised beef cheeks; both has its own character. Spatzel is a simple noodle from the German / Austrian / Swiss area. It is surprisingly fast & easy to make from scratch. Dressed with a butter sauce, it is a good accompaniment to the stew.

We made the venison meatloaf in small groups and each person took a small tray home to bake on our own.  The recipe does not bind as well as the type of meatloaf I like, so it looks a bit like a loose shepherd's pie. The combination of salted pork rind and venison gave the dish a very rich flavour; definitely a winner for a casual cold winter's night dinner in.

 

The question many people, including myself, with the menu is  ... How does camel taste? As the chef describes, camel meat is like dark Italian veal, with a more gamey taste.

The camel was stir fried in the traditional northern Chinese style, with a slightly vinegary sauce. This treatment made the dish rather light to the stomach.

Sidenote: The dish is called 它賽蜜 in Chinese, meaning "it competes with honey". It seems a strange fit as the dish is not sweet in nature. Regardless, it is supposed to help with blood circulation, making it very suitable for keeping warm in the winter.
 
Game meat is generally more expensive than the staple beef and pork, so it is not likely to become part of my regular diet. It does make for good conversation during special dinner parties, not to mention its leanness that supposedly is healthier (excluding the load of fat that needs to be added during the cooking process).

For those looking to try some game meat, you can find them at Whitehouse Meat at St Lawrence Market. They provided the game meat for the class. The owner Leila sat in on the class, and looked rather pleased with the creation that night.

A memorable evening for sure!

2011 in Review - Significant Foodie Moments

2011 has been a very busy year, both at work and in my personal life.  While I have not had time to write about my foodie adventures, I was still able to savour some significant foodie moments.  I even managed to lose a few food virginity this year!

White Truffle
What is more perfect than a piggy being born in truffle season? White truffles arrived just in time for my birthday dinner at Auberge du Pommier! 

Cuy (aka Guinea Pig) 
A major event for me in 2011 was travelling in Peru for 3.5 weeks.  It has been my long time dream to try guinea pig (or as they are called in Peru, cuy).  I stumbled upon a celebration in Cuzco where indigenous Quechua women were selling traditionally stone roasted cuy.  Mmm ... The other white meat ...

Alpaca
Another commonly seen animal in Peru is Alpaca.  Not only do they provide wool, they make a tasty meal too!  And no, they don't taste like chicken.  (More like lamb.)

Ceviche
Being someone who likes my seafood raw whenever possible, I have prepared ceviche on my own many times.  However, it is no comparison to the ceviche at Cevicheria el Fayke Piurano in Lima.

Menu
The first major confusion upon arriving in Peru is thinking of menu as a menu - a book listing out dishes that a restaurant serve.  Menu (or cena for dinner) is actually a set meal, usually with an appetizer or soup, a main dish, and either a juice for lunch or dessert and sweet tea for dinner.  Unlike the gourmet prix fixe counterpart in North America, these meals are cheap, fast, and most of the time quite tasty.

Scrapple
Coincidentally, 2011 is the first year I have heard of scrapple (thanks to Food Network), and the first year I ate scrapple at Lancers Diner in Horsham, PA.  Mmm ... The other grey meat ... 

Wish everyone a bountiful & delicious 2012!

Nyonya + Korean = My [Successful] Fusion Experiment

I used to be a fusion snob.  I still am, but to a lesser extent.

What I don't like is fusion food created for the sake of being fusion, chefs who pride themselves on using different "ethnic" ingredients and making new food.  Over the last couple of years, I have started reading about fusion food created out of "necessity".

What I mean are food items created by immigrants trying to recreate dishes from their homeland.  Often, the immigrants craved food from their homeland, but needed to improvise due to limitations in ingredients.  Sometimes, the immigrants run restaurants, and try to appeal to the locals by incorporating their usual ingredients, spices and herbs.  For example, I find Caribbean Chinese food not only tasty, but also reflective of the Chinese immigrants' life on the Islands.

I find these food items not just rich in flavor, but also rich in cultural history.  And if they were created early enough, they would be considered "authentic" cuisine nowadays.  Early trading areas like Shanghai have long attracted traders from different regions since the early days.  What we now considered "authentic Shanghainese cuisine" (沪菜) really came from a fusion of different cuisines in the old days.

A long way to bring me to today's topic - Nyonya (娘惹) cuisine.  I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner yesterday when I stumbled upon a recipe for Nyonya Stewed Pork Ribs recipe.  It looked simple enough to make, so I head down to my local Asian supermarket T&T to gather some ingredients.  Unfortunately, they don't carry the taucheo used in the recipe.  The closest substitute I can find is Korean soybean paste.

Although I haven't tried the original version, the result from my little fusion experiment turned out pretty tasty.  The saltiness, sweetness, sourness and heat are "fused" together in harmony, just like the recipe describes.  To add to the level of fusion, I added some Korean rice cakes.  The resulting half Korean half Nyonya meal was very yummy!

So look up some random recipe, get some "close enough" ingredients, and enjoy your own fusion experiments!

Fast Knowledge

I recently read an article about açai berry, not so much its health benefits, but the changes it has made to the lives of Brazilians.  This reminded me of the many discussions recently by some environmentalists advocating for going vegetarian.

My observation is that many people in the modern age not only live in an age of fast food, they live in age of fast knowledge.  After all, knowing something being good or bad is much simpler than understanding why it is so.

Many ancient cultures are rooted in a sense of balance.  To achieve balance, one must understand the reasoning behind the good and the bad, the fact that everything has its good and bad sides, and knowing when to apply this understanding.  For example, knowing my body type and some basic traditional Chinese medicine information, I will stay away from chicken & beef & a host of other foods when I sense the early symptoms of irritated throat, and most of the time it helps me prevent getting sick.

With the fad in all the health food phenomenon (not to mention in self-help, business, etc.), it shows we are becoming a society of shortcuts.  If enough media says something is good for us, it must be.  It's not only poisoning our bodies with roller coaster eating routines (remember Atkins diet?), but also hurting the environment with poor farming practice for corporations to make a quick buck by fueling these types of extreme diets.

If we as a society value knowledge and analysis on a personal level, not leaving the thinking to scientists, perhaps then we will stand a chance to becoming healthier and being more sustainable at the same time ... 

Maximal Food Minimalist?

This is part of the retrospective on pieces I have written in the past that still seems relevant today.  This post was written on April 4, 2006 at 11:54am.

 

I made a delicious breakfast this past Saturday.  As I ate, it dawned on me how silly the breakfast will sound if I were to put it on a menu:

 

Poached antibiotic-free egg with certified organic kale sauteed with double-smoked Mennonite bacon served with certified organic kefir with maple syrup and organic 7-grain bread, and organic fairtrade coffee with organic soy milk

 

But it was just a simple breakfast!

 

It is laughable that we live in an insane era when eating natural products has become an "alternative" behaviour.  Just as decluttering & minimalism has become a snobbish interior design style, back-to-basics food has become a "new age" trend (hopefully not fad).

 

I think the main barrier to popularize natural food products is the cost.  It is obviously more costly to farm organically, which logically translates to higher food costs.  What I don't understand is where the higher administrative overhead and transportation costs have gone to.  Since many of the organic products do not have long shelf life, they are generally available in small batches in local farmers market.  Without the middleman and high transportation costs trucking products across the continent, why is the retail costs still so much higher?

 

[Note: After learning more about the subject since then, I have learnt that most part of the cost comes from lower unit yield.  Commercialized organic food has also become popular where the traditional supply chain & transportation costs are still there if not more to better transport food that is more easily spoiled.]

 

One time when I was browsing around at T&T, a giant Chinese supermarket chain, I saw a few organic products for sale.  They are sold at comparable prices to similar products, and "organic" is not even prominently displayed as a selling point.  (Case-in-point: My favourite organic non-GMO soy milk Sunrise at $2.99 for 2L.)  How are these companies able to provide these products at such competitive prices?  Products like these make the decision-making process very easy.

 

I dream of one day having a neighbourhood grocer that sells environmentally-responsible natural products just as they are - eggs, bacon, kale, yogurt, 7-grain bread, coffee, etc.

Crush the fine dining worship!

This is part of the retrospective on pieces I have written in the past that still seems relevant today.  This post was written on March 27, 2006 at 3:38am.  (Interestingly, I also had a pot luck earlier tonight.)

My main motivation for this blog comes from an observation this past weekend while doing grocery shopping.  I greatly enjoy browsing grocery stores, from big box mass market ones to local green grocers.  To prepare for a potluck, I ended up visiting three different grocery stores within a day.  One of them is a bargain grocery store, "every day low price" kind of place.  I was struck by how much pre-processed instant food there is at this bargain store.  Even more amazing is how cheap these boxes of "stuff" are selling for.  It is not that big a stretch to see that these boxes offer not much more than filler to eliminate one's hunger.

So people on a budget do not deserve healthy, nutritious food?  I think the "fine dining" culture in North America is the worst enemy for promoting healthy eating habits.  Yes, this sounds counter-intuitive ... don't most fine dining chefs / restaurants support local suppliers, and some even socially responsible foods (like organic farming)?  It is precisely this type of exposure that leads to an image of healthy food = expensive and laborious.

If you look around the city, many places, especially ethnic ones, offer healthy home cooking at affordable prices.  I am talking about below $10 including taxes & tips for a sit-down, served meal.  For a small household, some of these meals are more affordable than buying the raw ingredients.

And if you want to eat at home?  Ingredients are so very easily available and affordable.  Being Asian, I shop a lot at ethnic grocery stores.  You think health food is a specialty?  Many ethnic groups consider these items basic diet.  Organic soy milk?  Rice crackers?  Pomegranate juice?  Easily 25% or more cheaper at ethnic places.  Stews, soups, even salads can be prepared the night before and be ready to eat coming back from work.  New kitchen appliances like vacuum pots (but no, not microwave) also contribute to home cooked meal with minimal supervision.

I'm sorry ... I can't see why busy schedule & budget can be a reason to eat junk food.  People have to come to a realization that good food is not a privilege of those who can afford.  Being on a budget or in a hurry is not a justification for poor diet.  Only then we as a society can support healthy food production, preparation, and ultimately consumption.