Menu of the Week - November 15 2010

Breakfast: 2 slices of Gadoua Multigo (white whole wheat) bread, butter on one and mustard on the other. Prosciutto di Parma and Surimi slices.

Lunch: Romados grilled chicken pieces, boiled egg, blue cheese piece, soba noodles, boiled Chinese broccoli.

Snack: Yoplait cup (100g)

Bread and butter

I mentioned Au Pain Dore's 36 hour bread in the last post. It's a bread that is kept to rise for 36 hours before baking. The result is a more pronounced bread flavor that tastes a lot like a light sourdough bread. The crust is also different which makes this an all around good alternative to a "regular" baguette. Unfortunately for Au Pain Dore it's the only thing worth buying at the store as their competitors are much better at pastries, croissants and desserts.


To go with that bread I would suggest a nice tasting butter such as Lactantia's My Country butter. I am a fan of this brand since the 80s and even tried to have them ship it to me in California. Whenever there's a special at the market I buy 6 1-pound bricks to store in the freezer (each sealed in a plastic bag) so I never run out of it. I also use the half-salted butter with jams or to finish a sauce.

ArHoMa bakery

My friends who live in the  HOchelaga-MAisonneuve area has told me about this place before so I decided to drop by last weekend to have a sample. I found Philippe eating his breakfast there and he gave me a few of his recommendations. He made some of the art decorations in the store.


I tried a half-baguette which had a good crust. It wasn't bad but nothing extraordinary like the 36 hour baguette at Au Pain Doré. The magic came from the Ficelle Benedictine which is a soft baguette with blue cheese baked into the crust. This is like a super charged cheese croissant. I ate this with some prosciutto for lunch and it was heavenly.


Another specialty I also enjoyed is the croissant aux pistaches which is like an almond croissant but with pistachios instead. It's a little variation on a common theme that is quite interesting. This store also sells chocolates, jams, cheese and cakes. The desserts will be for another time.

A cheesy revelation

This year I really started to enjoy fancy cheeses. Previously I would eat cheddar or monterey jack only because it was safe and mild. In California I learned to enjoy pepper jack which is jalapeno laced monterey jack. No brie, no blue, no swiss, no mozzarella except if it came with pizza.


These days the mozzarella replaced cheddar as the safe cheese and I've been eating more of the soft goat cheese and blue cheese. In my trip to Switzerland this summer I had emmental and gruyere in the fondues and raclettes.


René from my choir had me taste all sorts of cheeses during our Glee soirées and my current favorite right now is the Bleu d'Elizabeth from Central Québec. Here's a good description from Chasing the cheese:


Bleu d’Élizabeth is an organic, cheese made from raw milk from both Holstein and Jersey cow. The cows feed on dry hay but are also pastured on clover, timothy grass, bluegrass and other organic grains. This semi-firm cheese has blue and sometimes green veining, as well as a natural rind. It takes its name from the church rectory of Sainte-Élizabeth de Warwick, located at the front of the farm.

Why Japanese food ?

When I moved to Northern California for work in the mid nineties, Japanese food was still a novelty for me. My coworkers would never eat Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese or other Asian food, they prefer Japanese food for health reasons. They also eat mostly chicken and turkey as their main protein but that's another story.  Eventually I didn't miss Chinese or Vietnamese food anymore, the Japanese food fulfilled my taste buds on the Asian flavors.


These days I eat at two Japanese restaurants weekly: Furusato for traditional at-home dishes and Kazu Izakaya for modern preparations of Asian ingredients.


At Furusato I often make myself a meal out of their appetizers section. They make the best Chicken Kara-Age in Montreal. I also enjoy the simple preparation of grilled mackerel or Oyakodon (chicken and egg over rice). The word 'oyako' means 'mother and child' and is either creepy or poetic when applied to a dish. The only things I miss is the amaebi and fried fish appetizer I enjoyed from Masa's Sushi in Mountain View. I get my fix of amaebi at Zenya on Ste-Catherine St.


At Kazu I like the smaller dishes which also lets me compose my own meal with several choices. I particularly like the shrimp okonomiyaki, a cabbage pancake not found elsewhere in Montreal. Do sit at the bar if you can so you can watch the food being prepared. I've been going to Kazu since their 2nd week of opening so I now know how every dish is prepared. There's only raw salmon and tuna in this restaurant so don't go if you just want sushi.