I’m standing in Jill’s kitchen in Ottawa staring at a mountain of fava bean pods.“What do you think I’m supposed to do with them?” I ask no one in particular. Jill is actually in the dining room deciding which dishes will be used for the multi-course feast.I was the one who thought fava beans would make a nice appetizer, but at the time I hadn’t really focused on the fact that I had to shuck
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The Ottawa Farmers Market
We are blessed with another luminous summer day, and Jill recommends that we get an early start to find the best available produce at the farmers market for our midsummer locally-grown Canadian Feast.The Ottawa Farmers Market occurs each Sunday, May through October at Landsdowne, just near the site of the 1875 Provincial Exhibition. The centerpiece of the fairgrounds is a shimmering exhibition
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Lunch in Quebec
The Ottawa River cuts a dramatic swath between the cities of Ottawa and Quebec. Jill and I cross the river and journey to the Quebec side and in short time we have left the city. It is a brilliantly sunny day. We are treated to rolling hills and greenery. These are the Gatineau Hills, part of an extensive national park area that is dotted with lakes, trails and summer cottages. Most people greet
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A Taste of Ottawa
My early morning flight from New York slides to a halt on the tarmac, on time, in the province of Ontario, Canada. Jill, my friend from La Varenne, an accomplished food and wine aficionado and my collaborator on several shared several cooking projects (including the Tale of Two Puddings and the American Canadian Cooking Project) is there to meet me at the airport. Our agenda: food,
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Dinner with Veronica at The Little Owl
The first thing you notice about Veronica, the Chief Scientific Officer of the blogosphere’s top Test Kitchen, is the lighthearted curiosity that radiates from her eyes. She is always observing and discovering something new.We are midway through the Harold McGee Lecture Series at the French Culinary Institute, and together we grab a cab headed for Greenwich Village for dinner at The Little Owl, a
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The Harold McGee Lecture Series (Part Three)
It is the final day of the Harold McGee Lecture series at the French Culinary Institute and our hosts on this journey about using the scientific method in the kitchen are struggling with a little chaos theory at the front of the room. An important package containing essential oils for a segment on flavors has failed to arrive, and even the projector doesn’t seem to respond as Director of Culinary
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The Harold McGee Lecture Series (Part Two)
When last we left our story, Veronica, the proprietor and Chief Scientific Officer of the blogosphere’s top Test Kitchen had successfully unmasked me at the Harold McGee Lecture Series in New York City using her superior observation skills and keen deductive reasoning. Meanwhile, I was desperately struggling to comprehend the scientific principles behind what makes an egg an egg…It is Day Two and
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The Harold McGee Lecture Series (Part One)
The alarm pierces my sleep at 5 a.m. and I must come face-to-face with my fear of science. I earned a whopping D+ in high school chemistry. The “plus” was awarded for showing up and staying awake. After all these years, I still shudder a bit when people talk about chemical reactions …But when the opportunity arose to return to the French Culinary Institute in New York City for a three day lecture
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Breakfast in the Berkshires
The statue of the Newspaper Delivery Boy greets me once again as I enter Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It has a Norman Rockwell-esque quality and the way he thrusts the paper forward always catches my eye. This somewhat quaint, antiquated symbol of the early information age has become my symbolic greeter each time I return to the Berkshires.There is a line of gentle, rolling mountains that
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Taggged by The Food Blogga
Susan, the clever author of one of my must-read blogs, “The Food Blogga,” has tagged me with the “7 Random Things about Myself” meme. Since today is the first birthday of “Culinary Types,” it seems quite appropriate to accept the tag and add a little dimension to my profile. My other option was the “What was I doing 10 Years Ago,” meme, but 1997 seems like an awfully long time ago, and I’ve
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Getting Emotional about Cinnamon Ice Cream
I’M SCREAMING!!! Yes, summer is here, and I’M SCREAMING FOR ICE CREAM!!!OK, it’s the biggest cliché going about one of the world’s most uncomplicated treats, but you’re paying attention now, right?Who knows where the phrase came from, but it sure is rich with imagery and calories. Ice cream can evoke all kinds of emotions and memories. Ice cream inspires wild creativity, as in the Garlic Ice
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