Category: Elsewhere
The California Cook reminds us that while salt has its place as a seasoning, sometimes a little acidity goes a long way:
When most cooks read “season to taste,” they automatically reach for the salt shaker. That’s not a bad start: A judicious sprinkling with salt will awaken many a dull dish. But if you stop there, many times you’ll be missing a key ingredient. Because just as a little salt unlocks flavor, so can a few drops of acidity.
via [Serious Eats]
Mike Nelson (of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame) is going to eat only bacon for a month:
Now for the fine print: “Bacon” shall hereafter refer to the cured and smoked fatty cuts of pork, either back, side or belly. In other words “American bacon”. No “Canadian bacon”, which is really just lunchmeat. No pork chops. No turkey bacon. No “tofacon” or any such horror. Just bacon.
No condiments allowed. No syrups, or hot sauces, or pureed vegetables in the form of ketchup. No sauces at all. Just nature’s finest bacon, all by its dignified self.
I am making allowances for the following beverages: beer, wine, martinis and water. No juices, no V8, nothing that could be construed as “healthy”. This is somewhat arbitrary, I grant you, but one bit of madness at a time, is my reasoning.
Anyone who’s been paying attention to our Recipe Box feature here at FineDiners.ca will know that we are nothing if not big fans of Bacon around here. But this guy is insane. Absolutely mad. But also awesome. A true Bacon hero.
Foodtv.ca gets schooled in the basics of Irish Whiskey. I’ve been trying to develop an appreciation for Scotch and Whiskey over the past couple of years. I’m struggling, but working on it.
- Hamburger Bed. I’ve had dreams like this. [Facebook Page] [via Geekologie]
- New to me: A Hamburger Today – a subsite of Serious Eats. I love me some hamburgers!
- also of Serious Eats, Slice – as above but for Pizza!
This link is a bit old, but Anne Desbrisay of The Ottawa Citizen writes about her Best Bites of 2008: My year on a fork:
“Two thousand and eight was a banner year for good new restaurants in the Capital Region. The ones that gave me most pleasure (in order of tasting) were Napo, Fraser Café, Murray Street, Big Easy’s, Navarra, and b’Side Kitchen and Wine.”
Some members of our little FineDiners club (together and separately) visited most of those places in 2008 and we’d have to agree – Murray Street, Big Easy’s, Navarra, Fraser Cafe, and b’Side are all among our faves. I’ve not personally tried Fraser or b’Side yet, but will be popping over to Fraser for lunch tomorrow and can’t wait! (None of us have heard of Napo, but I guess we’ll have to add it to the list!)
Desbrisay also writes:
“What distinguishes this harvest of new restaurants from past years’ crops is not just the number of them, but that most of these new places are chef-run. In past years, it seemed every new restaurant in this city was another big, loud, modern eatery that had more to do with the designer’s vision than the cook’s. But not this year; chef-run restaurants tend to start in the kitchen.”
Amen, it’s been a great year for foodies in Ottawa, here’s to a great 2009!