Monthly Archives: January 2011

Food Gal Giveaway — For Anyone Who’s Ever Been Mystified In Asian Markets

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A handy app for anyone who shops at an Asian market.

Yes, that includes me.

I can tell you horror stories about circling the aisles at my local Asian market until I was dizzy to try to locate shaoxing wine, which is never stocked where you’d think it would be. Or the time I actually sweet-talked a fellow Chinese-American customer into helping me find just the right preserved fish from the countless jarred and bagged varieties available in the store.

Now, help is only an iPhone or iPad touch away with “Asian Ingredients 101” by my friend and fellow Bay Area blogger, Pat Tanumihardja.

All about oyster sauce.The handy-dandy app is a comprehensive guide to East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian ingredients that is sure to come in handy whenever you shop at an Asian market or travel to Asia.

Find info on 100 different ingredients, including spices, herbs and sauces. Along with photos, you’ll find the common names for the ingredients in different languages, as well as where to find the ingredients in the stores. You’ll also learn tips for selecting the best ingredients and what to use them for.

Contest: Now, one lucky Food Gal reader will get a chance to win the app, as well as a copy of Tanumihardja’s  “The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook” (Sasquatch), filled with wonderful stories and recipes passed down from generations.

The contest is open only to those in the continental United States. Deadline to enter is midnight PST Jan. 22. The winner will be announced Jan. 24.

How to win? Just tell me the Asian ingredient you can’t live without and the one you’d be happy to never see again, and why. The most memorable response wins.

Here’s my own answer:

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No Dill-y-Dallying to This Dish

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Turmeric adds color, while dill or curry leaves add the pow.

Dill is like cilantro’s twin brother — either people hate the poor guy or adore him. There’s no in-between.

The feathery-leafed herb with the assertive flavor is all too often forgotten, too. Unless we’re making gravlax or pickling veggies, it’s not often an herb we have on hand.

That’s a shame because dill’s distinctiveness can lend a dish real punch.

See for yourself by making “Malaysian-Style Stir-Fried Turmeric Shrimp.”

The recipe is from “Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge” (Simon & Schuster) by Chinese cooking authority, Grace Young.

The dish was created by Mei Chau, a former restaurateur in New York, who was born in Malaysia and is of Hakka descent.

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Noshing Around Quebec City

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A private dinner with the chef at Panache restaurant in Quebec City.

QUEBEC CITY, CANADA –It’s easy to build up an appetite, strolling around this historic city in the chill of winter. And one of the best and most fortifying meals I had on my trip to this capital city was at the artsy Panache restaurant.

The restaurant is located inside the luxe Auberge Saint-Antoine hotel, just steps from the edge of the St. Lawrence River in the old port district. Indeed, in the 1800s, the impressive stone building served as a maritime trading center for glassware and tableware merchants. During the construction of the hotel, plates, vases and other pottery were unearthed, which are now carefully displayed throughout the hotel. Even the hotel room numbers have little antique chunks of porcelain highlighted next to them.

My fellow food writers and I — all guests on this trip courtesy of Quebec City Tourism — had the pleasure not only of dining at the restaurant one night, but eating in a private room with the chef, Francois Blais, during what would be his last week at the restaurant. Blais, who opened the restaurant eight years ago, felt it was time for a change. But don’t be surprised if he opens his own, more casual restaurant in Quebec in the near future.

Chef Francois Blais doing the honors.

Blais has been a pioneer in Quebec City when it comes to sourcing local ingredients within 100 miles from small family producers and championing sustainable seafood. The dinner was testament to that dedication.

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Exploring Ile d’Orleans in Quebec

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Golden, sweet, fermented apple cider wine from the island of Orleans.

QUEBEC, CANADA — Yes, it’s chilly to the bone in winter, but if you’re not adverse to bundling up in a heavy coat, gloves, scarf and a hat, there’s much that will enchant during this time of year in the only walled city north of Mexico City.

The first time I vacationed here, it was during the more balmy spring-time. I also was limited in my sight-seeing to just within and just outside the imposing stone walls of this historic city. This time around, I got to explore further, thanks to Quebec City Tourism, which invited me, along with other food writers from around the country, to visit as guests late last year.

What a treat it was, especially to see Ile d’Orleans for the first time, the bread-basket of Quebec. The rural island, 20 miles by 5 miles, is 10 miles northeast of Quebec City and connected to the mainland by a bridge. There is but one traffic light on the island, which is made up of six parishes. In the winter, the population is about 6,000. In the summer, it doubles with visitors, as well as locals who have vacation homes here.

In the summer, folks from the city drive over to pick fresh, ripe strawberries. In the fall, it’s a profusion of apples. In winter, it’s all about maple syrup.

Products from this island are so valued that an Ile d’Orleans certification mark was created to ensure that they were produced here and not elsewhere. It’s the first certification mark to exist in Canada.

The view from Vignoble Sainte-Petronille winery.

Our trip started at Vignoble Sainte-Petronille winery, where we had a chance to sample a variety of icewines or vins du glace. Made from frozen grapes, the wines have an almost syrupy body. They’re sweet to be sure, but not at all cloying.

A tasting of icewines.

On a tour of the vineyard, we could still see loose grapes, bundled in netting that hung from the vines, awaiting Mother Nature’s chill before being gently pressed.

Grapes awaiting the further chill of winter before being pressed for icewine.

Our next stop was Cass ‘Isle d’Orleans, the largest grower of organic black currants in North America.

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Get Ready — Tickets to Pigs & Pinot to Go on Sale

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A gathering of chefs from last year's event: (L to R) Roland Passot, Charlie Palmer, Bryan Voltaggio, Kevin Gillespie and Tyler Florence. (Photo courtesy of Charlie Palmer)

Yup, you gotta be fast, as this porky-palooza is so popular that tickets sell out in a snap. This year, there’s even a new lottery system for hotel packages because demand is just that high.

But then again, that’s not surprising, given that Chef Charlie Palmer’s sixth annual “Pigs & Pinot,” March 18-19, will bring together the best Pinots from more than 60 wineries and 10 top chefs to cook up a feast of porky goodness.

Among this year’s participating chefs are: Bryan Voltaggio (“Top Chef” finalist and chef-owner of Volt restaurant); his brother, Michael Voltaggio (who won “Top Chef”); Nancy Oakes of Boulevard restaurant; and Philippe Rispoli of France.

Sommeliers, including William Sherer of Aureole in Las Vegas and Fred Dame of Foster’s Wine Estates, will be lending their vino expertise.

Additionally, just like last year, Palmer is even raising two suckling pigs for the event, which are getting fattened up on trimmings from his Dry Creek Kitchen restaurant, as well as on spent barley and grain from nearby Bear Republic Brewing Company.

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